Lost connection after lightning. How long to fix?

Hi,

Like many we were hit by storms on Friday night and lost a router as well as a fried alarm system. Fortunately anti-surge protected our office gear. However we've lost our fibre. I tried a new BT modem, faceplate and spare router but same issue, no or flashing DSL light on the modem. We run a web business from home so fairly urgent.

Our provider, Coms, now part of Timico are dire (as are the new parent company) and won't respond to anything over the weekend. Is there anything else I can try or is just down to pushing them again on Monday morning? When they do escalate to Openreach, what is the typical lead time for repairs please? This now looks like a cabinet or exchange issue.

Thanks
Dave

If nothing including spares at your end is working, it suggests it is further upstream from you. Have you asked neighbours whether they are connected?

I thought COMS originally had a 24/7 support line, does that not work? If it has changed then you have good reason to get out of the contract without penalty.

Once you have service back, I would suggest looking for a new provided that does actually give full 24/7 support and NBD repair times for businesses.

It's probably the NTE that's blown. It's one of the most common things to happen during a lightning strike.

An easy fix, but unless you can do it yourself you are at the mercy of your provider/Openreach.

Hi,

Good point about the contract failure and we will be off asap. I actually changed the back and front plate to a new unit - 2 wires pushed in with a credit card and still no joy.

Anyone got a rough idea of the Openreach lead time please?

Thanks
Dave

Is your phone line working - that will confirm whether you have inserted the wires adequately? What about Neighbours?

Do you have a Business or Residential service with Coms/Timico? And what are their time-scales. Typically OR will be several days for residential whereas Business connections - which have a premium will often be NBD

Thanks for your help. Yes phone is working. Neighbours are reporting various issues, Sky, alarms etc but I need to check BB specifically. Not sure how many are on fibre.

Unfortunately it's a small business on a residential contract but we may review after this. I thought Openreach now had to meet 80% fix within 2 days?

Biggest disappointment is no response from COMS and Timico washing their hands of it, even though they take our money. Rubbish support.

Thanks
Dave

Any target the OR has will be working days from when the problem is reported. There are also clauses which allow them to exceed target times in specific circumstances - flood, snow, storms &c.


I have a BT residential phone line and by Business BB is supplied over that - not an issue. Any line faults that affect BB will be dealt with as a business fault and if if fails from cabinet to exchange, I will still have BB and VOIP available.

That looks like a decent solution and one we will need to invest in. Is that a BT service please and what is the premium for the business service?

Thanks
Dave

Yes, I use BB Business Broadband - I cannot tell you what we pay at present, I have not seen a bill recently and mine includes extras such a static IP and VOIP services. Check BT.com for their prices. Just check tat what they offer you meets your needs and confirm the level of response/fix time. Their support really is 24/365 - including Christmas Day as well as being UK based.

Will do. After the latest shenanigans we will be moving service and upgrading. Timico and Coms have been a severe let down.

Cheers