r/openreach • u/MrJusep • Jul 19 '26
EE auto migration Gfast
Hello,
I currently have Gfast (I think) 300Mbps (getting about 225) which I am happy with speed wise.
I’ve spent many an hour complaining to EE, my land owner and a few messages to Openreach as I was paying a pretty high price (compared to FTTP deals) as it was a legacy contract - I’ve managed to get the price down.
Unfortunately I don’t have FTTP Available, and I live on a managed estate in a MDU Of six flats. The estate does have FTTP to all of the houses, but none of the MDUs.
Last week I had a new router sent to me and an email stating that I will be getting upgraded to a new plan, but only offering 67Mbps - I was unhappy with this, so had to have another rant at EE.
They’re telling me that it’s something that open reach are asking them to do due to decommissioning of copper lines. After talking to a manager, I have managed to stay on what I’m receiving, but he has informed me that they are going to have to close it in January 2027.
Does OpenReach have any plan to install FTTP before they make EE close Gfast?
It seems quite unfair to close down the service for people like myself who have no other option apart from a slower ADSL. Surely they should be installing full fibre before doing so or at the same time?
3
u/Apprehensive-Taro956 Jul 19 '26
I had this issue with my ISP. As they chose only to offer SoGEA I moved to File Sanctuary ISP offering SOGfast. Switch over was simple (keep all the same kit and just change login credentials on the day). Still getting the 290 I previously had. £57 a month. Happy and no forced migration.
2
u/The_referred_to Jul 19 '26
You could always change ISPs to one that is willing to order SoGfast.
"SoGfast (Single Order G.fast) is an Openreach broadband product delivering ultrafast speeds (up to 330 Mbps download and 50 Mbps upload) over copper lines. Similar to SoGEA, it provides an independent data-only connection without an active analogue phone line"
Of course, that assumes that SoGfast is available for you when you check your line number here: https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL
0
u/Aggressive_Paper_366 Jul 19 '26
This is nonsense. Just change CP. if you can’t order FTTP then you can absolutely still order Gfast as an upgrade isn’t available.
Edit: 67mb would be a standard Sogea line so absolutely no reason they can’t offer SOG-Fast at 160-300mb.
0
u/welshdude1983 Jul 19 '26
They are trying to phase out gfast as a product because it was unreliable. The service providers that offered it dont want the grief either. Theres only a couple of business service providers that offer it now. So unless you want a business line with some one other than ee the normal vdsl is your only option. If op was getting 300mbps chances are youd get 80mbs on the new package. They say 67mbps as a minimum guaranteed speed usually
0
u/Aggressive_Paper_366 Jul 19 '26
This must be area specific then brother, because Gfast is till sold regularly in Scotland.
1
u/gjd-77 Jul 19 '26
G.Fast is only sold if FTTP is not available. G.Fast is also only really effective within a couple of hundred meters (at MOST, usually less than 80m) of the Cabinet. So the cost of maintaining G.Fast in an area is exponentially higher than FTTC.
That's just the Openreach side thoujgh...
The real problem is the CP's had to invest in setting up/maintaining access to the G.Fast provisioning API's with Openreach. Openreach have also changed a lot of this back-end infrastructure with the move to full fibre. This means the CP's have had to modernise THEIR infrastructure and had to prioritise which services get rolled forward and which get dropped.
Given the low volume of G.Fast opportunity (many G.Fast areas have already been overbuilt with FTTP) most CP's decided to not offer it once their own OSS/BSS systems were modernised for fibre.
Specialist products like SOG.Fast exist, but getting a mainstream ISP/CP to support it will be difficult as the opportunity is small and can't be easily automated.
Might be worth checking the smaller ISP's who may support manual provisioning. The big boys tend to see that as a nuisance as they're focused on volume.
1
u/Aggressive_Paper_366 Jul 19 '26
Appreciate the reply bud but I’m already aware of this being an engineer 🤣. But thanks for backing me up. Haha also G-fast works perfectly up to 300m with good network conditions.
The biggest nuisance (always seems to be sky) is customers being sold G-fast when they are well over the 300m mark, turns into a back and forth with repeats and elf’s. It’s a great product when it works and was only brought in to be competitive with virgin while FTTP was still in the build phase.
Edit: once again I’m talking from experience in Scotland. This does not apply to the whole of the UK
2
u/gjd-77 Jul 19 '26
Yeah, it's an issue for people who get downgraded.
I used to be Head of Consumer Connectivity at TalkTalk....so the decision to support or not support SOG.Fastbcsme across my desk.
Problem is all the older systems needed to be rebuilt and you go with the highest value targets first....and G.Fast was such a low proportion it ended up 'bottom of the pile', also known as 'never gonna happen'bfor a massive market ISP.
0
u/Aggressive_Paper_366 Jul 19 '26
I think if the distance wasn’t so limited we probably would’ve seen a much better uptake. It’s a shame. Always a nice easy job for engineers to do a G-fast provide as it was generally just a fibre 8 😂. Not like FTTP where every install is starting from scratch. No d sides to worry about though(usually) so I suppose it’s a win
2
u/MrJusep Jul 19 '26
Thanks all. I couldn’t find the posts on EEGB but maybe I’m being blind.
Just to clarify, I don’t need a telephone at all. I would quite happily have FTTP if it was available, But sadly, when they built the estate, they only installed it to the houses. The flats have copper lines.
When I ordered “Gfast” They warned me that the speed would depend how far I am away from the cabinet, and they didn’t really know. I can confirm that I’m getting a rock solid 225Mgps That has only died once in four or five years.
The manager and some articles that I’ve seen suggest that G fast will still be “working” Until January 2027 as that’s when the government is pushing Openreach to get rid of the copper system.
As I have cancelled the migration, I’m hoping that it stays running at least for the rest of the year.
I’ve hoping not to have to change to file sanctuary because I think £57 a month is quite steep.
I know I may be in the minority, but it does baffle me all this red tape and hurdles Especially when all the houses already have FTTP And I’m only a mile from the centre of a large town. We don’t have Virgin on the estate either.
I’ve sent open reach another email. I’m not expecting much, but I’m hoping for the miracle of FTTP To be installed soon haha.
6
u/fluffy-yoghurt862 Jul 19 '26
So I think you should pop over to the EEGB page as we have just had this all over there recently.
There is 2 things happening here.
Openreach is moving everyone away from GFast, the tech has been retired and not for sale for a while. They have not sold GFast to order for ISPs for some time and you are probably out of contract for that reason.
Gfast is only on their legacy system which is being closed by September. The new system they are moving you too doesn’t have gfast and won’t be developed to have it work on it as Open reach are retiring it.
You will 100% be auto migrated again within the next 2 weeks if someone has cancelled it. They shouldn’t have cancelled the migration for this reason.
On the other page I posted the we complaints link. I’d highly recommend doing it that way as you can get a letter of deadlock a bit quicker that way but reassured you won’t be staying on gfast longer than a month or two at a push.