Update 31 May 2018

Hi All,

So OR have finally confirmed that the cabling phase has been completed and that the jointing phase has started. They have not given an estimated completion date yet.

I do feel that I am getting close to the end of this mammoth project.

Currently the project is at month 9 since ordering at the beginning of September 2017.

Edited by deleted (Thu 31-May-18 13:11:21)

For those curious, I have openreach coming around tomorrow to do the site survey.

I was speaking to them on the phone and I now know where the aggregation node is. I can say if this is of any help t anyone. It is literally about 3 to 5 meters away from the cabinet.

And most importantly you can see it as there are two ground manhole covers with BT on them.

This is what it looks like in the ground if I have not described it well enough.

https://ibb.co/bFhBQy

So maybe in urban areas have a look for two manholes with BT written on the cover near a cabinet to find your Aggregation node.

The trouble with that is that most cabinets have double/treble manhole covers in front of/very close to them.

An Aggregation Node usually serves 3 or 4 cabinets.
If you walk around your local area and check the 4 nearest cabinets it's very plausible that none of them have an Agg Node next to them.

Not only do we not know which cabinet our Agg Node is next to, we don't know what 3 or 4 cabinets share an A.N.

Without confirmation from OpenReach, an ISP, or just someone with access to the local network topology, there's really no way to tell where a particular AN is situated.

All the chamber counting in the world won't change that.

In reply to a post by Anth:

For those curious, I have openreach coming around tomorrow to do the site survey.

I was speaking to them on the phone and I now know where the aggregation node is. I can say if this is of any help t anyone. It is literally about 3 to 5 meters away from the cabinet.

And most importantly you can see it as there are two ground manhole covers with BT on them.

This is what it looks like in the ground if I have not described it well enough.

https://ibb.co/bFhBQy

So maybe in urban areas have a look for two manholes with BT written on the cover near a cabinet to find your Aggregation node.

Highly unlikely that your nearest agg node is right next to your FTTC cab. Btw i also have the same BT manhole next to my cab as well and in my case that certainly ain't no agg node.

You're better off speaking to the Openreach Surveyor who will clarify the fibre topology in your area.

The JF6 you describe could be hiding all manner of Openreach equipment, copper, fibre, nodes, cables, copper joints, etc, etc....

So spotting one is 100% NOT a sign of an aggregation node.

Even when open, these nodes look like some splitter nodes.

Damn.. *takes off my deerstalker hat and puts down my pipe lol

I wish OR would make the node map available. How come they don't? is it for commercial reasons or something else?

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

In reply to a post by Anth:

For those curious, I have openreach coming around tomorrow to do the site survey.

I was speaking to them on the phone and I now know where the aggregation node is. I can say if this is of any help t anyone. It is literally about 3 to 5 meters away from the cabinet.

And most importantly you can see it as there are two ground manhole covers with BT on them.

This is what it looks like in the ground if I have not described it well enough.

https://ibb.co/bFhBQy

So maybe in urban areas have a look for two manholes with BT written on the cover near a cabinet to find your Aggregation node.

Highly unlikely that your nearest agg node is right next to your FTTC cab. Btw i also have the same BT manhole next to my cab as well and in my case that certainly ain't no agg node.

You're better off speaking to the Openreach Surveyor who will clarify the fibre topology in your area.

My Agg Node is 5 metres from where the cabinet stands . Most likely because it was the first cabinet installed.

There�s pretty much always a largish joint box adjacent to a cabinet, (known colloquially as the �cab hole�) it is carrying all the copper E and D side cables up in short ducts into the PCP itself.

There is often many large copper joints in there too ... little room for a large fibre node.

In reply to a post by bowdon:

Damn.. *takes off my deerstalker hat and puts down my pipe lol

I wish OR would make the node map available. How come they don't? is it for commercial reasons or something else?

Probably for security reasons.

Update 6 June 2018

Hi All,

Believe it or not OR have now confirmed today that they have completed all the cabling and jointing work. Yay!!

Now they need to do the final commissioning work which involves connecting the ONT to the fibre dangling inside my comms cupboard.

Cerberus have already supplied me with the necessary settings for my router.

So now I wait for OR to give me a date of when they will need access to my house to perform this final work. I will then change the details in my router and hopefully start receiving lots of light down my 1km cable.

I'll update you guys once I am up and running and hopefully be able to supply some impressive line speeds and latency.