Is the expected uplift speed written in stone

I am on the Wickenby exchange (Lincolnshire), cabinet 2.

OK, all of us in the village (sleepy Newtoft) get pretty lousy speeds as it is (except those lucky people that have managed to get a wireless connection) but given that my maximum speeds of late have been around the 1.47mb mark (although BT's own speedtest had me at 0.43 today), am I correct in multiplying the uplift speed by my current speed to get the speed that I can expect when fibre does finally arrive?

If so, 8 mb/s doesn't sound exactly earth shattering.

I see that they also say coming soon with the end of June showing but going to roadworks.org see shows no roadworks scheduled in the immediate area at all. I take it that installing a new cabinet next to the road would entail notifiable roadworks. Maybe the schedule date is pie in the sky

The speed you will get from FTTC depends on many factors. Mainly your distance to the cab and how long your line is to get to the cab as the line may take a longer route.

up to 400m you should get the full 80mb, 400m+ it will drop off quickly.

see:

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/guide/fibre-broadband....

The info in the chart there is very conservative tho.

The uplift doesn't really mean anything, ignore it.

I don't know about now, but in the early days it seemed to be fairly accurate - used the way the OP thinks.

If you want to email or PM your postcode and address then can look up an estimate for you.

If you've ever seen the PowerPoint presentation about the spreadsheet back in 2011(?) it said to ignore the uplift column. Looking back at what it said for some of the local not-spots in my area it lists an uplift of 37 when in reality it is around 130.

as far as I have seen, the 'uplift' figure is on a per cabinet basis.
thus, likely, more to do with the amount they have to attenuate vdsl signals to avoid disruption on existing adsl lines.

Thanks for that info. It would be great if it is from the cabinet as I'm less than 200 mtrs from the existing. Just the wait...............

If you have not already done so, I suggest that you do Quiet Line Tests on your Phone Line, to ensure that it is in a good state for the upgrade, particularly the PCP Cabinet to House length; and of course within the house.

Also try to establish the line length from your PCP to your house more accurately, using the BRAS Test-

http://windows.mouselike.org/be/?DoAction=BrasChecker

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As regards that distance, my PCP is about 50 Metres from my house; BUT about 250 Metres by its known physical routing.

The associated FTTC Cabinet is about 15 M from my house; BUT is linked to the PCP by about 50 Metres from the PCP, thus in total, my VDSL routing has increased to about 300 Metres!


The 250 Metres because the original phone wiring heads about 125 M Eastwards along the street, to a known small surface junction box, then back to my house.

The estate was one of the first to be fully wired for phones, back in 1967.


Even the 2014-installed FTTC cabinet has a quirk - the links to the PCP double back towards the Exchange, beside the fibre, before heading towards the old PCP cabinet, thus adding about 15 M of otherwise unnecessary wiring.


And the FTTC would have been more readily installed beside the PCP, there being plenty of room, power supplies, recessed etc; yet is actually situated where it partially obscures a road junction, at a school double crossing!

Exchange: WICKENBY (SLWKY)
BT Recorded Line Length to Exchange (m): 7270

I have this gut feeling that the cabinet just around the corner isn't what you mean when you mention a PCP cabinet (given the line length). Probably it's something like a distribution cabinet. Is there any way of finding out where cabinet 2 is sited?

I've already done a quiet line test and from the master box outwards it is very quiet as it should be given the line, in it's entire length back to the exchange (the village had no spare lines), was only installed a couple of years ago.

Thanks

So are you now saying your line is connected direct to the exchange, not to cabinet 2?

If you put your phone number, (not address), into this checker, it gives you a table of estimated speeds. The line above that table like "Telephone Number xxxxxxxxx on Exchange STEPPING HILL is served by Cabinet xx".

If it doesn't give the cabinet number you may be on an Exchange Only line and wouldn't be able to get FTTC.

Apart from looking all over that cabinet or having a word with anyone you see working on it or by elimination against other, identifiable ones, ..............

Also look for cabinets near concentration points of Overhead wiring. I noted one village last week, where the hidden cabinet could be fairly readily tracked down by such wiring. Possibly a special case.

Keep in mind that the 7270 Metres is the electrical length, right back to the Exchange, inclusive of the Cabinet.

For FTTC/VDSL it is the final part, from that Cabinet to your house, plus any added by the FTTC Link, are the criteria for the (future) VDSL performance.

In reply to a post by 69bertie:

I have this gut feeling that the cabinet just around the corner isn't what you mean when you mention a PCP cabinet (given the line length).

Line length has no direct bearing on distance to cabinet. The only (somewhat vague) correlation is that very short lines might not have a cabinet and if you are part of a small isolated community you might not have a cabinet.

But if you know you have a cabinet there is no reason why it can't be within 50 metres. A 'distribution cabinet' is basically what a PCP is. It's where a thick bundle of copper wires coming from the exchange is split into the individual cable runs for properties. It's a sensible and logical way to run wiring and from an engineering point of view it makes sense to have it close to the properties it serves.

Edited by Andrue (Wed 02-Jul-14 06:14:47)

Just in case of confusion, a PCP Cabinet is NOT an FTTC Cabinet.

The FTTC Cabinet is an obvious recent addition to the Network generally, to receive the Fibre extended from the Exchange; and is positioned relatively "close" to the existing PCP.

In my daughter's case, about 10 Metres away, both geographically and electrically, so that the necessary links are very short.

In my case the FTTC Cabinet is about 40 Metres geographically from the PCP including the width if a road, whilst the links double back by about 5 Metres towards the Exchange to an Underground chamber, before turning around and heading under that road to the PCP and the onward connection to the various houses.

There is no obvious reason for this wide separation.

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If the "Cabinet 2" you referred to is from the BRAS Test, then you are apparently on a Cabinet-equipped line, and normally these are relatively close to the groups of houses, businesses etc that are connected to it.

Not necessarily central, not necessarily peripheral; but generally in that area.

PCP 2

Just re-reading that response, I have my doubts that OR would install a 7270 M (about 4 mile) cable for one (domestic?) customer.

It may be that a relatively short length was taken to another PCP (if any) possibly lengthening your line; but not requiring such a length of totally new line.

If the latter is the case, then PCP "Cabinet 2" may be in a slightly more remote location than normally expected; but probably still within the village.

eckiedoo ....Just re-reading that response, I have my doubts that OR would install a 7270 M (about 4 mile) cable for one (domestic?) customer.
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I wasn't the only customer (others had been waiting ages before I moved in) but despite having a phone line from the local distribution box to my house, while the house had been empty for one year, my pair back to wherever, had been used for someone else. I ended up waiting nearly 6 months for a phone line. And yes, a new cable was laid all the way back to wherever (roads, ditches towards the next village were dug up with new ducting, boxes etc installed. I even had the CEO of BT and my Member of Parliament involved at the end. Amazing what having a moan can do i.e. along the lines of is the UK a 3rd world country etc when it can't even provide a phone line to a built up area.

However, the length that I was told that needed to be laid (hence the wait) was nearer 4km (not 7km) which implies Cabinet 2 is probably located in the next village i.e. Faldingworth which is towards the exchange, for which I do see telecom roadworks planned. I will go looking

RobertoS

Telephone Number 01673****** on Exchange WICKENBY is served by Cabinet 2

Featured Products Downstream Line Rate(Mbps) Upstream Line Rate(Mbps) Downstream Range(Mbps)
Availability Date ADSL Max Up to 0.5 -- 0.25 to 1.5 Available
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available

If it does turn out that the download speed is going to be around the 8mb/s mark, I shall have another word with the local wireless people to see if things have improved on that front - there was an obstacle in the way last time they tried but I see their transmitter has grown in height since. 25mb/s unlimited (which they offer nigh on for the same price as BT) sounds far better than even an 8mb/s service.

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4339469-re-...

That sounds as if the new cable was an increased supply to PCP 2. Ribble gave you a link in the morning to a picture of it, and has repeated it.

Edited by RobertoS (Thu 03-Jul-14 00:35:31)

Apologies............ didn't realise it was a link, Yes, that is the box that I see quite often and a good three miles from here

Three miles for FTTC is a farce.

My thoughts exactly, so no real increase in speed can be expected, maybe a small increase - if I'm lucky.

It might explain why a few around here have already jumped for the satellite option - even though it has hefty upfront costs. I shall fire off a few emails to various people in authority - I shall feel much better having done so.