Thinking of migrating to Plusnet----need advice.

Hi

I have my MAC code from my current ISP, this expires on March 16th.

Was going to sign up on Thursday after looking at various ISPs and decided Plusnet looked good for my requirements. Anyway, just before doing this my connection started going really bad, sync dropping , noise margin dropping and became unusable. Done all the checks, tried different filters, router, unplugged all phones , checked of master socket etc, no joy. I then checked two corded phones of master socket and found a very loud crackling noise on the line and phoned BT to report a voice fault, never said anything about Broadband.

As the weather had been really bad , high winds and heavy rain I thought I would have a look at the telephone pole which happens to be at the bottom of my garden. I noticed right away the cover was of the junction box at the top of the pole, exposing all the connections to the rain. BT engineer phoned me on Saturday morning and I told him the cover was off the box. He said he would come and have a look at it.

This is where it gets a bit complicated, the engineer arrives, looks at the junction box, looks at the pole and says sorry, the pole has been condemned as unsafe as from February 2002, yes 2002 so I can�t go up it to repair the box, you will need to get a new pole erected and said he would pass it to the appropriate department.

So now I have a telephone which is almost unusable when it rains and a broadband connection that is totally unusable when it rains. Should I carry on with the migration or wait till this is all sorted? I know the problem will go with me but I don�t really want to let the MAC code expire and start again when this is finally repaired. How long this will take I have no idea.

Sorry about the long story, any advice would be really appreciated as I�m not really sure what to do.

Thanks

Ron.

If it is a line fault then it will not matter what broadband supplier you are with, the problems will be the same.

So I would ignore the fault for now and do what you were going to do and change broadband suppliers. The line fault should not stop the migration.

Its a problem will will have to live with until BT can fix it, although I suspect it may take a while unless you suddenly have no phone service at all!!!

Hi

Thanks for the quick response.

As you say it would have been better with no phone at all, might have a higher priority. After Six years i think BT may have been waiting untill somebody had a problem before replacing this pole. I can't say I'm optimistic about when this is going to be done. The engineer said they will keep me updated on progress so i may get an update tomorrow.

I will probably go ahead with the migration. Rain forecast for tomorrow so will have to wait for a dry spell, it's a bit late now ( brain a bit tired)

Thanks again

Ron

Happened to me at an old address. the pole was condemned but they weren't going to change it any time soon. This just meant that to do any work on the line box they had to organise a cherry picker which took weeks.

Hi

Have just had a visit from a surveyor, so far so good . I did think about a cherry picker myself but they seem to be going to replace the pole. This goes to another department now, still no idea how long this will take.

Expecting connection to drop any time (heavy rain)

Thanks

Ron

we'll all be looking forward to the replacement of your pole - as s*ds law dictates that it will rain every day until it is done...

Is this pole at the roadside? The one connecting to my house was knocked down a couple of years ago, by a hit-and-run lorry driver during the early hours one morning. It was replaced pdq.

have u access to a lorry or large vehicle that could do a midnight knock down of the pole..........
not suggesting anything mind you

Hi

No, the pole is in my back garden, just inside the dividing fence between my property and open farmland, I live in a rural area.

I found out from the surveyor today that BT asked the farmer years ago if they could put this pole on his land and he refused, so nothing has happened since. This must have been when the pole was condemned.

I'm starting to think that this could be a long drawn out affair.

Ron

If the pole is on your land they should be paying you rental?!

Meldrew