Alternative to virgin

Steveocee · 15 Oct 2018 at 16:35

Guy said:
G.Fast can do up to 330mbps via Openreach, with 660mbps coming soon.

G.Fast though is only being delivered to such a small minority of connected users, I'd be amazed if it was above 1% of connections. It's a fudge of BT trying to prolong the life of rubbish old copper rather than spending the money on replacing for a true fibre supply to the end user.

Guy · 15 Oct 2018 at 16:39

Steveocee said:
G.Fast though is only being delivered to such a small minority of connected users, I'd be amazed if it was above 1% of connections. It's a fudge of BT trying to prolong the life of rubbish old copper rather than spending the money on replacing for a true fibre supply to the end user.

It does take time to roll out new technology. It makes sense for them to make the most of their infrastructure. Anywhere they miss will no doubt be picked up by regionals putting their own fibre in or anyone who already has a large fibre presence.

MrRockliffe · 15 Oct 2018 at 18:08

Guy said:
G.Fast can do up to 330mbps via Openreach, with 660mbps coming soon.

Hence why "likely". G.Fast is available at such a limited number of premises.

Steveocee · 15 Oct 2018 at 18:15

Guy said:
It does take time to roll out new technology. It makes sense for them to make the most of their infrastructure. Anywhere they miss will no doubt be picked up by regionals putting their own fibre in or anyone who already has a large fibre presence.

BT have already committed to a stop sell of copper though so why would they continue to invest in a technology they will be killing? There is no denying fibre is the future and it's rubbish that we as a global leader in so many ways are being held back by a money hungry monopoly of a business.

james.miller · 15 Oct 2018 at 18:22

Guy said:
It does take time to roll out new technology. It makes sense for them to make the most of their infrastructure. Anywhere they miss will no doubt be picked up by regionals putting their own fibre in or anyone who already has a large fibre presence.

No kidding, I can't even get virgin yet.

old gamer · 18 Oct 2018 at 18:24

Got my call from virgin, offered my 50mb with phone for £24 fixed for 18 months with first month free, think I'm happy with that

Caged · 18 Oct 2018 at 21:45

Where abouts in Bristol are you? CityFibre have a network there, and Openreach are deploying FTTP.

BluD · 18 Oct 2018 at 22:10

I wish i could get Virgin in my area, £48 for 100mbit is cheaper than BT, they charge me £58 a month for their 80mbit package. I rang up a few years ago and said its too much and they put me down to £32/month for one year but the next year when i tried again they said they couldnt lower it under their standard package price.

Caged · 18 Oct 2018 at 22:11

You don't have to use BT as your provider. You have the option of using Plusnet, Vodafone, TalkTalk, Zen, Sky etc.

MissChief · 18 Oct 2018 at 22:31

BluD said:
I wish i could get Virgin in my area, £48 for 100mbit is cheaper than BT, they charge me £58 a month for their 80mbit package. I rang up a few years ago and said its too much and they put me down to £32/month for one year but the next year when i tried again they said they couldnt lower it under their standard package price.

So why didn't you change provider? You're a mug to pay that price when just about anyone else will do it for less. PlusNet and Talk Talk will be under £30 easily I'd have thought.

BluD · 20 Oct 2018 at 10:01

Every time i switched to another provider in the past the quality has been really poor, it put me off switching. Bt always gave me the highest speed and best latency. Maybe theyre better now, i havent switched for quite a few years but it was such a hassel switching in the past only to find the new ISP was aweful quality. At least with Virgin going through another line i could try it for a month or two while keeping BT and if it sucked i could just cancel it and carry on with BT.

ant1298 · 24 Oct 2018 at 12:19

I pay £40 for 350/15 with Virgin in the Cambs area. I also skip the price rise this year.

digitalwolf · 24 Oct 2018 at 12:23

BluD said:
I wish i could get Virgin in my area, £48 for 100mbit is cheaper than BT, they charge me £58 a month for their 80mbit package. I rang up a few years ago and said its too much and they put me down to £32/month for one year but the next year when i tried again they said they couldnt lower it under their standard package price.

If you're happy with BT and they won't drop the price, switch to PlusNet, they are BT - better customer service too.

Plusnet do Fibre Extra for £32 a month.

b0rn2sk8 · 24 Oct 2018 at 22:41

I have been in our current house for 5 years now and I have noticed no noticeable difference between BT, Plusnet and now TalkTalk other than my bank balance. Speeds and latency are identical, its the same line at the end of the day and I am paying less now for 'fibre' than I ever have. £25/month for 80/20 (well 62/20 real world). I think I got £50 Quidco cashback as a part of the switch too. It will go up to £30 at the end of the contract which is still lower than most of the market but I will try to switch again if there is a decent cashback deal going.

BluD · 25 Oct 2018 at 14:49

digitalwolf said:
If you're happy with BT and they won't drop the price, switch to PlusNet, they are BT - better customer service too.

Plusnet do Fibre Extra for £32 a month.

Thanyou, ill look into that.

edit: I just priced it up, i'll save £360 switching to plusnet for the 18 month contract then over £100 a year after that, thats madness, signing up as soon as my contract ends with BT.

digitalwolf · 26 Oct 2018 at 09:16

BluD said:
Thanyou, ill look into that.

edit: I just priced it up, i'll save £360 switching to plusnet for the 18 month contract then over £100 a year after that, thats madness, signing up as soon as my contract ends with BT.

Can usually get decent decent cashback via Topcashback and Quidco too going with PlusNet.

spicypixel · 27 Oct 2018 at 11:19

Guy said:
G.Fast can do up to 330mbps via Openreach, with 660mbps coming soon.

Source? Would be interested to know as my road got gfast a few months ago and was waiting for my existing FTTC contract to finish up to move...