How to find out more info from Open Reach?

There are a number of threads on here where people are seemingly finding some great information from OR about what is available and what will be available soon but I'm not sure where people are getting this seemingly insider information. Maybe it really is insider information and they can't share resources.

I'm looking at getting a faster connection in the ME9 9PW postcode area and all searches seem to show that the best I can get is ~40mb.

I've had a reply from Cerberus that puts a FTTPod cost at around £20k. I can't justify this for a home connection but was wondering if anyone had any additional insight in other plans underway.

I'm seriously considering a line-of-sight link to a family member

Any useful URL's to check?

Thanks

Sittingbourne not in the current FibreFirst plans and my bet would be on it not being so for at least a couple of years, would say this is as likely a getting Virgin Media expand down the road towards you.

Cabinet is too far away for Gfast to be any use and from just a quick look at a map the aggregation node is around 1 to 2km away hence the FoD pricing.

Thanks, I've tried asking some contacts at VM if they can see anything on the next 2-3 year road map for their expansion but they're saying it's looking unlikely.

I have family who are able to receive the top VM package and it'll require a 20ft pole on each property to get line of sight but I think it's the only logical next step unfortunately.

Thanks for checking what you've checked.

In reply to a post by chriscdotcodotuk:

Thanks, I've tried asking some contacts at VM if they can see anything on the next 2-3 year road map for their expansion but they're saying it's looking unlikely.

I have family who are able to receive the top VM package and it'll require a 20ft pole on each property to get line of sight but I think it's the only logical next step unfortunately.

Thanks for checking what you've checked.

You might need planning permission to do that. The information that OR give, may not always be correct as well (well in my case there seems to be differing dates for fttp) ..

I've had large antennas up at my current property and understand the planning requirements. I need to do a better (more accurate) calculation for line of sight as at the moment I fear I've missed something out. I dont fancy spending £2000 on kit just to find it will not work.

Thanks though.

MIght you be better off getting a second VDSL2 line installed and bonding them, or just load balancing or even simpler, keep one for things like TV streaming and another for gaming or whatever

In reply to a post by chriscdotcodotuk:

I've had large antennas up at my current property and understand the planning requirements. I need to do a better (more accurate) calculation for line of sight as at the moment I fear I've missed something out. I dont fancy spending £2000 on kit just to find it will not work.

Thanks though.

How large is the distance?

In reply to a post by chriscdotcodotuk:

I dont fancy spending £2000 on kit just to find it will not work.

Ubiquiti Airfibre? Something else?

In reply to a post by candlerb:

In reply to a post by chriscdotcodotuk:

I dont fancy spending £2000 on kit just to find it will not work.

Ubiquiti Airfibre? Something else?

I was going to suggest Ubiquiti depending on the distance.
I've been installing them recently for customers and getting good speed over reasonable distances.

What's your reception like on Three? They do an unlimited (1TB) Sim for £21 to £27 a month depending on current offers, quite a lot are switching to using that, see the mobile forum on here for more info.

Its probably no good for gaming, and may have CGNat, so depending on your use may not be an option.

It isn�t �1TB� limited or �acceptable use�. The CEO�s caveat was that exceeding that might give rise to suspicion of commercial use, which is outside the T & Cs.

There is a possibility I could go over it regularly in a few months time as I�m uploading about 300GB per month using the similar HomeFi from a single security camera, with plans for several more. Though those may generate much less motion-detected recording if I go ahead.

If I do exceed it the conversation with CS could be interesting, but I think I would win.

Edited by RobertoS (Tue 30-Apr-19 10:25:06)

There is not NAT if you use the right APN (�3internet� if I remember correctly).

There are actually two telephone lines to the property. I'm seeing predicted speeds of ~40mb so a couple of these lines bonded should work but I'm coming from a VM line which is quite happy at just below 400mb so it will be a large speed drop. I do not own the property yet (and to be fair it might fall through) I'm just planning ahead.

I have looked at Ubiquiti gear and the distance is just under 3km. I think it won't actually work because I'd have to get to ~10m AGL to clear the natural rise in elevation at the mid point. Due to the area of the new property I feel that there would be significant complaints to an antenna at that height. Where I live at the moment no one would bat an eyelid

I would consider load balancing across two VDSL lines and a 3rd mobile line. I think I would be happy to pay £100 a month for an internet connection that I know would be stable to allow me to work from home and not feel too slow.

Years ago when I used to live in Kemsley (aka toilet bowl of Kent), i had a wimax service from Telabria which was rock solid. Telabria went tits up later on, but were bought out by Orbital Net/Vfast. These days Orbital/Vfast cover most of Kent (incl your area) but you need a clear line of sight to one of their transmitters to get their service. Vfast's website lists only a max of 24 Mb/s but Orbital sell 100 down/ 100 up for £650 pm. However the good news is that Vfast will soon bring 100 Mbps to residential users as well over wimax, and will probably be far cheaper than 650 notes per month which their parent company (Orbital) are charging. Well worth keeping an eye on the vfast website.

www.vfast.co.uk

It may be worth using the Ubiquiti calculator to work out how high you would need the antennae.

Link

I've been selling the product below and getting over 300Mbps real world throughput up and down.

Link

Thanks for that link. That's actually better than the site I was looking at.

I'd need 9.5m at my parents house and 9m at my potential property.

Post deleted by MrSaffron

Reply to myself:

I've been to the house again this weekend and checked mobile data speeds using my phone resting on a windowsill. 55 down, 15 up.

I imagine a decent dedicated unit should provide better speeds.

I think I'll get a single telephone line and a mobile data connection and load balance them.

Those height figures are presumably above ground level. How tall are the houses?
You might only need a few metres above the roofline which is no worse than the average TV aerial.

The height is calculated based on a 3-4m extension from a chimney.
I measured the chimney at the new property and went from there.

I've spent years as a Radio Amateur so moving onto this looking at topography has been quite comforting.

Looking at the cost of equipment though £1500 or so for a PROPER connection then the ongoing monthly costs I am going to use a mobile 4G load balanced with a standard line.

Both locations are clear of the roof by a considerable margin but there is some high ground in the middle which is the issue.