This topic

BROADBAND

andreaferns120472 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:13:59 GMT

With our current BT contract we have FIBRE ESSENTIAL Which I think is FTTC

I have looked online for FTTC download speeds and they are either 80mbps, 55mbps or 40mbps.

I have looked at our BT account and we have Fibre essential, but it says download speed 15mbps with a guaranteed speed of 12mbps

But since we have BT Fibre Essential we should be receiving a guaranteed minimum download speed of 32mbps as it says online!

Is this correct?

Re: BROADBAND

iniltous — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 06:52:06 GMT

Fibre Essential is 40 Mb maximum…..like all ADSL/VDSL (FTTC) the speed any individual customer gets depends largely on the distance the customer is from their fibre cabinet (in the case of VDSL/FTTC that’s you ) or the exchange for ADSL customers …for your speed to be 15Mb with a guaranteed 12Mb you must be a significant distance from the ‘fibre’ cabinet.

32Mb is the ‘average customer’ speed on Fibre Essential , the average customer is clearly much closer to their cabinet than you are to yours , that’s why the average speed is useless , the advertising authorities require this completely pointless ‘national average’ speed to be published, but it’s of no help on an individual basis , that’s why you also get a bespoke estimate based on your actual address, someone close to their cabinet getting 40Mb from Fibre Essential clearly gets better than the 32Mb average , you being a long way from your cabinet gets much less than the 32Mb national BT average, 15Mb isn’t you being penalised , or getting less than you pay for , or less than what’s really available to you on FTTC , it’s what the service can deliver based on your line length , thats just physics .

Re: BROADBAND

andreaferns120472 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:01:58 GMT

We are 0.8 mile from the green box cabinet!

Re: BROADBAND

Kimberlin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:09:37 GMT

@andreaferns120472 Please expand on your 0.8 of a mile comment? What is your realistic expectation based on the distance you have quoted?

I haven’t read or I can’t remember any previous posts you may or may not have made, but I’m assuming you cannot be connected to full fibre (FTTP)?

Re: BROADBAND

andreaferns120472 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:12:29 GMT

Hello

This is my origional post

With our current BT contract we have FIBRE ESSENTIAL Which I think is FTTC

I have looked online for FTTC download speeds and they are either 80mbps, 55mbps or 40mbps.

I have looked at our BT account and we have Fibre essential, but it says download speed 15mbps with a guaranteed speed of 12mbps

But since we have BT Fibre Essential we should be receiving a guaranteed minimum download speed of 32mbps as it says online!

Is this correct?

Re: BROADBAND

WSH — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:44:03 GMT

The graph for how speed falls off with distance is a reverse S shape. (You can look up many examples on the internet).

That distance is about where if falls off dramatically, so I am not surprised the speed appears much lower than you might expect. Unfortunately, FTTC can be a bit hit and miss in that respect.

Re: BROADBAND

iniltous — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:29:54 GMT

You are around 1.3km away from the cabinet if your 0.8mile guesstimate is accurate, the 15Mb you get actually puts you 2 to 2.5 km away from the cabinet , TBH you can have no idea if the route the cable actually takes from your cabinet to your house is 0.8 mile /1.3km or not , you can’t simply draw a straight line between the two , the cable could take a much different path to the one you assume.

If you were correct about 0.8 miles, then a typical speed for that distance is around 20Mb , so you are not that far off what you actually receive anyway , the point was to show you that the national average speed of 32Mb for Fibre Essential doesn’t mean you are entitled to 32Mb , it’s just that on average, most customers on Fibre Essential nationally get that speed , your actual distance is of no real consequence, if you get the minimum speed that’s guaranteed for your location, 12Mb , then 32Mb is an irrelevance

Re: BROADBAND

Kimberlin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:19:13 GMT

@andreaferns120472 I read your original post and yet you’ve reposted it? I asked you about your 0.8 mile comment and effectively what your knowledge is in relation to what speeds you should be getting over that distance. You didn’t answer the question because clearly you don’t know. You also didn’t answer whether or not you can be connected to FTTP.

Re: BROADBAND

gg30340 — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:25:17 GMT

See graph for what speeds can be expected over distance in ideal conditions with ideal cables/lines. The distance is in km so in miles 0.8miles is 1.3km so your speed in ideal conditions would be about 20Mbps max and that is assuming the cable takes a straight run to the cabinet, which it won't.

Re: BROADBAND

imjolly — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:25:21 GMT

@andreaferns120472

the 32mb speed you quoted is the average speed not a guaranteed speed. the speed you get is dependant on the distance you are from the street cabinet and unless you can see the cable running all the way from cabinet to your home you have no idea the distance the cable takes to your home

Re: BROADBAND

iniltous — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:27:12 GMT

TBH , the OP history on this forum suggests they were told that FTTP was available, they were also told on here to exercise caution as that notification isn’t a guarantee of FTTP , they clearly live in a remote location, where excess construction costs may be a factor , as they have now posted about FTTC , rather than FTTP , presumably FTTP is not a straightforward proposition