What's the difference between Superfast 1 and Superfast 2?

[petezx9]

If I use the Broadband plans availability checker. I get given the option of 2 plans...Superfast 1 and Superfast 2 at £1pcm more. However, on those 2 options the quoted availabale speeds are exactly the same.

32.2 mbps download speed guarantee with a download speed range of 35.7 - 37.5.

All the same for Superfast 1 and Superfast 2.

Sso what's the difference in the plan?Different or the same

[HappyNomad]

Post edited out.

[Jayach]

They still haven't moderated your picture yet, but it may be that due to the distance you are from your cabinet you can't get more from Superfast 2 than you can from Superfast 1.

What does Openreach think your line is capable of:: BT Broadband (btwholesale.com)

Were you previously with another supplier at this address, and what did you get with then?

[petezx9]

I was with Plusnet getting about 38-40 sync'd on their standard VDSL. The BT BB availability checker says VDSL Range A high rate of 47.7 and Range B high of 46.2.

The reason I asked the question is that I have actually just switched to VF's Superfast 2 on Wednesday and the VF router says I am sync'd at 40 so I am not getting anything like what I thought and am getting what I thought I'd get if I had chosen Superfast 1 but I went for SF2 as it was only a £1 pcm more for the extra speed.

So if what I paid for is not actually possible then clearly something somewhere is wrong.

[Jayach]

Unfortunately you can only get what your line is capable of. No one can give you more. The modem chipset and a couple of other things can make a difference, but at the end of the day you are limited by physical constraints of the technology. I find it amazing that we can transmit digital data at the rates we do over lines that were designed to carry analogue voice..

[asodiq]

So, there's no paying extra for a higher grade when your line dones't have the capacity but it looks like that particualr customer's line was capable of getting the higher speeds with a diferent company previously. I'm also on Suoperfast 2 and want to make sure I'm getting the high speeds. Otherwise, I will be reconsideruiing staying with Vodafone.

[Cynric]

@asodiq  I think you have answered your own question. FTTC can only be as fast as the physical line can deliver from the green box in the street. There are on-line speed availability tests, notably the BT one already mentioned in this thread. Just because another ISP shows a different speed availability it does not mean that the advertised speed will be achieved because these are only estimates. When you sign-up the ISP will provide an approximate speed range figure and a minimum acceptable speed as well.

[Jayach]

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@asodiq wrote:

So, there's no paying extra for a higher grade when your line dones't have the capacity but it looks like that particualr customer's line was capable of getting the higher speeds with a diferent company previously. 

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To be honest, the speeds they said they got with PlusNet were not much different to Vodafone.

Some modems can match the cabinet equipment better than others. That is probably the reason for the small difference in reported speeds.

On a good line, Vodafone is as good as any other ISP. My stats:

Line Quality

  Downstream Upstream

Current Rate	79999 kbps	20000 kbps
Maximum Rate	82585 kbps	26411 kbps
Signal-to-Noise Ratio	4.3 dB	9.7 dB
Attenuation	DS1 9.2 dB, DS2 22.6 dB, DS3 35.4 dB	US0 2.1 dB, US1 15.6 dB, US2 25.5 dB
Power	12.7 dBm	4.6 dBm