BT FTTP - using your own router?

Mister_Tad

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I'm currently on Zen's 300/50 FTTP service and have just come to the end of a fixed contract, and can in shopping around see BT's 500 and 900Mbit FTTP are available in my area (for less than I'm paying now, as a bonus)

I'd prefer to stay with Zen, don't mind paying a bit more for it either, but a bump from 300 to 900mbit is hard to ignore as well (actually, it's the bump from 55 to 110 upload that's most appealing)

Needing to use BT's own hardware (home hub, or whatever they call it) would be a deal breaker though. I'm currently using a USG-Pro and would upgrade to a UDM-Pro if I were to get a larger pipe.

Scanning T&Cs and any documentation I can find, I can't find any mention of this with BT.

Anyone able to shed any light?
 
Yes you can use your own router on BT's FTTP service. Setup any router with the following PPPoE login:

PPPoE username: [email protected]

PPPoE password: <blank>

if your device doesn't accept a blank pw, then use BT.

PS
I've also got Fibre 900 on order from BT, will be a nice jump from 330/50 :)
 
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Is that sanctioned? (assuming it's not "supported", but I can support my own kit)
Or is that like when I've previously used Sky, where you can find the details if you look for them, but it's explicitly not sanctioned in the T&Cs and they reserve the right to lock down to their own hardware?

I also don't want the fact I'm using something other than their home hub to be their get out of jail free card if I ever have any issues.

Have you ever experienced any shaping/slowdowns/throttling with BT?

I.e. uploads/downloads of several TB? I use offsite storage/backup quite heavily, and would use it even more with 100mbit upload.
 
Nope, no issues at all with using own hardware on BT. Loads of people already do this and unlike Sky, BT don't seem to mind. You're definitely not in breach of any t&c's by using your own kit on BT. But, understandably, for troubleshooting purposes BT would ask you to reconnect their own router so i wouldn't sell it on ebay.

No issues with throttling or line slowdowns with BT, get line speeds 24/7.
 
This is excellent to know - thanks.

I've still poked Zen to find out if they plan to offer any speedier packages, ideally with the full 220Mbit up, but 900/100 isn't a bad plan B.
 
EU net neutrality laws give the user the right to choose their terminal equipment. Ofcom reminded the mobile networks of this a couple of years ago pointing out that they couldn't legally stop people tethering or using mobile broadband routers.
 
This is excellent to know - thanks.

I've still poked Zen to find out if they plan to offer any speedier packages, ideally with the full 220Mbit up, but 900/100 isn't a bad plan B.
No worries. Can't see Zen selling the 1000/220 package anytime soon considering it costs considerably more than 1000/115 at wholesale level from Openreach & BT Wholesale. Cheapest 1000/220 at present is ÂŁ220/m from Cerberus. However.... BT Business should be selling 1000/220 soon (instead of 1000/115 like their Residential sibling does) and that should be priced around ÂŁ100-150/m.
 
Question - I'm planning on using my Asus AX88U router with BT FTTP.

Am I right in thinking that my existing VDSL modem can be stored away, and that I will be running an Ethernet cable directly from a new box on the wall, to one of the router ports? Does it still have to go in to the WAN port?

Oh and how long did the engineer visit take roughly? I've not actually seen anyone run any new cables on the telegraph poles yet and i'm next to a window which faces outside the front all day.
 
Question - I'm planning on using my Asus AX88U router with BT FTTP.

Am I right in thinking that my existing VDSL modem can be stored away, and that I will be running an Ethernet cable directly from a new box on the wall, to one of the router ports? Does it still have to go in to the WAN port?

Oh and how long did the engineer visit take roughly? I've not actually seen anyone run any new cables on the telegraph poles yet and i'm next to a window which faces outside the front all day.
Correct, no need for the VDSL modem on FTTP. You simply plug the standalone router into the ONT and setup a PPPoE connection on the router.

Wrt engineer visit, usually takes 1-2 hours to install FTTP ONT and cabling indoors but can be much longer if its a complicated install or even multiple visits, especially if your property is quite far from the nearest fibre DP.
 
Thanks

There's 2 telephone poles between here and the main road (where I did see them doing work a few weeks back), the actual cabinet isn't there, but they were under the road doing something.

As I say, I've not seen them replace the cables on the telephone poles yet, and there is also the problem that one of the poles where the lines come in from the main road is basically in a large tree (on the left of this photo)

20200722_145723.jpg
 
The phone pole on the far right of the photo above appears to have had something new connected to it, but not the one that actually connects to the road


20200722_153519.jpg
20200722_153628.jpg
 
Hi, Sorry to dredge up an old topic but google brought me here!

I just got BT FTTP today and was annoyed to see you can't split the SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz on the Smart Hub 2. I tried using the Smart Hub but I was having so many connection issues as I assume devices are switching bands, it kept asking me to log back into the WiFi (but doesn't require a password, just to hit connect then it reconnects)

Anyway, I have a TP Link AC1750 that I was using as a router with Virgin previously. So I have set up that as a PPPoE device and everything is working well! The only issue is, wired directly to the Smart Hub 2 I was getting 900Mb on ethernet (using BT wholesale tester), with the AC1750 I only get about 450Mb with the same PC and cable. Any idea why this is, the 1750 says it has Gigabit ports too?

TIA
 
Hi, Sorry to dredge up an old topic but google brought me here!

I just got BT FTTP today and was annoyed to see you can't split the SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz on the Smart Hub 2. I tried using the Smart Hub but I was having so many connection issues as I assume devices are switching bands, it kept asking me to log back into the WiFi (but doesn't require a password, just to hit connect then it reconnects)

Anyway, I have a TP Link AC1750 that I was using as a router with Virgin previously. So I have set up that as a PPPoE device and everything is working well! The only issue is, wired directly to the Smart Hub 2 I was getting 900Mb on ethernet (using BT wholesale tester), with the AC1750 I only get about 450Mb with the same PC and cable. Any idea why this is, the 1750 says it has Gigabit ports too?

TIA
Hey! Also sorry to dredge this up over a year later! I’m just wondering if you figured out why you had these problems? I’ve just got a TP Link Archer AX50/3000 off eBay, and have tried connecting it to the bt ONT modem thingy and can’t get the internet to work… I don’t really understand this whole PPPoE setting up stuff! I doubt you’ll see this but worth a shot haha!
 
I'm switching from Virgin to BT FTTP tormorrow and I'll be using the same router (a Linksys mesh). Do I just need to change the connection type to PPPoE and add the standard BT username and (any) password? Also can I leave my router with a 192.160.100.x address or do I need to change it to 192.168.1.x as per the BT router would use?
 
I'm switching from Virgin to BT FTTP tormorrow and I'll be using the same router (a Linksys mesh). Do I just need to change the connection type to PPPoE and add the standard BT username and (any) password? Also can I leave my router with a 192.160.100.x address or do I need to change it to 192.168.1.x as per the BT router would use?
Sounds about right, plus shouldn’t need to change the IP range.

Also need to set dome DNS servers, not sure you can use any, might have to be BTs own

This seems to cover the basics - A beginners guide to using a third party router with BT FTTP
 
Hi, Sorry to dredge up an old topic but google brought me here!

I just got BT FTTP today and was annoyed to see you can't split the SSID for 2.4GHz and 5GHz on the Smart Hub 2. I tried using the Smart Hub but I was having so many connection issues as I assume devices are switching bands, it kept asking me to log back into the WiFi (but doesn't require a password, just to hit connect then it reconnects)

Anyway, I have a TP Link AC1750 that I was using as a router with Virgin previously. So I have set up that as a PPPoE device and everything is working well! The only issue is, wired directly to the Smart Hub 2 I was getting 900Mb on ethernet (using BT wholesale tester), with the AC1750 I only get about 450Mb with the same PC and cable. Any idea why this is, the 1750 says it has Gigabit ports too?

TIA
I've been happily using my TP Link AC17xx with my BT FTTP (900mbps) for about 8 months. My laptop was ethernet wired via a TPLink powerline adapter and I was getting about 120MB download, which I was blaming on the powerline adapter. I finally tried my laptop wired direct to my TPLink router and found that the download remained low at ~120mb download. I then dug out my BT hub, switched over to it and connected my laptop direct to it. Immediately I got 750mb download. So I'll leave the BT hub connected for a while. Most of the time I'll always go via a powerline adapter and it won't make any difference. However I'm paying for 900mbps and as I only bought the TPLink 6 months before getting FTTP and it's wifi 6, I want to continue using it. If I find out what's causing it to be slow, I'll report back here.
 

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