TIM Speed Test — Italy's Historic Telecom

TIM (Telecom Italia) is Italy's largest and oldest telecommunications company, operating the most extensive broadband network in the country. With Italy's complex regulatory history — including the Open Fiber wholesale network and the ongoing FiberCop infrastructure separation — understanding your TIM connection type is critical to interpreting your speed test results.

The single biggest factor in your TIM speed: whether you have FTTH (fibre into your apartment) or FTTC (fibre to the street cabinet, copper to your home). Many Italian subscribers who believe they have "fibra" actually have FTTC — and the performance difference is dramatic.

TIM Plans — FTTH vs. FTTC Reality

FTTC warning: If your street cabinet is far from your home (200+ metres of copper), your real-world FTTC speed may be only 40-80 Mbps — far below the advertised "up to 200 Mbps". FTTH eliminates this limitation entirely. Check tim.it/verifica-copertura to see exactly which technology is available at your address — the result will say FTTH, FTTC, or ADSL.

TIM HUB+ and Magnifica Gateway

LED Indicator Guide

• Power — Green: Modem is powered on and operational.
• Broadband (@) — Solid green: DSL/Fibre link synced successfully.
• Broadband (@) — Flashing: Training — attempting to sync with the network. Normal during startup (2-5 minutes).
• Broadband (@) — Red: No signal. For FTTH, check the optical cable between the ONT and the modem. For FTTC, check the telephone cable to the wall socket.
• Service (i) — Red: Authentication failed. The modem has a physical connection but cannot log in to TIM's network. This usually indicates a billing issue, an outage, or corrupted PPPoE settings. Try rebooting; if persistent, call 187.
• Phone — Green: VoIP line active and registered.

Modem Libero — Your Right to Choose

Italian regulation (Delibera AGCOM 348/18/CONS) guarantees Modem Libero — the legal right to use any compatible modem/router with your ISP. This is heavily used in Italy, particularly with the AVM FRITZ!Box.

Key technical settings for TIM FTTH:

• Protocol: PPPoE
• VLAN ID: 835 (for internet traffic)
• VLAN ID for VoIP: 835 (same VLAN, different service)
• Encapsulation: LLC/SNAP
• Credentials: Available from TIM (call 187) or in your Area Clienti under "Credenziali accesso"

Popular Modem Libero options: FRITZ!Box 5530 Fiber (direct GPON SFP connection, no external ONT needed), FRITZ!Box 7590 (for FTTC/VDSL), and ASUS RT-AX86U (requires external ONT for FTTH).

Italy's Broadband Infrastructure — Open Fiber and FiberCop

Italy's fibre landscape is uniquely complex. Two major wholesale networks exist:

• FiberCop (formerly TIM infrastructure, now separate) — operates the FTTC and some FTTH network. TIM and other ISPs buy wholesale access.
• Open Fiber — a separate wholesale-only FTTH company (backed by CDP and Macquarie) building fibre in cities and white/grey areas. Open Fiber does not sell directly to consumers — ISPs like TIM, Vodafone, WindTre, and Fastweb resell it.

This means two different FTTH providers may serve the same city, and your address might have FiberCop FTTH, Open Fiber FTTH, or only FTTC. Always check coverage before subscribing.

Italian ISP Competitors

• Vodafone Italia — Strong fibre presence via Open Fiber resale. Vodafone Station (Wi-Fi 6) included. Competitive pricing.
• WindTre — Mobile-first ISP that offers fixed broadband via FiberCop and Open Fiber. Good mobile + fibre bundles.
• Fastweb — Italy's alternative fibre provider with its own infrastructure in major cities plus Open Fiber access. Known for no-contract offers.
• Eolo — Fixed wireless broadband for rural Italy where fibre does not reach. Uses FWA technology.

TIM support: Call 187 (servizio clienti, gratuito da rete TIM). The MyTIM app provides modem diagnostics, speed checks, and outage reports.