Head End Exchange

Is there any way of telling which exchange is your head end exchange for FTTP?

In reply to a post by Ripley:

Is there any way of telling which exchange is your head end exchange for FTTP?

The way I have done it in the past is to find a new build FTTP only property in your area and do a DSL checker on it, as it won't have any copper it will tell you the local handover exchange.

Good call that works a treat

Mine is 12 miles away in Derby suburb, I am in South-Derbyshire.

I asked the BT openreach chaps doing the fibre splitters in our village where it was.

I took my driving test at the test centre based next to the exchange 50 years ago

In reply to a post by dect:

The way I have done it in the past is to find a new build FTTP only property in your area and do a DSL checker on it, as it won't have any copper it will tell you the local handover exchange.

Cunning. Live on an FTTP-only property and never thought of that. Didn't really need to as was clear which exchange my fibre terminates in.

Nice one.

+1. As long as the nearby new build didn’t happen to be on the other side of an head end exchange boundary. Could be imprecise / tricky in some larger cities for example

Didn't really need to as was clear which exchange my fibre terminates in.

It really doesn’t always follow ….. for instance, lots of FTTP around Wokingham, Berks …. a large exchange, but the fibre comes from Woodley TH_WDY a physically much smaller exchange on the outskirts of Reading.

Fibre in the centre of Camberley, with another large exchange maybe 300m away is fed from Farnborough

Of all the local exchanges around my way the one that is the handover exchange is the one that least looks like a traditional exchange (more like a large tin shed). The larger traditional exchanges in the center of towns must be costing them a lot more to lease back so it does make sense why they chose it.

Access to the BT Wholesale parent-child mapping spreadsheet helped.

As above. Local single storey exchange is headend for several areas with much larger exchange buildings.
Openreach had one eye on building closures from the outset when they started building FTTC/FTTP.

In reply to a post by XGS_Is_On:

Access to the BT Wholesale parent-child mapping spreadsheet helped.

With columns for OLT type(s) in each would be helpful 🤣😎

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Fibre in the centre of Camberley, with another large exchange maybe 300m away is fed from Farnborough

Huh, like the others I would have assumed the smaller building (Farnborough) would not be head end and the larger with offices (e.g. Aldershot) would remain. I do realise that commercial building costs don't necessarily make sense from the outside.

In reply to a post by jchamier:

the larger with offices (e.g. Aldershot) would remain

Sadly as I'm sure you are already aware offices in off shore locations are much cheaper to lease/rent.

Aldershot is a head end exchange.

In reply to a post by dect:

Sadly as I'm sure you are already aware offices in off shore locations are much cheaper to lease/rent.

Yes, unless you need humans whom are physically in the UK. For remote work, off shore is much cheaper.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Aldershot is a head end exchange.

Thanks.

When fttp was put in where I live (rural North Norfolk) the guys doi g the hardware installation told me that the positions of cbts etc were planned by a team in India using Google map images!! Don't know it it's true but it's possible!

Yes, it's planned off shore. They use Google images to show the locations rather than plan according to Google.

The headend for Aldershot is in Farnborough

That is most odd …. I’ll bow to your superior knowledge.

I’ve seen FTTP tasks in Aldershot show as Aldershot in the routing. An incorrectly lit splitter in Aldershot be rectified by resplicing in Aldershot exchange, must have been en route.

The clearest message, is it is impossible to make assumptions

Aldershot gets retired splicing crews are going to have fun bypassing the building.

Be well used to it by then I'm sure.

In reply to a post by witchunt:

Yes, it's planned off shore. They use Google images to show the locations rather than plan according to Google.

Do you know who determines if its a 1 or 2 stage install? is it the same team who decide where the CBTs go?

Edited by deleted (Sun 19-Jun-22 14:15:42)

Most surveys are done by field visit, not looking at street view images
As far as deciding 1 or 2 stage , it depends on what already exists and observed at survey, for example, overhead , usually single stage , but if ( for example ) the location of the fixing at the property we’re above a flat roof , current rules would dictate a hoist , or possibly a 2 stage install ,(scaffold , movable platform, etc ) is required, so neighbouring property’s, one could be single stage yet next door is 2 stage.
An underground duct service area , if the existing duct can be verified as usable , single stage , where the duct hits the property is unclear ( a building extension now covering the existing duct for example) a 2 stage , the surveyor would pick the appropriate solution.
In some cases ( DIG estates where no duct exists to properties) new civils job is planned to provide new infrastructure .
Planning ( the creation of job packs from the survey returns ) can be done anywhere , and offshore is the norm

Thanks was just trying to work out if mine will likely be a 1 or 2 stage install but from the things you have said and from what I remember of the survey it sadly could be either.

Most surveys are done by field visit, not looking at street view images

I’d have to disagree. Especially at individual job level.

It could vary by region , in the North East / North West OR have ( internally) increased the numbers of FND staff doing this work and it’s pretty much unlimited overtime for these people to get PON surveys done….the problem with using a pretty blunt tool like Street View is that the images can be several years out of date , and are of limited use, , and although it certainly was the case that these desk based surveys were commonplace, any error ( like saying a property was serviceable when it wasn’t ) and an appointment given that subsequently fails , potentially has OR on the hook for compensation payments ….,