Help! I live in a rural location

OK, I need help and advice, please!

I live in a rural location, close to Fulletby near Horncastle, Lincolnshire.
Openreach have installed fibre in existing underground ducts that pass my
home in two directions. One goes to my local exchange from the nearest FTTC
and the other to a neighbouring village. My current phone line is EO and I
have a reasonable (for ADSL) but slowly degrading, connection to my local
exchange 2 miles away. My nearest FTTC is half a mile away but my phone line
goes in the opposite direction!

I have contacted an outfit called Onlincolnshire who appear to be governed
by my Local Council, [email protected]. This started 18
months ago and the latest report I have at the start of January this year:
"We are in receipt of plans from BT re. a connection for you to the new
cabinet. It involves circa 600m of overhead cabling and a small section of
underground. They are physically surveying in the next couple of days."
Is there no other way to connect me to the fibres that pass my home without
installing 600 metres of wire to this cabinet? Is there not some "box of
tricks" that could be fitted in the fibre close to my home? Any other
technology that could utilise that 2 miles of copper wire more effectively?

Currently:

Connection Speed 7168 kbps
Line Attenuation 39.0 db
Noise Margin 8.5 db

Hi Andrew!

Your line is preforming quite well for it's length, please can you provide the exchange you're connected to? Openreach could fit FTTP if it's a viable solution.

Edited by deleted (Mon 27-Feb-17 08:48:11)

Thanks for quick response!

My exchange is Tetford, Lincolnshire on an EO line. No cabinet, yet!

There are many ways that what you want could be done. However, it all comes down to what has actually been tested and what is supported across the BT estate (BT are not going to do special options for one person because that would cause future support nightmares - everything needs to be standard to be supported at scale). They could do FTTP but if BT choose not to do FTTP then at this point there is not much scope to get them to change that.

That exchange is only FTTC enabled. Your line will either be moved to a cabinet, upgraded to FTTP or stay as it is. Only time will tell I'm afraid.

Oh well, I suppose I should count myself fortunate as there are still properties around here that don't have mains electricity!! One is powered by cow dung

Seriously?! That made me LOL. Don't give up hope.

I'm serious! And you can get a grant from the Government even if you don't need it or use it!!!

Perhaps I'll wait and see if I get my 600 metres of string, sorry copper

There's always this to look forward to:

"Proposed amendments to the Digital Economy Bill suggest a move towards a 30Mbps Universal Service Obligation."

Yes, I think that USO is achievable and should've been achieved several years ago.

VERY IMPORTANT

Lines are not automatically upgraded the faster options are just options, because there are price implications, so if/when FTTC or FTTP becomes available people need to make a choice and upgrade.

Its not a USO until it has been made law and since no law on a broadband USO yet...

I never said they were automatically upgraded!

I didn't say that either!

and should've been achieved several years ago.

I'm sorry, but explain to us all, and remembering to base your answers in fact, is your statement correct ?

I know, just highlighting that the USO is not law yet, so it cannot be considered to be late.

Maybe a previous Government should have acted, but a 10 Mbps USO in 2009 would have been VERY costly

But you implied it ....

Your line will either be moved to a cabinet, upgraded to FTTP or stay as it is.

How can I state an opinion in fact? I am just stating that the FTTC rollout was left too late compared to other countries. But, I'm going to stop there as we'll end up disrupting this thread.

Very costly but worth it.

In this case you did 'Your line will either be moved to a cabinet, upgraded to FTTP or stay as it is'

Lines are not moved to the fibre cabinet until you order in terms of receiving a VDSL2 signal, and other than for new build properties FTTP is not installed to a home until you order, the bits may be deployed in the street but no actual upgrade happens to your broadband.

May sound picky, but people do get confused and wonder why there speeds have not improved.

Understood. Sorry, I thought it was clear that the OP had to order the service if/when it came available.

I know that, maybe I should've said that you have to order the service if/when it comes available. But, I didn't think to because I thought the OP would know that already.

The original poster I am sure would have understood, but remember your posts are read by people for weeks and months afterwards and thus can be confusing to some people.

Enough myths and half-truths exist around broadband that jumping on them quickly is needed to avoid people subsequently repeating them as fact.

Enough myths and half-truths exist around broadband that jumping on them quickly is needed to avoid people subsequently repeating them as fact.

Very true. If only there were a reputable website where one might go to seek information and advice ?

Understood. I was wrong, apologies.

In reply to a post by Andrew_W:

One is powered by cow dung

Oh pull the udder one. That sounds like a really sh%^££%^ idea.

In reply to a post by Andrew_W:

Is there no other way to connect me to the fibres that pass my home

TL;DR: The wrong sort of fibre.

The fibre passing your home is really a distribution fibre, which is a lot of fibres bound together, and destined for a node with splice trays where it can be jointed. Even then, each fibre would be shared by dozens or hundreds of homes, with more hardware necessary to achieve that (as either an FTTC cabinet or splitters and DPs).

BT aren't going to randomly cut into their distribution cable to splice one odd fibre for you ... just as they wouldn't do that with the main 500-1000 pair copper distribution cables either.

In electricity terms, it is like asking for a 240V connection, then wondering why you can't be connected to the 400kV national grid line that goes over your house. There's a lot more hardware needed before it is suitable for an individual home.

In reply to a post by Andrew_W:

Is there not some "box of
tricks" that could be fitted in the fibre close to my home? Any other
technology that could utilise that 2 miles of copper wire more effectively?

Yes, there is a box of tricks: another FTTC cabinet even closer. Or some variant of FTTP would need to be fed to you (but likely from further away than the cables running outside your house).

However, either style of "box of tricks" would cost money to get to you. Who pays that?

To BT (and their BDUK funders), it is a matter of balancing the costs against the outcome. And that box 600m away will do just fine - it will supply you at speeds within the BDUK targets.

If that isn't enough for you, then the onus of funding will fall to you personally.

BT have a product line that allows you to order "FTTP on demand"; the intention is that it would be available to everyone who has FTTC available, but it is currently only available in some locations. And it is expensive.

Someone on here has ordered an FTTP-on-Demand connection as a business connection. To cover installation in the 600-800m band, he's been quoted an installation cost of £3.5k, and a monthly rate of £300pm. All plus VAT.
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/f/4526073-bt-...

Is the Fibre route your only means of getting a faster connection? I live 5 miles out of Market Rasen and surprisingly, even though we have a fibre box in the village, several people have gone the Wireless route recently ( Quickline, ABinternet). Have you done any enquiries as to whether wireless might be an option for you?

Onlincolnshire might get around to it eventually but sometimes you need a crystal ball that works to find out when.

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

I am just stating that the FTTC rollout was left too late compared to other countries ...

Once OFCOM and UK.gov, in 2009, allowed BTO to start to build a residential fibre based network.

Wireless is an option but the cost/speed ratio is too high.

OnLincolnshire might get onto it eventually. I initially asked for their help back in July 2015 and when I pressed for some action recently, I was told I am one of 156,000 individuals on their database so 'don't expect miracles'

I also pointed out that I might not live long enough to experience "superfast broadband"

(I am 73 )

Depending on your finances and needs you could take another line or two and bond/load balance them together, this will give around two or three times your current speed. But of course the cost will double or triple, unless you can find some decent offers

It also depends on whether line balancing (cheaper) or true line bonding is required (more expensive).

really !!!! voice USO Telephny is ups to £3,750 per person and then any over cost is paid for by subcrbier --