Panic Stations because of House Move

So, I will be moving house soon, to a small village.

I've had Sky fibre where I am for over a year now, and it would be a real shame to go backwards.

The exchange I am moving to is WSJOP, Joppa in South Ayrshire. According to Sam Knows, I can get FTTC at my new postcode (29 KA6 6NZ, don't know the phone number yet)

However Samknows also says the exchange is at the end of my road, which if true I would have thought I would be an exchange only line.

To make matters worse, 21CN isn't enabled, does this mean I don't get ADSL2+ if it's an exchange only line?

I've done a recce, and I can't see anything resembling an exchange at the marker Samknows says, so is this information always accurate?

I've also found a fibre cabinet nearby, at this location https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.444413,-4.517619,3... although I can't find the old cabinet next to it. It doesn't show on streetview, it's too new

The BT where and when checker says this:
Exchange name: Joppa

We're keen to bring Superfast Fibre to your area and are exploring how best to achieve that. We may deliver it as part of our commercial programme, or by working in partnership with your local authority. At the moment you can't order Superfast Fibre.

So what gives? Who's right?

Are exchanges at small villages like this buildings, or can they be small enough to fit in a cabinet?

Thanks for any replies

According to the bt wholesale checker, you are EO, and you're right, no ADSL2+

http://i.imgur.com/GxTtuMH.png

You're looking at 8mbit ADSL1. Samknows says "some areas" as most/all the cabinets are FTTC enabled, but EO lines not dealt with. There is no LLU there either, so no chance of ADSL2+ from an LLU provider.

Sorry!

Edited by nemeth782 (Fri 10-Jul-15 21:36:42)

Your unlucky.

https://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm

http://www.digitalscotland.org/whereandwhen

Edited by Nightglow (Fri 10-Jul-15 21:52:25)

Couple of points.

I assume that to find the exchange at the Samknows location you walked to the main road and turned right?

If you turn left instead you will see the exchange to the side of the health centre.

The Samknows location is about the correct distance from the Garvin Road junction, it's just on the wrong side.

Unfortunately the latitude and longitude you give in the Google URL points to someones back garden! Google has a habit of putting the point you are 'hovering' over as the first Lat/Long and then where you are looking as a second one.

Yeah, I did.

I did look at that building and think it might be the exchange but wasn't sure.

The Google URL is where there is a new fibre cabinet, it just isn't shown in streetview, because it's too new. So that cabinet is pretty close to the exchange.

And my new house is about equidistant from the fibre cabinet and the exchange.

Another point, I have fibre at my current address, (KA8 9HD), and the postcode checker doesn't say there's fibre here, so it can be wrong. I have to clutch at straws.

So if I'm stuck with ADSL1, are there any plans for exchanges to be upgraded to ADSL2+ after fibre rollout, when it would mostly only benefit EO lines? I'm guessing that would be a no.

I'm not saying SamKnows is wrong about the location of your exchange, but it is wrong about at least three exchanges (two of which I forget now because I've not used Samknows in a while) even within my local area. One is EABFD if anyone wants evidence, it says's it's in central Colchester, when I know (and so does every other checker) that it's firmly in Boxford, Suffolk, where it should be. I wrote to them 3 times politely pointing this out and never got any response, and since that (something like a year) they've not corrected it either. So sometimes, Sam doesn't know, or even want to know.

Apologies if this doesn't help your situation, it was semi-on-topic though - i.e. don't trust Samknows implicitly.

OK, some points and questions.

On the digital scotland FAQ page, it has this to say about EO lines:

"Exchange Only lines are connected directly to the local telephone exchange rather than passing through a street cabinet that can be upgraded with a fibre broadband connection. There are cases where some EO lines can be fibre enabled, for example by building an additional cabinet close to the exchange. Where exchange only lines cannot be enabled for fibre, alternative technologies such as wireless or satellite may be needed to boost speeds."

How close does this additional cabinet need to be? There is a large fibre cabinet about 250 metres down the road (measured on google maps), and I can't see any old street cabinets nearby, which could suggest this is to provide fibre to EO lines.

According to this https://www.telecom-tariffs.co.uk/codelook.htm?xid=1...

3% of addresses in my postcode are connected to the P1 cabinet, and can get fibre.

Some other postcodes nearby are 100% connected to the P1 cabinet, and it seems to cover every postcode in the village, including a couple 17km away (is this even possible?)

Could this mean that my postcode was 100% EO, but 3% have now ordered fibre and been moved to the new cabinet serving EO lines?

That theory falls down when you see how many postcodes are 100% on this cabinet, and I don't imagine there are many postcodes that are 100% fibre.

Although, I have to call the accuracy into question when it's saying addresses 15-17km away are on it.

Another thing, I don't think the BT postcode checker is a very good indicator of fibre availability, since I have fibre at my postcode now (KA8 9HD) and the BT postcode checker doesn't say it's available.

Is it certain the large cabinet isn't Virgin Media?

An FTTC cabinet to serve EO lines usually has a new PCP twin, though Openreach do have some combo ones these days. Does this cabinet have air vents?

Another thing, I don't think the BT postcode checker is a very good indicator of fibre availability

Never use the BT post code checker, Either use the phone number or if there is no phone currently or the phone number is not recognised, perhaps because it is with Sky, use the full address checker - enter the post code and then select the address from the drop down list.

Looks like the cabinets for the local area (but not your street) are at the corner of Hole Rd and the A70.
Problem is that cabinet covers a fairly large percentage of the area near you so there may not be enough EO lines to make a new cabinet worthwhile.

Douglas Rd behind you has 100% FTTC - time to visit your neigbours and see if one would agree to having a new phoneline fitted in their garage ?