G.Fast upgrade from FTTC

[Forumcloud]

I have FTTC (overhead drop cable from pole, cabinet about 200m away as the crow flies) giving around 67mbps. I have the latest NTE5 master socket. The speed at the Smart Hub has been steadily increasing for a few months but over the last few days it has dropped off. I can't get FTTP yet. Under the 'My Offers' on My BT is an offer to upgrade to G.Fast (147up/25 down) for only £1/month extra. I am tempted. Given that FTTP is coming (I assume) and that, save for the dip in speed my existing FTTC service works fine, is it worth upgrading? I suppose what I am asking is whether or not those with actual experience of G.Fast can say whether or not it works well and provides a stable connection at better speeds than FTTC. Thanks for any help.

[-Richie-]

G.Fast is still FTTC, it's available to them who live closest to the cabinet, over distance the speed degrades which is why not too many can have it, best advice is go for the upgrade, if you're not happy to you can revert back within your 14 day cooling off period.

Personally for £1 more I'd go for it, I'll take all the bandwidth I can but that's my opinion and everyones circumstances are different 🙂

[Starman]

Might be worthwhile using the wholechecker below to see what the range of connection types and speed levels are available for your line. Just remember to remove and personal info -

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

[licquorice]

The downside is if you wish to use a third party modem/router rather than the supplied hub, your choice of devices will be extremely limited.

[Forumcloud]

Thanks. No need for that - I'd use the BT Smart Hub 2 which is part of the deal.

[JonMace]

Everyone has different experiences, Gfast for me was a nightmare. Had it twice (at the same location on same line) 1st time with Talk Talk, over a period of 6 months the speed got slower and slower until it was sown to about 40 mb with about 20 drop outs a day. So went back to fttc. A year later my company took over my account and went to BT so we trues Gfast again, with exactly the same results, luckily I then got fttp.

But your experience could be totally different. All I would say is that the OR engineers I spoke to (it was a lot) all said the Gfast is the least fault resistant of all the services. 

[Forumcloud]

Cabinet checker output attached as suggested. It looks like the download speed will be good but upload may suffer. 

[Forumcloud]

Very helpful. thanks. Sounds like it might be best to steer clear.

[JonMace]

As I say your experience could be completely different

[Leasty]

I've had G.Fast for over a year now and, other than a local cabinet power problem, it's been rock solid at 145/30Mbps. That's using either an Openreach modem (MT992?) with an Asus router or the BT Smarthub2. Mine is on an underground cable about 500m from the cabinet.

I've been offered a "free" upgrade to FTTP but thats only guaranteed to be 100Mbps so haven't bothered. Would have to re-contract for 24 months as well.