Well to wrap this thread up, FTTC became available for us at the beginning of August.

I was about to go on holiday, so I haven't ordered yet, but a neighbour is acting as guinea pig and has already had his 80/20 BT product activated and running. I understand it's been a bit unreliable so far.

I will be ordering when I return from hols, so hopefully it will be a happy ending, and worth the long wait.

I think you'll need to get an engineer install done to get a modern NTE and a wiring check for bridge taps. If your neighbour's is like yours and hasn't been replaced that may be causing their problem with reliability.

Enjoy your holiday first .

Edited by RobertoS (Mon 20-Aug-18 21:44:29)

He self-installed, and his master socket (and hence router) is in the loft!

He's had problems with his line over the last few years, as have most of us, so I'm not sure if he has ever had a new NTE fitted.

Incidentally, as far as I can tell, nobody has been notified that FTTC is now available - I have have had to tell them. The only reason I know is because I've been onto this for years, pressing the local BDUK scheme to help us.

nobody has been notified that FTTC is now available

Out of curiosity, nothing more, who do you feel should have notified you/them that FTTC was available? Your council, BDUK, your ISP, OpenReach? Also how should they notify you over and above that most ISP's web sites, together with BT Wholesale, dbs errors aside, usually have this information when you enter a phone number or address.

Apart from the odd BDUK cabinet with a sticker on it saying fibre broadband is here (which is on a single cabinet in my area) I've never known anyone to be notified about FTTC being available.

In reply to a post by MCM:

nobody has been notified that FTTC is now available

Out of curiosity, nothing more, who do you feel should have notified you/them that FTTC was available? Your council, BDUK, your ISP, OpenReach?

I'm not sure, but there should be some way to let folk know. Most, if not all, of the new cabinets that have appeared locally have had the large 'fibre broadband is here' type stickers on them, which is probably enough to nudge anyone with an interest. Ours is just an anonymous looking green box.

To be honest, I understand that perhaps Openreach might not want a rush, and will be happy with spread of word of mouth, but most people are completely unaware of what's going on. One neighbour has just signed up for an 18 month ADSL contract with EE, and the imminent availability of fibre was never flagged.

Edited by sparky_paul (Tue 21-Aug-18 20:08:55)

Click this link to sign the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/258240/spon...

My petition:

Force the unlock of Exchange Only Broadband lines or provide funds cover costs

Exchange only lines are those that do not have a cabinet and are usually feet from the exchange. Due to the way the lines have been configured, EO lines that go directly into the exchange (no cabinet) cannot get super fast broadband. This is not the fault of the home owner.

OFCOM will not move this forward either so the government must step in to unlock EO lines and force companies to upgrade these lines or find a solution. This affects hundreds of properties around the country, despite being in busy towns and cities, they cannot get fast broadband. The current UK broadband backend provider (openreach) must be take over the costs and be held responsible Failing this the government must set up a fund to unlock these lines in order to offer all super fast broadband.

Click this link to sign the petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/258240/spon...

They have been doing many exchange only lines, some with FTTP and some have had PCPs and FTTC cabs installed. They can't magically do all of them at once.

Same here. Exchange lines close the exchange have been diverted to a cabinet outside the exchange. Long lines (like mine) have been intercepted on route and re-routed to a new cabinet but still over 1km away. This has been done via BDUK funds.

So even 'unlocking' the cabinets for EO doesn't mean speed is massively increased. My estimated 5-12mbps ADSL EO line has gone to 27-39mpbs via FTTC so still hardly brilliant.

Luckily for me I managed to get Virgin Media to let me pull a rope through what they say was an 'unservicable' property and then get them back to do a cable pull. Now have Virgin Media 200mbps service so at least there was another option (although only by knowing the right people) for me.