Yer, I know - FTTPoD is never the ideal option. I'm hoping that being relatively near the aggregation node as the £5k suggests, combined with the (likely) fully ducted route may mean it is on the quicker/cheaper end of the spectrum. All guessing on my part though

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Every quote now seems to have £4-5k in either Labour costs, or Civil stores/civil labour costs, or both.
If that trend in quotes continues as it has for the last 2 years then it's sensible to warn potential buyers that their final quote is likely to be at least £7-8k.

FYI

In reply to a post by MHC:

Ask about the local network topology and especially how they route back to GX. And will it be all part of Denham or just some - Higher, Lower, Village, Green, New ...

Well the Openreach surveyor came today (over 30 mins early!).
I was a bit disappointed to discover that he was only there to check the installation location in my house - which seems like the thing that would affect the price the least. He took photos of the inside and outside of my house and I think also a photo of the pole. He wasn't going to check the route from the aggregation node, the ducts or anything like that.

Sadly he said he wasn't from this area and didn't know the details of the work required.
But he did know that the head-end exchange would indeed be Gerrards Cross.
And that he thought that the Fibre Aggregation Node was close to the junction of the A412 and Old Rectory Lane.
And that that if there was a problem like a blocked duct, I wouldn't have to pay for the cost of working round that.

Not sure if there there is any other on-site surveying to be done by someone else. Or if the rest of the survey will be done back at the office, perhaps in a bit more detail than the original quote.

I will have to have a look for a decent cabinet there. The is one BT cabinet on the north corner of ORL, and a small one on the other side of the North Orbital - tucked away in the hedge, just where the slabs go across the verge. Who owns the very large shed size one in the corner?


From ORL there is plenty going back to Denham then Uxbridge (and onto West Drayton) but what is there up to GX - cannot remember any major works on the A40 or ORL/Slade Oak to put ducting in - what other routes are there?

Openreach FTTP doesn't go via cabinets (*). Fibre aggregation nodes and splitters are underground or on poles, and the entire network is passive (i.e. unpowered) between OLT and ONT. In the far future, when the copper network is retired, Openreach cabinets will be removed as well.

(*) Except very rarely, in ultra-rural areas, there may be small powered OLTs in cabinets, known as "subtended headends". This certainly isn't the case here.

There is no "pole network" there - just one pole serving a couple of houses. Underground, maybe, but it gets flooded regularly.

In reply to a post by MHC:

There is no "pole network" there - just one pole serving a couple of houses. Underground, maybe, but it gets flooded regularly.

Outside plant fibre infrastructure from Openreach, whether that's FTTP (GPON) or leased line is physically contained in much the same sort of infrastructure (though they are physically discrete networks). The nodes that contain the actual spice trays and splitters are IP68 rated (to 5 metres), absolutely designed to get wet and submerged as are the CBTs themselves which are fully IP rated again, gasketed on all ports.

This is the style of Prysmian joint enclosures used for Ag. Nodes:
https://www.comtecdirect.co.uk/documents/PG5712/PG57...

and CBTs:
http://csmedia.corning.com/opcomm/Resource_Documents...

It has been 4 weeks now since I ordered the FTTPoD survey and I haven't received an email back from Cerberus.

So I checked their NetCONNECT portal and my order has changed to KCI: Survey Complete.
I don't think there is a way to see when this transition happened.


I guess I will get in contact with them on Monday and see when I will receive the field survey results.

Netconnect doesn't really tell you much. Better off speaking with them.

To give you some context and expectations; my original survey was ordered on 9 July (2018) was carried out on 4 September and final quote came through on 24 September. Service was finally all built and handed over on 10 June 2019.

Build updates are typically received by Cerberus on a Thursday PM and shared out on Friday or Monday the following week. Some of the build updates are quite jargony and indecipherable, so a call to clarify is often needed.

Good luck.

Thanks Pheasant, useful to know.
That is a really long time just to survey!

Will give Cerberus a call on Monday and see where it is at.