Generic fibre availability search

Hi all,

Is there a generic, multi-vendor fibre availability checker that will show which providers are available to your address?

It used to be easy - Openreach or cable and that was it. But even in my underserved local area we now have digging underway by Giganet, Netomnia and CityFibre and there's no easy way to know which providers are bringing services to my pole.

Any suggestions of a good central aggregator site that can help ensure that we're not missing new alt-net operators?

look at tbb & ispreview, both have isp package searches, then uswitch, compare the market, money saving expert etc.

This site and ispreview are better if you want some different to the norm .......

Yeah, I tried MSE which confidently declared that I could get OR FTTP which I know for a fact is incorrect, so discounted that one out of hand.

In short, no. The Ofcom checker once tried to be this but they don't appear to have touched the database for a couple of years.

Maybe the one-touch-switch service will be able to function in this sort of way, since it needs to have all that information to enable migration between different physical networks.

https://bidb.uk/

In reply to a post by jpm:

Maybe the one-touch-switch service will be able to function in this sort of way, since it needs to have all that information to enable migration between different physical networks.

But you don't migrate between different physical networks. You get one up and running and then you cancel the other. The one-touch-switch is necessary for the issues between operators on the same physical network. one-touch-switch between physical networks is likely to cause more issues than it ever solves.

https://checker.ofcom.org.uk/en-gb/broadband-coverage#
The Ofcom checker for one of our properties that recently got upgraded to both Community Fibre and Hyperoptic is reflected in the area...
Networks in your area - Hyperoptic, Openreach, Community Fibre

But the Openreach network availability is vague as it doesn't show what kind of service it is. The way you find out is if the Ultrafast is showing a number next to it and that's indicative of whether it is FTTP.

However, the checker is also wrong to show Virgin Media for another postcode that does not have Virgin Media available. I have just tested with another postcode and it gets that wrong as well. Then checking on Virgin Media website will show "Keep me posted"

The Ofcom checker is not reliable. It can be used as a rough guide. But then it is important to check the postcode for that ISP from the official website to verify if the service is really available.

Also it is possible that some small Altnet FTTP might be available but not shown in this Ofcom checker.

I once had an email from TalkTalk 3 years ago telling me Openreach FTTP is finally available and then I informed them on the forum that that's not true.

Until recently when Community Fibre was available, Uswitch would not show that it is available. Another postcode will show Hyperoptic not available through moneysupermarket but the same postcode will wrongly show Openreach FTTP being available on Uswitch. It will also show Superfast available when there is no FTTC.

These checkers are often getting it wrong. When a service is available, it will not detect that it's available and when a service is unavailable it will show as available!

We have access to Brsk network and no other. They have nothing to do with OR network.

They have nothing to do with Openreach apart from , in the main , predominantly use OR infrastructure via PIA to deliver their services to customers , obviously they can also construct their own additional infrastructure but they exist via mainly on Openreach infrastructure, it’s undeniable that without Openreach assets they wouldn’t have a viable business

Edited by Iniltous (Thu 21-Mar-24 17:23:16)

In reply to a post by DFScale:

In reply to a post by jpm:

Maybe the one-touch-switch service will be able to function in this sort of way, since it needs to have all that information to enable migration between different physical networks.

But you don't migrate between different physical networks. You get one up and running and then you cancel the other. The one-touch-switch is necessary for the issues between operators on the same physical network. one-touch-switch between physical networks is likely to cause more issues than it ever solves.

Migration between two providers on the Openreach network already works fine today, and there aren't really any other same-network cases that matter apart from Cityfibre (and if that doesn't work it's because Cityfibre haven't got their house in order; a third-party one-touch-switch system won't help)

The one-touch-switch service is *specifically* for people migrating between different physical networks, to give them a service comparable to what you get on Openreach:

* the new provider takes responsibility for managing the whole switchover process, as opposed to the customer having to deal with two providers in parallel
* the old line is terminated as soon as (but not before) the new line is live
* you're not paying for service on the old network longer than you need to

I know that but Brsk is a different physical network to OR network, hence my reply to the poster.