CityFibre can offer speeds higher than 1Gb/s.
Some areas that CityFibre cover have been installed newer fibre technology called XGS-PON. This offers symmetric speeds up to 2.5Gb/s. Other areas us slightly older "GPON" technology where speeds used to be up to 1G are now up to 2Gb/s download and 1Gb/s upload.
GPON and XGS-PON refer to the fibre hardware that is installed locally to customers premises to deliver the service. Most of CityFibre's network is GPON where as some areas are being upgraded or installed with the newer XGS-PON.
To enable these speeds CityFibre have been rolling out upgrades to their existing equipment as well as installing XGS-PON technology in some areas since April 2023. Even if CityFibre are installing your area now, it may not mean that they are using XGS-PON. Click to view the list of areas.
For the majority of homes in the UK there is no need for 2.5Gb/s services at this moment in time. CityFibre's 160M or 1G services are usually adequate for even the largest households. Some people do like the 'brag' factor in having such high speeds.
Using newer technology (XGS-PON) does help to future-proof's CityFibre's investment in their build out.
CityFibre will install their ONT - the device that their fibre connects to and will present you with a 2.5Gb/s copper Ethernet port for you to connect your own router to.
Our usual speed offering for CityFibre based services are 160M and 1G.
Availability of XGS-PON technology is expected to reach 90% of CityFibre's network by summer 2025, and full coverage by the end of 2025.
| Download | Technology | Home::1 no usage cap* |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2G/1G | GPON | £65.00 |
| 2G/1G | GPON | £75.00 |
| 1.2G/1.2G | XGS-PON | £65.00 |
| 2.5G/2.5G | XGS-PON | £75.00 |
If you're interested in this and you're in the areas listed above, please email: sales@aa.net.uk with your address and we'll be in touch.
Will I need a router?
Yes, as a minimum, you'll need a PPPoE (copper) ethernet router, with a 2.5G WAN port. CityFibre will provide an ONT - we have a page on our Support Site about the CityFibre ONT.
Is this CGNAT?
No, none of our services use CGNAT, you'll have a public IPv4 address, and an additional IPv4 block if required (up to a /29), as well as IPv6, reverse DNS etc, as usual with our services...
Who needs 2.5Gb/s?
This is a good question, and the short answer, in our opinion, is: Not many households will see benefit of 2.5G/s over an existing 1Gb/s connection.
Even if you have 10 devices all watching 4K, Ultra HD, video streams a the same time, then the total bandwidth being used would be about 150Mb/s, way under 2.5Gb/s
We do see the maximum speed being reached for short amounts of time with our customers on a 1Gb/s connection - eg when downloading large game updates or transferring other large files - but in 99% of cases a 1Gb/s connection is more than plenty. Having 2.5Gb/s for a home, at this moment in time does extravagant :-)
Is there a contention ratio?
As with all CityFibre (and all GPN/XGS-PON) services, the fibre network to your premises is shared with other users.
The stated ratio for CityFibre's XGS-PON service is 1:64.
Contention ratios are designed not to cause congestion, and even on a shared service we don't expect to see slow-downs due to this.
Is there a 'committed rate'?
Yes, CityFibre state the 'committed rate' as 70Mb/s down and 10Mb/s up for their 2.5Gb/s service - this is actually the same figures as they have for their 1Gb/s service. These figures are the minimum speeds CityFibre guarantee - in practice, with the 1Gb/s services we see the full speed achievable.
Is full speed achievable?
If the far end supports high speeds, then it's possible to download at full rate. Our speedtest server reports 1.99Gb/s using iperf3 for a 2G CityFibre connection.
