FAQ

FTTP = Fibre to the Premise 
FTTH = Fibre to the Home 
FTTB = Fibre to the Building 

Essentially all the above acronyms and terms like Full Fibre mean the same thing which is where a fibre optic cable brings the internet / broadband right into your home or business.

It is the most reliable, fast and future proof broadband experience you can read much more on our about FTTP page. 

FTTC which stands for Fibre to the Cabinet is where the fibre optic cable only brings the internet / broadband to a street side cabinet like the one pictured below:

From this cabinet the internet / broadband is delivered the rest of the way to your home or business via old copper cables the further away you are from the cabinet the worst your experience will be unlike Full Fibre which brings the fibre optic cable right into your home or business. You can find out more here. 

This is very easy if your internet / broadband router connects to a traditional telephone socket either direct into the broadband port on the socket or using a microfilter splitter as pictured below

Then you do not have a Full Fibre connection but a copper-based connection which may be Fibre to the Cabinet or the even older ADSL where its copper all the way to the exchange.

Many broadband deals refer to Fibre on their marketing but most of the time it refers to Fibre to the cabinet or as we like to call it half fibre rather than Full Fibre. If your router connects to a separate white box that may have ‘PON’ written on it then you have Full Fibre. 

Ultrafast refers to a broadband service that can provide speeds of 300mbps or more as stated by Ofcom.

Ultrafast is often associated with Full Fibre broadband as it can support Ultrafast speeds. Other broadband technologies can also support Ultrafast speeds such as 5G and Virgin Media Cable. 

Superfast refers to a broadband service that can provide speeds of at least 30mbps though to 300mbps as stated by Ofcom.

It is usually associated with Fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) connections and known as ‘Superfast Fibre’ where as Full Fibre products are usually labelled as Ultrafast.  

It can be difficult to know sometimes if you are in an area that has or will soon be getting Full Fibre broadband and is one of the main reasons, I started this site.

Luckily you can now use our handy Get FTTP page and of course if your stuck send me a message! 

This depends on if a Full Fibre provider has built their network to service your home or business already if they have then typically installs are done in 7-14 working days.

If you are in an area where Full Fibre is being built but not live in your area this can take typically 2 years from the initial announcement and planning phase.

Registering early with the provider is a good shout as they will keep you up to date with the build, you will be one of the first in line to have it installed and you may get a good deal for pre-ordering! 

If you can get a Full Fibre connection in your area and at a cost that is the same or less than you pay for standard non full fibre broadband, then simple answer is yes why not!  

If you are struggling with your current internet connection, then a full fibre broadband connection is the answer as it can provide you with the speed and reliability that standard broadband cannot read our about FTTP page for much more on the many benefits of Full Fibre. 

Lots is the simple answer to this you can read more about this on our blog

Download speed is how fast you can get stuff from the internet this includes streaming, viewing web pages and downloading files. 

Upload speed refers to how fast you can send stuff to the internet which includes things like uploading images to Instagram, video calls, live streaming from your home and backing up documents to the cloud.
You can read more on upload speeds on our blog. 

These speeds are usually measured in mbps which stands for Megabits per second essentially the bigger the number the faster you can do things online, the more people your broadband can support and a better overall experience. 

To get a good idea of what your current internet speed you can do a speed test.

In order to get an accurate result its best to disconnect all other devices from the internet and plug a laptop/PC into your router using a network cable then go to a speed test site such as fast.com . 

When using fast.com once the download speed test has completed click show more at the bottom to do the upload speed test and see latency as shown below:

Latency is a measure of how long it takes for the data packets to get between your home and the server you’re connecting to.

The higher the latency the worst your overall internet experience as it creates a lag this is felt most in responsive sensitive applications such as online gaming and video calls.

Latency is measured in MS or Millie Seconds the higher the number the worst the latency. Full Fibre connections have the best latency due to the data travelling most of the way as light along the fibre optic cables

This is one of the biggest issues with transitioning to a Full Fibre service as even if you know its coming you may not know exactly when and end up getting stuck in a new contact or discover maybe though this site that you can get a Full Fibre connection but are stuck in a contact. 

First off, it’s worth checking if your current provider can offer a Full Fibre service in your area. 

Some Full Fibre internet providers offer to buy you out of your existing contract for example giving up to 6 months free service to soften the blow its worth discussing this with the provider your interested in switching to and see what they can offer.
 
Alternatively, you could try reasoning with your current internet provider saying how you are struggling with your current internet and say you really need a Full Fibre connection. 

If your current internet provider is due to increase its price of your service, you may be able to use this as a way of getting out of your contract early. 

In most cases yes although it does depend on the provider and how reasonable the request is in some cases you may have to pay an additional install fee to cover a non-standard install you can discuss this with your provider prior to install. 

Yes, research has shown that having a full fibre connection available at your home can increase your property value and chances of selling as many people have internet connectivity as one of their top priorities when looking for a home. 

In most cases yes you will need to discuss this with the provider before ordering for options.

The phone service will use VOIP which stands for Voice over Internet Protocol

Essentially it means the phone service runs over the internet digitally rather than traditional analogue phone lines and as the traditional phone landline is being retired in the next few years everyone will be on VOIP.

Having a phone service will usually increase the cost of the package by around £10 per month.

Essentially an Alt net is an alternative network to the big networks like Openreach and Virgin Media that dominate the market read much more on our blog post. 

This depends on who is building the network in your area. Some do dig up roads / pavements to build their own ducts such as City Fibre whereas others use existing Openreach ducts and poles such as Fibre Heroes.

Even if a company is using mainly existing infrastructure, it may still be necessary to dig some parts where say ducts have become full/damaged.

When using existing ducts and poles it may still be necessary to use traffic control measures such as temp lights or closing roads to allow them to safely build the network. Such disruption is kept to a minimum and in the long run will be worth it to get a Full Fibre service. 

In some cases, it is necessary for Fibre companies to build new poles, and this is usually a last resort.

Most common reason is where existing poles are full or where existing underground ducts are full or where existing telephone cables have been directly buried underground rather than using ducts to allow new cables to be installed.

You can read more about this on Fibre Heroes informative blog post.