Woking, Surrey - THWK

Anyone know any information on Woking? Was due to be enabled end of March, then slipped to end of July....

Ive not seen any signs of FTTC installation

Cheers!!

Mike

They're pulling the fibre through the ducting at the moment. I think it will probably be delayed again.

gah.. hope not! stuck on a 10mb adsl2+ connection at the mo..

Where have you seen them? Ive been riding to work through the town centre and havent seen anything yet...

Cheers

Mike

On the way into the town centre from Guildford. Square-shaped Openreach vans with reels of Fibre.

Ill take a ride past the a320 tomorrow to take a look!!

Dont suppose you know where BT cab 12 is around here??!

Shame Virgin is at the end of my road - but they wont come into our estate!

Cheers

Mike

I'm not from Woking, but my database tells me it may be this one - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geo...

Also if you PM me your postcode I can confirm your cab.

James

Edited by deleted (Wed 16-Mar-11 22:23:04)

Tags on the line database has no enablement date, not even a planned one for the thwk exchange

I get this from the BT checker....

"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 13.9Mbps and upstream line speed of 5.5Mbps."

Fingers crossed????!!!

Two cautions for you Mike,

I'm over in Knaphill, where the Brookwood exchange was due for September 2010, and eventually started taking orders in December. However, while my cabinet has its FTTC twin (which was installed at the same time as the others around here), they're taking their sweet time over enabling it - so all the surrounding cabinets are live, but ours isn't.

The "live" date reported by the DSL checker was reporting end-December in mid December, and then changed 6 times over the next 10 days to dates that included end-March, end-June, end-September and back to end-December-2010 again. It eventually settled on end-March, and stayed there until this week, when it has now changed to end-June. I suspect a power problem.

And we don't have the option of ADSL2+ either - which was also due in December. The predictor still says March 2011, but the BT Retail site has changed to June for that too.

All of that suggests that the engineers around here are a bit overloaded.
Its been extremely frustrating - so the first caution is to be patient!

The other thing is that your predictor comes out at 13.9 Mbps. That means that BT Retail won't accept you on their Infinity product (they need the predictor to be higher than 15Mbps). Other ISPs probably will accept you, and then you'll probably do better than the prediction. BT *will* come out with a different product line in the next months that *does* encompass you, but it will be called something else.

Thanks for the local info - always good to know!

Im on adsl2+ at the moment - and get a good 10.5mb with 38db loss.. Hopefully fttc might give me a bit better!

Will be keeping my current connection with IDnet, so hopefully they can pull some strings if i am below limits...

Cheers!

Mike

Yeah, I think IDnet will go below the 15Mb limit.

Bt already have a product, it's called "broadband with fibre" or similar. Different to infinity in that it supports below 15mb

But AFAIK that will only leave "Beta" come April and people have difficulty getting it at the moment...

Well

Looks like it has slipped again! now 6 more months until the end of the year

Your cabinet is planned to have WBC FTTC by 31st December 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 13.9Mbps and upstream line speed of 5.5Mbps.

However, I did have a disconnect for over 1 hour the other day, and I am now sitting at 12mb on dsl2+. They are demolishing a bridge near me - that i reckon all the phone lines go near or via.

Oh well - what's another 9 months eh?!!!?

Cheers

Mike

Strange, isn't it. Woking's dates has alway been the same as Guildford's, yet Guildford is still on the "coming soon" list (but delayed until June), while Woking went onto the "coming later" list, which now only gives the year.

It's ironic that, as BT announced 159 new exchanges, some of those have gone straight onto the "coming soon" list.

And yes - I did see that the council have had to set up temporary connections for all the cables & services going through Elm Bridge. Expect another disconnection when they reroute them back on the new bridge.

Very annoying that it has suddenly been moved right to the end of the year, im in one of the small villages around Woking just on the Woking exchange stuck on 2.5mb broadband and im not even sure if my cab will be upgraded, the bt check site says it will be but another site I checked said nothing about fibre for my cab.

Plenty of FTTC cabs around Woking now.

Hi

Yep - have seen them sprout up. My "one" appeared literally overnight!

Looks about 300m as the crow flies, and around 600m by road. Time will tell what speed I can get!

Im on 14mb at the moment - and the checker says I should be able to get 14.9mb FTTC... mind you it says that I should only get 4mb ADSL2+..

Cheers

Mike

After months of problems, I got mine live in Brookwood just over a week ago.

The road distance is over 500m, and the BT engineer's check said 550-600m.

The original estimate was for 30.1Mbps, but I've experienced a few different speeds, but I currently have an IP profile of just under 35Mbps.

Good to know! Ive measured by road, and its 600m - so hoping to get the same as you ish....

They have just ripped up the pavement next to my box, and started installing the power.

Fingers crossed that it might be active before Dec 2011.......

Hi, when i check the Bt infinity checker i get the response:


BT Infinity is not currently due to be rolled out in your area within the next 6 months. Register your interest and we will keep you up to date about the BT Infinity rollout.

Does this mean that although woking is getting fibre, my cabinet is not? My Postcode is GU220QE.

Many Thanks

Ali

THWK,WOKING,GU220QE,{THWK}{p31},0,100,5.57,5b,Yes,FTTC

According to the report, your postcode is served by PCP31 and is due to have fibre installed in Phase 5b.

Thans for finding that out. However what does that mean, is the provisional date of 31st December the best estimate of the finish date?

Ali

The best it means is that, when the spreadsheet was produced, the cabinet providing service to 100% of your postcode was included in the plan. The phasing no longer means anything, so it doesn't say anything whatsoever about *when*.

The BT Openreach website has a section that tells you when the exchange is expected to go live. Looking at the "where and when" page, you can see Woking listed as Dec-11 in the "Coming soon" list.

However, that date is only when the *exchange* is planned to go live, which might happen when only the first 10 cabinets or ready. The dates for an exchange as a whole give you no information about when any one specific cabinet will be ready - which could be many months afterwards.

The best date for *your* line will come from the DSL checker. While it holds an end-of-quarter provisional date, you can only really expect that it means (to BT) "sometime in the that 3 months, or the 3 months afterwards"... even when you are only 2 weeks away, it can rollover to the next end-of-quarter.

The only time to trust the date is when it changes to a specific date (ie not end-of-quarter), which it will usually do so around 2 weeks before it is RFS.

This time last year, Brookwood was due to go live in Sept-10. The exchange eventually went live in November, and the first cabinets that I could see went live in mid-December, with the first orders going live just after Christmas. My cabinet (middle of Knaphill), instead changed dates to end-March. In mid-March, the dates changed to mid-June. A week later, it changed to the 25th March or so (a real date). I ordered that day, and it still took until June to get service...

I advise patience.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

The best it means is that, when the spreadsheet was produced, the cabinet providing service to 100% of your postcode was included in the plan. The phasing no longer means anything, so it doesn't say anything whatsoever about *when*.

The BT Openreach website has a section that tells you when the exchange is expected to go live. Looking at the "where and when" page, you can see Woking listed as Dec-11 in the "Coming soon" list.

However, that date is only when the *exchange* is planned to go live, which might happen when only the first 10 cabinets or ready. The dates for an exchange as a whole give you no information about when any one specific cabinet will be ready - which could be many months afterwards.

The best date for *your* line will come from the DSL checker. While it holds an end-of-quarter provisional date, you can only really expect that it means (to BT) "sometime in the that 3 months, or the 3 months afterwards"... even when you are only 2 weeks away, it can rollover to the next end-of-quarter.

The only time to trust the date is when it changes to a specific date (ie not end-of-quarter), which it will usually do so around 2 weeks before it is RFS....

I advise patience.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but what does this mean in the context of my local exchange (Cheltenham)? In the lists of exchanges in 6b the date is given as '1 December' but on the Infinity site it lists it as '31 December'.

In reply to a post by chrisadsl:

Sorry to hijack the thread, but what does this mean in the context of my local exchange (Cheltenham)? In the lists of exchanges in 6b the date is given as '1 December' but on the Infinity site it lists it as '31 December'.

No difference. Every exchange is the same - and falls afoul of BT's common behaviour with specifying dates.

I've no idea *which* list shows 1-December, but the link I gave which holds Openreach's latest info (that they're willing to share publicly) just says Dec-11 for the exchange.

And even so, that means *someone* on the exchange *ought* to be able to order in December. Provisionally. If nothing gets delayed. Hopefully...

But the only thing that really matters to you is whether your line gets upgraded, not the entire exchange. For that, the best source is a DSL checker from BT Wholesale or BT Openreach (not Infinity). Like this one, when you put your phone number in.

Well

It looks like Woking has gone live according to BTs update the other day...

I have plugged a handful of line numbers in and around Woking and they come up as ready to order.

Mine however, is still stuck at Dec 2011

I am wondering if it is a direct affect of the bridge works in my previous post. Prehaps they are not going to light the fibres until the bridge is complete, and all infrastructure run though it??

If it is, I just hope they finish it on schedule, and dont over run!!

Cheers

Mike

Do you know your cab number?

Cab 12

Would yo uhave any further info?!

Check your PM.

Meh

Slipped AGAIN!!!! now the checker is reporting March 2012!!!!

Come on BT pull your fingers out!!! Orginal date for RFS was March 2011!!!

Is there anyone we can voice our concerns to?!

Mike

For anyones info - the cabinet finally went live for me to order on 02/04/12. I placed an order the next day, and had it installed on the 12/04/12.

The engineer was brilliant, and it was installed and working within 30 minutes.

The Engineer estimated that the line was around 600m long, and that I was the first person on the cabinet.

"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 31.7Mbps and upstream line speed of 5.9Mbps".

# xdslcmd info --pbParams
xdslcmd: ADSL driver and PHY status
Status: Showtime
Retrain Reason: 0
Max: Upstream rate = 14014 Kbps, Downstream rate = 48656 Kbps
Path: 0, Upstream rate = 10000 Kbps, Downstream rate = 39997 Kbps

"

The Max has dropped by 4k since being installed, so I am hoping to hold onto the 40mb.

Im going to hopefully add the above into Cacti graphs - so can see the max rate changing over time.

Lets see how it goes!

Cheers

Mike

In reply to a post by manaesh:

Im going to hopefully add the above into Cacti graphs - so can see the max rate changing over time.

If you get no joy with Cacti, you could always try the Windows Graphing Scripts that can be set to monitor any changes minute by minute 24/7.

This is what they do & how to set them up (it only takes a minute or two):-

Windows Graphing Scripts Details


The scripts (HG612_wingraphs.zip) can be downloaded here:-

Graphing Scripts Download

If you are a Linux user, you could try out the "snapshot" graphing script (graph.sh)

Hi

Thanks for the info!

I have my Cacti system integrated into my home automation system, and graph over 200 stats!

I managed to get it all into Cacti - its a bit rough and ready at the moment - but here is a sample graph if anyone is interested!!

cacti vdsl

Cheers

Mike

I have just moved into the area after being with BT Infinity on the Brookwood exchange. I'm was sure we were in the Woking exchange catchment, but now a little unsure of this as we sit between roughly between West Byfleet (coming soon) and Woking (done).

Speaking to BT when organising my house move has shown that the premises can only handle 4 - 8mb ADSL line, which is horrid, and a massive step down after having Infinity and Virgin Fibre for the last few years. I need it mostly for work purposes, and thought I had it covered when checking the Openreach site which showed Woking as green and good to go.

Can anyone check for me, or help troubleshoot when they plan to do the cabinets in our area, just want to know if its coming or whether I should give up on asking.

Details:
Postal code - GU228LD

Warren

THWK WOKING GU228LD {THWK}{P7} 0 100% 5.43 5b Yes FTTC

Result comes back with your postcode being connected to cab 7, 100% of the lines from the postcode connect to this cabinet and the exchange is woking.

Phase was 5b so the fibre twin was planned, may have been a delay.

I'm assuming you have a new telephone line/number? If so, when was it installed?

Thanks for checking the Cab for me, good news that its planned.

I dont have a new line as there is one already in the premises, the landlord has Sky Broadband - lowly 6mb line at best (that I'm curently borrowing ) that is being cancelled in a few days. As for my number, I will be transferring this over when they sort this out. But BT are having issues with there system in picking up the current active telephone number for the address. They put me through to a special address department and they say it will take a week to reflect on their systems.

The good news as you state is that the there are plans, its just the lack of knowing when. But what is worrying is when I ask the provider about fibre options (now or future) they simply state no go. Is there any information I can give them to help steer them in the right direction. Perhaps another department or company you can recommend I should talk to? Whenever I ask for fibre options its like they all get amnesia.

Warren

(Edit - it was ccxo checked the cabinet, not me ).

The problem will be that the existing phone number is not present on the normal "BT" systems, as it has been taken over by Sky.

If and when you get your old number transferred to there you will meet another hurdle, the one I was thinking you may have been up against at the moment. That is that for several days after the transfer, (as with a new line), the databases will have the data for where the number previously went to. In your case your old address and exchange/cabinet.

So don't panic for 2-3 days if things look strange at that time, or sales/support staff seem confused.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 17-Apr-12 11:08:04)

At the end of March 2012, the proposed go-live date for my postcode was deferred to June 2012 (which as per WWWombat's post, I understand doesn't actually mean anything, it's just the next quarter). I first started getting hopeful about FTTC when the cabinet was installed - this was a year ago now but it's still not yet possible to order fibre for me .

If anyone knows or can find out more information on likely timing as when I might be able to order, I'd be grateful.

My post code is GU22 0NS. Thanks.

and - to rub salt into the wound - sometime in the last few days, a large poster has appeared on the cabinet saying that "Fibe Broadband is available here"

but - on a more positive note - I see on roadworks.org and cross-referencing to the surreycc website that there are engineers working on behalf of BT not very far away to clear a blockage in an underground duct. Could be the reason for the hold up ?

In reply to a post by whitebj:

sometime in the last few days, a large poster has appeared on the cabinet saying that "Fibe Broadband is available here"

Sounds like a prime candidate for a big magic marker and

"NO IT ISN"T "

writ large underneath it

Note that I put this forward as an observation, not a suggestion...

Hi, i'm trying to understand if my new flat will be able to get infinity.

I'm moving in on the 1st August and the landlord currently get phone and broadband through BE.

The postcode is GU229LP, which is apparently connected to cabinet P118 and is not part of a phase.

The next street over's postcode is GU229LN and is connected to cabinet P68 which appears to be fully rolled out and live.

I think as my new place is part of a fairly recent development that it may have got it's own cabinet as the closest one was full, if that's the case the there's no chance BT will enable it as there's only 40 something flats so it wont be commercially viable, is my reasoning sound here?

I used http://fttc-check.alc.im/ to find out about my cabinet and i think that only has the BT Openreach data up till December 2011

Thanks for any help anyone is able to provide

Use the wholesale address checker. https://www.btwholesale.com/pages/static/Community/B...

thanks for the link

doesnt recognise my postcode., using the current phone number for the property confirms that the line supports ADSL 2+ Annex-M up to 7Mbps.

no mention of fibre at all

Well, it came as no surprise that the availability date did indeed roll over from 30 Jun and now shows as 30 Sep. The poster on the cabinet is still there (unamended!) ... Ho hum. I guess my little corner of Internetland is going to remain on the slow track for a while longer.

Is it possible that it's just been forgotten about? As I write this, I feel a little foolish, but it's a semi-serious question. Any ideas? I believe that Openreach don't talk to end-users.

Thanks

The dates that you have posted are just holding dates, they are not go live dates. Openreach works in 3 month slots, if the work is completed before the end holding date the cabinet goes live. If it does not it slips into the next 3 month slot and so on.

Best way to check is if you have a BT number to check with the BT wholesale asdl checker, its the most accurate way to know when the cabinet will go live.
Also have you listened to the vents on the FTTC cab to see if the fans are running- shows that the cab has power.

The posters on the cabinets are put up by Openreach staff in their free time, so they are not always a sign of a cabinet being live.
Likely their is either a delay on your cab with either power/fibre or their is a problem at the exchange that is causing the delay.

Openreach is not a public facing company, you have to go through your isp to contact them.

In a ideal siutation it would have made sense for Openreach to setup a public facing part to deal with the FTTC rollout- giving go live dates for cabs and reasons for delays, but this is wishful thinking.

Edited by deleted (Fri 20-Jul-12 15:27:31)

Excitement! I have now got an order in the system and the install date is now only a week away.

I saw some more engineers at the cabinets a few weeks ago and they told me that they were making the cabinet live that day and - provided it tested OK by BT/Openreach over the following week - it should be good for orders. As you can imagine, I started checking the checker almost every day from them on and, as they said, after about a week, it became available for orders so my order is now in the system.

I can't believe how childishly excted I am about this - it's only internet after all.

Good to hear, you will be suprised how excited some people get with getting faster broaband.

In reply to a post by whitebj:

I can't believe how childishly excted I am about this - it's only internet after all.

I might have peaked early with my own excitement, when moving from 2 meg to 8 meg in '06. After that, the jump to 17 meg in '08 was less exciting, and I'm not sure I can justify a jump to 80 meg. But yeah, it's great for people who have had to put up with 2 meg up until now.

It almost makes me wonder why BT are bothering to upgrade non-Virgin areas who already get 16 meg, I think many outside of these forums must be questioning the cost/benefit ratio in that instance.

Just to conclude (happily) this long saga:

The BT man (well, contractor working for BT), came on Monday and did the installation and the speed has gone from my previous 2 MB to an awesome 61 MB. I understand that the line speed may settle down to something different as the balance between speed and quality is automatically assessed by the BT systems. But at 60 MB, I'm really pleased with the new service. Everything is, well, fast!

Good luck to everyone else and I hope that you don't have to wait too long.