Openreach and router type

Can ovepreach force you to use a supplied ISP router rather than your own choice before they will fix an exchange fault?

Edited by deleted (Wed 19-Sep-18 17:21:52)

Force - perhaps the wrong word, but if they attend and fault does not exist when using their own test hardware they will blame your kit and bill you for the visit.

Never had an issue at my parents who use a Draytek. They had numerous line faults, plusnet seemed quite happy to send out engineers to investigate & never any question of "can they replicate the fault with the plusnet router" (which I don't think they ever had!)

The ISP may want to to use their router as it gives something known to them for diagnosis. If they can't diagnose and they get BT to send an engineer then if nothing is found the ISP will be charged. It is about protecting the ISP and you by ensuring all sensible fault finding has been done before calling in BT.

There are a number of us that feel it is unnecessary as we can do the fault finding ourselves to show it is outside the property but large ISPs don't have the staff to make sure their customers are competent or deal with different equipment types.

An engineer has been out twice and my equipment and the line has tested OK. Plusnet has requested a lift and shift and the third engineer went to the exchange to carry it out but it was refused. I have never had a fault fix refused because I was using my own router.

I think you would need to see exactly what was refused and why. I doubt very much Openreach refused because you weren't using the ISP router but every belief the ISP might have told you that was why. Openreach really don't care what you use as long as it is appropriately approved. But it is a convenient excuse for ISPs that don't want to do the leg work or provide proper reasons for decisions.

No that is not the case PlusNet requested the lift and shift plus other checks and the engineer had gone down to the exchange to carry out the the switch. It was the people who have to reprogram the new port that refused to do the work.

And have you seen their report as to why? Are you certain they said it was because you weren't using the PlusNet router - or is that just what PlusNet told you?

It was the people who have to reprogram the new port that refused to do the work.

And they most likely neither know nor give a damn as to the model modem or router/modem that you might be using. All that concerns Openreach is that the modem or router/modem meets their standards/specification.

It's what the engineer told me from the exchange after he had asked for a port to shift to.

That sounds like Plusnet didn't tell BT Wholesale in time, as it's they who decide what port to shift to.

In reply to a post by GeorgeLloyd:

Can ovepreach force you to use a supplied ISP router rather than your own choice before they will fix an exchange fault?

In that situation, why would you not want to use the ISP router until the problem is fixed in a few days? That way it may be easier for their staff to diagnose a problem and it will be the ISP's problem if their router is found to be faulty. I keep my Vodafone router for just this reason. Fortunately I have not had to use it.