TalkTalk Fibre Optic Broadband

Had it installed this morning and wow! what a increase of speed! Much better then the 6.5Meg I was getting this morning!!!

In reply to a post by _fruit_loop_:

Had it installed this morning and wow! what a increase of speed! Much better then the 6.5Meg I was getting this morning!!!

Congratulations mate! I feel a bit jealous now

Am i right in saying that talktalk is the first ISP to offer 'LLU based' FTTC?

I'm not to sure tbh...

TT do have a forum on this,
http://www.talktalkmembers.com/forums/forumdisplay.p...

If it is LLU, which seems probable, then yes.

As LLU it will be either GEA or VULA. GEA means the Openreach connection to your home feeds into a TalkTalk MSAN, (possibly DSLAM as my knowledge stops at that point, but it isn't relevant), just like current LLU. VULA means it feeds into a BT Wholesale MSAN but routes into TalkTalk outside the WBC (21CN) system that non-LLU FTTC goes through. (VULA = Virtual Unbundled Local Access).

Yes they're the first of the LLU operators to offer it but I think the others are just behind. The connections are into MSANs. Depending on your viewpoint of the TTT network you could well be getting the best of both worlds now.

What kind of pings do you get to multiplay and bbc etc?

Is the FTTC connection provided by talktalk using LLU or using BTWhoesale?

Sort of both really. The fibre is laid by BTO and sold on to TT by BTW but then at the exchange it goes into a TT MSAN and off on to their network if the exchange has TT(T) LLU.

If it is going to the TT MSAN under GEA, I don't think BT Wholesale has anything to do with it. Though if there is something that shows me wrong I'd be very glad to see it.

I remember asking the question a while ago as th whether TT was GEA or VULA, IIRC RandomJointer said GEA, and I would expect him to be correct.

BTWhoesale?

Freudian slip ?

Wholesale are in the GEA chain as they charge TT for the data fibre leg - I would guess as TTR are charging £10 for the boost that it's probably around the £8 a month mark wholesale.

In reply to a post by Justo:

Wholesale are in the GEA chain as they charge TT for the data fibre leg - I would guess as TTR are charging £10 for the boost that it's probably around the £8 a month mark wholesale.

Pardon?

Who TT use for backhaul from the exchange is nothing whatsoever to do with "the GEA chain". They may use different suppliers at different exchanges.

GEA is a handover by Openreach to an ISP's MSAN at the exchange. If TT are using GEA, which I believe is the case, then Wholesale are not in that chain in the way they are with WBC/IPSC ISPs.

VULA is another matter.

Apologies RobertoS, it is of course Openreach charging for the handover off their fibre to TTT.

No prob.

I too,not long got talktalks fibre optic,and getting those speeds on the pc through cable,but wondering why the wireless signal is worse than the slower normal 6.5mbps service! The router is downstairs,by the door,and ,upstairs,sat in the bedroom,that is in a straight line from the router,i tend to lose signal and dont even get a bar signal. Thought fibre optic was meant to be better. By the way,i only got a stereo and a fan in the bedroom,compared to,downstairs,in the living room,with,hd tv,freeview smart recorder n ps3,all using wifi,i get better signal,from my phone! Phoned talktalk and they told me it would cost me £50, to have some bloke coming round,to tell me some [censored] about the whys and whens, which i told them to keep him at talktalk ! So please,a massive help is required from yous,thank you very much! Looking forwad to your response asap,thanks!

Stephane!

Google 'power line adapters'. Nowt wrong with what's coming in, just poor wireless. You might even find, if it's such a short direct route, that you could run a direct long ethernet cable.

Did you get a new router when you changed to fibre? That's the most likely explanation for the change in performance, could be worth changing the channel to see if it helps, maybe a neighbour is interfering with it. It's certainly got nothing to do with fibre or the speed of the line. It always amazes me that people expect high speeds out of a wireless connection, it's for convenience and portability, not speed. Speed is a bonus!

I cant add another ethernet cable to my phone,BECAUSE its a phone,and i couldn't add one if i wanted anyway,because talk talk fibre optic ONLY allows 1 ethernet cable,and obviuosly as many wifi as you want!!!

Stephane!!!

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

...
and i couldn't add one if i wanted anyway,because talk talk fibre optic ONLY allows 1 ethernet cable,and obviuosly as many wifi as you want!!!

Stephane!!!

Why not? No reason not to add a 4/8/12/16/24/48 port switch.

Kevin,the speed is definitely better when it does work,its just getting the signal,and yes i got charged £30 for an engineer to install the new router and a BT box!Stil cant unerstand the poorer signal thats all! Thanks!

Stephane!...

Forgot to add that i changed the channel so no one else interferes with it,so shouldn't have any problem there!!! Its the signal that i am [censored] off with,NOT the speed!!!!

Stephane!!!

how did you pick the channel to change it to? if you guessed what to use you may find you've picked another congested one. You need to use something like inssider to find out what other networks are running on.

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

In reply to a post by MHC:

Why not? No reason not to add a 4/8/12/16/24/48 port switch.

e.g 5 port:
http://www.ebuyer.com/225791-tenda-5-port-gigabit-sw...

or

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Unmanaged-Desktop-TL...

OK clever clogs ... just because I did not include 5!

The TP Link, even cheaper - http://www.kikatek.com/advanced_search_result.php?ke...

I cant add another ethernet cable to my phone,BECAUSE its a phone

????

because talk talk fibre optic ONLY allows 1 ethernet cable,and obviuosly as many wifi as you want!!!

Err, no, the supplied Talktalk router will provide three spare ethernet ports.

Is it an HG532? If so, read this thread.

I've used two routers on FTTC, but not with TT. The one I bought myself over a year ago was one of these and it has been near perfect. (Returnable if necessary).

When I moved to Plusnet this Feb they supplied a Netgear WNR 1000. I've gone back to the Buffalo as the wireless is far better. In fact it is the best wireless I have had, in the 10 years I've been using wifi on ADSLx routers. So that's a Linksys, two Speedtouch 585s, and three Netgears before the Plusnet one.

Yeah but even though theres three other spare ethernet ports,port 4 is for the BT box,and port 1 for the fibre optic and the other 2 are automaticly switched off/disconnected! I was told that by the talk talk support,because i tried to add another ethernet cable for my ps3,and it didnt work,so i rung them and they told me fibre optic ONLY uses 1 port !

Stephane!...

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I cant add another Ethernet cable to my phone,BECAUSE its a phone

You don't plug an Ethernet cable into a phone; you plug it into the router which usually has 4 Ethernet LAN ports.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

port 4 is for the BT box,and port 1 for the fibre optic

Do you mean that the router has 1 port to connect to the BT Openreach modem near the master socket and just 1 other port to connect to 1 PC, and the rest of the ports are disabled.

FYI: You have no fibre optic in your house; it is back in your line's street cabinet.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Yeah but even though theres three other spare ethernet ports,port 4 is for the BT box,and port 1 for the fibre optic and the other 2 are automaticly switched off/disconnected! I was told that by the talk talk support,because i tried to add another ethernet cable for my ps3,and it didnt work,so i rung them and they told me fibre optic ONLY uses 1 port !

Stephane!...

Sounds like a right cack-handed abortion of a setup . It must save them some money somehow, as they've already paid for the kit, and extra for slugging it.

Port 4 for the modem link is a nasty solution as well.

Another solution that hasn't been mentioned is to attach your old router to Port 1, having disabled DHCP on the old one and changed it's subnet to whatever the TT box is on. With a safe final number.

You can then use the three spare old router ports and its wireless.

Your hall start to look like a computer room , and you need power points.

Go and ask talktalk yourself,because though you can want to add as many ports as you want,talktalk will ONLY allow 1 working port,for the fibre optic,and another 1,to connect to the bt box,and will automaticly disconnect the other 2 left !

Stephane!..

What rubbish.

The TT connections I have seen have a fully working four port router.

Tell me, how does the fibre optic connect to an Ethernet port? And what is the BT box?

The other alternative is to buy your own router.

Q: Isn't the "BT Box" & the "fibre optic" one and the same thing?

A: Yes, the BT OR Modem!

ERGO: They only need 1 port!

I think he means the modem is feeding into an adapted Port 4, instead of a WAN port?

You've seen the things though. I haven't!

My point is that the post is full of gibberish!

Yeah and as i have said before,talktalk automaticly shuts the remaining 2 down,because for some reason, fibre optic only uses 1 port,and cant be shared on other ports!!!

Stephane!...

Yes i meant what you just said about the ports,and FYI i am aware i havent got fibre in the house,you of all people should have known,that its common language!!!

Stephane!...

@ M H C, port 1 is used to connect the bt booster to the tt router and port 4,to the pc,and the other 2 ports are automaticly disconnected!!!

Stephane!!!

Yes the port 1 is connected to the bt modem,and port 4 to the pc through ethernet cable!!! And yes,am not using no wan connection either!!!

Stephane!!!

That is different to what you said before.

BT Booster - what is that?

So, why not disconnect the PC from port 4 and connect a switch there?

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

and FYI i am aware i haven't got fibre in the house,you of all people should have known,that its common language!!!

You kept telling us 1 router port was for the "fibre optic" without saying to what it's connected. Thankfully you now clarify that it is to the PC. I've never heard anyone calling their connection to their PC as the "fibre optic".

You should try switching the PC connection from port 4 of router to port 2 or 3 to confirm what have been told by TT. If they are active the PC should connect straightaway. It is quite unusual for router ports to be disabled (yes on the modem but not the router); some ISPs issue 1-port routers but not 4-port ones with some unusable.

It is also quite usual for 1st line support staff of any ISP to make up things as they go along. Even TT adherents disparage their phone support and recommend the TT Support Forum.

You should not believe everything you are told by TT and listen to our advice which you came here for and be more precise in your descriptions.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Wed 11-Jul-12 09:28:12)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Port 4 for the modem link is a nasty solution as well.

It's what a lot of manufacturers do because it means thay can use existing hardware. It's only the dedicated cable routers that will have a separate EWAN port.

In reply to a post by simon194:

It's only the dedicated cable routers that will have a separate EWAN port.

Not entirely true- some routers (usually the more more expensive ones such as the Billion 7800N) have a built-in modem and an EWAN port.

It is quite unusual for router ports to be disabled (yes on the modem but not the router)

Bingo! There you have it.

The poster, and possibly the TT rep, is/are confused. He has possibly been told about port 2 on the modem being disabled.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 11-Jul-12 09:39:18)

There are plenty out there ... The BT (Business and Residential) hubs for example - ADSL modem, WAN port for feeding from a seperate modem - VDSL, ADSL, Cable, and 4 active LAN ports.

Port 1 is to connect the pc through ethernet,and port 4 is to connect the bt modem!

Stephane!!

Port 2 and 3 ON THE ROOTER are both disabled as i have tried to connect my ps3 through ethernet cable,without sucess!!! Now,yall teknofobs,go and sort THAT one out,and i KNOW tt support are as shyte as they come,but tried connecting before ringing them!!!

Stephane!

Post deleted by kasg

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Port 1 is to connect the pc through ethernet,and port 4 is to connect the bt modem!

& elsewhere!

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Yes the port 1 is connected to the bt modem,and port 4 to the pc through ethernet cable!!!

& elsewhere!

Make up your mind! It's hard to advise you. I even had to edit my last post as I got confused .

Never mind the PS3, have you tried to connect the PC to ports 2 or 3?

Try the PC; it's simpler than a PS3 which sometimes have problems connecting anyway.

Exactly!

OP seems keen not to follow our advice

Is there a white flag emoticon - because, I surrender!

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Exactly!

OP seems keen not to follow our advice

Maybe he works for parl�-parl�

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

So please,a massive help is required from yous,thank you very much! Looking forwad to your response asap,thanks!

Stephane!

And nearly every suggestion has been met with increasing levels of rudeness, incomprehension, and non-cooperation.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Port 2 and 3 ON THE ROOTER are both disabled as i have tried to connect my ps3 through ethernet cable,without sucess!!! Now,yall teknofobs,go and sort THAT one out,and i KNOW tt support are as shyte as they come,but tried connecting before ringing them!!!

Stephane!

Just take the cable from the computer to the router out of Port 1 and plug it into Port 3 please. That's all you have to do. If it works, then that question is answered. If it doesn't work then you have a faulty router. The PS3 is not a good piece of kit to try at this point.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

If it is LLU, which seems probable, then yes.

As LLU it will be either GEA or VULA. GEA means the Openreach connection to your home feeds into a TalkTalk MSAN, (possibly DSLAM as my knowledge stops at that point, but it isn't relevant), just like current LLU. VULA means it feeds into a BT Wholesale MSAN but routes into TalkTalk outside the WBC (21CN) system that non-LLU FTTC goes through. (VULA = Virtual Unbundled Local Access).

Is sky's fibre not LLU then?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

So please,a massive help is required from yous,thank you very much! Looking forwad to your response asap,thanks!

Stephane!

And nearly every suggestion has been met with increasing levels of rudeness, incomprehension, and non-cooperation.

Would you like one of these too?

Re purposing one of the LAN ports as an Ethernet WAN port makes sense and using that to connect to the Openreach modem is precisely what Sky do too.

What is odd is the disabling of the other two ports too, and no one else has ever raised this with talktalk hardware.

Sky fibre is GEA, but telephone remains LLU

The quote is from a May 2011 post of mine, and is largely junk. It was at a time when the difference between GEA and VULA was not really clear.

It later became clear that VULA is the OfCom specification of an FTTC near-equivalent to LLU. GEA is the Openreach name for the product they have produced to satisfy that specification.

As Andrew says, Sky FTTC is GEA. Whereas on LLU broadband Sky had complete control of the line control parameters, on GEA they pick up an ethernet feed from Openreach at the exchange, in exactly the same way as BT Wholesale do.

That ethernet feed goes to the Sky LLU DSLAM/MSAN or whatever they call their equivalent kit.

The DLM is Openreach. I believe the IP Profile is also Openreach but wouldn't guarantee that. Sky can set standard, stable and super-stable parameters on the line, via an interface to the OR DLM.

The idea of Sky and a few others having their own fibre to a cabinet seems to have bitten the dust, at least in the medium term.

Not yet.

I think we can still help him if he will listen and stop calling us names.

In any case I think we are chasing a red herring, as the question about the ports being disabled arose from the homeplug suggestion. I don't see the poster paying out for a pair or more 200Mbps Homeplugs even if the ports are available.

I think my suggestion of using his old router as a switch and WAP is (messily) feasible, but my recommendation would be for him to lash out £25 on a Buffalo router like mine. As linked to earlier but ignored by him so far.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

... because i tried to add another ethernet cable for my ps3,and it didnt work,so i rung them and they told me fibre optic ONLY uses 1 port !

Stephane!...

... of the modem .

Or even £10 for a switch and cable!

Presumably Anon is using wireless "n", would a change to "g" improve the signal strength and hence a more reliable connection (if that is actually the problem?) Obviously there would be a reduction in throughput speed though.

The advantages of a wireless LAN could still be enjoyed if mobility is required and unless full speed downloads are required ~25Mbps may be adequate.

Would it be worth trying before possibly adding more kit? Not sure if changing the channel was actually tested before because there seemed to be unfathomable issues with ports and the phone at that stage.

DSLAM implies it does just one job e.g. ADSL2+

MSAN is same hardware, but doing multiple services, e.g. telephone and ADSL2+ and maybe fibre input on local loop side.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

DSLAM implies it does just one job e.g. ADSL2+

MSAN is same hardware, but doing multiple services, e.g. telephone and ADSL2+ and maybe fibre input on local loop side.

It could be neither, and just a gigabit switch between the operators backhaul and the user facing equipment.

Yeah and as i have said before,talktalk automaticly shuts the remaining 2 down,because for some reason, fibre optic only uses 1 port,and cant be shared on other ports!!!

Have come to the conclusion, that you really don't have a clue.
You are not taking heed of any of the informed opinions you came here to ask for.

Re purposing one of the LAN ports as an Ethernet WAN port makes sense and using that to connect to the Openreach modem is precisely what Sky do too.

What is odd is the disabling of the other two ports too, and no one else has ever raised this with talktalk hardware.

Yes, port 4 makes the connection via ethernet to the Openreach modem. The other three spare lan ports all work. The OP is either ill informed, or has a faulty router. Sounds clearly like it's just a wireless issue.