My Positive Experience Upgrading to CityFibre FTTP: From Research to Installation

[JB-21]

I recently switched from an ISP I’d been with for many years to Vodafone Full Fibre and wanted to share my experience of receiving fantastic service throughout the whole process. While many posts on forums like this are negative, it's important to note that positive experiences do happen too! 😀

CityFibre contractors dug up my town around a year before I received my first invite to join them, my existing ISP contract had a few months left and whilst I’m happy to go with new tech, didn’t want to be the very first around here to have CF, to save me some of the teething pains.

This gave me plenty of time to research various ISPs, fibre installation and think about where I wanted the equipment and cable routing. My previous ISP said FTTP wasn’t available, it was, just their systems are broken and their customer service was atrocious, so decided it was time for a change. I’d read about CGNAT and needed to make sure my new ISP didn’t use that as I’m a bit of a techie (personally & professionally) so often play with new stuff and needed a proper Internet IP.

I found some info online comparing a number of ISPs, showing features and what backhaul capacity they had. I very nearly signed with a brand new, much smaller ISP, however they didn’t have the capacity, were sketchy about CGNAT and after speaking with the founder, I wasn’t convinced they would be the right choice for me so decided on Vodafone. The reason I choose VF was; price, size/capacity and after talking a couple of times to people on the chat, they were refreshingly honest and actually said when they didn’t know something (I was asking about CGNAT) but made an effort to find me the answer, rather than pushing me onto another dept like my old ISP does constantly.

I signed up via MoneySavingExpert (to get vouchers) in Feb and specifically choose an install date after April to avoid any price increase. I also wanted it to be close to my existing ISP contract expiry but with an overlap, so should I have any problems with the new service, I still had my existing connection should I need it.

I was concerned about the cable routing as I’d read some install engineers can be a little strict about health & safety and going into lofts, so did some prep-work before hand and was more than happy to install that part myself if needed.

During the run-up from Feb to April, I received a number of SMS messages and emails from CityFibre and Vodafone, they were over-communicating (in a good way), reminding me about the install, giving opportunities to re-arrange and providing information about the installation process.

For anyone that’s interested in how CityFibre do the install, here’s what happened on the day:

Install Notes

• Several days before my install date I received an email from DPD saying my router would be arriving the next day, and it did.
• On installation day, Kelly Communications (sub contractor) engineers used a long narrow spade to dig a small slot channel across the lawn and laid ducting between the demarcation box location (outside wall of house) and the purple ducting previously laid down in the street, terminating at my property edge.
• The Engineers were very accommodating to installing the ONT via or in my loft, even after saying I would happily install, they insisted to come up with me and help (despite a few water tanks blocking the way), meaning I could have the equipment in the optimum location for my property.
• They were impressed I had done some prep (draw wire through eves, cable clips and exact placement of ONT mounting screws).
• The Inside / Outside fibre cable they use has plug on both ends, so needs ~12mm hole through wall/eves to accommodate the plug. This connected between ONT and demarcation box outside. It was clipped neatly very close to a drain pipe (my preferred location) so almost hiding the fibre cable on the outside wall.
• They then used a air compressor and gun to blow/feed another thin fibre cable from a reel down the ducting to a street cabinet around the corner from my property. Both ends of this thin fibre also had plugs so there was no need for any splicing to be done for the installation. The remains of the reel not used underground were added to the demarcation box on outside of my wall, then joined with the outside / inside cable with a push connector in the box.
• Total time from arrival to finishing with a fully working broadband and telephone connection was ~1hr 20mins (two engineers with a bit of help from myself in prep, including installing router).

I had planned for the worst but was very happily surprised with the whole experience, I get ~7ms pings and full ~515Mbps up & down on my Fibre 500 plan. A quick online chat 24hrs later and I received my PPPoE credentials (so I can use my own router, once I'm happy with everything) and a few days later, I got my SIP credentials for a VoIP phone/adapter.

Can I tell the difference? Absolutely! I was previously getting ~65Mbps down and ~18Mbps up with pings around 33ms on my non-vodafone FTTC connection. Now, some of my aging equipment cannot cope with the speeds it’s so fast, newer equipment is perfect, great throughput speeds and generally more responsive. I’m using the same network & WiFi equipment as I was before, just now with a ONT and fibre line.

Overall, I couldn't have received better service. CityFibre, Kelly Communications and Vodafone get a very well-deserved 10/10 from me! I hope my experience and installation notes help others who are considering switching to FTTP and happy to answer any questions!?

[Ripshod]

"While many posts on forums like this are negative, it's important to note that positive experiences do happen too!"

The nature of forums is that most people only come to them when they have a problem. 

I'm so glad you've posted this. So refreshing 👍

[Cynric]

@JB-21Nice write-up and good to hear that it went well. Out of curiosity, were the holes drilled through your wall made at an angle sloping downwards away from the house so that any moisture/rain/condensation etc drains away to the outside?

[Jayach]

As the previous replies say, it is so good to have a positive write up. I'm sure it went so well because you bothered to do some research/preparation first. 😀

[JB-21 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the feedback. A previous manager taught me "fail to plan, plan to fail" which has carried over into my personal life! 😊

@Cynric I had fed a draw wire with an almost vertical drop down through the eves, the engineer had to widen the hole a little for the plug but should be okay regards water ingress. Is drilling angle a common issue with installs?

In case anyone is interested, CityFibre have just sent me a referral link, if you use https://refer.cityfibre.com/16egNx to signup with them, you (and I) both get a £25 Amazon or Paypal voucher after 30 days.

[Cynric]

@JB-21  I believe from reading some documentation from another company that these wall penetrating holes should slope away from the property. If I can find a link I'll update this thread.

[Cynric]

OK, I haven't time to search all day, but here's an example from NZ

https://www.buildmagazine.org.nz/index.php/articles/show/penetrations-through-existing-walls

and I also found this gem from OpenReach, which I think a lot of people will find interesting

https://www.openreach.com/building-developers-and-projects/fibre-for-developers/guides-and-handbooks