Confused over exhanges and date to sign up

Currently I am on LLU but the line length is about 3 miles despite Samknows saying its 2km from exchange.

When I checked the infinity checker on bt site it says my main exchange is enabled in June, but shows another small village exchange(the village is merged with the town) which is under a mile away but not enabled to end of 2014

What does this mean in terms of what exhange I would use? Currently I use the town centre exchange for LLU.

Secondly it is meant to be enabled 30th June so at what point can I put in a order with a provider?

use the number checker, with a close neighbour's number (or the full address) if it doesn't recognise your LLU number. www.btwholesale.com/includes/adsl/main.html

I twill tell you which exchange you're connected to via which cabinet...

Telephone Number yyyyyxxxxxx on Exchange EXCHNAME is served by Cabinet N

Hi, I know FTTC is being rolled out to my local exchange (Lytham) in September, but I was wondering if anyone here can tell me what my cabinet number is (or will be) and whereabouts it is located. My postcode is FY85DB

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

You need to use the address checker that is part of the checker given in the previous post.

A full address is needed as postcodes can be served by more than one cabinet.

Well, it would seem it's already available, I just tried a few addresses in your post code:

VICTORIA STREET, LYTHAM ST ANNES, FY8 5DB on Exchange LYTHAM is served by Cabinet 21

WBC FTTC Up to 62.2 Up to 20 -- Available

Check your own address here, house number and postcode will suffice, or telephone number if not LLU.

Doesnt say about cabinet as that isnt live till 30th June I know, but says I am currently connected to my town centre exchange not the village one which is closer

Kinda crazy that where I live is 2km from town centre exchange but have over 3 miles of cable yet there is a smaller exchange just over a mile away.

In reply to a post by mittenkrust:

Doesnt say about cabinet as that isnt live till 30th June I know, but says I am currently connected to my town centre exchange not the village one which is closer

Regardless of whether a cab has been enabled for FTTC or not, if you are connected via a cab its number should be be given when you check your phone line on the number or address checker (but not the postcode checker). If no cab is mentioned it is quite possible that you are on an Exchange Only line which unfortunately would mean you aren't going to be able to get FTTC anytime soon.

Edit: beaten to it.

Does it not give you a cabinet number? If your on a cabinet it should show the number even if FTTC is not available.

If there is no cabinet number then you may on an exchange only line, and that means no FFTC for the moment, as they are not allowed to install the equipment in the exchange, even if they were it wouldn't work at your distance.

Edited by R0NSKI (Tue 14-May-13 20:02:07)

In reply to a post by mittenkrust:

Kinda crazy that where I live is 2km from town centre exchange but have over 3 miles of cable yet there is a smaller exchange just over a mile away.

Not as crazy as at my parents place, 100m from the exchange but their line is 1.2km long.

Did I use correct chceker? Didnt put number in just postcode for samknows and it lists me as the small exchange 1.3 miles away(same distance as town centre one!) if I use the "mapping" check but I am confused as all other chekers say I am on the town centre exchange

Use the BT ADSL checker in the link below.
(Enter in an existing telephone number which you want the broadband on.)

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/adslchecker.welcome

It will tell you if FTTC is available to that specific telephone number, which exchange it is connected to, which cabinet and the speeds which are estimated as being possible on it.

hope it helps.

That is the confusing thing, wont be enabled to end of June anyway just what exchange is the main worry as every checker I use apart from the mapping one says I am connected to town centre, if I am connected to the small town/village exchange it means I cant get fibre as its not got a enabled date!

Did you read the first reply to the OP, nine days ago? That's effectively the same checker. Try it for your own number and see what difference you find .

Forget Samknows:
- Sam *doesn't* know - at least not in the kind of detail you need to know for FTTC.
- It doesn't get down to the cabinet level, which is *vital* for FTTC.
- It regularly gets the exchange information wrong too, because it isn't updated often enough, and Openreach move their plans around a lot.

Forget what *any* site says about your *exchange* being enabled at a particular future date, as this is wrong more often than right nowadays - some exchanges move direct from a "Future Exchange" list to an "Accepting Orders" list.

The best place that can give you information (as you have an LLU number) is the BT Wholesale Address Checker (but NOT the Postcode Checker).

Use this URL:
https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/pls/adsl/ADSLChecker.A...

Then either:
- Put your postcode in, hit submit, and select your address from the list
- Or put your full address in, and hit submit

The top line of the resulting screen will say something like:

Address 27 BLAH ST, TOWN, NG1 1AA on Exchange BLAH is served by Cabinet NNN

That will give you your exchange and cabinet number. This one is the one to believe above all others.

Underneath will be a table that gives your estimated speeds, and planned availability date. There needs to be a line in there for FTTC if you are to get service.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

There needs to be a line in there for FTTC if you are to get service.

Bare in mind that the checker will not always mention FFTC if the cabinet is not installed and running, or if it is already full. So if no mention of FTTC, then it may still be available in the future.

Looks like I used the right checker, I put in my old address which is a third of a mile from exchange and got about 22 meg there and my old neighbours number as well as some other flats I know and none showed a cabinet.

Sorry to talk again but a few queries, I notice my home town 60 miles away has had fibre on for about a month and signs up to say they are getting it and the checker website shows as accepting orders but none of the providers show it as available which I notice is a common problem.

Since my town is live at the end of the month will it be the same problem waiting ages? The home town one I have checked many town centre numbers and addresses and none are connected to cabs

In reply to a post by mittenkrust:

The home town one I have checked many town centre numbers and addresses and none are connected to cabs

These are what are called EO or Exchange Only lines and currently such lines cannot have an FTTC service since there is no cabinet.

In reply to a post by mittenkrust:

Sorry to talk again but a few queries, I notice my home town 60 miles away has had fibre on for about a month and signs up to say they are getting it

The "signs" have been known to jump the gun before now.

and the checker website shows as accepting orders but none of the providers show it as available which I notice is a common problem.

Which checker, and which providers? Sky and TalkTalk have additional dependencies before they can offer service, so BT Wholesale normally ends up showing service availability before the other two.

Any ISP based on BT Wholesale ought to have the service available at the same time as BT Wholesale itself.

Since my town is live at the end of the month will it be the same problem waiting ages?

For some people, almost certainly. For you specifically? Who can tell. It depends whether any cabinets have been held up in getting power or fibre.

Not all cabinets go live at the same time.

Well for my home town I checked the main BT address checker as well as 1 or 2 peoples numbers I know, all live in town centre about a third of a mile or less from exhange, and I actually think its less.

I checked the bt.com website and it just offers the 20 meg service llu service

Only reason I mentioned the signs is I have seen none in my current town.

In reply to a post by mittenkrust:

Well for my home town I checked the main BT address checker as well as 1 or 2 peoples numbers I know, all live in town centre about a third of a mile or less from exhange, and I actually think its less.

So what did it say was available for these people? Did the result give a cabinet number and mention an FTTC date/speed?

I checked the bt.com website and it just offers the 20 meg service llu service

Err - wouldn't a service from BT be very much a NON-LLU service?

What about other ISP's? Plustnet? Zen?