is my cabinet going to be FTTC enabled?

Hi all,

Im just a bit curious about whether im actually going to get FTTC in july?

the infinity website says i shall be getting it on 1st July 2011, but i have two cabinets on my road, both about 200m or less from my house, and none of them have had any work done to them so far.

Im on the north wembley exchange, Could any kind soul actually find out if my cabinet will be upgraded?

Some people on here have had cabinets installed for ages and are still waiting for FTTC - this does not bode well for me as no work has been done as of yet!)

My O2 broadband prices have gone up, and if i change im likely to go for a 12 months deal elsewhere - but it would be good to go FTTC in a few months if its possible, but i wont be able to do this if i sign elsewhere.

Anybody on the same exchange up and running? (apparently samknows says some people are connected now, whereas it previously said RFS date of july)

http://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/Br...

What does it say?

'Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 1st July 2011. Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 31Mbps and upstream line speed of 6.8Mbps.'

According to the above i will get it, but the cabinets have had no work done on them, and im very sceptical as its only a few months away. Ive also read that even though the checker says i will get it, it may not be the case as BT may not actually upgrade the equipment.

Ive read there was a checker that would tell you if your cabinet was going to be upgraded, but it has been taken down at BTs request!

Its all very confusing!!

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

'Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 1st July 2011. Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 31Mbps and upstream line speed of 6.8Mbps.'

According to the above i will get it, but the cabinets have had no work done on them, and im very sceptical as its only a few months away. Ive also read that even though the checker says i will get it, it may not be the case as BT may not actually upgrade the equipment.

Ive read there was a checker that would tell you if your cabinet was going to be upgraded, but it has been taken down at BTs request!

Its all very confusing!!

Indeed...as it says you can get FTTC right now. The estimated speed is usually based on the speeds of other actual users already connected.

What happens when you go to an ISPs website and check availability? For example BT's one at http://www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerProduc... and plug your phone number into the right hand side.

Many thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

It says i can get infinity from 1st July 2011 , with same estimate of speeds as posted above.

The information from all accounts is saying im getting it in july, but like i say no work done on the cabs as of yet on my (small) road.

Edited by deleted (Thu 03-Mar-11 22:04:58)

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Many thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

It says i can get infinity from 1st July 2011 , with same estimate of speeds as posted above.

The information from all accounts is saying im getting it in july, but like i say no work done on the cabs as of yet on my (small) road.

The men/women in fluorescent jackets should be along pretty soon then. Keep an eye out. Also don't be disheartened if you see them doing a cabinet further away from the one you think you're on. In my case I'm connected to one nearly 3 times further away from me than the closest one

I guess they could be working elsewhere and i havent found it yet! (fingers crossed anyway!)

Im really surprised BT or Virgin havent installed their equipment before, considering im right next to Wembley Stadium and all the surrounding shops/services.

I don't think it is based on actual users connected. There is no FTTC on our exchange at all yet. But we have had these estimated speeds showing on the checker for nearly 10 months. I believe BT calculate the approximate speed uplift ratio based on the length of your line.

I have seen this ratio expressed as a multiplier to your current speed by a poster from an ISP on another forum. I'll try to find and post it here.

I dont want to get anyone into trouble so I have removed some detail and deleted many of the post codes as it was a bit too long to post, but you can see the general idea.

Hi All,

Firstly, appologies if this doesn't format well as plain text!

Many of you have probably already seen the new cabs popping up all over MK. I have already seen them in New Bradwell, Stantonbury, Bluebridge as well as the existing live cabs in Giffard Park and Newport Pagnell. Good news however for those on the Milton Keynes (Bletchley) exchange, todays BT update reveals the next batch of cabs finally due to go live in MK:

Date - Cab Number - Exchange

23/02/2011. 4 SMBT
23/02/2011. 10 SMBT
23/02/2011. 13 SMBT
23/02/2011. 16 SMBT
23/02/2011. 19 SMBT
23/02/2011. 20 SMBT
23/02/2011. 32 SMBT
23/02/2011. 34 SMBT
23/02/2011. 49 SMBT
23/02/2011. 60 SMBT
23/02/2011. 62 SMBT
23/02/2011. 66 SMBT

Which should map to the following postcodes:

Exchange - Postcode - Avg Uplift

SMBT MK37NE 14.33
SMBT MK37NG 14.33
SMBT MK37DQ 13.47
SMBT MK37DX 13.47
SMBT MK37DY 13.47
SMBT MK37SD 13.47
SMBT MK37SE 13.47
SMBT MK37JS 11.01
SMBT MK37JT 11.01
SMBT MK37LL 11.01
SMBT MK37LW 11.01
SMBT MK23DA 3.25
SMBT MK23DB 3.25
SMBT MK23HG 3.25
SMBT MK23DG 2.7
SMBT MK23DH 2.7
SMBT MK23DT 2.7
SMBT MK37AD 6.53
SMBT MK37RA 6.53
SMBT MK37PD 10.44
SMBT MK37TB 10.44
SMBT MK36PF 6.17
SMBT MK37DE 6.17
SMBT MK37DG 6.17
SMBT MK37TT 9.72
SMBT MK37TU 9.72
SMBT MK37TW 9.72
SMBT MK23PU 7.03
SMBT MK23PX 7.03
SMBT MK23PY 7.03
SMBT MK78DA 129.36
SMBT MK78DB 129.36
SMBT MK78DD 129.36
SMBT MK78DE 129.36
SMBT MK78DF 129.36
SMBT MK78DG 129.36
SMBT MK78DH 129.36
SMBT MK22NG 1.67
SMBT MK22NT 1.67
SMBT MK22NW 1.67
SMBT MK22NX 1.67
SMBT MK63NA 1.67

Avg Uplift is how many times faster then the average ADSL2+ speed you are likely to achieve. (So if the average is 3 meg and the Ave Uplift is 6.17 your estimated to get approx 18 meg on FTTC)

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

According to the above i will get it, but the cabinets have had no work done on them, and im very sceptical as its only a few months away. Ive also read that even though the checker says i will get it, it may not be the case as BT may not actually upgrade the equipment.

Ive read there was a checker that would tell you if your cabinet was going to be upgraded, but it has been taken down at BTs request!

Its all very confusing!!

Don't worry about the time. Our cabinet was installed Mid December and went live 26 January, so there is plenty of time. The work on the cabinet is minor compared to the rest (ducting & fibre rollout and exchange equipment install).. Also, the 1st July date is probably a placeholder and it will move about a week before the actual go live date.

In reply to a post by orly:

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

'Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 1st July 2011. Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 31Mbps and upstream line speed of 6.8Mbps.'

According to the above i will get it, but the cabinets have had no work done on them, and im very sceptical as its only a few months away. Ive also read that even though the checker says i will get it, it may not be the case as BT may not actually upgrade the equipment.

Ive read there was a checker that would tell you if your cabinet was going to be upgraded, but it has been taken down at BTs request!

Its all very confusing!!

Indeed...as it says you can get FTTC right now. The estimated speed is usually based on the speeds of other actual users already connected.

I'm afraid it doesn't say any such thing.

I was able to get similar estimates long before they started installing cabinets in our area. I think it is based on an intention to enable, allied to line length from the cabinet.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 04-Mar-11 13:58:16)

So although it will likely happen, its probably not going to be in the near future - im guessing end of the year at the earliest?

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

So although it will likely happen, its probably not going to be in the near future - im guessing end of the year at the earliest?

Why do you think that? Our cabinet was originally set for 31 Dec 2010, but then got pushed back to the end of March. At some point in January it got set for 26 January and that is when it happened (bar the issues on the exchange)..

Did they have to do any work on your cabinets?

these are the two cabs on my street:

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.562889,-0.28...

and

http://maps.google.co.uk/?ie=UTF8&layer=c&cbll=51.56...

They look like standard old cabinets to me - Im just thinking that if they havent done any work on them yet then its going take a while for it to get done, and the 1st july estimate seems a little too optimistic to me.

Yes, a new fibre cabinet needs to be installed. This can take a week, or it can take 6 weeks. It just depends.

Those are phone service cabs. If you search these forums, there are pictures of the new cabs, which are about twice the size.

Yeh I have seen them, and have been eagerly awaiting the new ones! these service cabs are in awkward positions on my road so not sure where they would put the new ones

Those cabs you linked to may not be PCP cabs, but SCP (secondary) which are ignored for FTTC.

I understand that i may not be connected to those cabs, but i would be surprised if im not (havent had a good look around yet). If they are my cabs then does it look like i might not actually get FTTC?

No, if the checker says you should be getting it, then odds are the cab is planned and will be installed (unfortunately not guaranteed, though)..

Look like cable company cabinets to me
This looks to be a BT cabinet, but obviously I have no idea if its the one your are connected to.
And This looks like a fibreglass BT cabinet

Edited by deleted (Fri 04-Mar-11 19:25:39)

There is no cable in my area, i had emailed VM to find out if they would and they had no plans to yet.

The cabinet in your picture is a lot further away from me and i doubt is linked even to my exchange (think its for the wembley exchange)

The ones on my street must be BT cabs then

Not convinced they are., though the 2nd is obscurred but the 1st is almost certianly not a BT cabinet, which serve a much larger geographic area than cable cabinets.
Many areas had cable cabinets installed but service was never provided.
If you take a closer look in daylight look for any obvious markings , either on the cabinet shells or on adjacent footway boxs. BT cabinet are usually numbered with 2 or 3 digits. Cable cabinets may have a much longer number. Cable footway box covers usually have CATV on them.
P.S. Just checked Virgins site and cable is available in your street, guess its not available to your particular property

Edited by deleted (Fri 04-Mar-11 20:01:06)

Many thanks for the reply - cable is not available in my street at all - it has never been dug up and when i asked virgin they said they dont have any plans to install it.

On my way home from the cinema tonight i stumbled across this!

http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geoc...

Its about 30m from my house, in a 'close' that serves a lot of flats, but it is about 20-30m from my house (im basically on the otherside of the road that this one is off). Is this likely going to be the one that serves my house (taking into account the others may be cable boxes?).

Cant believe i have never seen it before, and its even closer than the other 2 green boxes!

EDIT- i have just checked and the house opposite me can get virgin cable - is that a joke? did they really do this when they laid the cable?

Edited by deleted (Sat 05-Mar-11 01:03:50)

Just continuing from the end of my last post - it all makes sense now. Those little green cabs are indeed virgin cabs - it seems that the opposite side of my street can all get VM cable, and my side cant!! And those green cabs are on the oppostie side.

To say im absolutely gutted is an understatement! Its within touching distance and i cant have it

I cant believe they only decided to do one side - surely it wouldnt be hard to do my side too?

I suppose then the picture in the last post is more than likely to be my cab - however that to is on the opposite side of my street - funny how that side will have access to all the latest technologies will my side is ignored!

Thats another of those cable cabinets

Doh!

i guess this is another one too?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&g...

I own one of the flats across there - when i move in i guess ill have the delights of VM cable too

I guess it might then be in BTs interests to get FTTC for my side of the street, to provide some competition for VM too (with the other side being enabled).

Im just curious to find out where my cab actually is now!

i guess this is another one too?

Sure is

well Samknows says RFS date is 11/06/2011, thats earlier than expected (was july before).

Still have no idea where this cab is though!

Took a drive round using Google Streetview and found this one. Cant say if your line is connected to it.
Its probably one of 3 I have linked to

Edited by deleted (Wed 09-Mar-11 00:30:16)

Ribble - i think you have hit the jackpot there!

The north wembley exchange is on that road, carlton avenue east, but right at the other end of it. I havent seen it as the bush has grown since that pic was taken so its completely obscured.

The fibreglass cabinet linked before is also not too far from me, but i think the one above is probably mine as it is close to the exchange i am connected to and my house.

The other you have linked is not too far also, but is more than likely to be linked to the wembley exchange, which i know i am not connected to.

You really do have eagle eyes, credit be to you sir!

Guys, just a quick question, what is the theoretical maximum the speed that we might achieve via FTTC? I know that FTTH is going to be running circa 100Mbps, is FTTC always going to be limited to 40Mbps?

Are there any good articles out there on the subject?

Many thanks

It should go up to 60Mbps at some point:

In reference to www.insight.bt.com/NGA/SME/NGA-explained/:

What about FTTC? BT has announced plans to roll out FTTC to 40% of homes and businesses in the UK, and is trialling FTTC in Muswell Hill in north London, and Whitchurch in Wales. That will offer headline speeds of up to 40Mbps; there is the prospect of that rising to up to 60Mbps, BT says, though actual speeds will vary depending on how far you are from the cabinet. BT says the service will also offer upload speeds of up to 10Mbps.

Though I'm not going to hold my breath

VDSL2 can push 100Meg on the shorter cabinet to home lines - so 40Meg is an artificial limit at this time.

Thats good to know, as we are always going to want faster speeds as time goes on. I mean if virgin are hitting 100Mb connections already, BT are always going to be playing second fiddle.

So really anything from 40-100 Meg should be available from the same technology in the future.

Dependent on line length, and of course other DSL variants may up the speed even more, and as most homes have two phone lines (we usually only ever use one) bonding is possible.

Without some eye-watering investment (mostly in FTTH) I think BT are always going to be playing second fiddle to Virgin in terms of sheer top speed.

You can always push a higher data rate through a coax cable than you can down a copper pair that was only ever intended for voice.

Help, I need Help.

My exchange was upgraded last year and I have been campaiging for 3years.
Last september I was told just keep checking the checker it'll come live.
My line used to say September 2010 now it doesn't say anyhting. My nearest cab is 50yds and has FTTC but I'm not on it. I'm on a cab thats 250yds away!

So, Who/Where can I find out what the hold up is for my cabinet to get FTTC.

Exchange Sittingbourne
Cabinet 76

Any help or contacts would be good.
Clearly BT Helpdesk/Cust Services/Tech support have no Idea???

In reply to a post by arg0naut:

So, Who/Where can I find out what the hold up is for my cabinet to get FTTC.

Believe me, if we could answer that we would

BT works in its own sweet, inscrutable way... your cabinet will be upgraded when BT are good and ready, not before. Or possibly just plain not.

The only thing I can suggest is that, because BT sometimes enable a cabinet but don't accept Infinity orders on it immediately, to try the number checkers for other ISPs who offer FTTC products. They can sometimes supply it when BT won't.

There's a list of them here:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/guide/fibre-broadband....

(Scroll down)

Good luck!

Thanks Billford,
I already check the others but there is no New Cabinet next to mine.
Therefore there is a hold up in the placement of the cabinet if it will ever get placed.
I cannot see any planning permissions with the local council.

I did find a part of a BT website about 18 months ago that showed you the Cabs and Date distribution for FTTC and it seems to have been spot on for the ones that have rolled. But I no longer have access to that part of the site or its been moved. So someone somewhere knows?

Was driving around today and have seen some openreach engineers by the side of the roads in and around North Wembley - not near my cabinet though (i think its mine, im connected to cab 46, not sure where that is) but i have seen some FTTC cabs around, so hopefully not too long to go now

Well i finally found my cab - i have been informed i am connected to cab 43, which is here:

http://www.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&ll=51.561803,-0.2...

Measuring the distance to my house, its about 400-500m - which means i should get the full 40mb i hope?

Still no sign of any new cab here, but it shouldnt be too long i hope

EDIT - can someone take a look at the roadworks going on in the pic - are these guys laying fibre ? - i never payed attention when this was going on but it seems pretty systematic and extensive in and around the area.

Edited by deleted (Wed 30-Mar-11 23:56:23)

Post deleted by Sadoldman

There's almost no chance it is fibre.

This picture suggests the roadworks are 3 years old - so wouldn't be part of the current projects at all.

In addition, the roadworks seem to be digging at intervals, yet don't seem to be related to places where the BT manhole covers are.

Thanks for the reply, but i had gathered as much. The spreadsheet says my cab is getting FTTC, with 1st july being the date still showing in the checker. Nearly all the cabs in the area have been done from what i can see, but my one is still waiting. I have seen some go up in 2-3 days so i guess there is plenty of time to go before 1st July.

It is so near yet so far!

Our cabinet was installed at the same time as others locally, but then took an extra 3 months to go live - seemingly because of problems getting power.

I've then had to go through 10 weeks of shenanigans to get it ordered & installed - whatever you do, don't try to change the install date once you've ordered it!

Surprise surprise, my date has been pushed back to September 30th, with no cabinet in site. Im not even far from my exchange, yet almost every single cab in my area, and in surrounding exchange areas have all been upgraded - even in the most horrible of places! Yet my lovely suburban road has been forgotten about.

I think out of principle i will leave it now, hopefully Be/Sky will come out of the woodwork and announce some products - it seems most people are having problems with BT FTTC anyway - so could be a blessing in disguise!

Whatever product "they" come out with, they're still going to depend on the BT cabinet getting installed, and then still depend on the same VDSL DSLAM in that cabinet.

Understood - but im hoping they wont traffic mange like BT and not be plagued by routing issues people seem to be having

Actually come to think of it - if you are given a date at the beginning of the month, then it seems it is almost certain not going to happen by that date. It seems most 30th June cabinets are in, whereas a lot of 1st July ones are not. The 1st July ones have now become Sept 30th - the end of the month. So its more than likely these will be done byu then.

My 30th June cabinet has become 30th of September. But the 10th of June updated spreadsheet shows my cabinet as 'RFS' - ready for service.

I don't know what's going on.

Well my exhange is ready for service already, the 14th June openreach pdf is saying they are accepting orders.

Has a shiny new cabinet been put up next to your existing one? If not then you are in the same boat as me - and will have to wait till september, or before if they get their skates on.

Your exchange is probably up and running now and 'ready for service', and enabled cabinets are probably up and running.

Still no sign of my cab going up - 30th September is the date given But im not having any hopes of it being met. is there anyone i can contact to find out what the hold up is?

Not really, unless you suspect something has gone seriously wrong with your line or cabinet, relative to all the others locally.

Generally, a date like the 30th September is just a provisional target date for BT - to show that their plans targetted that area during Q3. Such dates have a bad habit of being pushed back one, two or even 3 more quarters.

The main problem is that, even if BT know internally about a specific delay, it seems that the "provisional target date" will only get changed (by pushing back 3 months to Q4 in that case) in mid-September. ie 2 weeks before due - just as expectations have peaked nicely...

Delays have been the norm in the past - so normal, it isn't worth getting your hopes up until you've gone through 1 or 2 delays. However, I think I detect more exchanges going live, to plan, *this* quarter than any previous quarter.

My scheduled enablement date for my local street cabinet has ping-ponged all over the place. Was initially set for 30th March, then it was delayed to 30th June... 30th Sep... 1st Dec but now its gone back to 30th of August? But I don't see a FTTC cabinet at all?

From what I've read here, if the date all of a sudden jumps forward to the end of this month when the month is coming to an end.. then that it's likely to be enabled at that date?

I just can't see it happening though... there is no signs of a new FTTC cabinet being installed near my local street cabinet.. unless I'm going blind....

Experiencing weird dates with the FTTC deployment in Stamford too. The cabinets are installed and powered up (walked passed the 2 installed last month in my village this evening and they're whirring away nicely) but our RFS date is listed as 1st June 2012 (having changed a few times). It seems strange that these cabinets will be dormant for at least 10 months. Ozz

Looks like there is more chance of your street cabinet being FTTC enabled by the end of this month than mine!

Ive had a good look around my cab - im not even far from the exchange, and its situated near a road junction with lots of traffic lights. i have no idea why its taking so long - on my local councils' streetworks site there is no mention of any impending work there.

Maybe existing ducts are blocked?

about 20 metres from my cab are lots of spray painted outline of rectangles (see google maps link)

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=wembley+hill+road&hl...

is this likely to be where it'll be situated or is it too far from the cab? (you can see the cab in the distance) if you rotate to the right. im sure power wont be a problem here!

Thought I'd post here on the off chance that someone "in the know" may be able to help. My scheduled date on the BTWholesale checker has gone from March to June to Sept and now back to 31st December 2011. The exchange has been live since March 2011.

My postcodes cabinet (115 on the SMSX exchange) is a long way from the exchange and I only get about 1600kbps sync on ADLS2. Could the distance from the exchange be part of the reason why it keeps getting delayed? There's no sign of a new cabinet next to the existing one yet either. Oh and it's phase 5b if that helps...

Thanks.

Well the same has happened to mine - now back to dec 2011. I think they wont bother anymore. Every single other cabinet has been done as far as a i can tell in the vicinity - even places further than my cabinet - its not even that far from the exchange.

Is there anybody we can contact to ask why our cabinets have been delayed?

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Well the same has happened to mine - now back to dec 2011. I think they wont bother anymore. Every single other cabinet has been done as far as a i can tell in the vicinity - even places further than my cabinet - its not even that far from the exchange.

Is there anybody we can contact to ask why our cabinets have been delayed?

Sorry to bring this up again, but still no action on my cabinet. It is really annoying now. I dont see any new cabinets going up in my area. Checker still says dec 31st 2011.

Is there anybody i can contact at BT to find out what the hold up is? Its a joke as its going to be 1 year late than originally planned, and a year after the exchange was enabled.

Thanks in advance

BT will probably just make up excuses and say we don't know anything its down to openreach and openreach dont talk to customers.

There is noone in BT you can phone afaik sadly sorry - I feel the same frustration as yourself as all around me is enabled and our cabinet/new street is not. Even though the guy was laying the fibre and he said the cabinet is gonna be installed soon.

Edited by deleted (Tue 15-Nov-11 21:37:14)

Can that Ian livingstone chap shed any light? My cab has always been on the list, there will be no probs getting power to it, lots of other cabinets in the vicinity.

Would the local council know? I keep a regular eye on the list of streetworks, it never comes up on it.

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Sorry to bring this up again, but still no action on my cabinet. It is really annoying now. I dont see any new cabinets going up in my area. Checker still says dec 31st 2011.

Is there anybody i can contact at BT to find out what the hold up is? Its a joke as its going to be 1 year late than originally planned, and a year after the exchange was enabled.

Join the club. My FTTC date from the checker was originally Jun 2010, then Dec 2010, then Mar 2011, then Sept 2011, now Dec 2011. There is no sign of an FTTC cab near my PCP

I suspect these gaps are planning issues, my PCP is right outside someone's front door, they probably don't want a huge FTTC cabinet in their front window :-/

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Can that Ian livingstone chap shed any light? My cab has always been on the list, there will be no probs getting power to it, lots of other cabinets in the vicinity.

Would the local council know? I keep a regular eye on the list of streetworks, it never comes up on it.

I would say not tbh m8 - I wish I could be more hopeful, someone more in the know than myself may have a better suggestion. It seems that they use the checker on the bt site as a gospel almost.

It would not hurt in the slightest imo if openreach were to publish some preliminary dates as to when peoples cabs are to be enabled, it would certainly help alot of people. Then again thats BT for you.......

They must be planning issues - that really sucks for you too mate

Its just so annoying that virgin also decided not to cable my line of road (in a circle). all other house in the neighbourhood seem to have it (including those opposite side of my street!)

Well if it is somebody objecting to it then they will just have to give us FTTP to prevent a green fibre cab going up

FINALLY WE HAVE SOME ACTION!!!!

My god i had given up all hope - i was going to post on here with a massive rant over the weekend just gone. I have been checking every week for some progress - and nothing for the last year!

Come back today to check up on the london street works and find that some work is due with BT on 7/3/12 for 3 days

I take it an NGA cabinet is a fibre cabinet?? BTW enablement date is 31st march, so im expecting once the power is in then not much longer after that!! YES!

Edited by deleted (Mon 05-Mar-12 21:29:14)

Yes, NGA cabinet is FTTC cabinet.

Hopefully they are not delayed in blowing the fibre, laying the copper between old PCP and FTTC cab and installing the power. 31st March is just a placeholder date for all cabs that have not been installed, and 31st is definitely pushing it, sorry to say!

Yeh i know it is pushing it, but i have waited this long, so a little longer isn't an issue! I had been checking on the london streetworks site for 3 months in advance and nothing had shown up till today

the cabinet to be installed is 1.5m x 0.5m, i take it that is the small 128 Huwaei one?

It seems like lots of polyduct is being installed too - hopefully with this work they are ready to blow the fibre through.

Think i might be waiting till May as thats when the yearly BT line rental is up for renewal.

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Think i might be waiting till May as thats when the yearly BT line rental is up for renewal.

?
Unless you are thinking of Sky or TalkTalk, what's the relevance of the BT line rental renewal date?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Think i might be waiting till May as thats when the yearly BT line rental is up for renewal.

?
Unless you are thinking of Sky or TalkTalk, what's the relevance of the BT line rental renewal date?

Thats exactly why - i already pay a lot for sky tv - might be worth getting them under one provider. Payed the yearly line rental to BT as a lump sum of £120 last May. Just keeping options open.

My exchange was upgraded two years ago and I have been campaiging for 5years.
I spoke to the Chairmans office as you do and they came back with Installed by December 2012 if they get enough Interest.

What I'm looking for has the latest O/R cab list been leaked as yet or does anyone of you nice ISP guys can check as to when they think this might happen. I think in the December sheet it had some info but I'm looking for the updated one due this month.

Exchange Sittingbourne
Cabinet 76

Thanks in Advance. Trying to get 200 neighbours and me updated, was hoping to get before the Olympics but I don't think that will happen!

Who says the next spreadsheet is due this month? I haven't seen anything?

Who says the next spreadsheet is due this month? I haven't seen anything?

This was implied by the person who got back to me from the chairmans office.
Not that he can say directly, but said you maybe able to find the Information soon (by March) in a Vendor verified Information update! probably the same way you got the Info from before. Talking about the past spreadsheets.

I believe the spreadsheets are produced quarterly. So now a new leakage is "ripe".

13 April, 15 December? I think there may have been an intermediate one but probably not.

One would expect an issue to correspond with the new exchange list, but it hasn't come out yet.

O.k. So my proposal is to just wait and see.

I'm sure some kindly person will provide a "nod & wink", when appropriate.

Once an updated list arrives, any change of checking the following:

Exchange: Chislehurst (LSCHI)
Cabinet: 25

My exchange was enabled in deployment 5b I believe but the availability checker since then has always shown an availability date 3 months into the future. It's now showing June 2012 when previously it was showing March 2012.

As I live in a conservation area, cabinet installations have to be notified to the local planning authority and checking their website, I can't see any such planning requests/applications for my cabinet (although I can see others that appear to only have been submitted in February of this year).

My exchange is Pinner and it's been FTTC enabled for quite a while. I've been watching the 3-monthly promises for 3 years now to no avail. Still noFTTC. What annoys me most is that a friend who lives round the corner is connected to a different cabinet has had Infinity for ages!

In reply to a post by viztopiaman:

My exchange is Pinner and it's been FTTC enabled for quite a while. I've been watching the 3-monthly promises for 3 years now to no avail. Still noFTTC. What annoys me most is that a friend who lives round the corner is connected to a different cabinet has had Infinity for ages!

So what's your postcode?

My postcode is HA5 3DL. Current date expected for my cabinet to be FTTC enabled is 30/06/2012 but I know that will be moved back by 3 months when the end of June is reached.

Where do you get the date for your cabinet from? Here?

Anyway, just in case you haven't been told, it's cabinet 82. Is that the one you expected? Must be something unusual as it should have been long ago, like the ones you know about. Is it powered up? You can hear it if you listen at the vents in the door.

Thanks very much for that information. I didn't know for sure the cabinet number. Is there a way of finding the exact location? Otherwise I'll have a wander round and try to find it. It is extremely strange that other cabinets in the neighbourhood seem to have been enabled. It makes me wonder whether it has just been forgotten. I've spoken to BT who say that the rollout is based on BTOpenreach and they have no way of influencing the deployment. I spoke to Ofcom who said that BT have to instruct Openreach which is the opposite to what they told me. It is really very frustrating and I don't know whether there is anything I can do to move things along.

I found cabinet 82 at the end of my road. It's about 3 feet high and looks like quite an old one. I took a picture of it.

Cabinet 82

About 50 feet away is cabinet 81 and there are two larger cabinets next to it that look like FTTC ones. I don't know whether one of these could be serving me?

What do you think?

Almost certainly one of them will be for 82. 81 won't have two. I expect the one furthest from 81 is yours! They can be 50 metres from the PCP, so 50 feet is no problem.

OK

No news on my cabinet as such but I found this info from the Elgin Works site,
Basicly this is for works to happen no where near any current Cabs & in the area that is in the middle of the standard Cab supplying me which is 200mtrs away.

Could this mean that BT will be Installing a UG box FTTC connection or another secondary sub cab off of the original to divert extend an Fibre connection to???

Any Ideas what this means? I'm hoping a UG Fibre connection.

Queries about this work should be addressed to UK Power Networks quoting reference KZ00920123589

Current status Work in progress
Works location Emerald Crescent, Sittingbourne, Kent
Works description Connections Highway Services: Connections NEW INDIVIDUAL SUPPLY Excavate joint bay and trench 5m in footway for sisconnection to BT cabinet. Footway - excavations

Thanks for that. So the cabinet exists but is not in operation. Strange. Thanks for all your help.

Any Ideas what this means? I'm hoping a UG Fibre connection.

Don't know, sorry.

it may be worth chcieck with local council to see if they have had LN / GDPO applicaitons for iehter of those cabs -- may hvae been issed but objected to -- and that may be why not stood up (assuming in deployment plan

Not sure I understand what you mean. If the cabinets are already there then it would be a little late for objections wouldn't it? I seem to remember the cabinets were put there about a year ago. Could be longer. When you told me that my cabinet was number 82 I assume you got that from the postcode. I have a friend whose postcode is HA5 3BS and I'm guessing his cabinet is 81. Do you know if this is true? Because he does have Infinity. If so then it would mean that one of the 2 FTTC cabinets is operational. I assume that if the cabinet is physically in place then it must be cabled up so it woiuld suggest that it just isn't switched on. Curiouser and curiouser...

All lines at HA5 3BS are provided from cabinet 40.

Ok. So I was wrong in my guess about cabinet 81. So, 2 questions:

1. Is there any way of knowing whether FTTC is available on cabinet 81?
2. If an FTTC acbinet exists for cabinet 82 what do they have to do to put it into service? Is it reasonable to assume that if the cabinet is there then it must be fully cabled up? I do remember seeing roadworks fairly recently that could have been related to this.

Sorry for all the questions but, seemingly, you have all the answers which is more than I can say for BT!

HA53EY {LWPIN}{P81} 91%
HA53HA {LWPIN}{P81} 92%
HA53DY {LWPIN}{P81} 93%
HA53HE {LWPIN}{P81} 95%
HA53EX {LWPIN}{P81} 96%
HA53DX {LWPIN}{P81} 100%
HA53HD {LWPIN}{P81} 100%
HA53EA {LWPIN}{P81} 100%
HA53HF {LWPIN}{P81} 100%
HA53HG {LWPIN}{P81} 100%
HA53HQ {LWPIN}{P81} 100%
HA53EZ {LWPIN}{P81} 100%

The percentage is the percentage of the lines at that postcode sereved by cabinet 81. Whether it is live or not I can't tell.

That's extremely helpful. It looks like cabinet 81 is fully FTTC operational on the few I checked. Is there any way I can confirm that the second cabinet next to 81 is number 82?

Thanks for that. That's amazingly helpful. Checking these post codes it looks like cabinet 81 FTTC is fully functional. Why oh why is the cabinet next to it not functioning. I'm sure it must have been like this for quite a while.

Just out of interest do you know which postcodes are served by cabinet 82? I feel bad about putting you to further trouble.If this is something I can get easily then perhaps you can direct me to where the information can be found unlless it's priviledged in which I case I fully understand.

LWPIN PINNER HA53HE {LWPIN}{P82} 0 4% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DY {LWPIN}{P82} 0 6% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53AZ {LWPIN}{P82} 0 63% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DA {LWPIN}{P82} 0 71% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53AX {LWPIN}{P82} 0 83% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53BX {LWPIN}{P82} 0 84% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DF {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DR {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DL {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53BA {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DJ {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DH {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53BU {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DQ {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DB {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DN {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DW {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DP {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53BB {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC
LWPIN PINNER HA53DD {LWPIN}{P82} 0 100% 10.65 5a Yes FTTC

Edit: The info is in a freely available spreadsheet. This one contains only cabinets which are scheduled to be done https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapi... but there is another 2 parter which contains all postcodes - I've imported them into a database for ease of use.

Edited by R0NSKI (Wed 04-Apr-12 16:03:38)

Many thanks for that. It's very helpful.

Here's something else you'll find useful and interesting

http://batchgeo.com/map/2fdc757a8786bbf26512796318e9...

That's very interesting. Thank you for that. Do you know what Uplift means?

The other thing I would like to confirm is whether the 2 FTTC cabinets I saw next to cabinet 81 are for cabinets 81 and 82. Is there any way of confirming where the FTTC cabinets are?

Uplift is the expected increase in speed that the line will see, so current line speed x 10.65 will give whats to be expected.

Its very unlikely 2 cabs of the same size will belong to the same cab, i have see a smaller 128 and 288 line cab next to a single pcp.
If both Fibre twins are the same size its quite likely that they for a single cab, can you trace back the route from cab 81 to the fibre twin- should be a trench in the pathway.

Where abouts are the two cabs on google maps as your area has a gap right in the middle of coverage.

At the corner of Barrowpoint Ave and Paines Lane there are 3 cabinets. Furthest away from Paines Lane is cabinet 81 and the 2 FTTC cabinets are next to it (nearer to Paines Lane). For the record my house is in Oakhill Ave at the end of the cul-de-sac part.

Hmm this is very odd.

My exchange (Haywards Heath) is 'online' as of 31-March. The chap at BT confirmed this. But I can't place an order.

I live on a new estate (built approx 4 years ago) which has about 60 dwellings. Given its recent build I assume the cabinet that was installed to serve these houses is relatively modern. The estate does have its own cabinet - well, certainly one that is located on the development (which was built on a greenfield site within an existing village).

A few months ago I stumbled accros a csv file called 'PCP to Postcode Report 13042011.csv' which had my postcode listed on it... and all looked good (100% of the postcode woud get FTTC fibre). However, I've just looked at the file called December_2012_PCP.csv and my postcode, and those of my neighbours on this estate are jut not listed.

Any idea how I can find ot if/when I'll be able to get fibre?

I have seen another cabinet in our village that has been plastered with an openreach 'superfast broadband is here' so engineers have been to our village, just not out cabinet (I presume).

Thanks

In reply to a post by viztopiaman:

My exchange is Pinner and it's been FTTC enabled for quite a while. I've been watching the 3-monthly promises for 3 years now to no avail. Still noFTTC. What annoys me most is that a friend who lives round the corner is connected to a different cabinet has had Infinity for ages!

Ouch, three years eh?

That wasn't quite the cheery news I was hoping for but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.

Part of me wonders if that fact that a lot of the homes in my area have Virgin Cable available to them is also playing a part in this.

In reply to a post by viztopiaman:

At the corner of Barrowpoint Ave and Paines Lane there are 3 cabinets. Furthest away from Paines Lane is cabinet 81 and the 2 FTTC cabinets are next to it (nearer to Paines Lane). For the record my house is in Oakhill Ave at the end of the cul-de-sac part.

No street view for that area, not that it would show the new FTTC cabinets anyway.

@thosking, you didn't post your postcode, but if it's not in the December list then at that point in time it had been removed for some reason.

If cable was available in my area it wouldn't be so bad as there would be an alternative but, unfortunately, we don't the option of cable.

I'll lock this post, replies to the other one please, it's more detailed.

Hello RONSKI

Thanks for the spreadsheet, but my postcode (RH6 9JB) doesn't show...which worries me with a view to my local cabinet getting the upgrade.

I know I am connected to the Horley exchange and that it is fibre enabled, and has been for ages. I also know that there is a cabinet near me, but not the closest to me, which says 'Super Fast Fibre is here'.

I live on a new development which is on a green fields site so all homes are on the one cabinet, probably {SDHRLY}{P34} in the spreadsheet (it's postcodes virtually surround my house). I also know that the next phase of the development is listed as being one set to receive FTTP (luck blighters!).

I have two questions:

1) How do I find out when my cabinet will be upgraded?
2) Does the fact that the new houses 50m from my house are going to get FTTP mean my cabinet (the only one on the development so far) has to be upgraded? Put another way does FTTP mean one fibre cable direct from the exchange to the house, or does it still go through a cabinet?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

FTTP requires no upgrades to the cabinet, the fibre is feed through ducting all the way from the exchange, it never touches your telephone line, other than perhaps sharing some of the ducting.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

FTTP requires no upgrades to the cabinet, the fibre is feed through ducting all the way from the exchange, it never touches your telephone line, other than perhaps sharing some of the ducting.

Damn! So I have to now find out when my postcode is getting the upgrade then do I?

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

FTTP requires no upgrades to the cabinet, the fibre is feed through ducting all the way from the exchange, it never touches your telephone line, other than perhaps sharing some of the ducting.

Do they do ANYTHING at all to the copper while installing the cabs/fibre ect? i ask because ever since they started work on installing the cabs in the local area my sky adsl has resinced every night

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

FTTP requires no upgrades to the cabinet, the fibre is feed through ducting all the way from the exchange, it never touches your telephone line, other than perhaps sharing some of the ducting.

Do they do ANYTHING at all to the copper while installing the cabs/fibre ect? i ask because ever since they started work on installing the cabs in the local area my sky adsl has resinced every night

opps sorry but im not the last poster........ wont let me sign in from work for some reasion

Ominous

Two types of fibre deployed

FTTP - does not touch the phone line/copper
FTTC - intercepts and uses the copper at the closest cabinet to a property

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

FTTC - intercepts and uses the copper at the closest cabinet to a property

Shouldn't that be:

FTTC - intercepts and uses the copper from the cabinet currently feeding a property

?

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

FTTP requires no upgrades to the cabinet, the fibre is feed through ducting all the way from the exchange, it never touches your telephone line, other than perhaps sharing some of the ducting.

Do they do ANYTHING at all to the copper while installing the cabs/fibre ect? i ask because ever since they started work on installing the cabs in the local area my sky adsl has resinced every night

The did round my way because the main copper runs along the west side of the main road and then cuts across to the PCP on the other side of the road. This PCP serves addresses down streets along both sides of the road. For the roads on the west side of the street, the lines came back across the road into a duct box and then onto further duct boxes and up various poles.

What OR did when they installed the FTTC cabinet was to separate out the line for the east and west side of the road, leaving the east lines connected to the old PCP and put in a new PCP for the west lines.

The upside, as I live on the west side, is that my ADSL router reports a 2dB reduction in downstream attenuation and syncs about 1.8Mbps higher than it used to. Just waiting until June/July when hopefully I can order fibre

Since you are on a new development the cabinet was proably not included in OR plans when they first enabled the area, it can likely appear in future plans.

http://g.co/maps/ng2q5

Is your phone cabinet, new build estates do appear later on in the rollout.

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Apr-12 23:50:34)

Thank you ccxo, how do I find out when in the roll out by cabinet will be done. I see lots of people on here talking about scheduled dates but don't know how to find mine.

If it helps I just drove past my cabinet and it is actually number 36 so {SDHRLY}{P36} presumably? This does not appear at all on the spreadsheet I have access to though...

Until a new version of the spreadsheet is realease their is no way of knowing when and if your cabinet is planned.

At current the lines connected to cab 36 are only a small % of the postcode lines as most go to cabinet 34 which has been planned and likely enabled for FTTC.

All you can do at this stage is sit and wait to see what happens.

With the other section of the development planned to recieve FTTP have you spoke to the developers to find out if that will made avalaible to the exisitng properties?

Thank you again ccxo

I have now contacted the developers to ask that very question.

Cheers

Tim

Hi arg0naut,

I am moving into your area soon and will be connected to cab 76 but cannot find where it is, only where 56 is. Could you let me know what road it is on so i can keep looking!

Cab 76 is on Sonora just to the right of the postbox.

http://g.co/maps/hqcnf

Will you be moving onto the just built in the last six months or the older existing properties.
I am unsure as to which way the new properties are fed. I will be flyering all the residents in the next few weeks as we still need support, even tho Openreach have said Phase 9A - Dec12-Apr13. It may never happen unless we get enough people interested.

I have the list of addresses that are currently on Cab76, exceptions are as stated the very new ones by the shops, Anatase Close(2% fed by a cab that isn't getting Fibre). Some but not all Emerald & Moonstone are already on a Cab that has Fibre. The rest I have a list for.
If you want to PM me your postcode and house number. I can let you know what Cab its on and whether it has Fibre or not. To be honest the average speed varies on ADSL here between 1Mb & 2,5Mb.

Thanks arg0naut, sent you a pm.

Not sure if i will be on cab76 as can only check with the postcode of the home opposite as mine is too new for the old spreadsheet.

Hope a new spreadsheet is out soon so i can check or suppose when i move in, i could ask the bt person what cab im on. Hope its 54!

fttc checker

ME105AD is on Cab 76 and it is indeed planned. What's your postcode?

Edited by deleted (Sat 05-May-12 20:46:07)

ME10 5AF, new postcode.

Hi Nick

Yes, I am unsure as to whether that new area would be on Cab 76 as I already have a list of around 600 possible subscribers and with upto 230 more on your plot area, It may well come off of the other Cab 54 which is slightly further away? (Which is currently FTTC enabled), Who knows?
The only way would be to speak to an engineer who has worked on the New builds to ascertain which Cab you are going to be off.
If I find anything I will let you know in the meantime if you do let me know, I might have to flyer the New builds as well to drum up support. Like I mentioned before 9a is planned only and not guaranteed for Cab 76!

Welcome to the Meads
Jason

Hi Jason,

Looks like i may be lucky at get connected to the other cabinet, the sales office had to wait 8 weeks for bt to pull their finger out as they wanted to connect them to cab 76 but it was at capacity so connected else where. The sales number can get infinity although don't understand the normal speeds as exchange is miles away:

BT Infinity
38.8Mb download
6.1Mb upload

BT Total Broadband
Between 10.0Mb and 19.5Mb
(Estimated speed: 17.0Mb)

Hi, Cab 76 has very few E side pairs going back to the exchange, some lines are jumpered to an off site PCP already due to no capacity so the new build developments seem to go to the other PCP further into the estate. This already has FTTC cab fitted, although up until recently there was 2 of them fitted side by side, it appears that one has been removed leaving only one.

I'm on PCP 76 and waiting for FTTC, seems be be phase 9 which is ages away

Just a brief update really...

Power is being put into the cabinet and should be finished in two weeks time - in most peoples experiences, how long is the lead time to being able to order from this stage onwards?

Im hoping the end is in sight! I just hope its not another 3 months!

In reply to a post by Naan_H:

Yeh i know it is pushing it, but i have waited this long, so a little longer isn't an issue! I had been checking on the london streetworks site for 3 months in advance and nothing had shown up till today

the cabinet to be installed is 1.5m x 0.5m, i take it that is the small 128 Huwaei one?

It seems like lots of polyduct is being installed too - hopefully with this work they are ready to blow the fibre through.

Think i might be waiting till May as thats when the yearly BT line rental is up for renewal.

2 months and counting

so the sept 30th date is probably correct given its a placeholder.. ...oh well, its nearly here

In reply to a post by Ribble:

2 months and counting

Well, the day finally arrived!! a lot quicker than i expected. Funny that sky sent me a letter yesterday saying it was available, but the BT checker only changed over today.

'Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 56.8Mbps and upstream line speed of 18Mbps.'

Decisions decisions!

Well finally been connected

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2117066607.png

And i have been patient

Work on PCP 76 due to start 20th - 24th Aug.

BT checker doesnt even show a date for me
My postcode is GL2 2DH
Does anyone know how I can get more details as phoning up seems to bare no fruit?

That postcode is spread across four cabinets, and only one cabinet (P28) which supplies only 1% of lines in your postcode is being upgraded to FTTC, so it's extremely unlikely* you'll be able to get it, sorry.

HARDWICKE GL22DH 1% {SSHWK}{P23} 0
HARDWICKE GL22DH 94% {SSHWK}{P27} 0
HARDWICKE GL22DH 1% {SSHWK}{P28} 0 2.77 6b Yes FTTC
HARDWICKE GL22DH 1% {SSHWK}{P29} 0

*This is based on the December 2011 data, so it is possible the other cabinets have been scheduled since then, but only ISPs have access to that data.

Dammit
Cheers for looking though.

Can anyone tell me if my cabinet is going to be enabled for FTTC? Openreach says FTTC has started to become available in Hailsham and I've seen that they've done lots of work in the area in the past few weeks using roadworks.org but nothing really else planned and still no FTTC available so wondering if my cabinet is on the list or not.

My Post Code is BN27 3BR and I think my cabinet no is P17 (but not 100% sure).

Cheers.

Hi there, i'm new to the forum.

I just wondered if anyone would be able to confirm for me whether or not my cabinet will be upgraded for FTTC. My exchange is Aberdeen Lochnagar (NSLNG) and is due for FTTC by 30th Sep. 2012.

I've tried using the bt checker and it's not looking good. I also used the December 2011 open reach roll out data which shows that my postcode AB107LE uses two cabinets P40 and P90 with only P40 due for the upgrade in Sept. 2012. Several nearby properties uses overhead lines which connect to the cabinet nearest to me and they aren't able to get FTTC according to the bt checker. It looks as though I'm therefore connected to cabinet P90 unfortunately.

If I'm correct in saying that I'm connected to cabinet P90 situated on Riverside Terrace, could it be that the roll out has been postponed/delayed due to building work adjacent to the cabinet (fencing actually surrounds the cabinet) ?

I noticed two Openreach vans working approx. 30m away from the cabinet a couple of days ago, one with a drum of cable and small reel of rope and another which was much larger in height. They had a nearby bt manhole cover up with some sort of tubing being fed underneath.

My ISP TalkTalk only say that fibre optic broadband will be available in my area in October.

Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks.