What is GFast Fibre Broadband?

October 15, 2020

GFast Fibre Broadband has been available to order in the UK for the past 18 months. It is the fastest copper based broadband service that is available from BT Openreach. It is second only in speed to, from a broadband perspective, Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) which can deliver 1Gb download speeds.

GFast is an improved version of Fibre Broadband (FTTC) and can deliver to your home up to 330mb download speeds. BT Openreach have been able to squeeze more bandwidth down existing copper based phone lines by adding a special pod into some local cabinets that improves the speed frequencies. This improvement of the frequencies enables more bandwidth to be delivered to the premises and allows users to get close to 330mb download speeds.

As with all copper based broadband services, your speed is dependant on how far you are from the cabinet and the BT local exchange. GFast users are typically located no more than 500 metres from their local cabinet. Only a select number of sites in the UK are enabled for GFast so it is not as common as you and I would like.

To check if you can receive GFast Fibre Broadband use our availability checker here – GFast Fibre Broadband Checker.

What speeds are available with GFast?

Standard Fibre Broadband has a maximum speed of 80mb download. GFast Fibre Broadband has two speed options above that:

GFast 160mb Download / 30mb Upload
GFast 330mb Download / 50mb Upload

Does GFast Fibre Broadband work on my existing phone line?

Yes. GFast Fibre Broadband will run on your existing phone line that is installed in your premises. If you wanted to have GFast installed in your premises with a brand new phone line then we can provide SoGFAST. SoGEA Fibre Broadband is short for Single Order Generic Ethernet Access and there is now a GFast version. We can install a SoGFast Fibre Broadband service that includes a dialling phone line (cannot make traditional calls on it) in any part of your premises.

How long does it take to install GFast?

GFast has the same lead time as standard Fibre Broadband – 10 working days. You can transfer your existing service to Gaming Broadband and whilst it is moving over, we can upgrade it to GFast if it is available. If you want a brand new service, the lead time is the same – 10 working days.

Where is GFast Available?

Unfortunately, GFast is hard to come by and is not as widely available as it should be. BT are aiming to have up to 10 million premises having access to GFast technologies by the end of 2020, currently it is only available to a few million premises across the UK. In order to check your premises, use our availability checker and you can also contact us on 0161 260 1337.

Why is GFast better for gaming?

Surprisingly, to have a good gaming connection, you dont need lots of bandwidth but you do need good latency and a low ping. You can read all about latency in one of our other blogs in more detail here – Latency Blog. Latency is the measurement of the response time from your device (PlayStation / Xbox / PC) to the gaming servers you are connecting too. All of our Fibre Broadband gaming services have low latency and this is great for our customers. However, more bandwidth helps in other ways:

Higher download speeds means you can download game updates quicker.
More bandwidth means there is more to share in the your premises with other devices.
Less congestion to deal with.
Extra bandwidth to have available at busy times of the day.
New technology at the local cabinet is much better for the integrity and reliability of the service.

Can I order GFast Fibre Broadband now?

Yes. You can contact us by email, our contact form or give us a ring on 0161 260 1337. Alternatively you can use our availability checker to find out exactly what Fibre Broadband services you can receive – GFast Fibre Broadband Checker.