Vodafone offering 2000Mbps

LoGiE

Was looking at Vodafone this morning and found this. I didn't know they offered these speeds.

heavydawson

Siro and NBI have been rolling out the backhaul 2gbps wholesale products for the last few months, so the operators are finally rolling these out:

https://siro.ie/news-and-insights/why-2-gigabit-broadband-will-become-the-norm-sooner-than-you-expect/

https://nbi.ie/news/events/2022/01/26/national-broadband-ireland-launches-new-2-gigabit-per-second-high-speed-fibre-broadband-offering/

There are a few others offering 2gbps:

https://aptus.ie/fibre-nbi/

https://www.mts.ie/

By the end of the year I'd expect most of the Siro/NBI resellers to be offering a 2Ggbps product of some form

Gonzo

looks like 2Gbps is now available on Siro and Eir Urban FTTH as well as NBI. This will never be available on Eir rural FTTH unless Eir eventually upgrade beyond gpon which is limited to max 1Gbps and I doubt they are in a hurry to do so.

505315

I currently have a 1Gbps line with Vodafone on SIRO. I live in Portlaoise where we now have both SIRO and openEIR providing FTTH services. Apparently openEIR are the only ones offering the 2Gbps service in the area and when I called to get an upgrade to the new 2Gbps line seeing as I have openEIR fibre outside my door, I wasn't expecting any issues with it. I knew they would have to do a bit of drilling to get the new line to the house but that was fine by me. I called the upgrade team and I got an upgrade for €60 a month which is steep but not bad considering the service especially when compared to the likes of Virgin Media. I was told to expect a text with an appointment in the next week or so. Got a call back 2 days later saying they can't install a second line at a property that already has SIRO installed. That seemed like a load of BS to me as my neighbours next door that are still on Virgin Media and never got SIRO could get the 2Gbps plan on the openEIR network no problem but I couldn't because I already had SIRO. Tried to argue with them for a while but to no avail. If anybody actually manages to get the package what's the new router like? They're only offering the new Gigabox+ with WiFi 6 on the 2000Mbps plan. Turns out the router actually supports up to 10gbps WAN which is actually really incredible considering its not cheap to have a 10GBASE-T port on an ISP provided modem/router combo device. Also called another ISP providing the 2Gbps plan called RuralWifi but it would cost €75 a month and about €150 in set-up costs which was a bit rich for my blood but if the reviews of the ISP are anything to go by their customer service team is top notch and actually have some knowledge of networking rather than the robotic trained CS staff Vodafone have. Guess I have no choice but to wait until SIRO roll out 2Gbps in Portlaoise as well which nobody seems to know when it'll get done.

https://n.vodafone.ie/content/dam/gowingmyself/pdfs/GigaboxPlus-Quick-Start-Guide.pdf

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119087911#Comment_119087911

The 10gbps WAN isn't that surprising. There'll be another wave of speed upgrade in 2 or so years beyond the limits of 2.5gbe port, so 10 gbps is future proofing it. More expensive now for sure, but it'll save them sending out an entirely new device for similar upgrade for another 5-7 years.

That's really interesting about OpenEir refusing because you already had Siro. Were you trying to upgrade with Vodafone to the 2gbps and basically just moved the fibre from Siro -> OpenEir (while keeping Vodafone) ?

dam099

Was it OpenEir or Vodafone who refused to install the new line? Vodafone are part of the SIRO joint venture so might not want to put customers on OpenEir where SIRO is available. They were quite aggressive a while back trying to shift customers from FTTC to SIRO, going so far as to state they could not guarantee continuation of service to customers who didn't move. Not sure they ever did disconnect anyone so was possibly just scare tactics.

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119087911#Comment_119087911

I wonder if it had anything do with the fact that Vodafone jointly own the SIRO network with the ESB.

If it was the other way around would Vodafone migrate you from open-eir's to their own SIRO network?

Isn't the network connection arranged through the retail service provider?

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119088618#Comment_119088618

Yep, I got that very letter from them. Sounded a bit like scaremongering but they eventually gave us a very good deal on the gigabit service so I took it anyway.

LoGiE

Whats the upload speed on this package? I have a Unifi setup that can handle this so am tempted. I'm with VM at the moment and getting the run around with Eir but that's a different story...

Edit: Never mind, found this on their website.

"For 2 Gbps service the maximum committed and normally available speed is above 1800 Mbps and upload speed is 180Mbps. *Please note that in order to achieve speeds above 1,000Mbps on a wired connection on your Gigabit 2000 Fibre Broadband product, you must have a small form-factor pluggable transceiver (SFP). This must be purchased separately and can be purchased here for €75. This is for wired connections only."

505315

I was actually trying to upgrade to 2000Mbps while staying with Vodafone. I don't care if it's SIRO or OpenEIR providing the fibre line but Vodafone refused to sell me a more expensive plan for some reason. Guess that joint venture savings are just hard to pass up. I got in touch with SIRO directly to find out when they would upgrade to 2Gbps and they said they couldn't give me a definite timeline but their target is to have their entire network upgraded by Q4 2022. Guess I'll just have to wait till next year when I renew my contract and haggle with Vodafone's retention team for the 2Gbps. Also sidenote Vodafone's 'Super WiFi' boosters actually support wifi 6 which means I get faster speeds upstairs in my house when I'm connected to the booster rather than the actual Gigabox downstairs. With the Gigabox the fastest I've seen is around 625Mbps download but with the booster, I've gotten 940Mbps download and 192Mbps upload on WiFi 6 on my Poco F3 phone (Speedtest app with 'Three Ireland' server). I have the booster connected to the Gigabox with an ethernet line that I ran to my attic where the booster lives. Still think it's ridiculous the new Gigabox+ is only available to customers on the 2000Mbps plan.

Altheus

So I ordered it but they've installed the Gigabit version today. Will report back. So far I'm desperately disappointed. Maxing out at 400-800Mbps down / 200Mbps up compared to 990Mbps / 50Mbps on Virgin running on the same infra. [Dublin 7] I'm not holding out much hope that I'll be >1gbps.

Gonzo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119153981#Comment_119153981

You need an ethernet card capable of 2.5 Gbps to get speeds beyond 1 Gbps. Most people wouldn't have one of those.

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119153981#Comment_119153981

Did you purchase the SFP necessary for the 2gbps product?

See the comment here:

https://n.vodafone.ie/support/broadband-and-landline-hub/broadband-landline/data-speed-information.html

and the SFP mentioned is here:

https://vodafonefaf.ie/collections/working-from-home/products/sercomm-10g-ethernet-sfp-transceivers-silver

Manion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119154628#Comment_119154628

What's the story with that, are you meant to install it yourself?

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119156043#Comment_119156043

There's more on the reasoning for this here:

In order to be able to get 2GB speeds on a wired connection, you will need to purchase a Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFP) from here for €75. The SFP will be shipped to your address where you can plug it in and receive 2GB speed. Without the SFP, you will not receive 2GB speeds. Customers who use a wired connection and want to achieve speeds above 1,000Mbps on our Gigabit 2000 Fibre Broadband product, must have a small form-factor pluggable transceiver (SFP). This is required for wired connections only, if using WiFi connection, you can receive speeds up to 1.6GB and do not need to purchase an SFP.

Source: https://n.vodafone.ie/business/products-and-solutions/fixed-communications/gigabit-broadband.html

Basically it boils down to:

1. Their Gigabit+ box can receive 2+gbps, but it only has 1gpbs LAN ports, meaning wired connections are capped at that speed.
2. If you have a one or more devices on your home network that support 2.5gbe+ speeds, you need to buy the SFP device to get those speeds (with wired devices in your house). If you have more than 1 2.5gbe wired device, you'll also need a 2.5gbe switch as well as the SFP
3. "if using WiFi connection, you can receive speeds up to 1.6GB". This might be true, but the reality is that you need a 4x4 client devices for that speed, and there are hardly any (no phones that I know of).

All that said, if you have 4 wired clients, you could be giving them each up to 500mbps, or 2 wired client 1gbps each. It's really not not a big deal.

The SFP is cheeky, but practical. And their marketing doesn't hide the fact. It's easily visible in both their business and consumer sites, so I give them some credit for that. Ultimately it keeps the CPE cost down for the vast majority of customers, and that's a good thing.

smuggler.ie

"if using WiFi connection, you can receive speeds up to 1.6GB". This might be true, but the reality is that you need a 4x4 client devices for that speed, and there are hardly any (no phones that I know of).

Samsung claim 2.4Gb Dl/Ul on S22/S22+ over WiFi 6e, iphone14 to claim the same i guess, so perhaps feasible

https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxy-s22/specs/

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119157701#Comment_119157701

Feasible on Wifi 6E perhaps, but the Gigabox+ is not Wifi 6E.

lotas

plus, that is the MAX theoretical speed... with overheads, etc, you might be closer to half that speed... Generally, I find that the PHY speed of WIFI is about double what the TCP/IP speed is... so if your PHY is showing as 2.4Gb/s (in the screenshot above) excluding overhead of wifi, etc, you will be getting closer to 1.2. Long story boring, you need the SFP+ adapter to get more than 1Gb/s on a single device... I don't think the Gigabox can do LAG (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_aggregation).

lotas

And, on that note, if you do manage to find a Wifi AP that can do Wifi 6E, it will still connect to the gigabox at 1Gb/s... If you replace the Gigabox with something that can connect to the ONT at 2.5Gb, things will get a little different... still need 2.5Gb adapters for desktops that you want full 2Gb/s on, mind you...

Altheus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119157531#Comment_119157531

So I didn't, as I don't have the 2.5Gbps backbone, I wanted to test the Wifi6 and on-router speedtest first to ensure I was getting the speed to make it worthwhile.

This is the FTTH connected to my Orbi as the modem - which can easily saturate Virgin 1Gbit. Using the Gigabox as a modem didn't help.

I'm onto the support but the plan is something like this once they send me the gigabox+

• Vodafone Gigabox+ w/FTTH -> WAN Port
• Sercomm LAN 2.5Gbit wired to 2.5GBit wired switch to my CAT6A home network

If I'm barely getting the 1Gbit speed right now, I've very little hope that I'm going to be getting above 1Gbit speed, but I will keep you up to date.

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119158180#Comment_119158180

WiFi6 it is, if to believe VF page, so it still should be capable. Only saying that there are phones capable of >1Gb

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119159654#Comment_119159654

No need to exaggerate things there. I know what up to and theoretical mean. Nowhere i state it will.

But you perhaps right - without SFP its still 1Gb only on WAN..... or is it ?.

How then to justify VF claim? "This is required for wired connections only, if using WiFi connection, you can receive speeds up to 1.6GB and do not need to purchase an SFP."

Is this just another little marketing BS from VF?

LoGiE

My installation is scheduled for the start of next week. I have a Unifi setup and don't plan on using the Vodafone supplied kit. I'll be connecting the ONT directly to my UDMPRO's 10gig port with has a 10gig SFP+ module installed. The UDM is connected to a 10g/5g/2.5g switch with a 10g downlink and I have a NAS, MacPro (Via Dock) with wired 2.5g connections. I'll be able to run a few speed tests to get a flavor of what it can do.

My access points are all Wifi 6 and I don't expect to see any increase in what I'm getting now standing under one (950mbps) as they are have 1Gb ports on them.

Altheus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119162787#Comment_119162787

Would be interesting - you're already saturating at near 1gbit speed, so I'm now wondering why I'm not getting that (ONT directly hooked in Orbi with Voxel)

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119162139#Comment_119162139

Gigabox+ has a single built-in 10gbe port that would be used for the WAN. The SFP module adds a second 10gbe port that can be used to add 10gbe LAN in addition to 10gbe WAN. So SFP not required for getting 1gbps+ speeds on WAN

smuggler.ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119164424#Comment_119164424

Thanks for this, things fall into their places then

lotas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119162139#Comment_119162139

Without the SFP+, it will still be 2Gb/s on the WAN. It's the LAN side that is limited to 1Gb/s... But if you have 2 or more machines with 1Gb links to them, you should be able to get both machines downloading at 1Gb/s each... I think that, by default, is why they only give a single 10Gb port on the box. 99.9% of customers 1) won't need more than 1Gb/s and 2) won't have a machine capable of more than 1Gb/s... but if you have 2 or more devices, they won't compete as much with each other for WAN bandwidth...

On a more different note, I ordered my connection with Blacknight and they offered a router for EUR90 Ex vat (business customer) or the option to use my own. I went with my own option, so I will be using a PFSense box for this. I get mine installed next week... fingers are crossed.

Manion

So is it possible to just connect your own hardware to the ont with Vodafone? Anything specific you should be looking for?

Altheus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168453#Comment_119168453

Great question - depending on how you're going to wire your home, your router will need at least 2.5Gb WAN + 2.5Gb LAN ports if you want to use LAN and Wifi. I couldn't find anything reasonably priced that seems to do this without a full replacement of all my gear. There's a few Wifi Mesh systems with 2.5Gb uplink, but no 2.5Gb LAN port. E.g. ASUS ZenWiFi AX6600 / Netgear Nighthawk RAXE500, so depending how you want to set you home up, there's options there, but I'd recommend taking a little bit time research.

So what that leaves me with is hopefully bridging the Gigabox+ to a 2.5Gb -> 10Gb / CAT6A system using QNAP QSW-2104-2T for my PC/NAS and my home Orbi (1Gbit uplink) for Wifi. It's gonna be a messy VLAN/Multi SSID adventure, but hopefully I can make it work

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168453#Comment_119168453

Dong knows has a bunch of great articles on this topic. I'd recommend reading anything he's published on the matter. Here's one example:

https://dongknows.com/multi-gigabit-wi-fi-6-routers-to-bring-home-today/

The main obstacle you'll encounter to hooking up directly to the ONT is the VLAN configuration. There are plenty of threads on the complications this causes, particularly with those ISPs (like VF) offering triple-play services. Do your homework here on boards about users replacing the gigabox and the issues they've encountered.

lotas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119168453#Comment_119168453

In theory, yes. I think you need to be on VLAN 10 and use PPPoE. I am waiting for my details from Blacknight. There are a couple threads on here for setting up Vodafone with a non Vodafone router.

The one I bought is this: https://amzn.to/3GWyYDE Its got 4 2.5GbE ports and a quad core processor. Should be fast enough to do the job... As mentioned by heavydawson, if you are expecting to use Vodafone's TV or Phone service, things get complicated... Last time I checked, I haven't seen a way of getting it working without the Gigabox...