Thinking of joining - but confused!

[russguk]

Hi all, 

First off, I'm new to the VF forum so Hello. 

I've just come out of contract with TalkTalk and looking around for an alternative broadband provider. With TalkTalk I was on their "up to 38Mbps" package but probably got slightly better speeds than that (around 40Mbps possibly). I have been considering the VF Superfast 2 package but, prior to signing up, I started a webchat to clarify speeds:

Advisor 1 : We estimate your broadband service will deliver download speeds ranging between 36.8Mbps - 56.6Mbps. Openreach confirms a minimum download speed of 32Mbps.
This means you can get superfast 1 as well as the pro and pro Xtra packages! Would you like to hear more about those?

Russ : I was looking at the Superfast 2 package, would Superfast 1 not be lower speeds (ie 35Mbps)?

Advisor 1 :It would be, as your speeds will only hit 56.6mbps, you'd only be able to have superfast 1.

Russ : So would that tie me 35Mbps max?

Advisor 1 :So it would average at 35mbps

Russ : Sorry, I'm confused! So if I went with Superfast 1, could I still get speeds up to 56.6?

Advisor 1: It could go up to that yep! But will average around 35mbps.

Just to clear that up, I started another webchat later on with a different advisor. Whilst they were condescending in their replies, they also said that I could get Superfast 2:

Advisor 2 : Okay, bear with me while I check that for you

Advisor 2 : Yeah, as we have have explained. The website is letting you pick the superfast 2 but we would only be able to offer you the supefast 1 because you can't hit the average of the superfast 2...

Advisor 2 : It sounds like that made sense to you when we have explained it previously?

Russ : I thought SF1 had a max of 35mbps, is that not the case?

Advisor 2 : No, as they explained. It has an average of 35mbp but it won't cut you off at that level. It will let you get the maximum the line can provide

Russ : Right, OK. I'm just rying to get the best connection possible and don't want to get tied in to a 2 year contract with something which wouldnt suffice

Advisor 2 : Let me just try to see if it will let me order the superfast 2

Advisor 2 : Yeah, so I just checked.
Here are the exact line details for that address.
you can get up to 56.6 Mbps download speed
Download speed
36.8 Mbps to 56.6 Mbps
Minimum guaranteed
32 Mbps
Upload speed
7.2 Mbps to 11.9 Mbps

Advisor 2 : It will let me add superfast 2 to the basket on my system. So you could go for that one. It will make sure that you are getting the maximum possible out of the line. 

Russ : Would SF2 offer me any benefit over SF1 if SF1 will allow me the maximum my line would allow?

Advisor 2 : Get the superfast 2

... And that is how that chat was ended!

So, my first question! Which package would people sign up for?

And question 2. Wifi is important to me as there are a couple of my offspring who like to complain when playing on their gaming consoles 😂. Is the VF hub decent? 

[Cynric]

SF1. You will be paying for a service that they cannot reliably deliver if you choose SF2. Meanwhile use this line test

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

and read the second line "VDSL Range B (Impacted)" for your line capacity. Also lower down is a section called "Observed Speeds" and see what it thinks, but the day-to-day (hour-by-hour) experience is likely to vary which is why they keep saying "average".

[Jayach]

If you could paste the results from the link @Cynric posted it would help, but you have to understand that it's not like turning a tap on and off. Superfast2 is capable of higher speeds that Superfast1 but only if the line can provide it.

Unfortunately knowing the speed each line is capable of is dependant on many things and I can understand why they are hesitant of selling you Superfast2 as you may only get slightly more than Superfast1 and then be an unhappy customer.

[russguk]

 

These are what I got for my address. It didn't recognise my phone number (saying it wasn't a BT line) 

[Jayach]

So you could expect somewhere between 40-63 Mbps sync. Download speeds will always be 5-10% lower.
Unfortunately the address result are a little less reliable than the phone number ones.

Unless you have a vey poor line it is reasonable to expect the sync speed to be at the upper end of that range.

I'm pretty sure your line will be capped if you go with Superfast1, despite what the chat operators say.

I know you asked about the router, I find the WiFi capability fine for me, but many seem to have problems so that may be a deal breaker. They will try to sell you Pro but the costs of that seem prohibitive to me. Better to spend the money on a decent router.

If you do decide to take the chance, better to go via a comparison site, such as MSE, as there are Vouchers available at the moment.

[russguk]

Thanks, that is my concern with the capping really. I understand that if I sign up for SF2 I won't acheive the speeds advertised BUT if I go for SF1 and end up being capped then I'm not going to be happy for the next 2 years :D.

The way I read how it was explained to me on the webchats (and I'm no expert on these things, as you can probably tell!), whichever package I sign up for I will get up to 56Mbps - but will I really with SF1?

[Jayach]

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@russguk wrote:

The way I read how it was explained to me on the webchats (and I'm no expert on these things, as you can probably tell!), whichever package I sign up for I will get up to 56Mbps - but will I really with SF1?

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I would definitely say no. I mean if it were true why would anybody go for SF2.