FTTC Order Help!

Hi Just wondering if I could pick your collective brains on this...

My cabinet went live for FTTC orders on 30/10/2017

- The Openreach where/when site says 'Superfast Accepting Orders'
- The Openreach twitter team confirm it's activated with all slots spare
- The BTW dslchecker site doesn't have FTTC listed but VDSL Multicast is 'available'
- Mouselike says 'Exchange Status: fttcfibreavailable, PCP Status: acceptingorders'

However I cannot for the life of me find an ISP to provide me with fibre! I'm with Sky for ADSL and they've been usless. Sky, BT, EE, Vodafone, IDNet, TalkTalk, Plusnet all come back with ADSL options only.

I've been waiting for fibre for so long I can't bear this frustration!

Any advice on what I need to/can do? I've asked Sky to contact OR to find out why their 2 systems don't match (even though they apparently use a "live" system.

Thanks!

What exchange/ cabinet? Do you have any idea how far you are from it?

Thanks for the response

According to Codelook...

Exchange: Portslade, Brighton, East Sussex
Cabinet: P25
Distance: 2,334m

Codelook says �FTTC being Connected, live due by November 2017 � for P25. It hasn�t gone live yet by the look of that, hence no availability. The exchange is fibre enabled and many PCP�s have fibre cabinets that are live and have been accepting orders for over 4 years, sounds like yours should be soon, just frustratingly not yet.

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Nov-17 11:08:08)

Thanks - odd that Openreach would tell me it is active and ready for orders. They've said this multiple times.

Wouldn't they have the definitive info on this?

Plus we're 6 days away from the end of November!

In reply to a post by lostinthewoods:

Hi Just wondering if I could pick your collective brains on this...

My cabinet went live for FTTC orders on 30/10/2017

- The Openreach where/when site says 'Superfast Accepting Orders'

That means Openreach will accept orders from ISPs. It seems that info hasn't got through to BT Wholesale, Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone. It doesn't mean end users can.

All the ISPs you list except perhaps the last three above order using the BT Wholesale database. Until that updates you are stuck.

It sounds to me as if the Openreach notification has got lost.

Who told you or where did you read the cabinet went live for FTTC orders on 30/10/2017?

I suspect the cabinet work is complete which may have triggered the notification prematurely. Some further work at the headend exchange is likely required.
The cabinet is located https://goo.gl/maps/YaG3cY621Ps . Hopefully that is a lot closer than 2km+ otherwise that's going to be a problem

Openreach. During this whole process I've been the messenger between Sky and OR. They've checked my address multiple times - their message yesterday:

"This cabinet has ports fitted on 30/10/2017 and is showing as ready for service and they are showing as spare"

I can see other postcodes in my area, some listed much further than I am - one is 2651m on Codelook - and they have FTTC listed on dslchecker.

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Nov-17 11:31:57)

Codelook estimates distances and is unreliable.

Have you tried your address in the address checker?
http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.addres...

Yeah - just wanted to illustrate others in the area have good speed estimates, albeit not from my cab

Is this going to be a sit and wait or can I push OR someway to getting things updated/asking for an ETA?

Yes the distance of the other cabinets are from the exchange isn�t really the issue as fibre goes from the exchange to the street cabinet, they just were worked on before yours. The order of work can be pretty random, I don�t think it�s a distance thing. The interesting thing now is how far you are from the cabinet that witchunt kindly showed on the map which will determine your potential fibre speed.

Yes - it lists FTTPoD and ADSL and VDSL Multicast Available

Yes thanks to witchunt for that. OK I understand

Am I destined to be stuck in limbo? Sky are giving me different info to OR

It could be a matter of waiting but If ISP�s can only go off OR�s info it can�t do any harm asking OR to update things ASAP, not sure if anyone on here like MrSaffron can work any magic there?

Can I tag him in this or best to message?

Not sure of the best protocol, I�d probably message him.

In reply to a post by lostinthewoods:

Yes - it lists FTTPoD and ADSL and VDSL Multicast Available

You need for this to show FTTC as available.

How far are you from the cabinet?

Will do thanks

@BatBoy - Codelook estimates ~2300m

He means your house to the street cab that witchunt showed on the map, not the distance of it to the exchange.

Oh haha whoops! Google maps says 0.2 miles

So 320 metres? Should get 40-80Mbps then

Edited by deleted (Fri 24-Nov-17 12:07:50)

I believe that 2,300m from you to cabinet figure has to be wrong, based on what I know about the footprint for cabinet 25

Based on a postcode I know is close to cabinet, Openreach is saying FTTC is available but BT Wholesale are not mentioning speeds. Which suggests either cabinet is live and the changes are propagating through systems, or that this propogation has broken and a prod is needed.

Given an email with your actual details so can double check things, rather than randomly picking postcode can prod Openreach and this will trickle down through the checkers.

40-80 would be a dream!

@MrSaffron what details would you need on an email?

An address

Thanks - email sent

In reply to a post by lostinthewoods:

Yes - it lists FTTPoD and ADSL and VDSL Multicast Available

If it shows "VDSL Multicast" as available, then that usually denotes that the cabinet is available, but your line is too long to get a VDSL2 service.

However, the estimate is based on internal record that show the cable loss between the cabinet and your DP (pole or chamber). If those records are incorrect in some way, the checker defaults to a "too long" answer.

In these cases, the records need updating. Openreach being prodded via the ISP or Andrew can have the desired effect. Failing that, via the Openreach chairman or CEO.

In reply to a post by WWWombat:

In reply to a post by lostinthewoods:

Yes - it lists FTTPoD and ADSL and VDSL Multicast Available

If it shows "VDSL Multicast" as available, then that usually denotes that the cabinet is available, but your line is too long to get a VDSL2 service.

However, the estimate is based on internal record that show the cable loss between the cabinet and your DP (pole or chamber). If those records are incorrect in some way, the checker defaults to a "too long" answer.

In these cases, the records need updating. Openreach being prodded via the ISP or Andrew can have the desired effect. Failing that, via the Openreach chairman or CEO.

The long line message would also show on the Where and When page which its not, so I reckon the BTW DSL Checker has yet to be updated, I say give it a few days.

There is no harm in emailing the CEO or Chairman's Office, along with Tweeting or sending a Direct Message to https://twitter.com/OpenreachGB they do respond, well they have every single time I have sent them a message.

Paul

No point in the addition stuff, usually have a good fix rate on these things, i.e. email prod has taken place.

The cabinet is very new in terms of going live, so might have fixed itself given another week or two.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

No point in the addition stuff, usually have a good fix rate on these things, i.e. email prod has taken place.

The cabinet is very new in terms of going live, so might have fixed itself given another week or two.

This is true, I was referring to after the few days or a week and still no change to then try the email and twitter route.

But if you have given them a prod then hopefully it will be resolved.

Paul

Probably be available once they have finished off integrating it into the network

Thank you all for your replies and thanks to MrSaffron for the email prod to OR.

Let�s hope I can get an order in soon... I�ll keep you posted!

@MrSaffron - I don't suppose you get a response to your queries/prompts from Openreach? I'm just interested as we're nearly 2 weeks on and nothing has updated as far as I can see.

Thanks!

If its resolved usually do, but I do miss stuff due to email volume at times

So things have progressed... it turns out there was an issue at the exchange (capacity-related that Openreach were unaware of but BT have now fixed) and all the checkers now list FTTC for my property.

However, the only ISP I cannot order through at the moment is..... Sky!

That's because they need an extra cable

How does this extra cable go in? (As in what needs to happen/how long does it take?)

At the moment I'm well prepared to ditch Sky and go with someone else but would rather not the hassle of switching phone line first

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Dec-17 11:10:37)

I think it's just a matter of time. Give it a few days. Maybe over the weekend they should have it available to order

Openreach have contacted their Exec Complaints team to prompt an update.

Honestly I'm almost done with Sky, plus EE have a great offer on at the moment...

At least it's here though

Down to Sky now.

I was in a similar position, our cabinet going live about a year ago but due to the long distance to the cabinet (about 3km) no-one wanted to offer us FTTC, least of all BT who we are currently with.

The checker has been showing availability for months (albeit at a rate similar to our ADSL speed):
VDSL Range A (Clean) 7.2 3.8 1.2 0.8 2.7 Available -- -- Yes --
VDSL Range B (Impacted) 4.9 1.6 1.1 0.5 1.2 Available -- -- Yes --
WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 6 -- 3 to 9 Available -- -- -- --
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 6 Up to 1 3 to 9 Available -- -- -- --
ADSL Max Up to 4.5 -- 2.5 to 7.5 Available -- -- -- --

Our ADSL regularly drops out and a couple of engineer visits have failed to improve reliability and speed frequently drops to 1mbsp or below. BT will only authorise a visit when it drops below 1mbps so although we should be and frequently do get 3+ I am thinking VDSL is worth a try.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed that plusnet were offering FTTC so I have an order in with them due next week. I'm hopeful that VDSL will prove a little more reliable as the issues in the past have always turned out to be between the exchange and cabinet. Added to that plusnet will guarrantee 1.6 rather than 1.0. I'll probably get a lower top speed but if it is more reliable (and it will certainly be cheaper) then it's a win.

BTW, after my last experience of switching to FTTC where we were left without any internet for 3 weeks I have taken the chance to get a backup in place. I picked up an EE Mini WiFi for 4.99 from Currys and have it set up to route through my existing home network (only 20GB for a month, will cancel after that unless we are still having problems) and it is giving me 39mbps. Shame it doesn't give enough data for a permanent solution.

Update from Exec complaints is that they can see they can provide fibre but their system still says no. Waiting for a system update over the weekend and should be good to go for Monday.

If the fault that's on your ADSL connection lies in the part of the copper line between you and the cabinet, then it'll likely be passed on to your new VDSL connection. I'd be inclined to try and get the fault you have now on ADSL fixed, before moving onto VDSL, just in case.

Edited by deleted (Fri 15-Dec-17 21:06:23)

In reply to a post by WilliamGrimsley:

If the fault that's on your ADSL connection lies in the part of the copper line between you and the cabinet, then it'll likely be passed on to your new VDSL connection. I'd be inclined to try and get the fault you have now on ADSL fixed, before moving onto VDSL, just in case.

If you are referring to my line then the fault has always been indicated beyond the cabinet so if the local loop is a problem this will be one way to find out. BTW, ping times on my ADSL are around 125ms even when everything is workin which seems way too high - if nothing else I expect that to come down.

Just a quick follow up. Our FTTC connection went live this week, the phone line was switched from BT to Plusnet exactly on schedule (didn't notice any downtime) and the broadband was live just after midnight the same day. Since I had put a 4G service in place before the change day and removed it again last night the family haven't noticed that I have changed our provider yet which is a bonus.

As expected the speed is almost identical to the ADSL speed (sync at 3.2 in VDSL vs 4ish on ADSL but data rate also 3.2 in VDSL vs 2-3 in ADSL). That's before the line has had time to settle so I guess it may go up slightly but I'm not betting on it.

That might sound like a pointless move but the ping time has dropped from 125 to 21 so everything seems much more responsive and the uplink is also slightly faster. I live in hope that it will prove more stable, oh, and it's about £20 a month cheaper all in.

Another update. We have not had one single dropout of service since the VDSL went live in December.

Data rates have improved a little as the line settled and we now get a reliable 3.5-4.5mbps connection which is, if anything, slightly better than ADSL. Goes to show that being 3km from the cabinet does not necessarily rule out FTTC. We have had no streaming issues all over Christmas but the best things are no dropouts and faster ping times.