Doing gigabit Ethernet over my British phone wires
Reusing legacy phone and coaxial cabling to deliver gigabit Ethernet is emerging as a practical workaround in UK homes that lack structured network wiring, with G.hn and MoCA adapters often outperforming powerline solutions. Commenters contrast this with the patchy, sometimes expensive state of UK fibre rollout, especially asymmetric services and the impact of building management and regulation on upgrades. The thread also surfaces broader frustrations around post-Brexit import friction, inconsistent in‑home wiring standards, and the growing gap between headline Wi‑Fi speeds and the reliability needed for low-latency applications.
UK “Gigabit” Internet Reality and Pricing
- Several commenters dispute the claim that “gigabit isn’t really offered” in the UK: gigabit and multi‑gigabit FTTP are widely available in many areas, especially via newer “altnets” (Hyperoptic, Community Fibre, CityFibre, etc.).
- Pricing varies sharply: examples range from ~£30–40/month for ~900 Mbps symmetric outside cities, to ~£75/month for 1 Gbps in some urban FTTP offers. Some legacy providers offer asymmetric products with poor uploads.
- Fibre rollout in London is described as historically patchy, especially in apartment blocks where freeholder consent is a bottleneck; new laws are being considered to force access.
- Openreach’s asymmetric FTTP is attributed to GPON capacity limits and possible protection of leased‑line revenue; upgrades to XGS‑PON/50G‑PON are mentioned.
G.hn Performance Over Phone Wires
- Commenters are impressed by near‑gigabit throughput over daisy‑chained UK phone wiring with many bridge taps, which normally kills VDSL performance.
- Explanations: G.hn uses OFDM with per‑tone bit‑loading, FEC, and can avoid “bad” frequency bins; operates up to ~200 MHz vs DSL’s much lower bands.
- Compared to Ethernet, G.hn actively measures the medium and adapts rate/frequencies; Ethernet just attempts 1G over whatever is there and either works poorly or downshifts.
- Multiple people report G.hn/Gigacopper devices as rock‑solid versus unstable powerline adapters.
Reusing Existing Cabling (Phone, Coax, Power)
- Many UK/EU homes have phone runs that are actually Cat5/Cat5e: swapping RJ11 for RJ45 and re‑terminating at the cupboard often yields true gigabit or even 10 GbE on short runs.
- Others describe pulling Cat5e/6 or fibre using old phone/coax as a pull‑wire; success depends heavily on construction (conduit vs stapled/embedded wiring).
- Coax is widely recommended with MoCA 2.5 for 1–2.5 Gbps where TV drops exist; some report flawless performance, others frequent drops likely due to filters/poor terminations.
- Powerline is generally viewed as last‑resort: OK for light use but noisy, variable latency, and often overheats under sustained load.
WiFi vs Wired
- Some households now rely almost entirely on WiFi 6/7 mesh, seeing multi‑gigabit LAN speeds and little perceived need for Ethernet.
- Others in brick/stone/concrete houses report severe attenuation, poor real‑time performance (Zoom/gaming), and value wired backhaul or room drops despite headline WiFi speeds.
UK Wiring Norms and New Builds
- Mixed experiences on phone‑socket density: some 2000s flats have many RJ11s per room; others have only one master socket.
- New builds often ship with zero or minimal Ethernet despite being cheap to install at construction; sales staff frequently don’t understand networking, and terminations are sometimes in inconvenient cupboards.
Brexit, VAT, and Imports
- Importing G.hn gear from the EU now commonly involves parcels being held until VAT and handling fees are paid, with fragmented tracking and thresholds (e.g., £135) causing confusion.
- Several commenters broaden this into a political argument over Brexit’s economic and administrative downsides.