The fibre will likely go back to the nearest fibre link to the main exchange, their will be the main fibre link between the exchanges and its likely where the fibre will connect to- as it does not need to go to the smaller exchange.

The date is only a holding date and can easily move into the next slot so its not a 100% sign that the smaller exchange cabinets will be ready first.
Their are alot of factors in enaling cabinets and why they are chosen first, only Openreach knows this and we can only wait and see which cabs go live first.

It is finally here available to order

I was reading on some other forums that it is usually available shortly after you hear the fans running in the cabinets. I noticed today when walking the dog that the cab in Parkside Avenue and (my cab) in Berry Lane were quietly humming away suggesting they were switched on.

No news for Littlehampton on the @Openreach_news twitter feed and still only shown as Coming Soon on the http://www.superfast-openreach.co.uk/where-and-when/ that everyone refers to.

But....

If you check the BT Wholesale page at http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl , this says that Fibre To The Cabinet is available. Woohoo!!!!!!


Note that it could not find my phone number (presumably because I am a Sky customer) but it was happy using the Address Checker link on the same page. I then logged onto Sky and clicked through the upgrade my package links where it also said it was available. £50 for setup and £20 per month. BT engineer is booked for 8AM to 1PM on Monday 24 September 2012 which was the earliest available.

No flaming please for Sky vs BT arguments - I know the differences and this thread is not for that discussion. Just wanted to post the good news so you can all (hopefully) get your orders in now too (as long as no one manages to get an install earlier than mine of course).

Edited by deleted (Fri 07-Sep-12 16:23:38)

Good to hear its avaliable- the twitter feed can be a bit slow will likely announce the exchange soon.

Ok I've re-written my post....

I'm amazed it's available in Littlehampton. Rustington was due first, and they are still working on several cabinets in Rustington that they put in place over a month ago.

I've just tried the DSL checker for several Littlehampton addresses and none show as live yet. If you've put an order in though I guess they must be. Odd how the DSL checker for your area and others don't show as live for me though. Hopefully for you there isn't an error somewhere and it really is live.

Edited by deleted (Fri 07-Sep-12 20:46:19)

I just tapped in my mother's details (she would be connecting to the Parkside Avenue cabinet) and that says will be available for 31 December as you suggest Zackary. However, I tapped in a few addresses that would be connecting to my cabinet in Berry Lane and they are all saying available now.

For Address XXXXXXXXXXXX, BERRY LANE, LITTLEHAMPTON, BN17 5HD on Exchange LITTLEHAMPTON

Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial check on your address indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line speed up to 2Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL Max broadband line speed of 7.5Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 6.5Mbps and 8Mbps.

Our check also indicates that your line currently supports an estimated ADSL2+ broadband line speed of 17Mbps; typically the line speed would range between 10Mbps and 19.5Mbps. Our test also indicates that your line could support an estimated ADSL 2+ Annex-M broadband upstream line speed of 1.5Mbps and downstream line speed of 17Mbps; typically the downstream speed would range between 10Mbps and 19.5Mbps.

Our test also indicates that your line currently supports a fibre technology with an estimated WBC FTTC Broadband where consumers have received downstream line speed of 80 Mbps and upstream line speed of 20 Mbps.

The actual stable line speed supportable will be determined during the first 10 days of use. This speed may change over time, to ensure line stability is maintained.

If you decide to place an order, a further test will be performed to confirm if your line is suitable for the service you wish to purchase.

Thank you for your interest.

Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number check.
Note: Provision of some services may not be allowed due to product withdrawal, please contact your service provider for further details.

See for yourself by tapping in an address connecting to this box (I'd suggest you use BN17 6QW as you can pick a random number in Southway whereas Berry Lane only has house names).

I also have a BT line that I do not want to upgrade as it is actually supplied by my employer. Tapping in that number also confirms that it is available now and gets around the disclaimer about being indicative only.

As you say, this suggests that they have either made a mistake and I am going to get put back or that the Exchange is ready but not all cabinets yet.

Either way, apologies for misleading anyone into thinking they could order only to find they could not.

Spare a thought for the hard pressed fibre engineers trying to please everyone...Also remember we are working in all the major towns & city's at the same time. And everyone want's a peace of us...

Morning DarthVodafone.

I have checked the addresses you mentioned, and did find a few houses in Berry Lane that were live, but of the 10 or so I checked only about 2 had FTTC. As you rightly said, all houses in Southway (that I checked) have it now.

So I'm sure there is no mistake now. It just seemed so at first - Sorry if I worried you! I'm surprised that not all homes in Berry Way have it yet (according to my own search anyway), but I know they were working on the cab down there just recently so maybe they haven't got everything connected up yet, and the other end of Berry Lane are likely to be on the other nearby cab. I haven't kept track of other cabs in Littlehampton but I know several have been there a while now and I've never seen any more work being done on them, suggesting they've all been connected and ready for a while.

Every other random postcode I checked for Littlehampton last night and this morning, other than those you mentioned, don't have it, so it seems only very few do so far. I'm wondering if Rustington might be live now too but my cabinet not finished yet. I'll keep checking.

If you see a big guy leaning over cabinets in Littlehampton and Rustington listening for fan noise - Say hi, it'll be me. *laughs*

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Spare a thought for the hard pressed fibre engineers trying to please everyone...Also remember we are working in all the major towns & city's at the same time. And everyone want's a peace of us...

Of course, I'm sure they're doing their best and are working hard to get everyone connected - But remember they are all being paid, and the customers are also paying for the service and will pay more once FTTC is enabled. It's not as if they are doing us a favour.

Edited by deleted (Sat 08-Sep-12 09:15:24)

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

Spare a thought for the hard pressed fibre engineers trying to please everyone...Also remember we are working in all the major towns & city's at the same time. And everyone want's a peace of us...

Hi Anon Engineer.

You are appreciated. I guess because you are delivering something that everyone really wants you are automatically a hero when it works and is delivered on time and a villain when it isn't. That can make it seem like you are not appreciated.

With your inside knowledge, do you think the situation we are describing (where at least one cabinet seems to have the service available before the go-live date whereas others don't) is possible or do you think there is some kind of database error?

Thanks.

In reply to a post by DarthVodafone:

It is finally here available to order
[SNIP]
Just wanted to post the good news so you can all (hopefully) get your orders in now too (

No such luck here. Still no signs of a cab either

UPDATE: I have selected a random postcode for each cab and run it through the checker, here are the results:

P1 No
P2 No
P3 No
P4 No
P5 Yes
P6 No
P7 No
P8 Yes
P9 Yes
P10 Yes
P11 "Unable to check" error for several postcodes
P12 No
P13 Yes
P14 No
P15 No
P16 Can't find a valid postcode for this cab
P17 No
P18 No
P19 "Unable to check" error for several postcodes
P20 No
P21 No
P22 Yes
P23 No
P24 Can't find a valid postcode for this cab
P25 No
P26 Can't find a valid postcode for this cab
P27 No
P28 No
P29 Can't find a valid postcode for this cab
P30 Can't find a valid postcode for this cab
P31 No
P32 No
P33 Can't find a valid postcode for this cab
P34 No

So it appears a minimum of 5 out of 34 cabs are live.
Interestingly, the postcode I used for cab 13 was the postcode that physcially included the cab and PCP. You can select both the PCP and streetside cab as addresses and they do show slightly different estimated speeds.

Edited by deleted (Sun 09-Sep-12 22:50:50)