Fibre Switch Technicalities

Hi all,

Quick question about the fibre switch process. I am looking to move from plusnet to BT Broadband. I already have 80mb fibre through plusnet but the BT system will not allow me to switch as it does not give any availability for fibre due to to the cabinet being over subscribed and having a waiting list.

My question is this, I already have a port shouldn't I be able to switch? Or does one need a port available to switch to for some technical reason?

Thanks!

Rich

It's a well-known and stupid problem, which can hit even when there is availability letting you order. I can only think it is that it simply isn't catered for in the Openreach ordering system . Either a design or coding omission, or a bug.

In your case the fact there is no availabilty stops you ordering which is daft, but does at least mean you still have the service.

If you were able to order and say there was only one spare port then although we were recently told a port is allocated at order time this doesn't seem foolproof. We have seen many where the migration starts, the current FTTC gets released, there is no spare port (which shouldn't matter because on a migration the port doesn't change), but the top order on the waiting list has snaffled the one the customer was on in between the the release and reuse. The migrator ends up at the bottom of the waiting list, not even the top.

Madness. Presumably the "remote from cabinet" end gets disconnected to switch the routing to the new ISP, and that's where the problem arises. Not at the physical port in the cabinet, but at the one in the exchange.

Somebody in the depths of Openreach might know, or maybe management is blissfully unaware there is a problem, or just doesn't care. It works as far as they are concerned, with maximum utilisation and cash flow.

In the case of BT Consumer, which is BT Retail broadband, AIUI they don't even use the the waiting list for users ordering from them, so those caught by this end up on ADSL2+ at best and an upgrade order has to be placed.

The tiny bit of good news is that if you post your exchsnge and cabinet number there are a few people on the forum who can tell you if there are plans to increase your cabinet's capacity, and maybe when.

You cannot place a new order without another port being available. The current one does not necessarily belong to you.

Thanks both, in my head it was just a case of flipping the service without removing the switch from the port.

As you say at least I have it in the first place so I shall not complain!

Thanks

Rich

The daft thing is that any BT Wholesale to BT Wholesale is (basically) just flicking a software switch in the way you describe . So Plusnet to BT should be no problem.

There's either something weird in the handling of ISPs on BT Wholesale for GEA connections, or there's an artificial barrier.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 16-May-17 12:17:46)

Consider the equivalence issue

To and from BT Wholesale I agree. But within BT Wholesale I can't see how Openreach even need to be involved.

I suppose there is the possibility that BT Consumer and Business go on separate GEA links to the rest of the BTW-based ISPs, because of the forward routing, but that would seem daft. Ill-thought-through at design stage.

It should all be just software routing within the WBC system.

But if a customer of say Sky has been waiting, their order on hold for a couple of months, how can it be seen as equivalent if Openreach accepts a more recent order of a Btw to Btw 'migration' .......

Btw don't own and maintain the port on the DSLAM, Openreach do, and they MUST be more than impartial or someone somewhere will scream RAT !

But AIUI a BTW-BTW migration doesn't involve the DSLAM. That's my point . It's all internal to BTW.

The migration order shouldn't even reach Openreach, in the same way as when Entanet resellers went bust - Enta just either took the end users on direct or swapped them to their preferred alternative reseller. Or gave them a MAC so they could go non-Entanet, which is the analogy to moving to Sky on FTTC.

With a BTW-BTW FTTC migration what does Openreach actually do? That's the bit I was suggesting doesn't need doing.

Isn't BTW the Openreach customer, not the ISP? (Line rental apart).

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 16-May-17 14:00:20)

Ah, but as I see it ...

But AIUI a BTW-BTW migration doesn't involve the DSLAM. That's my point smile. It's all internal to BTW.

.. if Openreach allowed Btw to do that with one of Openreach's ports that would be perceived as unfair advantage being given to Btw.

That's the joy's of equivalence, if someone waves the 'non-equivalence' card those accused must over compensate to be seen as ultra equivalent .....