Questions to ask before committing to BT infinity

[jacquelinepace]

As BT phone customers suddenly, unexpectedly, in a fibre-optic enabled area and excited to move from 4.5mbps to estimated 80mbps - we are considering going with BT though they offer little support should our seven-person office suddenly lose our critical-to-business email service.  We have to have a static IP and BT tell me our router whould come configured (though i've read on this forum they haven't sometimes).

Can I just unplug our 'switch' from the old router and into the new ?  

Has anyone any advice on what to ask re initial configuration so that we are covered on the actual day should there be any problems?

Are there likely to be any problems on day one as we can't be left without email?

Or should i go with our current local VOIP phone providers who will be using a company supplied by BT anyway  - who tell me "It is preferable to use a business network rather than BT because later down the line you can run into problems with sharing with so many others in the area and suffering at peak times. Plus they will manage it for us rather than having to speak with a call center if you have question or a problem. Most importantly we can set up failovers for the voice circuit and vice versa if both are with us." (can they just switch like that if our VOIP is on a different line?)

I'd be so grateful to hear any comments though I know most people reading this forum are probably those having a problem and not those for whom everything is running smoothly. 

many thanks

many thanks

[markp]

Hi jacquelinepace,

when the engineer comes to install fibre broadband, the engineer installs the line, connects up the Openreach modem, then connects the BT router to modem.  After that either you or your IT would do the rest of the configuration.

The router picks up the correct username and password for  the line when it connects, so if you have/order a single static IP we would auto assign this to the router when it connects, if you have/order a range of static IP's then you or you IT would need to access the router to make the changes, if youot your IT are not sure on how to do this, our helpdesk can talk you through/screenshare with you to make the relevant changes.

As for connecting your switch, if in your current setup the router handle DHCP to give each device an IP so that it has access the internet, it is a simple case of just plugging the switch into the router. But if your switch/network is handled by a server, they you or your IT will need to configure the router to work with your setup.

I hope this answers some og the questions you have.

Markp