FTTH available at 2Gb in my area (Finally)... Who do I choose

lotas

Morning all.

So, a couple of years ago, (July 2019, https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2057994756/think-eir-are-running-fiber-around-our-estate) EIR/KN started running FTTH around my estate. It was listed as available to order in early 2020, which I did, and then was cancelled for some reason, and then all sites said I couldn't get FTTH... Anyway, long story short, its looking like it is now available in my area. The OpenEIR site says its available at upto 2Gb/s, and both Blacknight and Vodafone are showing it as available at 2Gb. So, my question is: Who do I go with?

Couple of notes:

* I am a very technical geek (multiple servers in house and out, run my own ASN with V4/V6 space and would be using Wireguard tonnes to get my IPs back to the house).

* this is a second connection, though now at 2Gb, will probably be "primary". Currently got 1Gb/50mb from Virgin Media Business

* Ideally would like at least 2 static IPs. Virgin give me a /29 (5 usable IPs from my end). Would like that as an option, even if it costs a bit more...

* NO CAPS!

* Business SLA (willing to pay for business class services)

Blacknight is offering 2Gb on a 6-month contract for around 80 ex vat. 99 ex vat for setup and 90 ex vat for a router (which they say I can use my own if I can accept a 2.5Gb/s hand off, so happy with that). They also mention static IPs available, and IPv4 and IPv6 too. Anyone confirm?

Vodafone are throwing in Always connected with their offering, their own modem, is 60 ex vat for 12 months on a 12 month contract and free setup. They do charge 75 ex vat for an SFP+ adapter if you want more than 1Gb/s (why the f**k is that not a standard option!!).

So, Anyone else? Anyone have any experiences with Blacknight or Vodafone for business connections?

lotas

Just been talking more with Blacknight, and they offer /29 IP ranges too...

KildareP

Would avoid Vodafone entirely from experience. Dreadful personal experiences across the board - sales, support, NOC, installations. At that pricepoint you're almost certainly going to be lumped in with residential support which is essentially L1 support only, is almost entirely offshored and they have no knowledge or visibility of what's happening on the ground. No good when you're trying to chase a fault and good luck trying to explain a static IP or an SFP+ adapter to them!

Also, their "Always Connected" option does not carry over the static IP when it's failed over to 4G so in your case you'll likely effectively be down anyway.

I'd be sticking with the likes of Blacknight, and if they offer 2Gb, Digiweb (Viatel), Magnet+ (effectively Airspeed/ENET now) or Airwire who know what's involved in the corporate world and haven't hacked their NOC and support teams back to the absolute bare minimum.

Gonzo

I think Blackknight and Vodafone are the only two providers offering 2 Gbps plans at the moment and you have to be in an OpenEir IFN area to get it. I would imagine that people wanting this plan will be few and far between until speeds of beyond 1 Gbps become more affordable and required.

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119149078#Comment_119149078

Aptus are offering this on the NBI network as well

lotas

So, the order has gone through with Blacknight. Ended up with 2Gb/s down and 200mb/s up, and they will hand off at 2.5GbE to my own PFSense box. They will also route the full /29 to that box too. so, happy days. Hopefully will find out tomorrow or Tuesday when they can install, and hopefully it wont be too long... fingers crossed...

ClonNGB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119151017#Comment_119151017

How did it go for you ? I have the VF 1Gb (rock solid tbf) and can get the 2Gb as per the eircode check, but am on the fence. I have a UDM PRO SE with 10Gb SFP+ connected to 10Gb switch so ready to use it.

LoGiE

I've a 2Gb connection with Vodafone provided over Open Eir backbone. I'm using a UDM PRO and normally get speeds of around 1850mbps/200mbps

I also have a static IP and use the VF Anytime connect sim in a U LTE Pro as a backup.

Very happy with it so far

Gonzo

I'd love to get the 2gb connection but OpenEir don't offer this on the rural FTTH connections as it is gpon. I wonder will we have to wait a few more years before speeds of greater than 1gb become available to us.

lotas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119497603#Comment_119497603

got it installed and works well. getting 1.9Gb down in some cases and 200Mb/s up a lot more often than i though. Its though Blacknight business, so its business class. got it handed off as standard ethernet connection, running into a small linux box with 4x2.5GbE nics and running RouterOS CHR on that. It hands off the static IPs from my /29 over that. Works like a charm!

KubaKLucan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119516795#Comment_119516795

Hi mate, sorry to be reviving an old thread. I just signed up for VF 2GB and also happen to have a udm pro. Though due to it being pppoe I don't get the full 2gbps. I was looking into getting a static ip and im wondering if i did would i not have to use pppoe anymore and would just be able to set the wan to static ip?

lotas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121782898#Comment_121782898

You will still need to connect over PPPoE. Only difference between static and non static is that the IP will be constant, and possibly you could get more IPs routed to you (in the case of Blacknight, i get a static IP on PPPoE connection, plus then a /29 routed to me too....).

In the case of perf on PPPoE on the UDM Pro, I went back to using the UDM for PPPoE and seems to be ok currently. Getting around 1.6-1.8Gb down on PPPoE with the built in speed test on the UDM. Cant complain too much, it seems to work well....

KeRbDoG

Random question, how are OpenEIR presenting the 2Gb connection? I think the genereic Huawei ONT I've seen with their 1Gb or less connections only has a 1Gbps RJ45 copper connection. Are they supplying SFP+ optics for use with your own devices or a SFP+ in a provided router? I ask as I have an itch to replace my ONT :D

Jasper1965

ONT has a 10GE copper Ethernet port

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121793723#Comment_121793723

Must not be the Huawei HG8010H ONT (link1/link2) as they seem to only have a 1Gb/s copper port.

Jasper1965

For XGS-PON the ONT is HN8010 and that ONT has a 10G LAN port

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121796756#Comment_121796756

Cool, looks like their documention states 1G LAN, Page8/9 - maybe a firmware update or some such?

EchoLife_HG8040H_HG8012H_HG8010H_GPON_Terminal.pdf

In other news, was checking for other FTTH provoiders which I could move to expecting that I'd still not be offered a 2Gb service (rural based OpenEir) but to my surprise I've been offered 2Gb services. So now very interested :D

Jasper1965

HG8010 - GPON - 1G LAN port

HN8910 - XGS-PON - 10G LAN port

These are 2 different ONTs

Gonzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121796892#Comment_121796892

You must be on an urban rollout somehow. Eir's rural rollout is GPON only and currently maxes out at 1 gig.

lotas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121807748#Comment_121807748

Im on Urban roll out (Tallaght in Dublin) and get 2Gb. at least with FTTH it looks like its only a change on the end points that need upgrading. the cable stays the same...

KeRbDoG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121807748#Comment_121807748

I got a bit ahead of myself :( OpenEir have two different service checkers; https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121798962/#Comment_121798962

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121808338#Comment_121808338

Yup, that's the joy/benefit of FTTH. When new technology comes along, they only need to upgrade the start/end point. Guess they aren't in a rush to upgrade the GPON cans rural areas which would usually be low uptake

Gonzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121811046#Comment_121811046

It will probably be years before they upgrade the rural FTTH areas for speeds greater than 1gig. As for retail Eir I don't think they have 2gig plans yet for anyone. The update of rural FTTH in my local road has been really good, so good that there are no ports available. Every house on my section of road is connected to FTTH at this point with nobody left on DSL.

It would be nice if they had other plans available with upload greater than 100.

KeRbDoG

As there is a drive to get rid of POTS/copper lines, guess they will push people over from *DSL services.

Great to hear good FTTH service pickup though