Which exchange is the FTTC linked to ?

I would like to clear up some confusion over the FTTC cabinets that have recently been installed in our local villages of Freeland and Long Hanborough and possibly North Leigh although I have not looked there. All are in the Witney area (01993 xxxxxx.

The Freeland exchange is local loop unbundled (LLU) and as we understand it TalkTalk are the main LLU company. The Freeland exchange code is SMFRD (01993 88xxxx), see..

http://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/SMFRD

There is some confusion over which exchange these new FTTC cabinets are connected to. One of the Open Reach engineers says these new cabinets (in my case cabinet 3) is connected directly to the main exchange in Witney, but another advises that the cabinet is routed via the Freeland exchange SMFRD.

Discussion is here......

http://digitalhanborough.net/bt-infinity-coming-to-l...

The question is: Which exchange is it?

To me it is relevant because if the new FTTC cabinets are not from the Freeland exchange but are connected directly to the Witney exchange, then I will switch from TalkTalk to BT to have the extra free benefits of BT Sport on my SKY Sports subscription.

I'm not sure from your post which exchange you are actually connected to.

I assume you are on full LLU (MPF) with TalkTalk, where your phone number will not work in this checker.

If it does work in there, you are on partial LLU (SMPF). If it doesn't, please use the Address option, (not the pure postcode option which can be unreliable), and post the result. The cabinet line (with your address edited out), and the contents of the table. The guff before and after doesn't matter.

Basically in your case I don't think it matters where the FTTC cabinets are fed from. It is frequently not from the "phone" exchange. I don't see how it affects your decision about whether or not to switch to BT Retail from TalkTalk.

Bear in mind that BT Infinity will almost certainly be far more expensive than TalkTalk Fibre, and that difference could be greater that the saving in getting BT Sport free. BT are also getting a lot of complaints recently about the Home Hub 5 they issue to many new customers, and quite a few on these forums are buying something else. Another (one-of) substantial cost.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 12-May-14 12:26:28)

In reply to a post by GunRunner:

To me it is relevant because if the new FTTC cabinets are not from the Freeland exchange but are connected directly to the Witney exchange, then I will switch from TalkTalk to BT to have the extra free benefits of BT Sport on my SKY Sports subscription.

There is no such thing as LLU where FTTC is concerned. There are some different ways for an ISP to get data from your exchange to their servers but they are unimportant as far as availability is concerned. If your cabinet is enabled you can sign up with any ISP offering an FTTC product.

Edited by Andrue (Mon 12-May-14 12:57:12)

In reply to a post by Andrue:

There is no such thing as LLU where FTTC is concerned.

There is.

The Equivalence of input (EoI) regulation of Generic Ethernet Access (GEA) fits within the regulatory model. It is the point of regulation in the NGA value chain which ensures vertical non-discrimination within the BT organisation. GEA is the Network Access service by which BT Group makes its Next Generation Access (NGA) investment available to all CPs in an equivalent and pro-competitive manner. BT�s retail offerings in the Super Fast Broadband (SFBB) market are based on the Openreach EoI input (GEA) enabling all CPs to fully �replicate� the BT Retail product if they so choose.

This is also referred to as VULA or Virtual Unbundled Local Access by Ofcom

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I'm not sure from your post which exchange you are actually connected to.

I assume you are on full LLU (MPF) with TalkTalk, where your phone number will not work in this checker.

If it does work in there, you are on partial LLU (SMPF). If it doesn't, please use the Address option, (not the pure postcode option which can be unreliable), and post the result. The cabinet line (with your address edited out), and the contents of the table. The guff before and after doesn't matter.

Basically in your case I don't think it matters where the FTTC cabinets are fed from. It is frequently not from the "phone" exchange. I don't see how it affects your decision about whether or not to switch to BT Retail from TalkTalk.

Bear in mind that BT Infinity will almost certainly be far more expensive than TalkTalk Fibre, and that difference could be greater that the saving in getting BT Sport free. BT are also getting a lot of complaints recently about the Home Hub 5 they issue to many new customers, and quite a few on these forums are buying something else. Another (one-of) substantial cost.

Sorry RobertoS ..

1. I thought I had made it clear that I was connected to the Freeland exchange with me on TalkTalk because that is the only exchange available to the villages.

2. If a subscriber uses TalkTalk and he is very close to this exchange he can get up to the maximum of available download speed. I am 1.7 km from it and I used to get 15.19 Mbps last year, then it dropped down to around 13.32 Mbps now it is around 11.5 Mbps. I assume this is because the capacity is being used up by more people using broadband in the local vicinity. By the way, I have fitted a filtered faceplate and the appropriate wiring to my own Netgear DGND 3700 and along with this my TalkTalk line has been tweaked for maximum gaming speed (not interleaved) and accessing a gaming server as an administrator in Buffalo in the US.

3. As I understand it, if the subscriber is with any other ISP, no matter how close he is to the exchange then TalkTalk only allow up to 8Mbps as they are the sole LLU. I did check this out because I carry out wiring for free to the locals as I am retired (ex IT) old geezer with time on his hands. Every time I put in filtered faceplates for Sky and other subscribers I find the limitation. I also asked Sky (I am a sky subscriber - not broadband) and they said the maximum they were allowed to give me was 2Mbps. This was some years ago, so it might be out of date.

4. Anyway, I digress. The reason we wanted to know to which exchange the cabinets were connected to was for interest sake and to complete the local discussion on the Long Hanborough website quoted above.

5. I had already used the link to check my line and as you will know it does not find any record because I am on TalkTalk. The address part worked and says......

Featured Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Downstream Range(Mbps)

Availability Date

High Low High Low
FTTC Range A (Clean) 80 77 20 19.9 -- Available
FTTC Range B (Impacted) 80 67.3 20 17.9 -- Available

WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 17 -- 10 to 19.5 Available
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 17 Up to 1.5 10 to 19.5 Available
ADSL Max Up to 7.5 -- 6.5 to 8 Available
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available
Other Offerings
Copper Multicast -- -- -- Available

PLEASE NOTE.

1. The "Available" is incorrect. I have read somewhere that 14th June 2014 is the go live date, and another one states the 30th June.

2. I am around 200 metres from Cabinet 3 that the above quotes and it says Freeland exchange. So it is the Freeland exchange and not the Witney exchange!

Edited by deleted (Mon 12-May-14 13:42:27)

Both Witney and Freeland offer TalkTalk LLU services, so don't see what the issue is or the reasoning that is going on.

The telephone part of your telephone line does NOT change when you connect to FTTC, i.e. if on full LLU it will still go back to the same telephone exchange as it does not.

In reply to a post by GunRunner:

5. The address part worked and says......

Featured Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)
...
...
...

You have deleted the heading which says which exchange and which cabinet you are connected to.

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

In reply to a post by GunRunner:

5. The address part worked and says......

Featured Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)
...
...
...

You have deleted the heading which says which exchange and which cabinet you are connected to.

I am around 200 metres from Cabinet 3 that the above quotes and it says Freeland exchange. So it is the Freeland exchange and NOT the Witney exchange that the new FTTC Cabinet is connected to?!

I don't understand why you think this is relevant?

To me it is relevant because if the new FTTC cabinets are not from the Freeland exchange but are connected directly to the Witney exchange, then I will switch from TalkTalk to BT to have the extra free benefits of BT Sport on my SKY Sports subscription.

Can't you switch to BT regardless of which exchange the FTTC cab is connected to?

In reply to a post by BatBoy:

I don't understand why you think this is relevant?

To me it is relevant because if the new FTTC cabinets are not from the Freeland exchange but are connected directly to the Witney exchange, then I will switch from TalkTalk to BT to have the extra free benefits of BT Sport on my SKY Sports subscription.

Can't you switch to BT regardless of which exchange the FTTC cab is connected to?

1. I could but I have about 6 months of my contract to go with TalkTalk and would have to pay a penalty to switch. I also assumed ( perhaps wrongly) that if TalkTalk were the only LLU in the Freeland exchange that they might restrict others ISPs speed. Perhaps not, but if you read my other posts above, they throttled people on the ADSL2+ links. Looks like the older practice by the only LLU (TalkTalk) of restricting other ISPs does not hold true.