FTTC capacity

I know that FTTC capacity only hold 288 houses but what happen if there is 450 houses? Does BT put two FTTC cabinets together?

288 is the maximum for a large Huawei cabinet, there are smaller cabinets from Huawei and ECI that Openreach use.
They dont typically install capacity for 100% of the lines connected to a PCP, but will typically install a cabinet to supply approximately 50% of the lines available.
if the cabinet reaches full capacity they may then add another, which is happening despite low demand in some other areas.

Edited by deleted (Tue 17-Sep-13 18:11:39)

Interesting as my area is approx 350 houses connected to Cabinet 8 (so, it look likely BT will installing large Huawei cabinet 288) but I know this area is connected too many virgin cable!

Edited by adslmax (Tue 17-Sep-13 18:44:28)

almost certianly will be ECI which seems to be what most new areas are getting.

Sorry but what is ECI ?

I found it here: ECI here: http://www.robertos.me.uk/html/bt_furniture_5.html

Edited by adslmax (Tue 17-Sep-13 18:51:08)

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Sorry but what is ECI ?

Competitor to Huawei:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECI_Telecom

and see:
http://robertos.me.uk/html/street_cabinets_etc.html

http://www.ecitele.com/Pages/Default.aspx

128 and 256 line cabinets.

350 lines isn't enough to require the 288 line Huawei especially with Virgin cable present and fairly high ADSL speeds.

In all honesty a 128 would probably be ample but they may put something bigger in as the actual hardware isn't the most expensive part of the operation.

Is it better to match up modems? I'm almost sure my cab is an ECI model and my modem is a Huawei

BT installing a very large cabinet in my area (other half side of 300 houses) this one connected to cabinet 6

http://postimg.org/image/ub9o9cc2r/

So, I expecting BT will installing a very large cabinet in cabinet 8 & 9 soon.

Edited by adslmax (Tue 17-Sep-13 18:56:07)

I guess that's what they had locally.

To be fair I have seen BT install a 288 into a cabinet passing less than 180 premises.

EDIT: This kinda thing is exactly why I said:

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

In all honesty a 128 would probably be ample but they may put something bigger in as the actual hardware isn't the most expensive part of the operation.

The actual cabinet and chassis are cheap. It's installing it, getting power and fibre to it and the line cards that are expensive.

Edited by deleted (Tue 17-Sep-13 18:58:25)

I better order my FTTC as soon as they go LIVE otherwise if the 288 lines is full then I cannot order FTTC.

Edited by adslmax (Tue 17-Sep-13 18:58:49)

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I better order my FTTC soon as they go LIVE otherwise if the 288 lines is full then I cannot order FTTC.

It won't have 288 lines of capacity straight off. It'll have perhaps 96, 2 full length line cards, and those won't fill up that quickly as the area has >14Mb DSL and cable.

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I better order my FTTC soon as they go LIVE otherwise if the 288 lines is full then I cannot order FTTC.

It won't have 288 lines of capacity straight off. It'll have perhaps 96, 2 full length line cards, and those won't fill up that quickly as the area has >14Mb DSL and cable.

True. My area had mixed ADSL2+ and Cable (Virgin Media) but maybe BT try this one the biggest cabinet (hold 400+) here: http://postimg.org/image/ytdjfnwyr/

You were doing so well then you lost the plot a bit.

As I'm sure you're aware given that you took it from this page that's a non-issue as that's a b4rn cabinet which means that every subscriber connected has their own pair of optical switch ports.

An FTTC cabinet that size would hold considerably more than 400 connections.

There will be a % use rule that BT are using

Current Line capacity of cabinet (for the number of houses + business lines) * (factor if cable) * (factor remaining on ADSLx) * {the 'special commercial number'} = size of cabinet to install day 1 with initial number of FTTC connection points for 'sale'

Then its just an anticipated fill rate depending on marketing sales and demographics.

if they then use a bit of monte carlo analysis, they can then work out the best cabinet size, fiber size and card layout for the new cabinets.

I'm pretty sure it's nowhere near that complicated, PCPs with Virgin Media cable passing 300-350 premises getting Huawei 288s doesn't really seem appropriate if it's that exact given Virgin Media's take up of 40%+.

There also doesn't appear to be any kind of calculation for how many line cards and tie pairs to put in to begin with it seems to be a standard build.

A cabinet near here is on its 2nd closure for new capacity having filled the first tranche of ports in a week.

The cabinet I'm connected to, scheduled to go live in November, will be even worse than that one, having as it has a campaign to drive interest, passing a considerable number of premises, having no cable, poor mobile signal so tethering is problematic, and being home to ADSL that doesn't reach 'basic' 2Mb levels.

I can't see it taking long for that one to chow through 96 ports and suspect 288 won't really last given the cab is >450 premises now and will be over 560 when building is complete.

We have 115 cabs installed in our area, and every single one of them I've seen, which is the majority is a 128 line ECI cab.

If the 288 line cabs are not much more it does make you wonder why they haven't just used them, then it's just a case of adding more hardware internally when/if needed, rather than another cabinet when capacity runs out.

Edited by R0NSKI (Tue 17-Sep-13 19:32:34)

Are you sure they are all 128 line cabinets. The ECI cabinet shells are the same size

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

The cabinet I'm connected to, scheduled to go live in November

Same here, Mine is go LIVE in November. Wish us both best of luck with superfast FTTC.

No, I'm just going by the info here. So this cabinet can cope with more than 128 lines then?

If it's all the same to you given I'm on unstable 1.5Mb DSL while you've 15.7Mb DSL and 120Mb cable I'm going to keep all the luck to myself this time around in the hope of the cab going live on time and my activation on it being smooth.

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

If it's all the same to you given I'm on unstable 1.5Mb DSL while you've 15.7Mb DSL and 120Mb cable I'm going to keep all the luck to myself this time around in the hope of the cab going live on time and my activation on it being smooth.

I know I am a lucky person. MY cabinet 8 is just round the corner of my house, I spoken to BT Openreach man who installed fibre optic cable under footpath to my cabinet box there, he say I would get 80/20 too easily!

I drive around in Telford area, so fars, I seen 7 different areas had Large Huawei 288 cabinets. I haven't seen any ECI 128 yet.

It's the same shell, it inside that's different

You won't see a mix of Hauwei and ECI in the same exchange area.

In reply to a post by Ribble:

You won't see a mix of Hauwei and ECI in the same exchange area.

Is that true? How did u know this.

That's interesting then, what's there maximum capacity?

We have a few 256 line ECI's around my way in high population density areas and there's nowhere to stick one of the oversized Huawei cabs.

This is one of them, here. The planning notice listed it as an ECI 256 line DSLAM.

256 lines

In reply to a post by Ribble:

You won't see a mix of Hauwei and ECI in the same exchange area.

Explains why Huawei 288s are all over the place here. That and no conservation areas to force smaller cabs to keep councils happy.

I think it's to maintain compatibility with the headend ( Exchange/ handover node) equipment.

I am sure that exchange can mixed with Huawei 288s, Huawei 128s and ECI 128s

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

It won't have 288 lines of capacity straight off. It'll have perhaps 96, 2 full length line cards, and those won't fill up that quickly as the area has >14Mb DSL and cable.

I thought FTTc here would be filled up by now, since it is over 12 months since they was up and running and ADSl around here is naff. but someone down the road put in for FTTC and they are getting it fitted soon. so i think it proves that even in areas where ADSL is naff, take up of FTTc is still slow.

I don't believe they can mix between different vendors.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I am sure that exchange can mixed with Huawei 288s, Huawei 128s and ECI 128s

I'll run with Ribble's thoughts on this one - they make sense.

Incidentally the small Huawei is 96 VDSL 2 ports.

Here in Scunthorpe, we only have Huawei cabinets installed. No ECI.

228 literally everywhere except for a couple nearer the centre of town that are 128.

Although I seem to have been given an ECI modem even though I am connected to a 228.

In reply to a post by woppy1010:

Is it better to match up modems? I'm almost sure my cab is an ECI model and my modem is a Huawei

Yes, In my test's I lost a couple of Meg off my Downstream when running my unlocked Huawei HG612 off my ECI cabinet.

It is better to match ECI modem with ECI cabs and the same goes for Huawei equipment, Huawei Modem with Huawei Cabinets. ECI and Huawei Cabs each have a specific baud plan,

You can check which cabinet you are connecting to by using Unlocked Huawei HG612 + Line Stats App.

In reply to a post by majika2007:

In reply to a post by woppy1010:

Is it better to match up modems? I'm almost sure my cab is an ECI model and my modem is a Huawei

Yes, In my test's I lost a couple of Meg off my Downstream when running my unlocked Huawei HG612 off my ECI cabinet.

It is better to match ECI modem with ECI cabs and the same goes for Huawei equipment, Huawei Modem with Huawei Cabinets. ECI and Huawei Cabs each have a specific baud plan,

You can check which cabinet you are connecting to by using Unlocked Huawei HG612 + Line Stats App.

Have you got a link to the line stats app

In reply to a post by jren207:

Here in Scunthorpe, we only have Huawei cabinets installed. No ECI.

228 literally everywhere except for a couple nearer the centre of town that are 128.

Although I seem to have been given an ECI modem even though I am connected to a 228.

how long ago was your cabinet installed?

I am curious as I believed most new areas to be ECI.

But I guess it might be better to suggest new 'exchange areas' ECI but if a new area within an existing Huawei 'exchange area' is enabled they get Huawei cabinets?

on my ECI cabinet the HG612 syncs a bit higher than ECI modems, but ECI modems or the fritzbox 3370 (which shares same chipset) have much lower error rates, and I mean much lower, easily under 10%.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

In reply to a post by jren207:

Here in Scunthorpe, we only have Huawei cabinets installed. No ECI.

228 literally everywhere except for a couple nearer the centre of town that are 128.

Although I seem to have been given an ECI modem even though I am connected to a 228.

how long ago was your cabinet installed?

I am curious as I believed most new areas to be ECI.

But I guess it might be better to suggest new 'exchange areas' ECI but if a new area within an existing Huawei 'exchange area' is enabled they get Huawei cabinets?

My cabinet was installed July last year (lucky to be in the first batch), but about two weeks ago six more 228 were installed in the latest wave of installations.

My cabinet: http://goo.gl/CZeTXX
Smaller literally outside exchange: http://goo.gl/SLFzrT

Edited by jren207 (Wed 18-Sep-13 15:47:07)

The just outside the exchange is probably to handle exchange only lines close to the exchange

You are probably correct. Small Medium & Large, with a tick box on the checklist when the initial site survey is done.

Openreach may shock me by, wisely, fully loading the cabinet they're installing here off the bat though I suspect it'll be built with 2 x 48 ports available and 100 tie pairs as per.

Edited by deleted (Wed 18-Sep-13 20:00:29)

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

I am curious as I believed most new areas to be ECI.

In Battle, E Sussex, Openreach are just rolling out fibre at the moment and they are installing the big Huawei cabinets.

and the entire exchange previously had no cabinets right?

if so that puts my theory to bed. When I got activated it seemed everyone was reporting ECI only which is where that came from.

Of course with the possibility that vectoring is going to be more expensive to enable on ECI cabinets, this could also mean BT are favouring Huawei again for that reason.

Yep, no cabinets at all.

From what I understand vectoring on ECI kit loses half the ports using line card level vectoring plus the complication of having to have all the vectored connections in the same cable bundle.

The way round would be to replace the M41 MSAN's with V41's which use system-level vectoring so get round the problem with multiple cable bundles but then there is the cost. Never really understood why Openreach didn't specify V41's from the start, I don't think they were planning to offer ADSL from the cabinets.

Saw BT Openreach installed big large Huawei cabinet in other area this morning. Look like the rest of our areas had the same large Huawei cabinets (probably to do with exchange support it) still no cabinet in my street yet.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

Of course with the possibility that vectoring is going to be more expensive to enable on ECI cabinets, this could also mean BT are favouring Huawei again for that reason.

It certainly look likely.

Well with your nick, your not going to get FTTC.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Well with your nick, your not going to get FTTC.

It better be! Or I will be very angry and annoying.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Or I will be very angry and annoying.

Yeah having to make do with 15.7Mb ADSL and 120Mb VM cable.

Can't even begin to imagine the torment.

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

Yeah having to make do with 15.7Mb ADSL and 120Mb VM cable.

Can't even begin to imagine the torment.

It not 15.7Mb anymore. It now 16.1Mb because BT DLM had reduced snr to 3
http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/2977247478

As for VM it 126Mb not 120Mb.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

As for VM it 126Mb not 120Mb.

Actually if you're being silly it's 132Mb, that being the cap on the modem. It's sold as 120Mb and has 'fluff' to ensure it delivers that throughput.

Either way no need to be whining about delays to FTTC that haven't actually happened. There are still millions of properties in urban areas with ADSL way slower than yours and no FTTx service at all. People stuck on less than 2Mb waiting on BDUK schemes or with no prospect of getting faster do actually have a good case to be unhappy.

Have a look at the lucky people here - places like Rotherhithe in London where parts of this increasingly affluent commuter area are stuck on sub-2Mb.

Telford hasn't done too badly in the grand scheme and even if your cabinet were never done, though it will be, you are better served than a fair amount of properties in major and more affluent cities in the UK.

Edited by deleted (Thu 19-Sep-13 18:12:18)

In reply to a post by Ignitionnet:

Openreach may shock me by, wisely, fully loading the cabinet they're installing here off the bat though I suspect it'll be built with 2 x 48 ports available and 100 tie pairs as per.

" and 100 tie pairs as per""

Have seen loads with 200 tie pairs from day one .

100 in and 100 out Bert?

200 in and 200 out.