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
