Digital Voice and Reduced Broadband Speeed

[garybs29]

Yeah  in that casee you will still be migrated so will have to cancel/change supplier in future basically

[iniltous]

If you have had Gfast with PSTN (WLR) supposedly ordered or re-ordered when its known  that PSTN is finished in Jan 2027 and no new PSTN/WLR  orders have been carried out (short of exceptions to recover lost service ) since September 2023 , then I’d advise keeping an eye on your order with a high expectation that it will be cancelled by Openreach as arguably it should never have been raised in the first place , a SoGfast order is possible as Openreach haven’t stopped selling that , (that has no telephone facility) , it was only though to be an internal BT decision to stop selling SoGfast , not Openreach , so the ‘rumour’ BT were not selling SoGfast may have been wrong,  other providers were able to still offer SoGfast as OR haven’t stopped selling it yet , perhaps BT have reconsidered SoGfast .

From Openreach point of view, WLR3/PSTN which is what Gfast is , that’s a different matter , that’s not a BT decision can make , it’s their supplier’s decision..keep us appraised.

[loz8876]

so the ‘rumour’ BT were not selling SoGfast may have been wrong

do you happen to know if any of the current BT routers can support g.fast/sogfast? or if they're still supplying the Huawei MT992? 

The ISP i'm moving to only offered sogfast where I supply my own modem/router

None of the BT staff I've spoken to in the last couple of weeks offered a sogfast (but without any sort of phone service) solution. But then that could be a training problem

[iniltous]

TBH , you would need a current Gfast or SoGfast BT customer to answer that , Openreach had a Gfast modem option for ISPs , a little like some very early FTTC installations , in effect a two box installation, all early Gfast installations were managed, you got a engineer visit , as far as I know most ISP supplied Gfast compatible routers that made the OR modem unnecessary, this standalone OR modem is the thing OR have removed support for , and no longer supply for new work , so should someone have one and it develops a fault , it’s the ISP or customers problem depending on the arrangement the ISP makes with it’s customer, and new customers ISP will need to ensure their kit is compatible, all OR will maintain (for now) is the network equipment (Gfast pod on the copper cabinet etc ) the active components at the customer end are nothing to do with Openreach anymore even if it’s the OR branded modem that’s faulty , hence it something of a gamble an ISP offering SoGfast if a OR Gfast modem is required, that’s probably why the ISP you have contacted says to use your own supplied kit, moving the onus onto you .

If your idea is to join a competitor ISP and continue to use your BT router and or OR modem , that may work , BT may ask for their router back , the BT router may not work on someone else’s network , but clearly that’s not BT problem (apart from the potential charge for non return of the BT kit )
FWIW , if you are leaving BT and asking BT will this BT router work on a competitor ISP , then TBH , the response that you couldn’t really criticise should be ‘ that’s not BTs concern’.

As stated , it will be interesting to be told the outcome of the poster that apparently has a renewed or had a new Gfast contact supplied, as this seems counterintuitive.

As stated earlier, my understanding was BT and EE have unilaterally made the decision to remove Gfast and not offer SoGfast as it’s not possible to have BTDV with it , Openreach continue to sell SoGfast to ISP that want it ,but @cdownes  would suggest that understanding was incorrect unless they subsequently have their order cancelled .

[Gazzer58]

Just found this post. I'm in the same position.

I had Fibre 250 (about 280Mb downstream), was told being migrated to Digital voice (but the 2 emails contradicted each other, one saying 67-75Mb, the other saying my speed would remain the same), after migration, speed dropped from 280Mb to 79Mb.

Have raised a complaint based on their email saying my speed would be unaffected, no clear explanation of the impact or asking me whether I would be affected by a significant drop in speed. I said my 8K TV streaming  is now buffering, as this requires between 60-100Mb, and  without consent, they have changed my Fibre 250 contract, presumably to avoid the guaranteed 150Mb minimum speed breach!

Not sure if I've got this right,. but if I wanted to retain g.fast, do I simply have to dispense with my landline?

Crazy that in this age, we seem to be going backwards, and to get a 1G fibre broadband from Virgin, in order to mirror the existing BT capability (hybrid connect), I have to purchase a another router with mesh wifi nodes and 4G backup capability (Virgin don't offer an equivalent to Hybrid connect) costing around £350, but should payback in 8 months as the Virgin 1.1G service is £23 month vs the £62 I'm paying BT

[Nezbitten]

If you got access to fibre then go get it. ! 

[licquorice]

I've no idea why you think you would need a hybrid connect type device with full fibre. It's only required if you have a flakey copper connection.

[iniltous]

It may not be that simple to just remove the telephone service and be connected to SoGfast if BT/EE have removed SoGfast from their portfolio, joining a different ISP may be necessary…..should @cdownes  add another comment that would be helpful as they state they have had an order accepted by BT/EE for SoGfast.

[garybs29]

The comms statng a speed drop were the correct one. They'll have also mentioned cancelling without any charges. If speed is that important taking fibre elsewhere will be the solution

[Gazzer58]

Unfortunately, a number of my neighbours who had Virgin broadband (including fibre) recently went down for over 24 hours. The probability of broadband going down these days is low, but the impact in this internet enabled age of automated homes is extremely high (heating, solar/battery, cameras, doorbell, lighting, streaming etc), I'd rather have some form of alternative backup!