Openreach Trial FTTP Broadband Speed Test to Identify Faults

Openreach (BT) has informed UK ISPs about the launch of a new speed test trial for their gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband lines, which looks as if it will be used to help identify where on the network a speed fault actually exists (i.e. is it on Openreach’s side or not).

At present existing speed tests can be setup in a lot of different ways, including everything from unreliable web-based testing to tests that are conducted on third-party router hardware, or the provider’s own consumer router (CPE) via customised firmware. Some of these methods are better than others and all can make it hard to find the source of the issue.

The public briefing on this doesn’t tell us anything at all (here), but we understand that it will involve trials of a layer 3 (network layer) speed test that can be run between the operator’s Optical Network Terminal (ONT), which are those cream coloured boxes (modems) that they install on the inside of your home, and a speed test device in the exchange.

The test will reroute the circuit from the provider’s network to the Openreach tester, thus enabling them to effectively prove or disprove that a speed issue sits on Openreach’s side of the network or not. The approach should make it easier to rule out other sources of performance problems, such as the customer’s router, congestion on the GEA Cablelink connecting the provider’s switch to the Optical Line Terminal (OLT), the provider’s backhaul capacity, core network and transit / peering etc.

By the sounds of it, both Openreach and ISPs will be quite welcoming of such a feature, as it will reduce some of the work involved with investigating such difficulties for both sides. This is also a reminder, if it were needed, that speed issues do still occur on full fibre lines too, even if the physical line itself is no longer the main cause (like it often was with copper cables).