Fibre Broadband and DV again and acceptance.

[HHGTTG]

OK, I admit defeat and cannot put off the upgrade to Full Fibre BB and DV. For months now after many emails from BT/Openreach telling me that I am being upgraded, at no extra cost to this service and have received installation dates etc. Each time I have cancelled but it does not go away and so at last have relented and have now accepted that I have no option but to go ahead.
I now have an installation date of pm on July 14th.

When I look online at MyBT I see that the upgrade is to Fibre Essential (what speeds is this?)* and Digital Voice of course and for this my 700mins free calls disappears and temporarily I revert to Pay as you Go at 3p/Min! Obviously that will have to be rectified when the order is complete and DV is operational. The only package now seems to be Anytime Calls at about £15/month.
Also, I see in the open order, thus created nothing about sending me a Smart Hub 2. Of course, some people might know that I bought one of these a while back from Amazon but should I ask BT to send me one as they have only ever sent one Hub in over 12 years when I first switched from dial up to ADSL BB?

* I have of course researched Fibre Essential online whereupon it indicates speeds from roughly double what I currently have (18Mbps download)
Some advice and answers would be gratefully received by this anxious old git.

[chrisjp]

I don't think Fibre Essential is actually "full fibre". It's actually fibre to the (street) cabinet (FTTC) and, from there to your house, it uses your existing copper phone line.
Full fibre is fibre all the way to your premises (FTTP) and would offer much higher speeds than the 36Mbps download you are being offered with FTTC.
So this upgrade will be a hassle free affair, and doesn't require a visit from an Openreach engineer. You should be sent a SmartHub 2 and, when the changeover takes place, you just unplug your phone from the wall socket and plug it into the green socket on the back of the SH2. You'll then get an "interrupted" dial tone and this is because BT has helpfully (but potentially confusingly) left you a voicemail message on its system to "welcome you to BT digital voice". Key 1571 on your phone to listen to this message and delete it. You dial tone will then revert to normal.

[HHGTTG]

Thanks but this is what the Openreach email says though. 

"Hi, it's Openreach.

We've been instructed by BT/EE to move your broadband service to Full Fibre as part of the move to your Digital Voice home phone service.

Don't worry there will be no changes to your existing contract, terms or conditions, including pricing.

We've reserved you an appointment to complete the installation. Here are the details for our earliest available appointment:"

Also the BT Comms email says 

" Hello,

Openreach is upgrading your service to Full Fibre Broadband at no extra cost. You'll also move to a Digital Voice home phone service.

This is part of a wider digital broadband switchover happening across the UK.

You'll find all the details about your appointment below.

[HHGTTG]

And again email says
"What is Full Fibre?
Full Fibre, also known as FTTP (fibre to the premises), is built on the UK's most reliable broadband technology. It goes up to 25x faster than our standard fibre. There's no copper cable, it's fibre all the way to your home.

[licquorice]

Fibre essential is just a broadband package and can be delivered by any medium.

[gg30340]

With FTTP you can get exactly the same packages as you get with FTTC for the same prices.

Obviously you can also get far faster packages if you are prepared to pay for them.

[WSH]

You say you bought an SH2 from Amazon.  I wonder if it might be an idea to disconnect that and go back to your old router for the time being.  I have a suspicion that if they can see an SH2 in use on the connection they won't send you one but they will, at some point, expect you to send one back!

Anyone know if this is likely to be the case?

[HHGTTG]

My HH3 is defunct and that's why I replaced it. 

I'm not removing my SH2. In earlier attempts to persuade me to upgrade in March, I think,  a SH2 was ordered for me my cancelling this upgrade meant I did not get it.

[garybs29]

Fibre essential will be 36mb.

Also you will be staying on 700 mins they won't be changing the 700 mins until you renew not them making a change

[WSH]

@HHGTTG   Fair enough.  Just thought a bit of fore-warning might be useful.