Pointless G.fast is/was indeed fcuking Pointless. Now breath.
For all the downvotes I've had getting this point across, it's been a long hard road, but I've never wavered.
We have to start to make the switch to pure Fibre, and start NOW or Openreach will ever be a surrounded tangled mess of technologies, firmware, redundant outdated standards, Interference issues where Engineers spend more time trying to work out why the two links aren't communicating with each other.
G.fast is ultimately a can of worms waiting to happen and BT have finally admitted it. And it takes a 'Pleb' like me to tell them.
G.fast does nothing for lines of more than 500m (250m as the crow flies), and yes, you can do it with G.fast technologies, I've never said you can't, but each time, its another piece of tech to go wrong, another asset to be recorded, maintained. Another piece of tech that will slowly date, and become incompatible, as regards Firmware updates.
The bullshit impractical headlines that you can get 1Gbps over 20m+, using ever better iterations of the same thing, is pointless because the Power supplies, computing power to calculate the vectoring, the costs of this kit rise exponentially. As stated, you need upto 25 G.fast nodes per (sq)2km, to achieve blanket coverage, and then its still a bamboozled, obfuscated 'up to' technology, even after all that installation of G.fast node coverage.
I admit, it's an interesting technical achievement that you can get these speeds over copper, but you (BT/Ofcom) need to stand back and see the bigger picture, we already have the tried and tested means to achieve such speeds with fibre, we just need more innovative ways to roll fibre out quickly using pre-made click and connect cables, more reliable fusing methods such as variations on Intels thunderbolt light (not copper) cable technologies. Concentrate on the implementation of fibre cables, quick, cheap methods that improve the rollout process.
I feel BT has used G.fast as a delaying tactic. That never ending , it's just over the horizon, nearly ready, sometime soon - utopia for BT, that never ultimately was.
It was all sales talk and ney' engineering knickers.
G.fast most dangerous security aspect? Far too easy to disrupt the vectored signals, with cheap low frequency signal generators, I think that alone makes it dead in the water for any sensitive rolllout/heavy industrial locations.
Let's start concentrating on that 500m breakeven point, where FTTC/Fibre makes sense beyond. Removing bamboozling / obfuscation, is key to driving new sales of Fibre, so also concentrate on the backhaul. Make the speed achieveable real and constant.
Sell the benefits, its far more flood proof/weather proof than FTTC/G.fast.
But drop G.fast NOW BT, the UK deserves better.