FTTC - safe to wait?

I should be getting FTTC in March but my current ISP (BeThere) seems to be dragging its heels so I'd probably have to change. I'm struggling to justify changing from my current 15Mb/s sync and the only thing I can really come up with (other than 'because I can') is the increased upload. But even then I'm not sure I really would use it.

So what I'm wondering is how much does 'first come, first serve' apply? I know there's a limited capacity at each cab when first installed but how quickly would a cab be upgraded? Is it safe to assume a cab would be upgraded when it got close to full or could it be like the infamous Polar exchange where you'd have to wait weeks or months before finally being enabled?

If a cab hits if full capacity i.e. aroudn 50% takeup then yes Poplar would be the case. Adding another cab to just handle one or two more lines would be very expensive to do.

How I envy your dilemma!!!

Sub 1Mbs speeds on a 3G connection via a roof antenna as BT 'no longer' able to provide BB on my 7km line

Unlikely to be economical to add further cabinets in the short term unless there is really high density population.

Best to get on and avoid disappointment

Expensive for BT, and may not be financially viable; delays - where would it go in the programme if the initial requirement is for just a few lines; would BT get objections from the local authority if they want to install another ...

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

If a cab hits if full capacity i.e. aroudn 50% takeup then yes Poplar would be the case. Adding another cab to just handle one or two more lines would be very expensive to do.

Is there no room left in the new cabinets for additional cards? That seems a bit short-sighted. I can understand not being ready for 100% demand at install but I was hoping BT could just add some more cards over time.

Oh well. I'll put it down as another reason to change then

Exact numbers are not to hand, but yes some cabinets serve more lines than can be hosted in a FTTC cabinet. To date this is not much of a problem, most capacity posts appear to revolve around computer saying no, due to enablement dates, speed issues.

ADSL the same can happen, i.e. while exchanges are upgraded generally, there can be delays here, if demand spikes, or an exchange is short on space.

For FTTC there may be areas where only smaller deployments are possible due to objects over extra cabinets.

In reply to a post by Andrue:

Oh well. I'll put it down as another reason to change then

Same here - about 14meg throughput on a 16.5meg sync; I'll switch as soon as the FTTC cab is installed and made live.

I'm likely to go BT Infinity purely on price, as I don't use P2P. - Have you decided a possible FTTC ISP ?

In reply to a post by jchamier:

I'm likely to go BT Infinity purely on price, as I don't use P2P. - Have you decided a possible FTTC ISP ?

Not yet but probably Plusnet. I want to have static IP address.

Is there no room left in the new cabinets for additional cards? That seems a bit short-sighted.

The larger '200 pair' cabinets often only have a 100 pair tail fitted, so yes, they can be expanded. The '100 pair' ones, hmmm. To tell the truth the busiest area round this way, Basingstoke, which has service the longest, has AFAIK, not had capacity reached on any DSLAM cab yet.

Still better safe than sorry, order now to avoid disappointment !

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Is there no room left in the new cabinets for additional cards? That seems a bit short-sighted.

The larger '200 pair' cabinets often only have a 100 pair tail fitted, so yes, they can be expanded. The '100 pair' ones, hmmm. To tell the truth the busiest area round this way, Basingstoke, which has service the longest, has AFAIK, not had capacity reached on any DSLAM cab yet.

Still better safe than sorry, order now to avoid disappointment !

Don't think they'll let me. All they've done so far is mark the position in paint on the grass(*). Perhaps I should nip out with a pot of paint and put my number down

(*)Except that the council just mowed that grass so the paint has probably gone now :-/

Edited by Andrue (Tue 11-Oct-11 20:05:15)

Fibre cabinet capacity is not something I would worry about. I reckon the copper cabinet will run out of termination space before the fibre cabinet runs out of ports.

But I don't think either will run out of space. I would imagine Openreach have run the maths when it comes to planning and sourcing fibre cabinets.

In reply to a post by RandomJointer:

I would imagine Openreach have run the maths when it comes to planning and sourcing fibre cabinets.

Well yes, but ....

The maths will be concerning ROI, and sod all to do with the (hopefully few) cases where 10 potential users get told "tough luck, all connections are in use".

I have not noticed any posts suggesting they can't order FTTC because of capacity problems. It's not something I would be worried about in the foreseeable future.

In reply to a post by RandomJointer:

I have not noticed any posts suggesting they can't order FTTC because of capacity problems. It's not something I would be worried about in the foreseeable future.

Same here - I totally agree with you.

Though it was one of two factors causing me to take FTTC as soon as it was available here. The prevailing sync on this estate must be well under 5Mbps and plenty of Mercs, so I expected high take-up. So far I think I may be wrong, but when Sky bring it out there will be a lot of upgrades then I expect.