Full fibre remote activation

If you have moved into a home that is already connected with full fibre, you may qualify for remote activation.

We can provide service from 11 working days after your order, provided:

• Your ONT is connected, powered on and undamaged.
• The LOS light on the ONT is not red.

If any of the above are compromised, then there may be a delay in provisioning your service, and an engineering visit may be required to investigate and resolve.

We shall post our router (unless you opt out of our router), and this simply needs to connect to the full fibre ONT (shown below), and you'll be online on the date of activation.

Optical Network Termination (ONT) Equipment

As part of the Openreach full-fibre FTTP broadband infrastructure in your home, Openreach will have installed a device called an ONT - or Optical Network Termination device.

This is a small box, almost resembling a router, is powered by the mains, connects to a full-fibre optical cable that routes to the fibre exchange nearby, and has a Ethernet port ready to connect to the broadband router.

Giganet is able to remotely activate our UltraBEAM full-fibre broadband services quickly, assuming the ONT is connected, powered on, and there are no other unforeseen issues.

Has the previous occupier cancelled their service

In some cases, the previous occupier of the home may have forgotten to cancel their full-fibre FTTP service. Or it may be the case that their previous broadband provider has forgotten to cancel the service with Openreach.

If you place an order with us, and we see a "working service" on the ONT, then we may have to follow a slightly longer process to "take over" the service. This may cause a slight delay to activating your service.

FAQs

What is an ONT?

ONT stands for Optical Network Termination. It's the device which converts the optical fibre connection that runs from your home to the nearby fibre exchange, to an Ethernet connection that can be connected to your Wi-Fi router.

Below you will see two types of ONT. On the left is an Huawei ONT. On the right is a Nokia ONT.

Depending on the fibre exchange and the equipment Openreach have used in the area will determine which ONT you have. 

Is there any difference between the ONTs?

The main differences will be size and appearance. There is no performance difference between the Huawei and Nokia ONTs.

I'd like the smaller ONT, is this possible?

No, the ONT is dependant on the vendor that Openreach have used in your area and connected to your property. Therefore if the vendor is Huawei, then you can only use a Huawei ONT. Vice versa with Nokia.

What's the lead time for activation if the ONT is in place, powered on, and connected?

The standard lead time for activations is around 11 working days from order. This means that once you place your order, we should be able to have your service live within 11 working days.

Why can't you provide the service faster if everything is in place?

Giganet have taken the decision to wait until the 14 calendar day cooling off period completes before commissioning the new fibre service due to the risk that if the customer cancels during the cooling off period, we're stuck with a 12 month term for the service (as this is the minimum term for the underlying service).

We hope customers don't feel the need to cancel in their cooling off period.

Do I need a router as well as the ONT?

Yes. The ONT is the device that converts the optical fibre connection that routes into your home into an Ethernet connection that connects to your Wi-Fi router.

The ONT is not a router, firewall or Wi-Fi access point or any combination of these.

I have an Openreach full-fibre service in my home, but the ONT is missing, broken, won't power on?

For these instances, your activation may be delayed until such time that a replacement ONT can be provided by Openreach. This will be scheduled and organised via us. A slight delay may be encountered if this scenario presents.

This will also usually necessitate a visit from an Openreach engineer to fit the ONT and confirm it's linked to the fibre exchange okay. Therefore these types of orders may not be completed fully-remotely and you may be required to be present on the date to allow the Openreach engineer access.