Colchester Council PART 2

Link from previous thread:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/4137815-colch...

Latest update:

Power connection for the cabinet now earmarked for 15-21 March 2013.

Edited by deleted (Fri 01-Mar-13 17:44:15)

I was keeping an eye on your older posts but it wasn't so easy to find part 2.
I may be moving soon to Abbey field view from the "quarters" which is off berechurch hall road.
The broadband here is 1.1 meg max, so not so great. I did make a number of phone calls but got nowhere fast.
It is nice to see someone who is pushing so hard to get decent broadband in their area.
So how long do you think it will be before fiber optic is available in your area.

the FTTC cabinet is there now. power is supposed to be connected to it this coming week. been told service will be available in may 2013. don't have any more accurate info than that at the moment.

Power network started work today, to connect power to the cabinet.

Digging up the same place BT contractor dug up last month....

Good stuff, another step in the right direction.
Why can't they get a company to do all the work at the same time, instead of drip feeding a job. It must cost considerably more money to keep digging up the same piece of ground?

I suspect that it is to do with Health & Safety and long-term liability.

A recessed Bus Stop is being installed outside the local newsagent.

The existing footpath is wide, so no problems regarding location.

The outer two-thirds has been dug and filled four times in the past two months, phone, water, gas and electricity.

The surface is now lifted once more for the actual bus stop, re-routed kerbing and final paving to be done.

The intermediate fills have been finished to a higher standard than many "permanent repairs".

There are two more similar bus stops constructed in the 1/2 mile length, going through the same rigmarole, starting four months back. One is at an existing Bus Stop, the other is a new location.

Although the main physical work including road surfacing, has been completed at those two for about four weeks, they have not got surface markings as being "BUS STOPs", so are already cluttered with parked cars etc.

Well I have just been to the house we are moving into up Abbey Field View and it looks like there is more work going on at the new box.
I do believe they are digging another big hole!
The guys doing the work do look very cold.
Alan.

Edited by deleted (Mon 25-Mar-13 15:03:08)

Go out there and give them cups of tea, in exchange for information and photos of the work for us all to examine !

That was the power company putting in power cables last week. Looks like they've finished now, just barriers left.

I just can't wait to move and get a broadband connection better than 1.1 meg.
Amazing how much time we all spend on the internet these days.

Fantastic news!

Literally just received an email, the cabinet is complete! It is in the process of appearing on all operators' ordering systems.

Been told should be in a position to order probably Tuesday/Wednesday next week.

I'm first!

In reply to a post by don0301:

Fantastic news!

Literally just received an email, the cabinet is complete! It is in the process of appearing on all operators' ordering systems.

Been told should be in a position to order probably Tuesday/Wednesday next week.

I'm first!

Wow I am really pleased for you. You deserve it.
You have put in a lot of work to get that organized and I salute you. I think if I was not moving down to your area I would have put much more effort in getting better broadband up here (berechurch hall road). When I made inquiries about it, I was told it was a broadband black-spot and would not see any improvements for at least 2 years.

So which provider will you be going for? Or will you not have an option?
Alan.

In reply to a post by datalore44:

In reply to a post by don0301:

Fantastic news!

Literally just received an email, the cabinet is complete! It is in the process of appearing on all operators' ordering systems.

Been told should be in a position to order probably Tuesday/Wednesday next week.

I'm first!

Wow I am really pleased for you. You deserve it.
You have put in a lot of work to get that organized and I salute you. I think if I was not moving down to your area I would have put much more effort in getting better broadband up here (berechurch hall road). When I made inquiries about it, I was told it was a broadband black-spot and would not see any improvements for at least 2 years.

So which provider will you be going for? Or will you not have an option?
Alan.

Thanks for the comments.

It has been a struggle at times, just glad it's finally here. 17 months or so after the initial application, and 10 months or so since I got involved. All down to incompetence from Morrisons Utility (who kept messing up the planning applications) and stupidity and lack of positive engagement from the Council.

I moved from St. Michaels area in May 2011 where I had 100Mb Virgin, to about 4-5Mb here (can't even get BBC iplayer HD to work reliably).

I was with Talk Talk for much longer than I wanted to be, as I waited for this to happen. To be honest I had little problem with the actual service, but if you ever had to call them...Aaaarrrggghhhhh!!

Changed to PlusNet 2-3 months ago in anticipation of FTTC being available.
Already pre-ordered FTTC with them, tho still not showing on system to order properly yet. They are calling me on Monday, with hopefully an installation date. According to BT it is showing available from 31 Mar.

Also, already registered for FTTPoD (chop chop BTOpenreach)

BT is keen to get some publicity from this, so I'll probably get roped into something (15 mins of fame? lol)

Look forward to seeing you at the community BBQ's we have over the summer months, if you can drag yourself away from your superfast internet

Really well done don0301, hope you get a great speed for the hard work you've put in.

In reply to a post by R0NSKI:

Really well done don0301, hope you get a great speed for the hard work you've put in.

Thanks, and thanks for your helpful posts along the way.

I'm the other side of the estate to the cabinet. So, 99% of the estate will get faster than me heh. PlusNet forecasting 33Mb, but I'll go with the 80Mb option. I'll report back when up and running.

Hope this, and the previous thread may help others in a similar position in the future.

Edited by deleted (Wed 27-Mar-13 08:35:01)

Will you let us know when you finally get your high speed internet connection running in your house?
And what you think of it?

Edited by deleted (Sat 30-Mar-13 00:55:39)

In reply to a post by datalore44:

Will you let us know when you finally get your high speed internet connection running in your house?
And what you think of it?

Yeah, already said I'll be posting.

Now ordered from PlusNet, Engineer booked for the morning of the 10th April. Ordered the 80Mb service Unlimited.
Also, registered for FTTPoD when it comes online.

Just done a BT check on CO27US and it says fiber optic is available which is great. Just wondering though who pays for the intitial installation of the cabinets, is it BT? If they pay for all the work and then you can use any other company to supply the service, then what does BT get out of it?
Also was looking into the FTTPod, that you mentioned. Am I right in thinking this is a fiber optic connection of up to 300mbits? Does that tech need any special equipment or are they just throttling back the existing tech?
Alan.

Openreach pay to install the cabinets, and the ongoing monthly rental and installation fee they get from the various providers pays for the cabinet over a number of years.

Openreach has talked of a 12 year pay back term.

FTTPoD is the full fibre optic cable into your home option, they are throttling back as fibre can an awful lot faster, 10 Gbps if they wanted to and you could afford the bandwidth to the Internet.

Found out today PlusNet are only activating 40Mb on Weds. Some mess up with the order. Been told it will be upgraded to 80Mb unlimited on Friday.

Even the 40Mb service will be a massive improvement, can't wait.

Edited by deleted (Sun 07-Apr-13 13:57:12)

So, the Engineer has been. 40Mb service installed, but no router. Call to PlusNet, told it was sent Sunday. Called again and told it was never ordered and they wanted £5.99 to cover postage! So router ordered now 3-5 working days to receive.

On phone to tech support now, told within an hour or so I will be put on the Fibre profile, and tomorrow will be put on the 80/20 profile...

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html...

At the moment my upload speed is nearly twice my download lol

Why are things never simple...

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/13655...

Yay!

Being upgraded to 80/20 tomorrow.

Edited by deleted (Wed 10-Apr-13 12:41:25)

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/13656...

Just a bit of difference!

That's fantastic speeds, very well done from sunny Spain!

Ps the reason you had such a low download speed to start with is because Plusnet hadn't update your profile.

Edited by R0NSKI (Thu 11-Apr-13 16:41:34)

That's a great speed. I bet you are well happy.
I am still waiting to see if I can move to Abbey Field View but the new bedroom tax may make it impossible even though we would be downsizing from a 3 to a 2 bed. Don't you just love these new Government schemes.
PS Check out my speeds.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/button/13658...

Edited by deleted (Sat 13-Apr-13 17:41:10)