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Hi all, after much waiting I think I've stumbled across the start of the work to upgrade my cabinet to Fibre!
I'm on cab 25 of the Exeter exchange (EX2 5JB). I saw some OR guys tinkering with the small cabinets in my street yesterday so I thought I'd do some digging again.
The Mag sys website says "Fibre Phase 17b - FTTC doing Design, live due by June 2017".
The OR site now also says my postcode is in "Design" phase and due live in the next 12 months (although I've heard that one many times before from OR!)
I've also found an entry on the roadworks.org website when searching EX1 3BU saying "(PCP25), NGA RELATED WORKS, (PCP25) SIDE OF 57, EAST WONFORD HILL - Install 10m of 2 poly ducts in Footway,Provide, Renew or Recover 1 DSLAM street cabinet and base".
The cab is listed as in Victor Street but I've just found it tucked away under some bushes, right where the roadworks.org entry says - at the side of 57 East Wonford Hill!
I have some questions please?...
My postcode EX2 5JB is across the main road and about 600m from where the cabinet is (following the road, not as the crow flies).
The yellow and black cables were previously run up all the poles around the area a couple of years ago with new floor ducts installed. Looking at the state of the trenches running across the main road, I think they are BT ones (can you tell from google? - I'll have to check tomorrow I guess) is it safe to assume they already run back to the vicinity of cab 25 and will be connected to the new FTTC cabinet?
If so can I also assume I'm now getting FTTC (and therefore Infinity or the equivalent) instead of FTTP?
Being c.600m gives me a rough 30-35 Mbps I assume?
Does "advance planning" on roadworks.org mean the application has been submitted to Devon County Council for approval? Only, I cannot find any entry on the council's planning site...
Does this mean that OR are taking responsibility for the installation now?
Is June 17 realistic?
Lots of assumptions I appreciate, and I'm trying not to get too excited but I'm just hopeful this is the start of it finally getting done!
Many thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings!
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Yup, PCP 25 is getting a cabinet*. A DSLAM is a fibre cabinet, a PCP is the old "phone-only" cabinet. As there isn't a DSLAM there already, it can't be a "remove" or "renew", therefore it is a "provide".
If it's in "advanced planning" status then it might be installed days after Christmas/Boxing Day, when it will change to "planned works about to start", or possibly straight to "work in progress". It may, however, have been planned by OR ages ago, and Roadworks.org has still got the advanced planning stage on record. If that disappears in a few days without any work being done, that's what's happened. So... it's a case of checking RW and/or looking at the site in real life after Boxing Day, really. After the cabinet is physically plonked there, it won't go live immediately... but it would make June 2017 a very reasonable estimate.
By clicking on the little clock icon in RW.org, you can tell it to show you things which it can see are scheduled for two weeks in advance - if there are loads of other BT/OR works scheduled around the same place which seem to be connected, I suppose that might make it a little bit more likely that it'll go ahead soon, but it doesn't make it certain at all.
*You can't assume that you are connected to PCP 25 just because of distance from it, though. Someone else will be able to tell you this. I'm tired.
Edited by deleted (Sat 24-Dec-16 02:49:05)
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I just did a check on their postcode and it does say they are connected to cabinet 25.
Exchange name: Exeter
Exchange status: Fibre enabled
Cabinet number: 25
Technology: -
Also on roadworks BT has that work down to be done on 6 Mar 2017 - 17 Mar 2017 dates, so that's some advance planning 
But yeah I have to agree with you to-do with them now getting FTTC.
The really strange thing is the area already has the Fibre Manifold up the poles, so once again its BT wasting funding.
Paul
BTBroadband - Infinity 4 - 310Mbps (down), 31Mbps (up)
TBB Speedtest
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Not unheard of for a cabinet area to get mix of FTTC and FTTP
I presume that if OR were to switch mid way from FTTP to FTTC , they would have to swallow the cost (in a BDUK/ co-funded area)
Edited by witchunt (Sat 24-Dec-16 05:03:35)
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Not unheard of for a cabinet area to get mix of FTTC and FTTP
I presume that if OR were to switch mid way from FTTP to FTTC , they would have to swallow the cost (in a BDUK/ co-funded area)
True.
I know that only 12 (including me) out of the 400 lines on our cabinet can get FTTP, the remaining 388 lines will have to wait for FTTC, even though all the FTTP hardware have been installed and are live.
All the BT engineers that I have spoken to about it just laugh and say this is happening everywhere and its due to BT don't want to pay the amount it costs for the two engineer visits for each FTTP connection.
So the total cost for installing FTTC for the remaining 388 lines would have to be cheaper for the 388 * 2 engineer visits, TBH I cannot see it TBH.
As for BDUK, well I wouldn't know I am part of Greater London, so we are not entitled for any BDUK funding.
Paul
BTBroadband - Infinity 4 - 310Mbps (down), 31Mbps (up)
TBB Speedtest
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All the BT engineers that I have spoken to about it just laugh and say this is happening everywhere
I doubt that very much. Know of anywhere that's been switched from FTTP to FTTC after the FTTP build had commenced?
Chinese whispers are good conversation pieces and when your working at the sharp end you hear lots of different things from different sources, I know, I've been there, but the real decision makers never speak to those that are doing the builds.
Edited by witchunt (Sat 24-Dec-16 11:37:37)
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All the BT engineers that I have spoken to about it just laugh and say this is happening everywhere
I doubt that very much. Know of anywhere that's been switched from FTTP to FTTC after the FTTP build had commenced?
Chinese whispers are good conversation pieces and when your working at the sharp end you hear lots of different things from different sources, I know, I've been there, but the real decision makers never speak to those that are doing the builds.
Well don't take this the wrong way or anything, but it is happening and has happened to 12K lines on my exchange that was down for FTTP and had got up to having the Manifolds installed, it just never went live and now they are still waiting for fibre and some of those areas have been changed to FTTC.
Also I have seen it happen on other exchanges also, so YES it is happening.
As for taking the word of the engineers, yes I do, they have been 100% correct about all the issues at our exchange, and yes I will take the engineers word over the real decision makers due to they have no clue whats been done and what hasn't especially to do with my exchange, where as the engineers I have spoken to are the ones that did the actual FTTP work.
Now if it was one of Kelly's or Quinn's engineers that would be another kettle of fish.
Don't get me wrong, I can understand the financial side of it, but surly they should of know that the cost of the 2 engineer visits required per home install.
TBH I just cannot see the cost of a fibre cabinet and it being installed for 388 homes costing less than the engineer visits for the same amount of homes with FTTP, the hardware is already there in place.
Paul
BTBroadband - Infinity 4 - 310Mbps (down), 31Mbps (up)
TBB Speedtest
Edited by PaulKirby (Sat 24-Dec-16 13:13:22)
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Thanks all; this appears to be great news then! I'll keep my eye on the road works site for now. 
Pretty excited!
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Thanks all; this appears to be great news then! I'll keep my eye on the road works site for now.
Pretty excited!
If you are close then you have every reason to be
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i be annoyed if FTTP was available but BT refuse to connect it (i would pay a little more just to have FTTP over range dependant FTTC or virgin cable with random latency )
Edited by leexgx (Thu 29-Dec-16 23:14:13)
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If anyone reading this has evidence (rather than engineer hearsay) that the fibres (not just ducting) and splitters are installed but not able to order then its time to chase me and I chase them.
If an engineer visit costs £50 (and as Openreach charge £99+VAT for GEA-FTTP installs and managed installs of VDSL2 not an unreasonable cost estimate) with the old 2 visits for P, that is £38800 and might just be less than the cost of a VDSL2 cabinet. The cost of the cabinet itself is not the largest issue, its the associated roadworks and power supply that all add up.
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The author of the above post is a thinkbroadband staff member. It may not constitute an official statement on behalf of thinkbroadband.
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How can you tell if the fibres are installed?
Are these the black and yellow cables running up the poles, terminating in a black dome topped round box?
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Usually, yes.
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Well the fibre would be inside these (this is ducting).. so you may not know that it's installed. If you see an engineer working on it then you could ask and often they will give you an idea whats going on. (if you're nice of course!).
Regards PGre
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NO
The black and yellow is just the ducting which has sub duct that the fibre is subsequently blown through
http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-milton-keynes/wgc... the black and yellow cable
Inside a manifold, the black bit at the top of a pole.
http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-milton-keynes/wgc...
Bench based setup to demo blowing fibre down one of the small tubes
http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-milton-keynes/wgc...
Manifold with the drop tube and its fibre connecting one 'customer'
http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-milton-keynes/wgc...
Splitter tray with a fibre in it.
Full set at http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/fibre-milton-keynes/
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The author of the above post is a thinkbroadband staff member. It may not constitute an official statement on behalf of thinkbroadband.
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Yes I'm well aware that's just the ducting. It goes without saying that USUALLY, the ducting has fibre cabling within it.
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The challenge is of course that sometimes it doesn't and hence the OP was asking how do they know if the Fibre is there.. and the answer is unless its live or they have seen the fibre inside etc then its still an unknown.
There are many places where FTTP is supposed to be rolled out and the ducting is still empty.
"Usually" isn't 100% so I'd not want anyone to get to excited till they know more details about the commissioning status of the network, hence my response.
Regards PGre
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Which is why I used the word usually, instead of always.
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And based on my years of talking to people, usually would be interpreted as oh I can see the black and yellow tube so the fibre must be in it, since it is usually deployed that way.
There are also scenarios where the fibre has been blown, but due to a blocked duct potentially miles away it is not live as they are waiting for roadworks clearance or just a team to be available to clear a duct.
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The author of the above post is a thinkbroadband staff member. It may not constitute an official statement on behalf of thinkbroadband.
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Well some good news! I went past the other day and the new cabinet is already in (with some barriers around it). I checked the superfast website and it says "We're connecting power to the new fibre cabinet and joining the new fibre lines to the existing copper network."
It goes on to say I should be able to order in the next 4 months.
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the cost of a H288 Dslam with no work required from the cabinet to any of the premises will be substantially less per premise that having to FTTP each house and find a route to each premise through blocakges . and loadt of other issues
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What's a premise?
Kindness isn't going to cure the world of all its awfulness but it's a good place to begin. Daisy Ridley.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 54999/14466Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6
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the cost of a H288 Dslam with no work required from the cabinet to any of the premises will be substantially less per premise that having to FTTP each house and find a route to each premise through blocakges . and loadt of other issues
I was referring to already having all the Splitter Node, DP's and manifolds with all the fibre in place to then change their mind.
That's what has happened down my road.
My road and side roads are covered by two PCP cabinets 24 and 39, most of the lines on 39 (top half of my road and top side roads) got FTTP until the 12 fibres per pole was allocated, they even have their own Splitter Node on the main road.
Now the bottom half including my home are on cabinet 24 which also has all the FTTP hardware installed including the fibres, I know this due to there is a line on our pole that is using some voodoo routing due to its on cabinet 39, now that line 4 doors from me has FTTP.
BT kept insisting FTTP wasn't in my area even though our hardware was live.
Long story short, after 5 years and loads of emails including the last 2 emails sent to the CEO of BT Group and the chairman of BT we finally got FTTP.
Sadly the only lines on cabinet 24 that can order FTTP are on our pole i.e. 12 max line, so our Splitter Node located the bottom of my road is only catering for a max 12 lines and the remaining 380 lines cannot get FTTP, I have been told by the engineers that did our install that everyone else on our cabinet will be getting FTTC later on.
I think they said that they don't install FTTP into blocks of flats which one of the lower side roads have which take up a big chunk of those remaining 380 lines so maybe that's why they changed their mind.
So after paying for all the FTTP hardware to be installed including the fibres for 394 lines, 380 lines will have to wait for FTTC.
Now maybe only the 1 fibre connected up to our splitter node, I don't know, I know I saw loads and I mean loads of fibres there when they was re-splicing all the trays correctly.
So that's the cost of all the FTTC stuff on top of the cost of all the FTTP hardware and labour.
That's what I was getting at.
Paul
BTBroadband - Infinity 4 - 310Mbps (down), 31Mbps (up)
TBB Speedtest
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Post deleted by lee111s
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Post deleted by lee111s
I saw what you posted .
And yes, BT are that slow at getting things done, well most of the time that is 
Paul
BTBroadband - Infinity 4 - 310Mbps (down), 31Mbps (up)
TBB Speedtest
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Haha I felt I was being a bit harsh
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Haha I felt I was being a bit harsh
Its only words
Yeah but 5 years with hardly any roadworks information was bad enough, but to also loose connection when it rained or become windy because of an intermittent fault.
Also around the same time VM was being installed all around us, but not down our road or side roads which made things worse. LOL
So you can see why I become overjoyed when it was finally done (I was like a child at Christmas)
Paul
BTBroadband - Infinity 4 - 310Mbps (down), 31Mbps (up)
TBB Speedtest
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It's like promise but without the e
Regards PGre
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Well it's in!
Linky
I wonder, should there be any noise coming from it at all? It's totally silent which I assume means it's not been powered on yet.
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It's like promise but without the e And bears just as much connection to a building . Have you checked in a dictionary?
Kindness isn't going to cure the world of all its awfulness but it's a good place to begin. Daisy Ridley.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 54999/14466Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6
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You need to get your ear down close to the vents, particularly if there is any traffic noise. Not like the VM main cabinets we have around here that you can hear from a few yards away.
Kindness isn't going to cure the world of all its awfulness but it's a good place to begin. Daisy Ridley.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 54999/14466Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6
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Thanks; no it was totally silent.
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the cabinet will be live and ready when u see the middle lock from green to silver secure lock.
Edited by adslmax (Sun 29-Jan-17 18:08:52)
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Not always. I have never seen a silver lock in the Greater Manchester area.
Kindness isn't going to cure the world of all its awfulness but it's a good place to begin. Daisy Ridley.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 54999/14466Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6
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Quick update... The silver lock has appeared on the fibre cabinet. The cabinet is now humming quietly too.
Interesting there is a new phone cabinet too.
Both.
The relevant checkers still show as connecting and no fibre available yet though.
Unfortunately, since the new phone cabinet was installed, our speed has dropped from ranging from 3-5Mbps (with the wind behind us) to a solid 3Mbps, following a 24 hour outage. I spoke to Sky and they dismissed it stating 3Mbps is within the tolerance for my postcode so they aren't prepared to do anything about it. I shall vote with my feet as soon as the fibre is available.
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If the silver lock is on, expect accepting orders this week, check it hourly from Monday morning.
It's been tested and is a system click away from RFS.
The new cabinet is likely to allow space for the tie pairs to the fibre cab. Given it's a 288 capacity cab, a fair bit of space would be needed.
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Thanks - a tad excited now!
Being c.600m from the cabinet gives me a rough 30-35 Mbps I assume?
Although I'm 2400m from the exchange too...
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At 600m I'd expect closer to 50meg, perhaps more in the first few weeks months if take up is slow.
Of course is that does depend on line being copper and of a decent guage!
Edited by deleted (Tue 04-Apr-17 20:28:11)
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Thanks. Now I get the fun of deciding who to pick as provider! 
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You can never tell till it's live. I get 50/10 from 900m away. Until recent crosstalk I was getting 55/10.
Edited by j0hn83 (Tue 04-Apr-17 20:41:24)
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Cabinet is now sat at "activate" so not long to go!
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Might be a delay on this cabinet. I'm told there was a problem found and more work is required
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Any update on the power for Whiltey Bay 63?
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Might be a delay on this cabinet. I'm told there was a problem found and more work is required
Hi, could you confirm your source and any other info please? It wouldn't surprise me actually, considering the outage last week and need for an engineer repair.
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There are people on these forums who have access to data that they cannot confirm the authenticity of or how they have access to it. All you can do is ask yourself whether the poster in question has a track record of posting correct information.
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And that one does .
Kindness isn't going to cure the world of all its awfulness but it's a good place to begin. Daisy Ridley.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 63790/13596Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6
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Might be a delay on this cabinet. I'm told there was a problem found and more work is required
Well it certainly appears your info was accurate (I'm sad to say).
I've contacted OR to enquire about the delay and they've sent me a holding email stating its been referred to their "internal team" and I'll hear more in up to 28 working days. 
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Ok so looks like some great news! Using my house no and postcode in http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.addres...
Now reports a whole new range of products are available!
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4163/33892701743_b181e...
VDSL Range A (Clean) - 42.5Mbps(high),32.4Mbps(low)
VDSL Range B (Impacted) - 35Mbps(high), 24Mbps(low)
WBC FTTC Availibility Date - Available
AND!!!
FTTP on Demand - 300Mbps download, 30Mbps upload
WBC FTTP Availability Date - Available
So that was pretty unexpected!
Also, https://www.homeandwork.openreach.co.uk/when-can-i-g... now says "Accepting orders"
I assume this means I have the choice of either FTTC or FTTP? And I assume I'd be a fool not to order FTTP?
So excited right now - but trying to avoid jumping in head first...
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FTTPoD (on demand) is not native FTTP. Only two or three companies offer it, at high pices.
Start from the Openreach charge to ISPs and wholesalers for the raw connection, then add the backhaul, ISP routers and administration costs , then a profit margin, then VAT. With a minimum of the Openreach charge of £1100 installation at up to 199 metres from the aggregation point and £1188 per year rental for three years, (after which the rental drops to standard FTTP prices), and you may not feel so thrilled .
All subject to a site survey first, which might find complications so higher installation charges.
Given your FTTC estimates I expect the least you could pay for installation would be £2500, and very possibly £3200. Plus Vat giving £3000 and £3840.
Openreach price list. Use the dark blue lines, with one line from the top table plus one from the second.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 64513/13170Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6 |
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WOW! Thank you very much for the information - very helpful. I think I'll opt for FTTC then!
Assume I may as well not bother with the 76Mbps packages I see from most providers if the max I'll get is 42Mbps with a more likely 35Mbps...?
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You might find that in practice, with care about how and where you put your modem/router at home, that you could get mid-40s, maybe a bit more. Almost certainly under 50mbps though.
The standard BT Retail low offering is 55/10 (talking package connection speeds) which would give you all you can get. I have a feeling a couple of others also do that now.
Most others are 40/10. TalkTalk Retail and Plusnet are both 40/2, and they don't make much noise about that lousy upstream so be careful.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 64513/13170Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6 |
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Thanks again. I just spotted the plusnet upload restriction.
It's down to BT or Sky now (I'm with Sky).
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Don't forget to check deals and cashbsck sites like Quidco and TopCashBack. Also on cashbsck sites it is wise to clear cookies or use a dedicated browser for the order run. Enquiry runs put cookies in the browser's storage and can cause cashback to fail. You probably can't get any on Sky anyway.
My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 64513/13170Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6Edited by RobertoS (Tue 16-May-17 23:37:50)
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Thanks. I decided to go with Sky in the end as the deal they offered was too good to turn down.
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Fantastic news - my fibre was activated today.
Currently getting 33.1Mbps down, 7.37Mbps up. A massive improvement!
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Wecome to the fast (ish) lane!
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My broadband basic info/help site - www.robertos.me.uk. Domains, site and mail hosting - Tsohost.
Connection - AAISP Home::1 80/20. Sync 63679/13080Kbps @ 600m. BQMs - IPv4 & IPv6
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