BT Ultrafast fibre broadband

[SeanD]

Hi Everyone,

We are all very proud here at BT with the launch of Ultrafast broadband.  As this is such a new service and I am sure there are plenty of questions out there, I wanted to take this opportunity to create this thread giving all of you the ins and outs of this exciting new service, in one place.

What is BT Ultrafast fibre broadband?

Ultrafast Fibre is our latest fibre optic broadband. It delivers ultrafast download speeds of over 100Mb, letting everyone do everything they want online – all at the same time. Whatever you're streaming, downloading or watching, Ultrafast Fibre has the speed you need to connect with the things you care about.

How does Ultrafast work?

It's thanks to two different technologies: G.fast and Fibre To The Premises (FTTP). BT has been leading the world in G.fast. It lets us get amazingly high speeds from the same copper pipe that was originally used for voice calls. To put it in perspective, in terms of speed, voice calls use about 64kbits, while G.fast offers 330Mbps. With those speeds you could have a 4K TV running in every room of your house at the same time.

FTTP is an optical fibre almost as thin as a hair on your head that goes all the way to your home. In theory, that allows us to deliver unlimited speed to your premises. We have the largest FTTP network in the UK already, but plan to make it even bigger.

Can I get Ultrafast fibre?

It’s only available in a select number of homes at the moment. We're busy building the new network for Ultrafast, and expect 12 million homes will be able to get it by 2020. So keep trying or register your interest and we'll tell you when it's available at your home.  You can pop your details into our checker on BT.com to check if you can get this service now, just click on Check availability

I have FTTP, why can’t I have Ultrafast?

Ultrafast always comes with our Speed Guarantee. To ensure that our customers can benefit from these speeds reliably, even at peak times, we are investing in and upgrading our core network that connects your FTTP network back to the internet. Where we've rolled out our network, you can purchase Ultrafast 1 and 2. 

Why am I being offered Infinity option 3 and 4 and not Ultrafast 1 and 2?

For those areas where we are still in the process of upgrading our network, Infinity 3 and 4 will be available to purchase. We will let all customers know as soon as they are now ready to take Ultrafast 1 and 2.

Why cant I have Ultrasfast 2?

We only sell Ultrafast 2 where we are confident that the line will achieve higher than 152Mbps, so you get the speeds that you are paying for.  If your line speed cannot support Ultrafast 2 then you can still get Ultrafast 1, which comes with the UK's only ultrafast speed guarantee of 100Mbps.

What is the Ultrafast speed guarantee?

This is our promise that you'll get the download speeds you pay for – even at peak times – and never have to worry about things slowing down. It's the only UK broadband to offer a speed guarantee of 100Mb and the only UK broadband to give you an upload speed of 10Mb. We want you to feel confident Ultrafast won't let you down, so we’ll put our money where our mouth is. You can test your speed in My BT and claim £20 if it’s slower than it should be. 

How do I test my speed for the ultrafast speed guarantee?

The speed guarantee refers to the speed from the BT network to your BT Ultrafast Smart Hub. It doesn't cover the speed you receive from the hub to devices in your home.  To reliably test your speed, you must be using your BT Ultrafast Smart Hub and log in to My BT to use our broadband speed test. 

Here are a number of links which will direct you to more information;

More information and Availability checker

What is BT’s Ultrafast fibre broadband?

How is BT’s Ultrafast fibre broadband installed?

What is BT’s Ultrafast fibre broadband speed guarantee?

Cheers Sean

[NMcC]

Hello,

Will there be a list of rollout dates for cabinets yet to be upgraded?

"It's the only UK broadband to offer a speed guarantee of 100Mb and the only UK broadband to give you an upload speed of 10Mb."

Maybe a reading this wrong its either the g.fast service gives less than what I have now or its meaning a guaranteed 10Mb Upload?

[pippincp]

It means guaranteed minimum 100Mbps download and 10Mbps upload, even at peak times.

[Starwire2000]

G.Fast won’t be on the same scale as VDSL. In fact more people will end up with FTTP rather than G.Fast in my opinion.

Problem with G.Fast is BT/Openreach have decided to put the nodes on the side of the Copper PCP.

This is because the G.Fast Nodes won’t fit inside most existing Joint Boxes so in the trial areas they had to build new ones, which is time consuming and expensive.

Also sticking them on the side of the PCP means they don’t have to apply for Planning Permission.

I was speaking to a Survey Officer a few months back and he told me of the 50 PCP’s he surveyed locally only 5 were suitable for G.Fast. 6 more would be but only if the PCP’s in question had what they call a Deload/Reload. That’s basically where they completely rebuild the thing, which can cost upwards of £50,000 per PCP. The others he said were not at all suitable for it due to costs, PCP types and what types of D-Side Cabling was fed off the cabs.

So out of 50, 5 will probably get G.Fast. 6 might get it but it’ll cost upwards of £300,000 just to bring the PCP’s up to the quality needed and 39 stand no chance.

It would be better spending all the money on FTTP.

[conrad]

At the risk of being pedantic how is the G.Fast product going to be advertised as it is not fibre but is copper only. Presumably it is classed as an ultrafast product but won't have the guaranteed speed.

It will be interesting to see how it will be differentiated and its pricing structure - as I understand it the up to speeds on the bands being offered for fibre and G.Fast will be almost identical.

[pippincp]

The Ultrafast product will be sold as minimum download 100Mbps/10Mbps upload on either G.Fast or FTTP. By far the majority of Ultrafast will be FTTP customers.

[saltwafers]

Why is the guaranteed speed the same for both products, when in fact ULTRAFAST 2 (up tp 314 MBps) is or should be faster than ULTRAFAST 1 (up to 152 MBps) ?

Shouldn’t the guaranteed speed for ULTRAFAST 2 be more than ULTRAFAST 1 ?

[Starwire2000]

It should be faster, what they’re saying though it’ll supposedly never drop below 100mbps during peak times.....

[saltwafers]

Yeah, but... WHY CAN'T BT RAISE THE ULTRAFAST 2 GUARANTEED SPEED TO 200 MBPS?

Any BT tech or business guru willing to take on this question please? It seems fundamental and fair to me that the 'higher spec' product should have a 'higher guarantee'.

[pippincp]

It has nothing to do with BT. It is Openreach who stipulated 100Mbps as the minimum guaranteed speed for Ultrafast.

Perhaps to keep you happy BT could cut the Ultrafast 1 guarantee to 50Mbps. Would that do?