Upgrading to Full Fibre

[#1]

Having mulled over upgrading to full fibre for several weeks we've come to the conclusion that staying with our Plusnet FTTC fibre & landline until our contract expires in May 2024 & then leaving Plusnet & going to BT will be the best option.

Our reason being that we will want to keep our existing landline number without having to mess about with a 3rd party VOIP provider.

As I understand it BT will provide full fibre & a VOIP service where we can use the phone socket on the BT Hub 2 router.

By May 2024 we'll have been with Plusnet for 10 trouble-free years & we find it incomprehensible why they don't offer VOIP & a working router phone socket with their full fibre packages.

[#2]

UPDATE: BT have confirmed that they will provide full fibre with their Digital Voice (VOIP) facility & we can plug our cordless DECT phone base station into the BT Hub 2 router socket & we're good to go.

Therefore, if Plusnet continue to not offer the same facility we'll be move to BT in May 2024.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

@caravanj 

What you must realise is that this is not a 'Plusnet' decision. Plusnet are part of the BT Retail group, consisting ff the BT, EE and Plusnet ISP brands. The corporate decision is that Plusnet is to become a 'Broadband' (a misnomer meaning Internet access over FTTC or FTTP) only supplier. The other two will provide the full service option.

BT is not the only option when it comes to moving to a combined Internet and VoIP phone provider.

Moderator's Note

This topic has been moved from Full Fibre to Plusnet Feedback

[#4]

@caravanj 

As I understand it you can move to BT when ever you like - PN will not charge early termination fees. Just contact PN first and get them to set it up.

Brian

[#5]

@Baldrick1 @bmc 

Thanks for your replies.

You've confirmed what we'll probably do & although there are other providers BT are our first choice at present but there's no harm in looking at the others.

[#6]

I also wish to upgrade to full fibre, but when I put my postcode in on the availability checker on the Cityfibre website (as they are building the infrastructure in my area) is says that they are still building the network in my area.

I believe they started working in my area around springtime. There aren't any roadworks in my immediate area anymore, but there has been and there are still works related to Cityfibre going on in other parts of town near me.

My concern is that my contract with Plusnet ends soon (26th November), and I have no idea whether or not I will be able to upgrade to full fibre by then - but it will definitely be available to me fairly soon and I really don't want to renew my contract and be stuck on FTTC for another 18 months! However if I let my contract expire, my monthly charge will almost double from £30 to £54 (rounded to the nearest £) and I don't want that to happen either!

So if I do renew my contract now, will I still be able to immediately switch to FTTH with Plusnet as soon as it becomes available at my address, or will I have to wait until my renewed contract expires before I can upgrade?

[#7]

@Hickmania 

You are between a rock and a hard place. You can swap mid contract between FTTC and Openreach full fibre. However City Fibre are a different company so you will need to leave Plusnet and pay cancellation charges to move to them.

[#8]

@Hickmania 

When CityFibre did my estate they ran their "backbone" fibre round the main road and then installed a small cabinet near the end of each side street. From there they used OR ducts to each underground chamber where the ducts sit and wait for customers.

If the green cabinet has been installed then it shouldn't be too long. No cabinet then you're waiting a while.

Brian

[#9]

Thanks Brian. I can't say I've noticed any green cabinets about the place, but obviously I haven't really been looking for them! 😅 I'll have a wander around the estate tomorrow morning and see if I can see any.

[#10]

@Hickmania 

No need to check your estate - just your street. A new cabinet will have a new tarmac covered trench to it.

Brian

[#11]

Well my street only has a block of flats and a row of terraced houses in it - it's only about 60 metres long, so I guess it's possible that they might run it off a cabinet in the adjoining street to mine!?

[#12]

@Hickmania 

I have to say that we've found upgrading to full fibre a less than inspiring experience.

Until now all providers have been able to offer virtually the same services but we've found that, in our area, BT is the only provider that offers integrated full fibre & digital voice.

All the others would involve a 3rd party VOIP service which is why we'll move to BT.

Have Openreach not brought full fibre to your area yet?

Anyway, to answer your question, personally I would contact Cityfibre & get a date, or estimate, for when they can provide you with full fibre & if it's imminent or within a few months I'd let my Plusnet contract expire & pay the increased monthly cost until you move to Cityfibre. 

I.e. It'd be cheaper to pay the £54 per month for a few months than to pay a 12 month contract termination fee. 

[#13]

@caravanj 

The VOIP thing doesn't bother me at all - I've never used my landline phone to make calls because they are free from my mobile, and regarding incoming calls - only my parents and brother know my home phone number, and they can still get hold of me on either my personal or work mobile numbers!

But no, there's no Openreach full fibre in my area and I don't see it coming anytime soon.

[#14]

@bmc 

There is one of these at each end of my street. Is this what they look like?

[#15]

Ah... Answering my own question - I've just checked my street in Google Maps streetview, and those cabinets aren't there! The streetview photo was taken in April 2022 so the cabinets must be fairly recent and therefore probably are for Cityfibre