What to do about getting FTTP

[#1]

Thank you for that info. That is encouraging and I will certainly get back here if they are negative about the webspace.
I also have a static ip address for my server which I'd like to keep but understand that it will be ok.

Katie

[#2]

@Katie222 

If you do order FTTP do let us know how the install goes.

Brian

[#3]

I certainly will Brian. Just waiting for another job to get completed and then I'll get on with it.

[#4]

Hello all. I rang Plusnet early today and told them that I had got advice from people on the forum, that I have been with Plusnet since 2003 and that I wanted to upgrade to Full Fibre 145 providing the engineer would agree not to dig up my drive and that I keep my static IP address and free website.
All was agreed and then he said that he would upgrade me to Full Fibre 300 for the same monthly fee (was this because I mentioned the forum advice?) . I was delighted to accept the upgrade and went through with the upgrade. The engineer will be out in a couple of weeks & fingers crossed that all will be straightforward. I get a new router and will get help to get set up.
I will let you know how it goes after completed.
Thank you once again for your help.

Katie

[#5]

@Katie222 Which router do you currently have? You don't really need any help to set it up - all you do is use the supplied Ethernet cable between the Hub and the ONT - once plugged in and powered up it should set itself up automatically, but if you do have problems, you can always ask on here.

[#6]

Hi John - it's an Asus Wireless router RT-N66U which I have had for ages but works really well though it's on it's last legs. I have no problem with it regarding setting it up though the on/off switch is very temperamental so I don't touch it unless I have to. I thought that I may have to use the hub 2 router which plusnet are sending.

[#7]

@Katie222 I don't know how long you have had the ASUS, but it is quite old kit now and it sounds as though it is a bit dodgy. To be truthful, I would ditch it for the Hub2, which, as I said before, will auto-configure once connected up.

[#8]

I have no problem with it regarding setting it up though the on/off switch is very temperamental so I don't touch it unless I have to. I thought that I may have to use the hub 2 router which plusnet are sending.

@Katie222 as @jab1 says , the Asus is probably a bit long in the tooth now but it will work. Given that you currently have FTTC , I assume the Asus is connected to a modem (a BT Openreach modem perhaps?). In this case, there is no configuration change required to the Asus, you simply remove the modem and connect the cable, that was going to it from the Asus WAN port, directly to the ONT, job done!

edit: whilst the Asus is quite old, it does have hardware NAT I believe. So whilst normally a router of that age would give concerns regarding handling the throughput of the higher FTTP speeds, it may well be fine with a 300Mb product. Its a suck it & see ...

[#9]

Looking at several Google results of people doing firewall bandwidth tests using the RT-N66U,

that router appears to top out around 215Mbps from WAN to wired LAN.

So significantly better than being on FTTC, and better than the original expectation of being upgraded to 145Mbps,

but just not going to provide the full potential of the 300Mbps Plusnet package rating.

.

[#10]

@outcast Interesting, and to me, another good reason to substitute a more up-to-date router.

[#11]

It would be worth trying BOTH routers to see which "feels" like the best internet experience.

Yes the Plusnet Hub-2 will likely give the fastest wired speed test results,

but the old Asus probably has better WiFi (that @Katie222 says "works really well"),

also the Asus has QoS, so sacrificing a little top end speed for lower latency can make the internet feel more responsive,

especially if @Katie222  is using VoIP for landline, online gaming, or does any video calling.

If it was me, I'd do the FTTC to FTTP using the Asus, retune the QoS for the new speeds, and see how it goes,

knowing that the Hub-2 is on hand if needed due to any unexpected issues, or if the Asus fails.

.

[#12]

Also avoids the hassle of changing the SSID on every WiFi device ... though the WiFi SSID on the Hub Two could be changed to match the existing details.

[#13]

Just an additional observation about the Asus RT-N66U regarding WAN to LAN performance,

trawling Google results, there seems to be two different clusters of views on the achievable bandwidth.

There seems to be one cluster, being actual long time users who have upgraded their broadband connection to faster speeds, and many are asking whether there is anything that can be done about the RT-N66U running out of throughput around 215Mbps, looking for solutions such as changing to third party firmware, hardware acceleration, etc.  There are a lot of these reports, from different countries, and over many years.

The other cluster, are the original tech review sites, and computer magazine reviews, that say that their testing achieved 680Mbps.  I wonder if the review sites had some magic pre-release firmware to get good reviews ?

I can't see why there is such a big difference, maybe the same model number has various different internal electronics ?,

but is even more reason to stick with the RT-N66U and see how it goes - you might be lucky and get the full 300Mbps !.

.

[#14]

@outcast that sounds like the difference between having any hardware NAT enabled and not. Problem is that hardware NAT is incompatible with QoS, so I suspect its automatically disabled if QoS is used.

As an example , I currently use an mt7621 (dual 880Mhz core) based router running Openwrt. With h/w offload enabled it will cope with my 900Mb FTTP, disable h/w offload and it maxes out at around 300Mb.

[#15]

Thanks for all extra answers & info. I don't do much streaming at the ASus is at the other end of the house on a different floor.
I said wireless is good and it is as it serves my server, and about 10 other wireless devices. However, when I try to stream anything on the tv such as netflix, youtube etc. sometimes it works & sometimes the little wheel thing just goes round & round every 10 minutes. So I give up trying. I'm hoping that moving the router into the lounge that this will solve the problem.

Katie