Re: What is the future?

[Nick B.]

On 20/05/2021 10:47, Anthony R. Gold wrote:
> On Thu, 20 May 2021 10:45:28 +0100, "Anthony R. Gold"
> <not-fo...@ahjg.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> What is the future for laacy ISPs like A&A who currently sell DSL and VDSL
>> services via the Openreach FTTC infrastructure? My local area is now being
>> fibred by Hyperoptic and G.Network. I'd really like to keep my current AAISP
>> /27 netblock but enjoy it at Gbps speeds. Is there any plan for Openreach to
>> expand to FTTP or for A&A to provide services over Hyperoptic or G.Network?
>
> laacy > legacy
>

Around these parts they have rolled out (overhead) FTTP. A&A are showing
availability with Home::1 speeds of 80Mb/s down and 20Mb/s up but I've
not checked to see what's available from competitors though.

[Theo]

Anthony R. Gold <not-fo...@ahjg.co.uk> wrote:

> Who are "they"? 80/20 Mbps is VDSL and so would be delivered as FTTC via a
> BT exchange and then an Openreach fibre.

AA say: "We offer both the slower ADSL services and the faster VDSL (fibre
to the cabinet) services, FTTP and G.FAST services where available."

80/20 is one of the tiers of FTTP, and that's what they offer when I search
for a property with FTTP (at £40/month). If I go through the ordering steps
it offers 160/30 for an extra £10 a month. Those are the main tiers of
Openreach FTTP (which is not gigabit unless you pay eyewatering prices -
there is a 330Mbps tier at a substantial hike, which AA don't list).

Most non-Openreach FTTP providers don't support third party ISPs using their
infrastructure, so it's not surprising that AA don't offer service over
Gigaclear, Hyperoptic, Virgin Media FTTP, Wightfibre or whoever.

Theo

[Kim Wall]

On 04/06/2021 15:34, Anthony R. Gold wrote:
> That doesn't sound right. 80/20, as an asymmetric rate service, is only
> required when the final link is over a copper pair from a DSLAM. ISTM any
> FTTP service, regardless of how the speed might be throttled for commercial
> reasons, would have symmetrical up/down rates.

AIUI, some of the FTTP services being rolled out share an optical path
with a number of customers, with the upstream connection being
time-division multiplexed. Hence asymmetric.


Kim.
--

[Theo]

Yes, that's the way Openreach are deploying FTTP. GPON is a passive optical
network and all the subscribers in (eg) a street are on the same shared
medium.

https://vimeo.com/525110308
shows how the network is constructed, if you're interested.

Openreach's FTTP speed tiers AIUI were:

0.5/0.5 (purely for voice landline replacement where no extant copper)
40/10 (low cost tier - drop in replacement for FTTC)
80/20
160/30
330/50

It appears you can now order[1]:

115/20
220/30
550/75
1000/115

but at no point do they offer symmetric data upload.

One other option, if you take your connection from Hyperoptic or whoever, AA
offer a way you can essentially run a VPN over that and emerge onto
AA's network. But it will cost you:
https://www.aa.net.uk/broadband/l2tp-service/

Theo

[1] https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/09/openreach-prices-new-uk-consumer-550mbps-and-1gbps-fttp-tiers.html