Exchange upgrades - what is required?

Hi,

I'm waiting for Torcross to be upgraded, which should be in a few weeks while they lay the fibre from Kingsbridge to Slapton.

But what specifically do they do in the exchange to enable it for fibre? Entirely new equipment/servers to receive/relay the fibre signal? Is it a huge job, or quite quick and straightforward? Never been inside an exchange and always wanted to see what (especially nowadays) is contained inside, so it would be great to know how quick or drawn-out this process is.

Will

If that exchange is the fibre handover node then a couple of cabinets like the ones on page 6 and 7 at http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-cornwall/ are what is needed

In reply to a post by deiwise:

Hi,

I'm waiting for Torcross to be upgraded, which should be in a few weeks while they lay the fibre from Kingsbridge to Slapton.

But what specifically do they do in the exchange to enable it for fibre? Entirely new equipment/servers to receive/relay the fibre signal? Is it a huge job, or quite quick and straightforward? Never been inside an exchange and always wanted to see what (especially nowadays) is contained inside, so it would be great to know how quick or drawn-out this process is.

Will

Whats usually in the exchange:

Routers,
Switches,
Lots of cables,
BTw DSLAMs/MSANs,
LLU Equipment,
MDF,
LLU Handover Frames,
TAM,
Cooling Equipment,
System-X Equipment.

As for FTTC equipment it depends if the exchange is the one all of the cabinets are connected to. If it is then it can vary a lot.

When enabling FTTC in an exchange, it has to first be upgraded to 21CN to handle the Ethernet backhaul to the new 21CN network which FTTC runs on. This consists of usually ripping out the old equipment (Routers & Switches) and replacing them with equipment which can handle Ethernet. You also have to do this on the other end of the backhaul.

They then more or less install new separate switches which all of the cabinet backhauls connect to. It is these switches where some LLU providers connect their equipment to so their customer traffic can be handed over to them from BTo and also where it joins the BTw backhaul.

This is a rough idea because every exchange is different.

If the cabinets do not connect to an exchange (Maybe it's too small or there's a large one nearby) then it may just be used to house a fibre splitter or may not have one at all and completely get bypassed.

Most of the waiting is for contract work to be done. In many of the older exchange buildings due to lack of ventilation, BTw/BTo will have to install metal louvers and new cooling equipment; the former requires planning permission. I know ours did even before 21CN (ADSL2+) was installed despite only having ~1300 lines.

So yes it is quite a big job depending on how many cabinets are served and how old the building is.

Edited by chris6273 (Sat 16-Aug-14 09:23:47)

"Is it a huge job"

For my small exchange (540 properties) they have had BT vans or contractors (2 usually 4 at times) parked outside for nearly a month including weekends and still not finished.

Good to know - thanks. So, the laying of fibre is only the start...!

Very helpful, Chris - thanks. And interesting too. Quite clearly, the work they do on the exchange is going to take quite some time.

In reply to a post by deiwise:

Good to know - thanks. So, the laying of fibre is only the start...!

Depends what the infrastructure is like which is already in place - A lot of exchanges will already have 21CN enabled. They will probably do more than one thing at a time - E.g. One time laying the fibre, another getting the cabinet foundation ready (Ducting.etc) and another arranging the upgrade of the exchange equipment/installing it.

But generally speaking yes. Then you've got the month or more wait once everything is in place while they test the damn thing.

Looks like end of September. Is your cab included? This is a map of Torcross exchange locations http://goo.gl/IvmAzT

Edited by deleted (Sat 16-Aug-14 19:09:59)

Not on that list. But that looks out of date - C, E and G definitely haven't got FTTC cabs, whereas ours in Slapton has (and they're running fibre to it as we speak).

C E and G are exchange=only, not fibre cabs.

Sorry - so, this map is of boxes that are directly connected to the exchange?

Yes, except for P1, P2, P3.

Makes sense. Well, at least it's all happening. It's quite a mammoth task, after all! Miles and miles of fibre, old drainage channels to put it in, most of which won't have been opened for decades.

If your exchange only serves 540 people it is highly unlikely it would have any equipment relating to FTTC in it. The fibre cabinets will be connected to a handover node in another larger exchange a few miles away.

In reply to a post by Icaras:

If your exchange only serves 540 people it is highly unlikely it would have any equipment relating to FTTC in it. The fibre cabinets will be connected to a handover node in another larger exchange a few miles away.

Kingsbridge (WWKNGB) will likely be where the handover node is installed - That's why they are laying the fibre to Slapton .

Edit: If you're interested according to roadwork maps, they have got up to Chillington so far and are moving towards Slapton.

Edited by chris6273 (Sun 17-Aug-14 07:40:22)

One side of my exchange they have run the fibre on the poles, the other side its all in pipes to the village so they spent days jetting all the pipework before the engineers even opened the manholes. They installed a new cabinet (presumably for people on the old Exchanges lines) a foot outside the exchange door digging/removing then restoring the road/ground/wall/6' bank back up having put in power cable and fibre. Then digging new fibre routes out to new poles to add additional cabinets (going from 2-5) a mile away in each direction. How much of this was essential for fibre, for 21CN and how much was due to a sensible rationalisation of the whole network is anyone's guess. They've added some houses nearby to my cabinet (approx 500yrds away) that were previously connected to the same exchange via a cabinet in the next village a good 1/1/2 miles away.

Edited by deleted (Sun 17-Aug-14 15:13:08)

Well they have visibly run fibre into the exchange and from the exchange out to some (and in due course the rest) of the cabinets. We're many miles from another larger exchange.

In reply to a post by Garlic:

One side of my exchange they have run the fibre on the poles, the other side its all in pipes to the village

I was under the impression fibre couldn't be put on poles, as the wind/movement could easily snap the glass inside. Obviously not!

In reply to a post by chris6273:

In reply to a post by Icaras:

If your exchange only serves 540 people it is highly unlikely it would have any equipment relating to FTTC in it. The fibre cabinets will be connected to a handover node in another larger exchange a few miles away.

Kingsbridge (WWKNGB) will likely be where the handover node is installed - That's why they are laying the fibre to Slapton .

Precisely.

In reply to a post by chris6273:

Edit: If you're interested according to roadwork maps, they have got up to Chillington so far and are moving towards Slapton.

Yeah, thanks. Rather pathetically, roadworks.org has become my morning go-to site to check on progress. Also, for anyone's interest, my experience with it is that the dates are hugely conservative.

What you think they are doing and what they are actually doing are different! There is absolutely no way those fibre cabinets will be connected to a tiny exchange that only serves 540 people. They will run the fibre 10 or 20 miles to a large exchange if they have to it is still far cheaper than putting handover nodes in loads of little exchanges.

I asked the engineers doing the work - that's what they said...

Page 4 of http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-cornwall/ Overhead FTTP.

Fibres are blown through a tube

Which exchange is this?

There is absolutely no way those fibre cabinets will be connected to a tiny exchange that only serves 540 people. They will run the fibre 10 or 20 miles to a large exchange

Perhaps 'via' the local exchange to the handover site

In reply to a post by deiwise:

Not on that list.

Do you know which cabinet you're connected to? www.dslchecker.bt.com will tell you.

Cab 2. NGA was done in June.

The cabinet was on the map I gave you.

Not that I can see. Not sure where your data comes from. "Exchange 2" is not the same as Cabinet 2, which is in the village of Slapton, and that's not on your map.

But our NGA has already been installed, so...isn't this all moot?!

It's listed as Cabinet P2.

...which is "M", and is in the wrong position, nowhere near where the cabinet is positioned. So, I have no idea what this signifies or why we're looking at this map!

So where is it really?

Here. The new NGA is next to the pole on the other side of the bus shelter.

Cheers, good luck for the end of September

Good link Andrew, always nice to see what's going on inside a cab/exchange.

They don't usually go via another exchange, there's no reason to. But I guess it is possible.

Yes, thanks Andrew - fascinating.