2gb Trails Belfast Region and asynchronous upload

[david39ni]

There where rumours around of the possibility of 2gb coming to Northern Ireland first as we where one of the areas with the first full FTTP role outs but it seems to fallen flat on it faces no more updates last update a see on open reach was around 2022.

[licquorice]

Oh for goodness sake, nobody needs 2Gb in a domestic environment. When was tha last time you streamed forty  8K channels simultaneously?

[iniltous]

TBH , ‘2Gb’ sold as 1.8Gb is already available on Openreach, EE sell that speed in some compatible areas , asynchronous speeds are what OR already offer on their GPON FTTP system, synchronous download/ upload speeds are not in the short to medium term going to be available on OR FTTP

[david39ni]

Yeah ano they do but I do like the bt brand was wanting to stick with them

[ptrduffy]

BT and EE merged a while back, and it has since been announced that the 'New EE' brand will be used for all consumer products and services, with the BT brand being used only for business.

So the 'New EE' 1.6 Gbps asymmetric package is the one you would be opting for if you wanted to stick with the "BT brand".

It's worth being aware that this 1.6 Gbps service runs on the same GPON as existing services, so you are still sharing a total of ~2.5 Gbps between you and up to 29 other users - your downloads might peak at 1.6 Gbps, but they are not going to be sustained at that level if the local GPON is busy.

[c64z86]

Just be aware if you want anything close to even 1gbps over wifi, you are going to need to be in the same room as a Wifi 6 router (The Smart Hub 2 is only Wifi 5, but the EE Smart Plus router is Wifi 6), have a fantastically good and expensive mesh system, or wait for wifi 7 to come out which will allow those faster speeds to stretch further around the home.

So outside of that room where the router and gaming setup is? You're not really going to notice any speed difference. I'm on 500mbps and the only thing it's really needed and nice for is for downloading games to my PS5.

With other devices, like my laptop? I hardly notice any difference from my older 150mbps connection unless I'm downloading a game from Steam and then it's downloading at like 120mbps because it's 2 walls away from the Smart Hub.

So if you want a fast connection, go ahead. Just please be aware it won't be this fast to all of your devices... especially if they are using wifi. You will be wasting a lot of money if you expect this.

I'm only saying this now because I've read many posts on here of those who took out a high speed connection, then wonder why they only get something like 20mbps on their wifi laptop in their bedroom, which is 1 floor up and 3 walls away from their Smart Hub. Then they begin to really panic because they think they have wasted their money.

So please just be aware of all the pitfalls in this need for speed.

[david39ni]

Never used bt own gear been using a netgear night hawk for years will be upgrading eventually to wifi 6

[pyrotenax]

Some of us have Wifi 7 throughout our homes already and looking for the extra speeds. 

As for options , it looks like April 1st (Fools day 🙄) onwards is looking good , albeit with no improvement in upload speeds.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/02/openreach-confirm-uk-launch-of-1-8gbps-and-1-2gbps-ftt...