FTTC Uplift

Unsurprisingly, like many others my exchange upgrade has been put back to Sep - totally expected as the new cabinet hasn't been installed yet, there's only white spraypaint on the footpath where it looks like it will go

Looking on the site today I've noticed a link to http://fttc-check.alc.im/ where I can get a little more information based upon the 2011 PCP document. This is worrying however as it only shows my uplift as being 2.47. Currently I get about 6Mbps & had been hoping to see this increase to around the 40 mark or better still (as my exchange - NEPH - is shown as being enabled for FTTC/P) a full 100Mbps fibre link. How accurate is this document as an uplift so low hardly seems worth the bother, especially as others get better than this on their DSL?

My line length from the exchange is about 400m if that makes any difference, maybe 130m from the cab. All postcodes linked to the cab show the same uplift, even houses that are within 5m.

Distance from exchange makes no difference (on fibre), if your only 130 meters from the cabinet then you'll easily get well over 40mb.

And if your only 400m from the exchange then you should be getting 15 to 20mb on ADSL I would of thought, are you on ADSL2+ or plain old ADSL?

Edited by R0NSKI (Mon 09-Jul-12 19:50:20)

Just plain old ADSL I think that there are capacity issues at peak times as on weekends I see my connection drop as low as 1.5mb. I'm with Zen so I'm pretty sure that it's not them that are messing about with anything that some other ISPs would do.

Interestingly there was a piece in the local paper that ADSL2+ would be available also from the autumn - initially I was worried that this meant they'd shelved the fibre upgrade plans but I'm now hoping that it's just all related to a general upgrade in the exchange to make way for FTTC

What did you put into that checker? Your postcode? One of these?:-
NE425AE
NE425QN
NE425FS
NE425FG
NE425FQ
NE425QP
NE425QL
NE425QH
NE425QQ
NE425FD
NE425QS
NE425FJ
NE425FL
NE425QW
NE425QE
NE425FR
NE425FP
NE425QR
NE425FB
NE425FE
NE425QD
NE425QX
NE425QG
NE425QF
NE425FN
NE425QJ
NE425QY
NE425FH
NE425EX
NE425FF
NE425QU
NE425QT

It's all FTTC, not FTTP.

If it is the first one, NE425AE, only 4% of lines there are on cabinet 18, the rest are Exchange Only so no FTTC at the moment.
If the second, NE425QN, 76% on cab 18, the rest exchange only.

Re your uplift, I think we need to see the line stats from your router. The current speed you quote doesn't make sense in relation to the distances you give. You aren't on an 8Mbps connection are you? The stats will tell us what you could do. Then uplift on that could be a lot better.

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 09-Jul-12 23:04:34)

I think you are probably right - an 8Mbps connection with possibly a 7150kbps IP Profile.

Thanks RobertoS - thankfully I'm not one of the directly connected postcodes

I'm more confused now though - why have BT said that it'll be FTTC/P on their checker when it looks as though it's only FTTC? Also the list of postcodes on cab P18 seems huge is it normal for an area as wide as this to be covered by just one cab? Exchange is marked in red, cab in blue, assumed DSLAM location in green, map is about 1km wide with those postcodes you quoted making up the entire estate at the top of it.

Re my line, i've got 2 different broadband connections but does this help with the stats (from my Zen connection that I speedchecked)? My BT connection is only used for work but it's stats are here. We only have 8Mb connections in my area curently although BT are rolling out ADSL2 from September which I guess could be related to the FTTC delays but I still don't get why BT are only quoting a 2.47 uplift.

Finally I still haven't seen any planning permission for the DSLAM or planned BT roadworks in the immediate area (some ducting work further afield) - what's the best way to find out what the true rollout schedule is?

Edited by deleted (Fri 20-Jul-12 20:11:52)

I don't know which checker you mean by the BT one. There are many.

I picked that list of postcodes because of the speed multiplier you gave. There are huge chunks on PRUDHOE that are exchange only; more chunks not scheduled; and more with much higher uplifts.

Don't forget this is December 2011 data. So some of the non-scheduled areas may be down for FTTP in the later two.

The poor uplift probably means you are a fair distance from the cabinet. (18). It makes sense that all uplifts on that cabinet will be roughly the same, as all lines will get the same length of copper removed from the broadband link.

The uplift seems pretty off in some cases.

I've got a friend who lives in Ovingham getting ~5Mb/s with an uplift of 3 being reported. The wholesale checker seems to reckon he'll get 60Mb/s+ though.

Also, since you're also in Prudhoe have you tried the official infinity checker on the BT website? Doesn't seem to think Prudhoe exists on the infinity roll-out what so ever.

Sadly I live in Wylam where we won't get all this shiny cabling.

Eh? Since when have I been in Prudhoe?

Re the uplift for your friend, a lot of people get that sort of oddity. The reason is often that they should be getting far more at the moment but their wiring is shot, or some other problem has messed it up.

Fortunately, in most cases the changes to wiring made by the engineer sort that side out anyway, and the removal of the e-side copper does the rest.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Eh? Since when have I been in Prudhoe?

The OP is on the Prudhoe exchange, as it's NEPH