The estimates on our fibre guide are based on graphs which allowed for crosstalk which was always going to be an issue with VDSL

any idea why BT slow to uptake vectoring?

I guess its because they want to finish the rollout first.

Getting stable standards based vectoring available for one. Issues over regulation and that it would mean an end to sub loop unbundling or make it more complex, even for Openreach adding a second cabinet becomes harder as they need to be close enough for DSLAM to communicate data on crosstalk management.

I suspect that some in BT may want to go more FTTP, rather than vectoring

from where I sit seems odd.

BT have spent a lot of cash in rolling out FTTC, this we can probably agree on.

To rollout FTTC without vectoring is like doing half the job, they not getting the maximum out of the investment. Vectoring has costs but compared to what the rollout has cost so far its a small % on top.

FTTP is clearly a better solution but in terms of viability is it comparable to vectoring and also that I suspect FTTP as a replacement to FTTC is still quite a while away for BT so vectoring would be in that gap.

We dont really have subloop unbundling either, as it seems unlikely sky and talk talk are going to bother with it.

Hopefully ofcom will act reasonable and not stand in the way of it.

Edited by Chrysalis (Fri 04-Jan-13 09:23:13)

@Everyone else....

So what you say makes sense. If there is significant variability between individial phone lines due to the state of the individual wires and there is a shortage of available spare wires then that would explain our situation.

Our switch to FTTC has not had an effect on the speed our neighbours have experienced (in fact they were watching like hawks to make sure that there wasn't such a problem) but one of our neighbours had a sudden and permanent increase in speed earlier last year. Maybe the engineer found a spare line with better quality.

With respect to the distance to the cabinet, the 3.5km was what was said by an engineer last summer. The path that he demonstrated our line took does seem consistent with that distance and it's far from the most direct route.

This morning the broadband has been up and down, down for several minutes at a time. The DSL light on the Openreach modem has been off for long periods of time and there is an audible crackle on the line.

All in all it sounds like this area has poor lines (I've heard from one of the many engineers that's been out here in the past year that there's still a lot of aluminium out here) and that they are close to capacity. I can appreaciate that BT Openreach are unwilling to invest in expensive new lines to support a small number of customers. I am also surprised that they are willing to support the cost of all these engineer visits (we've had more than 15 in the past 12 months, in total we, and the three houses which are closest have had at least 30 in the last year).

Roll on 4G.

Seems vectoring is still a bit "leading edge" and has some backwards compatibility issues

http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/techzine/3-innovation...

http://www2.alcatel-lucent.com/techzine/vdsl2-vector...

I would expect BT to wait for cost effective vendor upgrades to existing cabinets to become available, along with suitable CPE upgrades / replacements. First step may be to do vectoring on say a BDUK project where there is no existing VDSL to worry about.

probably because 30 engineer visits a year is still a lot cheaper than rerouting lines, it seems rerouting lines for BT is something they consider a no go decision thats never ever viable.

If I was you I would query the engineer next time to ask how the neighbours got a different routed line, although the engineer may play dumb or just refuse to answer.

ok fair enough.

In the BT documents provided on the openreach site it does state that existing CPE is vectoring compatible tho, so its possible existing CPE wouldnt need to be replaced and indicates openreach do plan to use vectoring at some point.

If there is noise on the line then that should be reported, preferably whilst it's doing it and make sure the person you're speaking to acknowledges they can hear it. That noise is a bad connection of some sort and will affect you're broadband, but should be reported as a phone (voice) fault.

In reply to a post by Chrysalis:

... and indicates openreach do plan to use vectoring at some point.

Well seeing as they are trialling it ....