FTTC capacity - advice please! :)

Hello everyone. Let me try to keep this self-pitying account of the Freudian nightmare that has been my FTTC upgrade process short...

My local cabinet (cabinet 90 on 01788XXXXXX - edited as advised) is consistently running out of capacity.

Late last year, the Wholesale Availability checker stated FTTC would be available on January 9, with the standard message "Sorry, this cabinet is currently unavailable. Capacity will be restored as soon as possible."
Early in January, the date moved to January 29.

On January 22, it changed to "Available". I rang my provider (Plusnet) immediately and asked them to book an FTTC install appointment - and they did.

BUT, within a few minutes of the appointment being made, Plusnet received an error, saying the appointment has failed. They have tried twice - the second time directly through Openreach - with the same result. (I'm having a customer service nightmare too with Plusnet, but that's another matter...)

And then this weekend, the Wholesale Checker changed to state FTTC is unavailable again, with a date of February 26, and the same "Sorry..." message.

The local FTTC cabinet, number 90, is one of the larger-sized Huawei ones.

This is driving me insane!

So, could anyone shed any light on either:
1) Can capacity be increased any further? (Since the cabinet is already as big as they get)
2) Why does the fibre appointment fail even when the Available Checker says "Available"?

Thanks so much in advance for any advice,

Connor

Edited by deleted (Wed 29-Jan-14 22:11:18)

1. Once fully populated with line cards and all ports full a second cabinet can be added, but with the delays in building it

2. Because databases update at different speeds and the appointment system sometimes just seems to fail anyway

Thanks for your reply!

Is there any way I can find if the cabinet is fully populated?

Brookzy

If it is a big Huawei cab it should cater for 192 lines at max, it is most likely it needs an additional 100 ties between it and it's copper twin. This will take longer than putting new cards in.

It could be that the extra cards are already in to take it from 96 to 144 but only 100 ties exist. ( That is why is opened and closed so fast, only 4 new ports could be used).

Looking at the wholesale checker for your line we can see why the demand is so high as the ADSL spedds are very low.

I would strongly recommend that you check every day and order very fast when it reopens!.

Thanks for the info!

This might be a ridiculous question... but could the two failed appointments have effectively reserved a port each time in the cabinet?

In other words could there still be two ports free but showing as taken?

This might be a ridiculous question... but could the two failed appointments have effectively reserved a port each time in the cabinet?

No.

Well then if that is the case, maybe the appointments failed because capacity was already taken?

Any ideas how long the Wholesale Checker takes to update?

No. But it also depends what you, (and they), mean by an appointment.

If you sign up online to Plusnet you get offered three dates. So you pick one. I assume that the "appointment" they booked with you over the phone was from the same list.

It has been clear for ages that the date/slot you choose online is nearly always not available by the time you order. Your order confirmation gives a different one, not from the list and usually later.

My brain, [self-mocking] which can very very occasionally be wrong [/self-mocking], suggests that Openreach are issuing a list of available appointments for that cabinet, shared between all ISPs, but it is not updated in real time. Maybe daily.

If Plusnet are using that list, which I think is likely, the explanation could be that those three slots had already been taken by earlier orders .

Your situation could be the same, but with the added complication that the cabinet is out of ports. Maybe availability depending on leavers from all connections to it, until it gets added line cards or a second cabinet.

The earlier advice, check daily (as early as possible) seems to be the only way for you at the moment. I think I would do it online.

It might be a good idea to edit your phone number out of this post and leave just the area code.

In reply to a post by kitcat:

If it is a big Huawei cab it should cater for 192 lines at max,

I thought they were 288

So did I.

Hang on, it impossible to have 288 lines full capacity once it goes live?

Do u mean if 288 lines are full, then BTO have to order a 2nd cabinet (same cabinet 288 lines) next to each others?

They can add either a 288 or a 128. There have been many cases of an auxiliary FTTC cabinet being added.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

They can add either a 288 or a 128. There have been many cases of an auxiliary FTTC cabinet being added.

I thought the exchange cannot mixed with Huawei 288 and ECI 128?

Who told you that?

I've seen it mentioned a few times, possibly even on here.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

Who told you that?

Someone metion here in somewhere in the post, I can't remember which post thought.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

They can add either a 288 or a 128. There have been many cases of an auxiliary FTTC cabinet being added.

I thought the exchange cannot mixed with Huawei 288 and ECI 128?

I don't know. But ... wot's this guv?

Sounds to me like one of the myths that becomes "true" by repetition.

Openreach have been doing my exchange since Sept 2013..By Xmas, 14 of the 22 cabs had been done and were available for orders. This is one of the cabs they installed:

http://s12.postimg.org/ju2pp8x2l/P1010002.jpg

My cab was one of the 8 NOT done in this first phase. But this week a fibre cab was installed next to my cab and this is it:

http://s27.postimg.org/4w3te845v/vlcsnap_2014_01_30_...

This looks like a mix of the two to me...The small one is an ECI ?

Edited by deleted (Thu 30-Jan-14 14:52:50)

Huawei 96 port cabinet.
It's possible to mix Huawei and ECI but each would be connected to a different headend, which could be in the same handover building. In all likely hood though, an additional cabinet would be of the same manufacturer.

Yes, Huawei 288 and an ECI. Openreach have started to mix manufacturers in the same exchange area.

I know it's Huawei, obviously, but I'm sure when they originally came out they were supposed to be 128 port? Someone, maybe you, posted a few months ago that they are 96s.

I think it was just assumed by some that they were 128 port, or even 144 ports ( half the 288 port large Huawei), but they actually have 2 x 48 port cards.

What happen if the new cabinet Huawei 288 only had less than 5% of users for over the next 12 months, will BT ask contractor to remove the cabinet because found no benefits to investiment from end users who had no interest on FTTC?

Edited by adslmax (Thu 30-Jan-14 19:22:36)

FTTC Cabinet decommissioning don't like the sounds of that, no way will that happen it's costs way to much money to commission it in the first place and if the uptake is slow i am sure by three years time it will be filled

Edited by deleted (Thu 30-Jan-14 19:48:23)

Phone a friend? (Liv).

I don't see existing low usage cabinets being decommissioned.

If they give the 3 yearswithdrawal of product notice. Otherwise not happening

It's only a bigger lump of metal.

Inside, the DSLAM only gets enough hardware to service the takeup required.

Just for an update:

This morning the Availability Checker showed the local cabinet as 'Available' again, despite giving a date of February 26. There hasn't been any external change to the cabinets.

Fibre appointment booked for February 11. Here's to hoping it actually happens this time!!!

Brookzy,

Did you order go through in the end?

I've just been on the phone to Plusnet with the same issue. My cabinet has been moving between available and unavailable for the last few months. When I was ready to order I waited for it to become available again (as shown on the BT DSL Checker website) and placed the order immediately. A couple of days later I receive an email saying there's been a problem and I should call Plusnet. So I did today and I've been told that Plusnet have been told by BT Wholesale that fibre is not available for my house. Sure enough, checked on BT DSL Checker and it is now unavailable again.

Interestingly, the DSL Checker says the capacity restoration date is 10 September 2014, one day before an engineer was due to come out to my house to install fibre. Coincidence?

Is it possible there was one port remaining, I placed my order and effectively "reserved" that last port but BT Wholesale has got itself into a muddle and thinks there is no capacity?

Hi,

My order did go through in the end. Unfortunately it was just a case of trial and error.

The biggest, and probably most frustrating, issue is that the onus is on yourself to get the order placed the second availability appears (well, in other words, before someone else does). Personally, I used a service which alerted me when the Availability Checker changed status (e.g. Chrome's Page Monitor add-on). Make sure when placing the order that you call Plusnet; do not place it online.

Another element of frustration comes from the fact that when Plusnet place a fibre order it is not confirmed until the next day at the earliest by Openreach (at least from what I understand).

With the capacity dates, they were consistently inaccurate, and on several occasions the checker changed to "available", only for the order to fail again, and the checker to then change to a later date.

As to your last question, I think I asked the same question on here and the answer was no, that doesn't happen.

It's, in my opinion, a rubbish system with no accountability, or sense, or really any semblance to a 'system'.

Sorry I couldn't have been more helpful.

Brookzy