Changing from superfast to ultrafast

[Amc99]

Hi, changing next week from superfast to ultrafast. New hub being sent out..Engineer coming out .  What exactly will they need to do?

[TimmyBGood]

@Amc99 

Is that Ultrafast (150Mbs), Ultrafast Plus (500Mbs) or Gigafast (900Mbs)?

[Amc99]

Ultrafast

[TimmyBGood]

@Amc99 

OK: Ultrafast (150Mbs) can be delivered two ways, either as G.fast (copper) or FTTP (optical).

For G.fast an Openreach installer fits a dedicated faceplate to the existing master phone socket and then tests the line to verify it is capable of the 100Mbs 'guaranteed' speed: the Sky Broadband Hub plugs into the data port on this faceplate.  G.fast itself is now being sidelined as a broadband product, but may be used in areas already provisioned with infrastructure for it.

For FTTP, a new optical bearer cable is required all the way to an outside wall of the address, which may involve pole work or ducting/digging by an Openreach team.  Another team then fusion-splices a fibre pigtail and brings this inside the property (often through a newly drilled hole) to a wall-mounted ONT ('fibre modem') to which the Sky Broadband Hub connects over ethernet cable.

Neither case actually involves a 'Sky engineer': the infrastructure work is all done by Openreach (or their subcontractors) and the Sky subscriber is expected to plug in their Sky Hub and configure their own WiFi.

[Amc99]

Hi,

So for FTTP , it doesn't need to be near phone line then?  The hub will not be plugged into phone socket?

[jamesn123]

@Amc99 

FTTP is a completely separate cable that comes into your home and wont always take the same route or terminate in the same place as your phone line/socket.

[Amc99]

Ok thanks.  It'll probably sit around the same place as current hub anyway which is in the hall and roughly at the "middle" of the house.