Place Your Bets

Native FTTP has finally gone live so I have ordered 80/20.

The first question is how long before everything is connected and I am good to go?

Ordered on the 8th July, supposed to be completed on 22nd July
So far:
1) First engineers visit booked for the 13th July. I was informed by an email sent on the 13th at 12.40pm some 4hrs 40 minutes after the time he was due. I had booked that I wanted to be present which is necessary in my case.
2) The engineer did not turn up anyway, no show.
Since then no information.
So second question is how many cock-ups will there be?

Place your bets now........

Well the next screw up today.

BT informed me that the engineer did not attend yesterday but that he would attend 'sometime' today. The email was sent just after 4pm. That gave me plenty of warning didn't it?

The engineer again failed to attend.

As I must be present for the engineers visit this means I cannot leave my house until the visit has taken place.
In essence I am now a prisoner in my own home.

I'd take being a prisoner in my house for quite a long time in exchange for FTTP!

Yep, and it seems like that is the price and it will be worth it in the long run.

However.
I do some voluntary work and they are short staffed this week, sorry guys but the old folk will have to make do this week
It is annoying that the emails tell me they will charge me if they cannot carry out the work because I am not there, what about them paying me if they don't turn up? No chance!

Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Hi Jax2,

I'm really sorry no one turned up. If you need any help getting this sorted please contact me using this link http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950

Cheers
Neil

Thanks Neil, after a third no show today I have bent an ear or two on the phone. I have now been promised a definite visit tomorrow with an actual time (estimate) which is some sort of progress. Bit more hopeful this time, time will tell.

In reply to a post by Jax2:

Bit more hopeful this time, time will tell.

Well two really nice guys came out this morning. As I expected they have now got to organise a tree surgeon to come out to cut branches for which they were busy submitting the necessary document when I finished chatting to them a few minutes ago. Obviously the need for the tree surgeon slows everything down but as I said that was to be expected.

So we are under way!

Hooray!

Hey Jax2
Hope you have better luck than I'm having,must explain i am in a small block of flats with internal distribution point:
Order placed 09/06 with engineer booked for 06/07 external work.

Surveyor arrives 16/06 as planned all happy sees internal distribution point in service room says spare ducting in place shouldn't be too big a job.

06/07 no engineer!! check order and there's a problem but cannot tell me what it is,rebooked for 13/06 explain I have hospital appointment,"no worry Sir he wont need to access your flat"explain someone needs to be here to let him in the building as there's a door entry system.(Arrange for Son to take day off college to be here)

13/06 engineer arrives approx 9:00 am,Son says I am in hospital but he can show him the service
room,engineer asks if we have router and where it is going,answered yes and shown,engineer says OK I'll be back next week and leaves.

I arrive home call BT to ask why he didn't do the external work when he was here,full of apologies and gets rebooked for 22/07 but as internal install.

Now this afternoon I get a call to say it's not going to be until 29/07 why couldn't the appointment of the 22nd be changed to external install?

Oh and phone line transferred on 6th as planned but Caller Display not worked since,called to ask about this but cannot be done until after Fibre order completed as BT cannot have 2 orders open at same time-what a shambles this whole episode is turning into.
Glad my current Adsl is still active.

Entry duct
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jpykxkag5aob84k/2015-06-11...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g1k6ws50rzwk42q/2015-07-06...

DP
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ypbbsk4oymkmm8v/2015-06-11...

Both of you keep us updated, with pictures, please - it's really good to know visually what should and shouldn't be done in cases like these. I'm particularly interested in how they'll (partially) isolate your line from the existing DP, Boysteve? And whether or not they'll immediately provide redundancy/physical space for if/when your neighbours adopt FTTP.

Edited by deleted (Fri 17-Jul-15 17:33:29)

A new Fibre distribution point is being installed beside the existing Telephone DP then (on another appointment)a Fibre will be run to my flat,fortunately I am only about 18 feet from the existing DP and on the same level.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h1ntcsa5en6pj71/FTTP%20In%...

What a shambolic nightmare!

I hope that mine goes a lot smother than that! For me the next step after BT's review to update the order, they have to raise an A55 for traffic management so they can use a hoist to get to the top of the pole on the other side of the road and to trim trees. My very own roadworks which could even involve road closure or traffic lights! Exciting eh?
I have no idea how long it takes to arrange these things with the County Council but I can definately see a hold up there. The engineer also said they wanted to be present when the tree surgeon was doing his stuff so they can be sure the exact path they want cleared will be cut so a dual appoihtment has to be arranged. Will that come off I wonder?

An A55 takes about a week; an OR engineer has just raised one for my battery contact fault and my CP advised it would take 5 working days.

Ian

Thanks for that info.

That fits in with something the engineer said so depending on how long after that visits are scheduled it gives me some sort of very rough time scale. I shall be watching roadworks.org with some interest!

Post deleted by MrSaffron

In reply to a post by jickmoss:

so in this blog is very nice post,Great information to in this post for more information see:

Do NOT folow that link, scam site laden with malware!

In reply to a post by Jax2:

In reply to a post by jickmoss:

so in this blog is very nice post,Great information to in this post for more information see:

Do NOT folow that link, scam site laden with malware!

The bad grammar, was enough for me to advoid the link.

Good bye spam

That's it, that's it right there!

I want a 'MrSaffron Spam Filter' on my email account.

Aren't they supposed to provide compensation for missed appointments after the first?

I don't know but for the first of the two visits (the external one) they say that access is not required so you do not have to be there but I requested that I was told when they were coming. They agreed to that but it did not happen without a lot of effort and then they did not turn up when I was told they would.
The reasons why I wanted to be there were so I could tell them where I wanted the CSP to be placed so it was within 30 metres of where the ONT has to eventually go (not the obvious place) and also so I could move livestock out of the way in preparation for their visit.
Whether the fact that they state you do not have to be there but can request to be informed would change the rules for compensation is a moot point.

Slight hiccup.

The man came out to prune the trees, did not do anything but said he would be back. Couple of days later not heard anything from him. Today BT rang up to arrange visits to install the fibre and were most surprised when I told them the trees had not been dealt with as their system said the tree man had been. I said yes he had been but he had not done anything. Oh says they, we will get back to you.

Wait and see I guess.

Wrong sort of ladder?

Possibly!
He had his Landrover and a chipper but I did not see a ladder at all........

I think he came out more for a recce really and when he saw there was a lot to do including tree felling as well as large branches off several oak trees he decided he would rather come back but of course the system would have told BT he had been and they assume that means job done.

If it was a guy on his own then the size of the job may have driven a need for at least 2 people for H&S...

I wasn't blaming the guy, I think it was just an assessment of the job. It is just the system somehow did not allow BT to see that the visit had taken place but the job was not completed.
There were two guys, one stayed in the cab of the Landrover. I just hope the tree guy comes and does the job soon, been several days since he was here.
What does H&S stand for by the way?

I was just giving a possible explanation for why they didn't do the job - but my guess was wrong anyway

H&S = Health and Safety - ie needing someone to hold a ladder, needing appropriate ropes/pulleys/etc if chopping a tree down, etc, etc.

Duh, silly me of course it means Health & Safety. Reminder I must engage grey cell next time.......

Well BT rang again yesterday (Wednesday) to ask if the trees had been dealt with now.
Nope, no sign of the tree man.
The BT person sounded a bit frustrated and told me they had rung the tree surgeon people who had given an assurance they would be doing the work Monday or Tuesday. BT person then said 'I will have to ring them again and then get back to you'.
Nothing so far.
To be continued......

Had a phone call, tree surgeon should be here tomorrow.
Fingers crossed and a few toes too.

jax2 heres hoping
I'll cross everything for you as well

Yay, the happy sound of a chain saw!

I was surprised at how little they removed but they did what they were told to do. The tree surgeon wondered if they had done enough but he can only do what he has a contract to do, if he did any more BT would not pay for it then his firm would be unhappy with him.

If there is more to do then the tree surgeon will have to come back with a new contract, here's hoping all is well. Now I have to wait for BT to get back to me with the two install dates.

A bit of a hiccup.

I have heard nothing from BT about Engineers visits since the tree surgeon came and did his stuff but after a week have been told that BT are waiting for the tree work to be carried out.
Not impressed by their organisational skills or rather lack thereof. Now I have to wait while they look into the matter.........

A little step forward, BT have finally agreed that the tree work has been completed.
Waiting for the install dates now......

Good to hear,I'm supposedly getting an update today

Good luck, will be interested to know how far ahead the install dates are (assuming they are not cancelled of course!).

My next update is sometime on Friday.

Just had a call,expected update from OR yesterday didn't happen.
ELC team hope to get update by Friday and will let me know Monday if not before,quite honestly I've given in now and it will happen when it happens.

This is all so frustrating.

To cap it all after a very brief powercut last night which lasted about a second my ADSL connection has become very unstable (loses sync about every 3-4 minutes!) just like it did a couple of months ago which took about 15 engineer visits to fix.

Come on Openreach pull your finger out and sort it all!!!

Getting excited now.
Just had a phone call from BT Openreach this morning with the install dates both of which are now down for next week so by the end of the week it should be all up and running!.

Everything crossed.......

Hope things are looking up for you too boysteve.

Edited by Jax2 (Thu 13-Aug-15 08:23:45)

Well I should have known better than to get excited.

The engineers (different ones) duly turned up as did the man with the necessary hoist and after one look told me they could not do the job as insufficient tree work had been done. There are indeed many large branches still in the way so that was no surprise.
The tree man had done what was on his work sheet which he had shown me but although he was of the opinion that it was not enough he could not do any more because it had not been commissioned. Quite where the blame lies I do not know, all I know is it is back to square one waiting for the tree man. That took a couple of weeks last time then another two weeks for BT to realize the commissioned work had been done.
My next door neighbours who also needs the same trees dealt with have had the pleasure of a visit from the man who does the second internal appointment turn up only of course to discover that was all a waste of time.
BT and the word organisation do not exactly sit well together in the same sentence. Another guy further up the road had ordered from BT who before they did anything else sent him a router, they then without telling him cancelled the order with no explanation. When he rang them up to find out what was happening they told him they would take a new order but he first had to send the router back so they could send him a router! They could not see the stupidity of this, I guess two different departments have their own system which never talk to each other. The word communication does not not sit well in the same sentence as BT either.
The two engineers will have spent about 4hrs on the road today for nothing so that is 8 hours engineers time wasted altogether counting the first engineers abortive visit. The word efficiency does not come into the equation either......
Well the engineers did screw the CSP, a small brown box, on the wall before they left so I guess something has now been done in the six weeks since the order went in. Hey Ho, progress?

In reply to a post by Jax2:

Slight hiccup.

The man came out to prune the trees, did not do anything but said he would be back. Couple of days later not heard anything from him. Today BT rang up to arrange visits to install the fibre and were most surprised when I told them the trees had not been dealt with as their system said the tree man had been. I said yes he had been but he had not done anything. Oh says they, we will get back to you.

Wait and see I guess.

This sounds like the sort of experience we have pretty regularly. Today is no exception... I have a job for a regular PSTN provide, it's been surveyed at least 6 times now, it absolutely requires Traffic Management, they're supposed to be arranging it, yet today, despite this they sent the 12th engineer in a row to install the line, knowing damn well the Openreach service isn't yet in place to the edge of the premises (after which I've had cable laid and ducted the cabling to where we actually want it...)

...so to hear that they've sent someone who either did nothing, or wasn't what was required (for example needed 2 people, cherry picker etc) amazes me in no way.

In reply to a post by Jax2:

Well I should have known better than to get excited.

<snip>

BT and the word organisation do not exactly sit well together in the same sentence.

<snip>

Another guy further up the road had ordered from BT who before they did anything else sent him a router, they then without telling him cancelled the order with no explanation. When he rang them up to find out what was happening they told him they would take a new order but he first had to send the router back so they could send him a router!

I hadn't see this post when I posted my first... but as you saw from my post, this is a typical comedy of errors when it comes to Openreach.

It boggles my mind how they can be so bad at communicating, but nonetheless they really are this bad, and you're not alone. I've had people out to install lines to the wrong location, to install a line that isn't there, I've had line boxes installed in street cabinets and not my property (yes, really), countless people turning up to not do the job, 3 people sent in 3 vans to install one line each on the same morning on an order of 3, when what I still need is a cherry picker + 1 person first... the list goes on. And almost all of that is for the same job.

I feel your pain, because I have to deal with this nonsense every single day.

Honestly therioman I don't know how you cope with it every single day, it would drive me nuts. My wife is probably more accurate than me when she says we might get it by Christmas! It would not be quite so bad if my ADSL line was not so terrible and forever dropping.
All the engineers I have talked to, and I have talked to lots this year, all say communication and organisation is just as bad for them but they seem to have become resigned to it.

I am beginning to hate Openreach. My present ADSL connection has become very unstable yet again (about 50 drops this morning) but Openreach refuse to do anything about it although an engineers appointment was requested by the ISP. The reason given is that there is an open order for a migration on the line, so they seem incapable of organising the fibre install so goodness knows when that will complete and will do nothing to help me with my present dreadful connection.

Couple of weeks gone by since the last engineers visit but no sign of any action. Upon enquiring what is happening the answer was "don't know but it seems that you should receive a visit from a third party for tree surgery. Not sure what is happening there so we will contact them to enquire when they are likely to come out."

Next thing is to be informed that the order for the tree surgery has now been placed! When are they likely to do the job? "Oh check back on Tuesday the 2nd September, we expect it to have been done by then." Really? Coming out on the bank holiday Monday are they? Either BT do not even know there is a bank holiday or anything to fob me off, take your choice.

Is it just me that wonders how much money it must cost to NOT do the job and if the job was done first time everytime the savings would probably pay for FTTP for the entire country

No you are not the only one to have had such thoughts, I have often wondered how much more roll out could have been done if only Openreach was efficient. The only thing is Openreach is a law unto itself and is essentially not answerable to anyone. Needs stiff competition to really shake things up if that is possible.

Now three weeks gone by since the last failed external install. Having being assured that the tree cutting was expected to be completed by yesterday, which it hasn't been, I rang up to see if they could tell me when the tree surgeons were supposed to be coming out. This time I was told they cannot contact the tree surgeon firm. This is pathetic.
Not as bad as some though, have just discovered that the housing estate opposite which had ducting put in place last year and fibre run into the ducting in an armoured cable (according to an engineer) has had no access point point made available and any house that wants FTTP will have to have their drive dug up but of course no way of accessing the fibre after that. Careful planning eh?

You can see why fttp isn't popular with ISP's, its such a P.I.T.A!!
.

Yep, but there is no need for it. The main problem is a very inefficient organisation plus poor planning and a couldn't care less attitude. I am not blaming the engineers, the problem lies higher up probably in management. I have been told yet again to check back in a few days (after two months of being told the same thing) when all will be well. After saying I was not happy with that they have agreed to escalate the matter so I will know roughly when the tree surgeon will come out so I "should be told in a few hours". Over 24 hours have past and guess what? Nothing. They just seem to have a list of fob off lines to work through.
So far about 15 people down my road have placed an order for FTTP and after two months no-one has got it, all have problems with getting anything done.

The next stage of the saga, all gone wrong.

After having the order running for two months BT have cancelled the order without any notification
or reason. I wouldn't have known if I had not heard from them for so long that I rang up to see what was happening. As I said they don't even know why themselves, it's the "system" apparently.
Tomorrow two engineers are booked to do the first external install, all the way from London again no doubt. They will of course find that the trees need cutting and so the whole sorry mess kicks off again. You couldn't make it up.
Openreach seriously need to have some stiff competition, that would shake them up and force them to buck their ideas up or go out of business.

I was told the engineers would be here today.
No show.

Easy!

Forget the FTTP

Just ordered FTTC instead!

The OP only has the option of FTTP!!
Makes g-fast much more attractive, no end user installation. .

In reply to a post by Ribble:

The OP only has the option of FTTP!!
Makes g-fast much more attractive, no end user installation. .

Well if it would be easier for them to install G.Fast to our Chamber/Pole instead of the FTTP that we are still waiting for since 2011, I am sure we would be up for that, we are only around 32m from the top of the pole to the top of our house, so you could add a few more metres, but still short enough to get a very nice speed around the FTTP speeds and/or above.

The only issue is that we already have all the FTTP hardware installed.

I assume the monthly price would be the same as FTTP prices?

Paul

G.fast could be the same monthly payment as FTTP. (far better than FTTPoD)

In reply to a post by adslmax:

G.fast could be the same monthly payment as FTTP. (far better than FTTPoD)

Yeah, well due to us being down for FTTP as part of the original 66% Commercial Project (yes still waiting) and having all the required hardware in the chamber and up the pole, I assume they would just need to replace the FibreDP and manifold that we currently have for use to ever get G.Fast.

I am still hoping we don't have to wait much longer for our fibre install to go live, been over a month with no more work and still no database update, but I am still hopeful LOL.

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

In reply to a post by adslmax:

I am still hoping we don't have to wait much longer for our fibre install to go live, been over a month with no more work and still no database update, but I am still hopeful LOL.

In my case there was no database update until the day it went live and could be ordered, it was not even down as coming soon just a sudden change to live and could be ordered.
Obviously ordering and getting are two different things! So near yet so far!

In reply to a post by Jax2:

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

I am still hoping we don't have to wait much longer for our fibre install to go live, been over a month with no more work and still no database update, but I am still hopeful LOL.

In my case there was no database update until the day it went live and could be ordered, it was not even down as coming soon just a sudden change to live and could be ordered.
Obviously ordering and getting are two different things! So near yet so far!

Yeah, all I get told by BTOR via email is still loads of work to be done, however all the engineers that were working on it including the guy that spliced all the fibre in all our the FibreDP's all say its now completed and waiting for the database update, and that was back end of July.

I think its time to contact my Local MP again as well as Tim O�Sullivan (BT Group Director of Public Affairs) on this matter, 4 years is starting to become a joke.

Paul

I have just sent off an email to Gavin Patterson so will see what that does.
If that fails then my MP, local paper, facebook and Twitter. Not that I have a Twitter account but if necessary will start one.
I fairly recently spoke to an engineer who installs FTTP who told me he once only managed one install in a week because of the cock ups in planning, surveying and lack of organisation! He thought at two months and counting I was doing rather better than most! He was not joking either.
Good luck anyway.

Edit, just had a reply from Gavin Patterson, which is not really helpful. He has apparently "flagged" Openreach, whatever that means, but I will have to deal with Openreach through my ISP as per regulations.
Will see what happens next week then start involving third parties.

Edited by Jax2 (Fri 11-Sep-15 16:41:31)

Jax my order was escalated to Gavins team on 4th August after trying Bt_Care on their forums and getting nowhere,despite having a ELC case worker chasing Openreach he cannot get an answer from them,it's always "waiting for update from planners,will update again next week"

My case worker is on holiday at the moment and I have been called since,with the above update,once on the 4th where the install date was expected to be advised by the 9th then on the 7th"waiting on planners will update by end of the week"and again on the 10th"Still waiting on planners-will update end of next week"

What does it take for someone to get an answer from OR?
It's time OR were answerable to a body of somesorts as even if I were to change supplier it's still down to them to arrange the work to be done and they would get paid no matter who the ISP were.

I threw 3 darts at a wallplanner and hit dates of
09/10,06/11 and 07/12 I wonder which will be nearest to actual completion date.

In reply to a post by boysteve:

"waiting for update from planners,will update again next week"

That phrase is remarkably familiar! Even after my ISP (not BT) escalated the ongoing problems twice that is all they could get if they were replied to at all. The last time they escalated (they should apparently expect an answer within 24 hours) they did not hear anything until they contacted Openreach again after a couple of days only to be told the order had been cancelled.

In reply to a post by boysteve:

I threw 3 darts at a wallplanner and hit dates of
09/10,06/11 and 07/12 I wonder which will be nearest to actual completion date.

The answer would seem glaringly obvious, the only real question is which year......

Good job I don't have to order FTTP (if it was available to me) otherwise I couldn't handle all this stressful phone calls (due to my deafness) will cause me boiling blood in my head and will cause me distressful. Thankful FTTC installation went smoothly without any problem last year from openreach engineer (he was kind, polite and show me everything the work he did plus show me the cabinet on his toolkit showing 200m away and sync at 113Meg down and 38Meg up but capped at 80/20. He even sign lauguage abit too. He did a very good job.

In reply to a post by adslmax:

Good job I don't have to order FTTP (if it was available to me) otherwise I couldn't handle all this stressful phone calls (due to my deafness) will cause me boiling blood in my head and will cause me distressful.

I am only rather hard of hearing but I can certainly go along with the rest of what you say! BP and stress levels are not good!

Somebody might be out tomorrow morning but they are not certain. Hope so though of course the trees still need dealing with.
Meanwhile literally as I type this my router has lost sync twice.

You probably won't getting FTTP for a long while! I think your wife probably right afterall, might not getting FTTP by xmas time!

My wife is always right!
Or so I have been told!

I think my email to Gavin Patterson and him flagging Openreach must have stirred something up. Had three engineers in two vans and a cherry picker turn up this morning to do the external for both myself and my next door neighbour together as the cable run through the trees is the same. They are a bit of a trouble shooting team it seems.
They were here all day but could not quite finish as they ran out of time but my cable runs from the house through the trees and is connected to the manifold at the post. They have promised to be back tomorrow to tack the cable down to the CSP then blow the fibre. They were not helped by the fact that the cherry picker broke down halfway through the day but fortunately one of them managed to fix what turned out to be an electrical fault.
My neighbour needs his cable taken across the last span to his gable end then down to the CSP .
So job nearly done for phase one. Just hope they don't get whose cable is whose mixed up though they are aware of that possibility.
The job is already booked for tomorrow for completion of the external installation then wait for an appointment for the internal one.

The same team of very friendly guys did indeed turn up again as promised. They quickly tacked the tube to the wall then started to blow the fibre from the splitter node to the manifold. The fibre got stuck in the manifold which was quickly sorted then on it went to about 240 metres then stuck again. They could not get it through so tried from my end but it stuck at 68 metres. This was somewhere near the pole nearest to my property so they loosened things off, tried gently moving the tube around then found a bit of tubing that was slightly pinched. With a combination of holding the tubing in a certain position and I think applying a little pressure "the other way" like you do with a hose pipe the fibre suddenly started moving again. Then stuck again at 168 metres which was back at the manifold. That was quickly sorted and the fibre continued right through. Relief all round, sounds simple but that was four hours gone! They then blew the fibre for my next door neighbour whose tubing had been finished being attached whilst the fibre was being attempted to be blown down my tube. That just left the splicing to be done at the splitter node (the heavens had opened by now, very heavy rain) and then everything was tested. All good and the fibre is live ready for the internal install hopefully very soon. Today's work alone for the two jobs was about seven hours for three engineers, they worked hard with great perseverance and no respite too. Great guys, I'm very grateful.

So, in the end, they carried on with the cabling work, even though the trees had only been half done?

It is certainly great news that *something* happened, but so frustrating that it takes an email to Gavin.

Pretty much, using the cherry picker (essential) they managed to find a way through the trees without touching any large branches, took them ages. There are a few small branches which are pretty close and some twig sized bits that just about touch the cable. When everything is finally finished I am going to see which of those bits and pieces I can carefully and safely trim off myself to help prevent trouble in a few years time. Stitch in time saves nine as they used to say..... I am only just getting within spitting distance of 70 so reckon I am still sprightly enough.

Completely agree that it is frustrating that it takes an email to Gavin.

Edited by Jax2 (Wed 16-Sep-15 22:20:13)

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

So, in the end, they carried on with the cabling work, even though the trees had only been half done?

It is certainly great news that *something* happened, but so frustrating that it takes an email to Gavin.

Good to hear your finally making progress, been through identical situation here rerouting a phone line to in improve fttc connection, shame it wasn't fttp though.
It took a email to Joe before trees were trimmed back, took two engineers two days to do all the new cabling, gone from 9Mb to 72Mb, so all the hassle was worth it.

Edited by Nightglow (Thu 17-Sep-15 10:26:29)

Two things this morning, one good the other laughable.

Good news first, internal install booked for 22nd September am. Woohoo!

The laughable bit, after five weeks got a call from the tree surgeons to arrange the time with me about cutting the trees having just received the notification from BT! I explained the situation and the lady just laughed and said that is typical of the lack of communication from a certain party! She is assuming that the visit is no longer required but obviously for their own reasons has to go back to BT to confirm that. Just have to hope that does not trigger BT to do something stupid.
Rang my ISP to warn them just in case and was told this sort of thing is not unusual when BT and tree cutting are involved. The ISP said that BT had confirmed the date for the internal install so not to worry.

Well you may have guessed by now, things did not work out as planned.

The engineer turned up about 12.30, did all the physical connection of the ONT, spliced the fibre and so on. The lights did not behave as expected so he rang Openreach to eventually find out things had not worked their way through the system and had indeed not even been entered into the system. This was sorted after about 30 minutes and then all the required lights were a lovely steady green.
Great I thought, job done.
Could not get the router to connect to the internet nor a spare one either. Rang my ISP who talked me through all the settings on both routers and spoke with the engineer too. No dice and the engineer left as all the physical connections at my house are working so there was no more he could do.
Spent ages with support who told me it was hard to raise a fault as the job had not yet been signed off.
They said they would have another look tomorrow when the job had been signed off and then take it from there.
Rang off.
They rang back about 10 minutes later to say they had just received a notification from Openreach that there was a fault (no indication as to what from Openreach) and that it would take an engineer to sort it so Openreach "hoped" it would be sorted by midnight tomorrow.
My ISP have promised to keep me updated.
To cap it all I had to complete a form online by today at the latest to claim some money due to me but the ADSL line was down this morning too due to some work being done so I could not get online at all. I should be able to claim the money back eventually but it will be delayed by several months now.
Not a happy bunny!

YAY!!!
Success!!!

My ISP rang this morning to say that all should now be OK, Openreach had not set the system up properly or the system had got "stuck". This was what the engineer guessed and he was right.
My old Billion 7800N will still not see the network for some reason but I had bought a Netgear R7000 in anticipation and that is cruising along nicely.

Apparently the connection will speed up a little once things have settled down (I ordered 80/20) but at the moment I am seeing 74/20 with a ping of about 7ms which for me is flying along.
Been a long frustrating journey but I finally have it, can't believe the speed things download now!

For all those who are still in the agonies of procuring it where available stick with it, the difference is well worth it. Oh and don't forget Gavin Patterson's email address, that was key.

Great result.