This topic

Initial setup woes

sambda — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:56:23 GMT

Oh dear, switching to BT seems to already be going wrong from what I can see!

I am switching from Talktalk to BT Essentials 36Mbps - the tariff for Universal Credits claimants at £16pm.

BT have emailed me a date for the changeover of Monday 8th December. However, Talktalk have emailed me (without talking to them - BT must have done that) of an end date with them of 2nd December. Why the difference? I was ensured no downtime. Furthermore, the BT guy when I ordered said Talktalk would not change me an early leaving fee as "it was in the last month". Talktalk have emailed me a leaving fee of £5.70, as I am "cancelling" my service before its natural end-of-contract day, which is the 10th Dec.

Openreach have sent me an email saying "Welcome to Full Fibre" when I am not having that - I am having BT Essentials. They are booking in an engineer to come to change me to this on 8th. Since when has 36Mbps been "full fibre". It'll be the old copper from the green box, surely?

Can somebody explain all this? Oh, the whole order doesn't show on MyBT and it can't find the order number.

Re: Initial setup woes

licquorice — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:56:40 GMT

Any given package can be delivered by any medium. No reason why Essentials 36M can't be delivered by full fibre.

Re: Initial setup woes

sambda — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 16:59:49 GMT

I am being charged £9.99 for this when it is not necessary. What I have now supports that speed.

Re: Initial setup woes

licquorice — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 17:02:06 GMT

Indeed, but as the copper network is being phased out, any opportunity to move customers to fibre is taken.

New installation / Ethernet only PC

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 01:30:03 GMT

Hi,

I am changing from Talktalk FTTC to BT Essentials which, I am told, "requires" putting in FTTP and an appointment has been booked for this.

Upstairs, I have an Ethernet-only (very old) PC (lots of disks - used only as a media/storage server) with no Wi-Fi capability, currently connected by a short Ethernet cable to my Talktalk router (which is connected to a telephone extension in the same room).

I can't get any sense out of the BT people on the phone, but how is this going to work with the new modem and router which I presume have to be downstairs near to where the new fibre is coming in? How are they going to wire my Ethernet-only PC into the mix? Will the engineer run Ethernet from the new router to upstairs for me?

Staying on a copper incoming will make things stay as they are. Can I request this? Having FTTP is no benefit when my BT Essentials (Universal Credit version) is going to be running at 36Mbps.

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

Crimliar — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 06:09:26 GMT

The best solution without running wires is to either add a Mesh Disc or other device as a WiFi bridge. The Mesh Discs (BT Complete WiFi Disc) have an ethernet socket on the rear that allows a device such as your server (or even a network switch) to be plugged in, and will also improve WiFi to devices in their surrounding area. A third-party extender set up as a bridge, just takes the WiFi signal close to where you need it and provides that wired connection.

If you think adding that extra WiFi broadcast location would be useful I'd go for the Mesh disc, but a simple (WiFi 5/802.11ac) would probably be cheaper and faster *if set up as a WiFi bridge* - if set up as a WiFi extender it could slow down your entire WiFi network much more than a Mesh Disc would!

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

iniltous — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 07:53:18 GMT

You ask how are ‘they’ going to wire your Ethernet only PC into the mix’ , they aren’t, that’s your responsibility.
If you are getting FTTP , generally the ONT can be fitted where you want it within reason , but if cable from the ‘outside’ enters on the ground floor the ONT won’t be located ‘upstairs’ , budget on no more than 10 metres of cabling to the ONT once the outside cable enters the property…if you are served overhead from a pole it’s possible the ONT can be upstairs (so potentially near this PC) but clearly is dependent on your situation, obviously if this PC was in a rear room and the cable entered at the front it’s not likely you could have that .
Can you request staying on copper, short of cancelling your BT Essentials order , No , but then you didn’t have to move into BT Essential, if remaining as you are for the longest possible time was the most important thing , remaining with Talk Talk as you are , possibly on an out of contract basis if necessary ( with the associated higher price ) would have been the thing to do …once you elect to move provider or re-contract with your existing provider, part of the ‘deal’ can be taking FTTP if it’s available.

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:08:01 GMT

Staying with Talktalk prices wasn't an option as I am on disability UC. Talktalk wanted £20-something quid p.m. (£26 or £28, I think) as opposed to the £18 for Essentials (which also doesn't have the price hike in March/April). But now I see there are going to be other expenses that they don't warn you of when you sign up - e.g. the enforced adoption of FTTP when it isn't really needed for the speed.

All this will eat up some of the benefit of switching. I hope they aren't going to say some new telephones are also needed!

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:09:52 GMT

Useful ideas - thanks! I'll look into that - I am trying to do it as cheap as possible. I think I might add a WiFi card to the old PC, but I'll need to find one (PCIE) which still has available WinXP drivers. Failing that, PLAs back to the router?

Re: Initial setup woes

Peter_W — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:17:12 GMT

Good morning, @sambda.

@licquorice is spot on here with the details around Full Fibre - as this is the new technology that will be used for broadband connections moving forward, when it's available this is what will be used for any new connections.

As for the cancellation, OFCOM's new One Touch Switch means your old provider will get notification that your service is switching, and action a cancellation request.

If there's a lag between when they've set this to and your new service going live, I would recommend contacting them directly, and seeing if you can extend the date for when this is completed.

Peter

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

licquorice — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:22:45 GMT

The ONT and router can be up to 100metres apart, simply run an Ethernet cable between them.

Entirely up to you of course, but connecting a WinXP device to the internet is really not a good idea.

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:25:43 GMT

I think I will temporarily connect the old Upstairs PC to the downstairs router with a long Ethernet cable I have. I'll go down the stairs, and I probably break my neck (mobility problems). Then I can think about whether I can put an XP wifi card into the PC, or get a Ethernet-->WiFi bridge, or a pair of PLAs. The last two shouldn't need drivers, so the XP won't matter.

I might order all 3 of the last options from Amazon, try them all, see which performs best, and return the other 2.

Sadly the room with the PC and where it is "reasonable" for the fibre entry point to be are at opposite corners of the house, both vertically and horizontally.

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:26:47 GMT

I would need to get a bloke in to run the Ethernet and I couldn't afford it.

Re: Initial setup woes

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:50:04 GMT

Thanks.

It just annoys me a bit, being on such a tight budget, that the extra costs weren't highlighted,viz:

1) Having to have FTTP- £9.99.

2) Having to have 2 new phones upstairs as you can only plug one phone in downstairs to the router. £40?

3) Having to get my old PC talking to the new router downstairs, either via a bloke to install Ethernet, or adding WiFi to it somehow, or a WiFi-Ethernet bridge, or a set of PLAs. Another £40 for the latter options; God knows what for a cabler! It has been stated that "this is nothing to do with BT". Of course it is, they're the ones forcing FTTP which needs these changes/expenditure.

Made it all sound so easy when signing up.

Re: Initial setup woes

iniltous — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:48:11 GMT

1.I’d suggest the £9.99 is the delivery charge for the router .
2.You don’t need two new phones , your current ones will work , BT supply an DV adapter on request converting a wired phone into a DECT phone .
3.This isn’t anything to do with BT .
As stated on your other thread , there is no imposition here , it was your choice to move to BT Essential.

As stated , OTS are responsible for the messaging between providers for a customer switching provider , supposedly TT should maintain your copper based service until they get an OTS message giving the OK to remove your old service , OTS only send this message once BT message OTS saying your service is working with BT , so strictly speaking the dates are targets and advisory …however that’s what supposed to happen , ultimately TT ‘press the button’ on switching off your ‘old’ service , no one else .

Re: Initial setup woes

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:55:21 GMT

As stated on my other reply, the requirement to move to FTTP was not made clear at purchase time. This is what's causing the expenditure. The bloke simply said about sending a new router and booking a day for the changeover. This tends to imply that it was just a case of swapping routers. I only found out about the FTTP thing when I got the confirmation email from Openreach which said "Welcome to Full Fibre". At first I thought they had put me on the wrong package until I phoned them. God knows what e.g. old ladies are supposed to make of all this!

Re: Initial setup woes

iniltous — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:57:35 GMT

If this isn’t what you want , you have sufficient time to cancel and remain as you are , it’s basically a choice , taking a ‘social’ tariff to save money or the ‘inconvenience’ of adjusting to accommodate the new network, only you can decide what’s more important.
BT are no different to TT in that they use Openreach network, it’s Openreach that require FTTP to be used once it’s available ( that’s perfectly understandable ) …for some that don’t have FTTP available, swapping the router will be the only action the customer needs to take….its shows it’s impossible to please everyone though , for every one like you , preferring to stay on copper there are others moaning about not having FTTP available .

Re: Initial setup woes

sambda — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 08:59:31 GMT

Yeah - if you wait when actually actioning a leaving (not just threatening to), Talktalk usually ring you with some ultra-high powered people who seem to be able to do very good deals. I might be able to get them down to £20 or something, which I would take.

Re: New installation / Ethernet only PC

chrisjp — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:00:21 GMT

"How are they going to wire my Ethernet-only PC into the mix? Will the engineer run Ethernet from the new router to upstairs for me?"

For less than £10 you can buy a small "dongle" that plugs into a USB socket on your computer and will provide WiFi connectivity. Just Google something like "WiFi dongle" and lots of these will come up, with next day delivery. That'll be your simplest solution.
And no, the Openreach technician will not run an ethernet cable from the newly positioned router to your upstairs computer. Openreach's responsibility ends at the ONT or master socket.

Re: Initial setup woes

Kimberlin — Thu, 27 Nov 2025 12:31:58 GMT

@sambda

As @licquorice has already pointed out, connecting to the internet anything associated with Windows XP is not a good or particularly safe thing to do. Clearly no one here will know what you use the internet for, but with Windows XP, you definitely shouldn’t be conducting anything financial on the internet because the OS isn’t supported anymore.

Also, as you have already mentioned drivers, it’s unlikely you’ll get any WiFi adapters or dongles to work. You might be lucky, but you’d still be better off even using Windows 10 OS if your computer is able to support it.

Good luck with your install.