What is BT Full Fibre Broadband?

BT Full Fibre is BT’s Fibre to the Home technology. This article walks through what full fibre is and how BT is leading the way in its rollout. 

What Exactly is BT’s Full Fibre Broadband?

BT Full Fibre is an advanced Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology that uses the Openreach fibre network. Openreach is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT, there are actually over 688 service providers that use the Openreach network, among them Sky, BT, Vodafone and TalkTalk.

Unlike the conventional Fibre to Cabinet (FTTC) connections, where fibre optic cables only run to the local street cabinet and the rest of the journey to your home is completed by copper cables, Full Fibre ensures that the fibre optic cable runs all the way to your home or business premises. This continuous fibre optic connection significantly reduces signal loss and latency issues associated with copper cables, delivering ultrafast and reliable broadband speeds that can keep pace with the increasingly digital demands of today’s world.

BT’s Full Fibre portfolio includes a range of packages designed to cater to varying internet needs, striking a balance between speed and affordability. These packages are Full Fibre 100, Full Fibre 300, Full Fibre 500, and the top-tier Full Fibre 900. Each package number represents the average download speed offered (in Mbps), though the actual speeds often surpass the advertised numbers.

Full Fibre 100, for example, provides speeds up to 150Mbps, more than enough to support streaming, gaming, and multiple devices for smaller households. On the other hand, Full Fibre 900, with speeds reaching up to 900Mbps, is perfect for larger households or businesses with extensive online activities and multiple simultaneous users.

The launch of these Full Fibre packages marks BT’s assertive entry into the ultrafast broadband market, rivalling long-standing players known for their high-speed offerings. But it’s not just about speed; BT Full Fibre also stands out for its robust performance and consistent speeds, even during peak times. This is possible thanks to the BT Stay Fast Guarantee, which ensures you receive the speeds you’ve been promised, or you’ll receive compensation.

By pioneering Full Fibre broadband, BT is reshaping the digital landscape of the UK. It’s a game-changing move that makes the dream of giga fast internet a reality for many, redefining expectations for speed, reliability, and quality in the broadband market. In the forthcoming sections, we’ll delve deeper into the workings of Full Fibre technology, its installation process, and the benefits that BT Full Fibre users can expect to reap.

BT Full Fibre Explained
Figure 1. Explanation of BT Full Fibre

Figure 1 explains BT Full Fibre succinctly. While the theoretical limits of copper are quite high (around 1 gigabit per second) the signal on copper cable internet deteriorates over time which slows down your broadband connection substantially.

Effectively, the longer the stretch of copper cable to your house (or office) the slower your broadband connection becomes. Fibre in contrast maintains the integrity of the signal even over long distances.

But for some time now it’s been a bit of a hybrid (see “traditional fibre” in Figure 1). Traditionally fibre has run from the local BT exchange to a street cabinet. It then transitions back to the copper before entering your house.

That slows the signal down in a similar way to traditional copper broadband. What makes BT’s Full Fibre different is that the fibre line runs directly from the local BT Exchange straight to your house. This is known as FTTH (Fibre to the Home).

 

The Journey of BT Full Fibre to Your Home

Understanding the journey of BT Full Fibre to your home helps appreciate the technological innovation and infrastructure involved in delivering this ultrafast, reliable broadband service.

  1. Starting at the Central Office: The journey begins at the central office where BT’s core network is housed. Here, data is transmitted over fibre optic cables, which carry information as pulses of light. This method of data transfer allows for significantly higher speeds and capacities compared to traditional copper cables.
  2. The Local Fibre Distribution Point: The fibre optic cables run from the central office to a local fibre distribution point, usually located within your neighbourhood. This distribution point is crucial in managing and directing the data traffic to individual homes within its vicinity.
  3. The Street Cabinet and CSP: Unlike other types of broadband that utilise a street cabinet to connect to the home, BT Full Fibre bypasses this step. Instead, the fibre optic cable runs directly from the local fibre distribution point to the Customer Splice Point (CSP) on the outside of your home.
  4. The ONT and BT Smart Hub: From the CSP, the fibre optic cable enters your home and connects to the Openreach Modem, also known as the Optical Network Terminal (ONT). This device converts the light signals from the fibre optic cable into electrical signals that your home devices can understand. The ONT is then connected to the BT Smart Hub via an Ethernet cable. This is the final step in the journey, bringing the ultrafast BT Full Fibre service directly to your devices.

This end-to-end fibre optic journey, from the central office to your home, provides the backbone for BT Full Fibre, ensuring a highly reliable, ultrafast broadband service for you to enjoy.

How Much Does BT Full Fibre Cost?

It depends on a number of things, not least the package you chose which currently comes with 3 distinct bandwidths Full Fibre 100 (around 150mpbs), Full Fibre 500 and Full Fibre 900. Prices do change over time. We’ve dedicated a page discussing BT’s full fibre pricing and the variations over time to give you a better picture of this.

ADSL, FTTC and FTTH

BT Full Fibre, also known as BT Fibre to the Home (FTTH), is a high-speed broadband service that harnesses fibre optics to deliver superfast internet directly to your home. Unlike traditional broadband services that use copper cables for at least a portion of the data journey, BT Full Fibre uses fibre optic cables throughout, from the local exchange to your premises.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) technology, one of the earliest forms of broadband, provides internet access by transmitting digital information via existing copper telephone lines. However, due to its reliance on ageing infrastructure, it often offers slower speeds, especially for users located further away from the telephone exchange.

FTTC (Fibre to the Cabinet) is a step up from ADSL. In this setup, fibre optic cables run from the telephone exchange to street cabinets, and then the existing copper lines are used to connect the cabinet to households. While VDSL offers significantly higher speeds than ADSL, the speed can still degrade with the distance between the home and the street cabinet.

The advent of FTTH (Fibre to the Home), also known as FTTP (Fibre to the Premises), has been a game-changer. It involves running fibre optic cables directly into your home or business. This technology offers the fastest and most reliable broadband service, as it is capable of handling high-bandwidth applications with ease, and isn’t subject to the same level of signal degradation over distance as copper-based technologies.

Among the providers of FTTH technology, BT Full Fibre stands out. Offering ultrafast and reliable broadband service, BT Full Fibre leverages the full potential of fibre optic technology. It ensures an exceptional online experience, whether for streaming high-definition content, playing data-intensive online games, or connecting multiple devices simultaneously. As we delve deeper into this guide, we will explore the specific advantages and setup of BT Full Fibre, giving you a comprehensive understanding of this revolutionary broadband technology.

Fibre optic cables work by transmitting data as pulses of light, which allows them to carry much more information at much higher speeds than traditional copper cables. BT Full Fibre can provide ultrafast download and upload speeds, significantly enhancing your online experience. This allows for smoother streaming, faster downloads, and better performance for online games. It also ensures reliable connectivity for multiple devices, a vital aspect in today’s connected households.

Furthermore, BT Full Fibre’s use of FTTH technology means that the service is not impacted by the distance between your home and the local telephone exchange, a factor that can significantly reduce speeds in ADSL and VDSL broadband services. In essence, with BT Full Fibre, you get a dedicated, direct line of high-speed internet right to your home.

Traditional broadband, known as Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), uses fibre optic cables to deliver data from the service provider to local street cabinets. From these cabinets, copper cables transmit the data the rest of the way to individual households. While fibre optic cables can handle massive amounts of data at high speeds, the copper cables used for the last stretch to homes limit the overall speed and stability of the connection.

FTTP, also known as Full Fibre, changes this by extending the fibre optic cables all the way from the service provider to the user’s home or business. This means that the data doesn’t have to switch from fibre optic to copper midway, eliminating the speed and reliability issues that copper cables can cause.

Fibre optic cables use light signals to transmit data, which is a faster and more efficient method of data transmission compared to the electrical signals used in copper cables. This allows for gigabit-level speeds that are several times faster than those achievable over copper cables. Furthermore, fibre optic cables are less prone to interference and signal degradation over long distances, providing a more stable and reliable connection.

FTTP’s capacity for higher speeds and greater reliability is a game-changer for broadband technology, offering unparalleled connectivity that can handle the most demanding online tasks. Whether you’re streaming ultra-high-definition content, gaming online, working from home, or running a server, BT’s Full Fibre broadband, powered by FTTP technology, is designed to provide the speed and stability you need.

What are the Benefits of BT Full Fibre?

Choosing BT Full Fibre ushers you into a realm of broadband that is far beyond conventional, creating a difference that you can experience in various aspects of your digital life. Here, we delve into some of the key advantages that make BT Full Fibre a compelling choice:

1. Higher download and upload speeds:

The central advantage of BT Full Fibre is the remarkably high download and upload speeds it delivers, dramatically enhancing your online experience. Whether you’re downloading large files, streaming 4K videos, or uploading your latest video blog, BT Full Fibre allows you to perform these tasks swiftly and seamlessly. With packages offering average speeds ranging from 100Mbps to 900Mbps, you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

2. Enhanced connectivity for multiple devices:

In today’s homes, the number of connected devices — from smartphones and laptops to smart TVs and home automation systems — has significantly increased. BT Full Fibre is well-equipped to handle this surge in connectivity demand. With its higher bandwidth, it enables multiple devices to be online simultaneously, without compromising the speed or quality of the connection.

3. Superior experience for online gaming and streaming:

For avid gamers and fans of streaming services, BT Full Fibre brings a notable improvement. Its ultrafast speeds reduce lag and buffering, providing a smooth and immersive gaming and streaming experience. Moreover, the high-speed connection facilitates quicker game downloads and supports high-definition streaming effortlessly, even during peak times.

4. Increased productivity for remote work and cloud-based applications:

The rise of remote work and the reliance on cloud-based applications require a reliable and robust internet connection. BT Full Fibre, with its high-speed, stable connection, enhances productivity by ensuring that video calls don’t freeze, files upload/download to the cloud swiftly, and online collaboration tools work efficiently.

5. Stay Fast Guarantee:

Beyond the technology and speed, BT Full Fibre’s service quality sets it apart. BT’s Stay Fast Guarantee promises that you’ll get the download speeds you were sold, and if your speed falls below the set threshold, BT offers you compensation, ensuring you get what you pay for.

By upgrading to BT Full Fibre, you’re not just stepping up to a faster broadband package; you’re opening the door to a new realm of digital possibilities that extend far beyond what conventional broadband can offer. With its superior speeds, reliability, and customer guarantees, BT Full Fibre presents a clear vision of the future of broadband technology today.

What is FTTP and How does it Relate to BT Full Fibre?

Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), the technology powering BT Full Fibre, is instrumental in transforming the internet connectivity landscape. Understanding FTTP requires first understanding the architecture of traditional broadband networks, which typically use a mix of fibre optic and copper cables.

Traditional broadband, known as Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), uses fibre optic cables to deliver data from the service provider to local street cabinets. From these cabinets, copper cables transmit the data the rest of the way to individual households. While fibre optic cables can handle massive amounts of data at high speeds, the copper cables used for the last stretch to homes limit the overall speed and stability of the connection.

FTTP, also known as Full Fibre, changes this by extending the fibre optic cables all the way from the service provider to the user’s home or business. This means that the data doesn’t have to switch from fibre optic to copper midway, eliminating the speed and reliability issues that copper cables can cause.

Fibre optic cables use light signals to transmit data, which is a faster and more efficient method of data transmission compared to the electrical signals used in copper cables. This allows for gigabit-level speeds that are several times faster than those achievable over copper cables. Furthermore, fibre optic cables are less prone to interference and signal degradation over long distances, providing a more stable and reliable connection.

FTTP’s capacity for higher speeds and greater reliability is a game-changer for broadband technology, offering unparalleled connectivity that can handle the most demanding online tasks. Whether you’re streaming ultra-high-definition content, gaming online, working from home, or running a server, BT’s Full Fibre broadband, powered by FTTP technology, is designed to provide the speed and stability you need.

FAQs on BT Fibre Broaband

BT Full Fibre is a broadband service from BT that provides an ultrafast and reliable internet connection by using fibre optic technology right up to your home.
BT offers three main Full Fibre packages: Full Fibre 100, Full Fibre 500, and Full Fibre 900. These differ primarily in their offered speeds.
BT Full Fibre uses Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, where fibre optic cables run directly from the exchange to your home. This direct fibre link allows for faster and more reliable internet connectivity.
With BT Full Fibre, users can experience significantly faster download and upload speeds, enabling seamless streaming, gaming, and multi-device connectivity. It’s also more reliable, which makes it beneficial for remote work and cloud-based applications.
A BT engineer will install BT Full Fibre. They will run a fibre optic cable directly to your property, replace the master phone socket, and install an Openreach modem (ONT) and the BT Smart Hub 2.
  1. The BT Smart Hub 2 is the router that comes with BT Full Fibre packages. It supports Wi-Fi 6 technology for faster speeds, better performance, and the ability to connect more devices simultaneously.

  2.  
  1. BT Full Fibre 100 offers average download speeds of 150Mbps, which is significantly faster than standard broadband speeds.

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  1. BT Full Fibre often provides faster and more reliable internet speeds compared to similar packages from other providers. However, factors such as pricing, customer service, and additional features should also be considered.

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BT Full Fibre typically costs more than standard broadband packages, but the increased expense is often offset by significantly improved speeds and reliability.
Yes, you can keep your existing landline number by using a Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service when you switch to BT Full Fibre.
  1. Yes, all BT Full Fibre packages offer unlimited usage, meaning you can use as much data as you like each month without worrying about data limits or extra charges.

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The installation of BT Full Fibre typically takes around four hours and needs to be done by a BT engineer.
The main equipment for BT Full Fibre includes an Openreach modem (ONT) and the BT Smart Hub 2, both of which will be installed by a BT engineer during the setup process.
You can check the availability of BT Full Fibre in your area by using the availability checker tool on the BT website.
Yes, provided that BT Full Fibre is available in your area, you can upgrade from your current BT Broadband package.
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