FTTP ordered! - Previously a not spot!

Some of you may remember various topics from me regarding being in a not-spot in Birmingham.

A brand new house on a brand new estate (built 2012). The builders requested voice only in a massive VM area.

No Virgin Media as the council wouldn't let them dig up the pavement. (Still waiting for the road to be adopted).

For a long time BT said FTTC wasn't commercially viable.

Talked to the MP and to BTs exec complaints team at various stages too.

I got moved onto a different cabinet due to technical issues and then recently found out my old cabinet is getting FTTC in Nov. The one I moved to isn't. D'oh!

Last night I checked the ADSl checker to find the whole street has been enabled for FTTP. Almost don't believe it.

Order placed for 200Mbps FTTP. OMG. OMG. OMG.

Thank you to all who've helped with advice on the not-spot and the technical issues with my line!

Thats awesome news!

Let us know how things go.

Is FTTP only available for your newly built estate or is available/would be for the addresses covered by the cabinet 18?

FTTP doesn't depend on a cabinet, so it might be a wider area, I've not checked other roads though.

Probably best to use BT's DSL checker and see if it says "WBC FTTP" in the table (not FTTP on demand as that costs a lot more to install!)

https://www.dslchecker.bt.com

Best to use a phone number if possible, or if not, address and house number.


Alternatively you can use the openreach checker here

https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/index.do

They've cancelled my appointment today (24 hours after booking) as apparently a survey is needed.

In reply to a post by B31:

They've cancelled my appointment today (24 hours after booking) as apparently a survey is needed.

That might be to see what is there or not, our FTTP hardware installed back in 2011 - 2012 and we were only able to order FTTP Sep - Nov 2016, but I recall somebody coming out to do a survey or something along those lines.

Paul

Not going very well so far.

Apparently there is a collapsed duct - I think crossing our road - so they can�t route the fibre tubes to this side of the road.

They�re having trouble getting permission to dig, guessing the council aren�t letting them dig up the road - like they did when VM wanted to offer us services (or at least with an unreasonable request to ask VM to resurface the entire pavement width after digging up an already messy pavement!)

I�m back to the MP to see if they can get the council and BT talking to each other!

I�m also fuming that I am paying for a fibre service now, but can�t take it up. BT have said they�ll refund the difference when I�m connected - not overly happy about that, who knows when this situation will end.

I�ve also opened a complaint with BT due to all the communication and other such issues, including openreach turning up yesterday to install broadband despite the fact the appointment had been cancelled!

Shame I wasn�t in, as I�d say if you can find a way to get me fibre, I�ll buy you a crate of beer (or other such bribe) (half joking!)

In reply to a post by B31:

Not going very well so far.

Well that sucks

In reply to a post by B31:

Apparently there is a collapsed duct - I think crossing our road - so they can�t route the fibre tubes to this side of the road.

They�re having trouble getting permission to dig, guessing the council aren�t letting them dig up the road - like they did when VM wanted to offer us services (or at least with an unreasonable request to ask VM to resurface the entire pavement width after digging up an already messy pavement!)

You would of thought BT would of been able to dig up the road for a collapsed duct, suppose lines were damaged due to the collapsed duct, leaving homes without phone lines, suppose there was an emergency?

In reply to a post by B31:

I�m back to the MP to see if they can get the council and BT talking to each other!

Hopefully they can help, mention to them the fact that the duct has collapsed and "could" damage phone lines in the future leaving homes without phone lines.

In reply to a post by B31:

I�m also fuming that I am paying for a fibre service now, but can�t take it up. BT have said they�ll refund the difference when I�m connected - not overly happy about that, who knows when this situation will end.

I�ve also opened a complaint with BT due to all the communication and other such issues, including openreach turning up yesterday to install broadband despite the fact the appointment had been cancelled!

This I wouldn't accept, I would say "No, you can credit the money back as soo as you take it out", this would normally be the following month, so next month would show credit for this month.
We was charged for 3 months for FTTP, even before it was even installed, I made a fuss about it and they credited it all in full within the next monthly bill.

You really need to be firm when you speak to BT, but at the same time be polite.

In reply to a post by B31:

Shame I wasn�t in, as I�d say if you can find a way to get me fibre, I�ll buy you a crate of beer (or other such bribe) (half joking!)

LOL

Paul

Yeah I was wondering what would happen if an existing line was damaged, certainly something to raise with the MP.

In reply to a post by B31:

Yeah I was wondering what would happen if an existing line was damaged, certainly something to raise with the MP.

What you also need to realise is BT's left hand doesn't know what their right hand is doing which can and does cause issues.

You just need to be persistent and keep on at them to get things done.
If I gave up on the first hurdle with BT I wouldn't have FTTP and I certainly wouldn't have Ultrafast 2.

Paul

In reply to a post by B31:

Not going very well so far.


I�m also fuming that I am paying for a fibre service now, but can�t take it up. BT have said they�ll refund the difference when I�m connected - not overly happy about that, who knows when this situation will end.

If you don't get it resolved by phone, I'd recommend BT's Forum, it's staffed by dedicated UK employees.

Looks like things are progressing, hoping to have it all installed within the next two weeks.

DSL checker looking good too, now advertising 1Gbps.

Pretty much six years since the estate was built.

Fingers crossed!

https://imgur.com/a/7oxHmgn

Cheers. Spoke to BT on the phone, told them I wasn't happy with waiting and they sorted out a one-off refund to cover the last couple of months. Better than nothing.

In reply to a post by B31:

Looks like things are progressing, hoping to have it all installed within the next two weeks.

DSL checker looking good too, now advertising 1Gbps.

Pretty much six years since the estate was built.

Fingers crossed!

https://imgur.com/a/7oxHmgn

That is very good news.
Mine still says 330 down and 50 up, but that's fine.

Paul

In reply to a post by B31:

Cheers. Spoke to BT on the phone, told them I wasn't happy with waiting and they sorted out a one-off refund to cover the last couple of months. Better than nothing.

You just cannot fault their compo they give

Paul

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

Mine still says 330 down and 50 up, but that's fine.

Paul

Probably because you're on an ECI FTTP deployment. That's all it will ever go to for the foreseeable!

Thought ECI and Huawei brands only applied to the FTTC cabinets, not FTTP deployments. I got the impression that the 1Gbps rollout was a gradual one

In reply to a post by gigaplant:

Thought ECI and Huawei brands only applied to the FTTC cabinets, not FTTP deployments. I got the impression that the 1Gbps rollout was a gradual one

OpenReach used both the same vendors for the FTTP kit, both OLT's at the exchange and ONT's in customer premises.

They also have ECI/Huawei L2S's
ECI L2S can only do 1Gb GEA Cablelinks but the Huawei L2S can have 10Gb GEA cablelinks.

This is why some only see 330/50.

Almost every piece of ECI kit is inferior to the Huawei kit or it has an issue being upgraded on some way. It's not just the FTTC DSLAMs that are useless.

edit: to add, I'm sure there's also an issue where ECI OLT/ONT's can't do fva

Edited by j0hn83 (Thu 28-Jun-18 15:12:55)

As far as I am aware we are on Huawei same as everyone else on our exchange so it might just be a waiting thing.

I also have FVA too.

Paul

Edited by PaulKirby (Thu 28-Jun-18 15:18:11)

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

As far as I am aware we are on Huawei same as everyone else on our exchange so it might just be a waiting thing.

I also have FVA too.

Paul

Most likely your exchange only has 1Gbps bt wholesale backhaul links rather than 10 Gbps links.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

In reply to a post by PaulKirby:

As far as I am aware we are on Huawei same as everyone else on our exchange so it might just be a waiting thing.

I also have FVA too.

Paul

Most likely your exchange only has 1Gbps bt wholesale backhaul links rather than 10 Gbps links.

Its possible, I know they have recently put in more fibres / infrastructure by my exchange, so probably a waiting game.
But 330 down and 50 up is fine, more up would be nice, but not an issue.

Also ours if I recall was upgraded to 50 up a month or two after yours.

Paul

I think I�d be happy with 20-30Mbps rather than 4!

200Mbps will be great, 1Gbps probably overkill for my house!

In reply to a post by B31:

I think I�d be happy with 20-30Mbps rather than 4!

200Mbps will be great, 1Gbps probably overkill for my house!

An average person would never get a download speed of 1Gbps unless they have a 10Gbit LAN, this is due to overheads / headers etc.
The most I "would" go would be the next tier where the uploads goes up to about 75 to 100Mbps.

But currently we are all happy with what we have.

Paul

Well like I said it's probably just waiting for the database to be updated, just checked BTW DSL Checker again just now and guess what I saw:

BTW DSL Checker 20180710

Not that BT sells anything that speed, but would of been nice to see what other uploads speeds BT do sell that are very close to the 314Mbps that I already get..

TBH The download speed is fine, but would love more up speed.

Paul

Looks good.

Couple of days to go for my install.

Just over six years ago I had a pretty stable 10Mbps cable service until I moved house. Then it was around 1.5Mbps, later 4.5Mbps (and quite unstable).

So this week I should overtake my old speed big style!

Like yourself I was on a low speed (4 Meg) ADSL connection due to line length in Milton Keynes

Got my FTTP installed in January and what a difference it makes.

It was like going from dial-up to ADSL but better.

Don't think I could ever go back.

You'll be really chuffed.

Yeah, its a shame BT don't provide it yet lol

BTCare are useful as usual by just pointing me to the BTOR Where and when page.
I only asked then when they will be selling the faster speeds and how much will they be.
That just cracks me up.

Probably will be a few weeks, not that I was going to upgrade anymore, was just wondering what speeds they will be and their prices.
But at least I know the infrastructure is there for it.

Grats on yours finally getting done, what speeds have you gone for ?
We also expect a speed test result when its live.
As for going mad, I did for the first week lol

Paul

This is so true.

I was originally on 4 to 5.5 Mbps (on a very good day) via ADSL2+ when FTTP became available after 5 years of my local MP and myself arguing to BT that it was all there, where we was then able to order it.

I did go mad for the first week uninstalling all my games and then re-downloading and installing them, which freed up 21GB or space which was nice.

As for going back, hell no lol

As for being able to order the faster speeds above 330Mbps with BT (not that I would atm), there is no chance at the moment going by what I was told by BTCare.

Nothing has been announced as of yet Paul. Should it become available we will announce it on the BT website.

But then it took a few weeks for their systems to get the update when it changed from 330:30 to 330:50.

Paul

I�ve ordered the 200 Mbps service

Speed test results - the before: Tinypic

Engineer appointment confirmed, so now it�s just a waiting game.


BTCare don�t seem as good as the used to be. Maybe because FTTP has to go through the dedicated phone team.

I have used their new SMS �concierge service� seems quite good, but sometimes the replies are slow - I guess the more people they offer it to, the slower it�ll become.

In reply to a post by B31:

I�ve ordered the 200 Mbps service

Speed test results - the before: Tinypic

Engineer appointment confirmed, so now it�s just a waiting game.


BTCare don�t seem as good as the used to be. Maybe because FTTP has to go through the dedicated phone team.

I have used their new SMS �concierge service� seems quite good, but sometimes the replies are slow - I guess the more people they offer it to, the slower it�ll become.

Well 200Mbps is a hell of a lot faster than what you got before.

Lets hope there is no issues, I know we had a slight glitch where the fibres were all in the wrong trays in our splitter node.

BTCare have normally been ok for me, but sadly it seems like they have lost the plot, or maybe you are right.

I have gotten better results when phoning the required team in question that way its faster to get answers.

Well I will give it a couple of weeks before I phone due to it was just a query anyhow.

Paul

Install completed earlier this week. Took about two hours as the fibre had already been run to my front door and I�d already setup the new smart hub.

TBB test: https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/15316873446...

Speedtest (ookla): http://tinypic.com/r/28mlobr/9

That's not bad for 200Mbps and I assume 20Mbits up, especially for the weekend.

Nice and congrats

Paul

What are the speeds and prices for Superfast 3/4 or Ultrafast 1/2 ? I cant seem to find them anywhere on their website.

I think you can only see the prices of you can get an fttp service.

They appear to have changed all the product names too since I ordered back in April

145Mbps down is £59.99 Inc line rental (£54.99)
300Mbps down is £64.99 Inc line rental (£59.99)

50Mbps down is £52.49 Inc line rental (£29.99)
67Mbps down is £58.99 Inc line rental (£39.99)

And there's a few other options for lower speeds aka essential and plus packages (guaranted speeds)


Price in brackets is the offer price at the moment, first 18 months.

Congrats!!. Any pics of the installation?

Not much to show. No box outside as it�s terminated inside these days.

This is the internal wall mounted box

http://tinypic.com/r/35n6g78/9


Inside that there�s the openreach modem and a battery backup unit.

Seen here https://www.ispreview.co.uk/wp-content/gallery/bt-op...
(Taken from https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/05/protec...)


The only cables running out of the outer box are the CAT6/7 to the BT Smart Hub and the power lead.


The smart hub has 4 Ethernet ports, but one of them is used for the modem, so fewer ports for stuff compared with my last router. I�ve purchased a network switch to overcome that issue.



This is how they used to do it, so it�s much better now! Much tidier!

http://homeclarke.mynetgear.com:8080/images/ONT-BBU-...

(Taken from http://www.sigingstone-village.org.uk/broadband/install)

This video shows a bit more on the install, not my video, just one I found a few weeks before my install was due.

https://youtu.be/1-6LKAPlEyk

He spouts a couple whopping mistakes in that clip.

Do you live in a flat? If so did they terminate the fibre in the basement of the building and run ethernet to each flat or did they run an actual fibre cable to your flat and terminate it there. ?

No, I live in a house.

The fibre was terminated in my living room, on the wall behind the tv.

Let alone using a PN Hub 1... Errrgh!

Needs to use something better at least!