Terrible Line speed in New build

Hi,
I have recently moved in to a new build and after my line has been activated by BT i checked my line speed and..OMG!.
0.82mbps download!
How can a new estate be built and not cater for High speed broadband!. (A quick search on the internet and this seems to be a common thing)
Anyway, it is what it is, now for doing something about it! (or at least trying).
Where to start is my first question, how do you go about getting BT to even consider upgrading the line into our estate?

Regards

Edited by deleted (Wed 05-Oct-16 11:57:24)

Consideration of upgrade should have been dealt with by the developer before the foundations were laid.

Now a lot will depend on what local authority is in your area, and whether the lines are in scope for the BDUK projects.

Where a developer is still building then they might be willing to work with http://www.communityfibre.bt.com/ and pay some money to get better speeds to the estate, residents can also club together if willing to subsidise the roll-out.

Another option is alternate providers such as IFNL, Virgin Media and others.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply, they are still building on the estate and planning permission has been submitted to build on another area 100m away.

Where would be the best to start, contact the LA and see what plans are in place? (if any)
Go to the local papers?
The site manager has already informed me that "its nothing to do with <developer>

I have read on the web that fees of up to £20k are mentioned if residents plan to fund it themselves!, where does that figure come from?

Figures of £20k to £30k come from other areas that have used the community scheme themselves.

As for the developer clearly you have an old school one, since there are schemes to deliver FTTP to estates if a developer engages with Openreach. Though there is no law that says they have to do anything, hence why you got the minimum the law requires at present i.e. a copper telephone line.

What local authority and a sample postcode for the estate?

It is everything to do with the developer. They arrange the services that will be delivered to the site - they had the option to include fibre options and have presumably decided not to as it would have cost them money.

Too late now but this is the sort of thing you really need to confirm with developers before signing on the dotted line.

Apart from anything else, have you tried the Quiet Line Test on your phone line etc.

Fundamental that you should have a clean phone line, whether ancient or modern, for any xDSL use.

What does the estimates table from this checker tell us?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What does the estimates table from this checker tell us?

Its too new to check, think it takes 24hrs for new numbers to appear

Hi Maxrebo

Not sure if you've had the chance to check out Hyperoptic yet - we work with many developers to install fibre in new builds so residents can access 1Gb speeds on the day they move in. You can check availability of 1Gb speeds via our map here -> https://www.hyperoptic.com/map/.

If your development isn't showing, please drop us a DM with your address and we'll investigate further.

Best wishes

Ana

Address should still work

Given an exchange name and cabinet number myself and others on here can do some hunting around

Edited by MrSaffron (Wed 05-Oct-16 13:33:34)

In reply to a post by maxrebo:

The site manager has already informed me that "its nothing to do with <developer>

Modern facilities have everything to do with the developer:

Water - I presume it is delivered through pipes and not collected from a communal well.
Drainage - did the developer install sewers or are you reliant on cess-pits and soak-aways?
Heating - has he installed coal bunkers or gas pipes?

Telephony/broadband - install the cheapest he can get away with!


If they will not do anything, and BT cannot do any work on site without contractual agreement with the developer, then tell the site manager you will go to the press with stories of dire broadband. Once the press get onto it the developer is not going to be happy as it will lose sales.

It does not matter whether it is you at Hyperoptic, BT or any of the others. Responsibility for this sort of failure has to lie with the developers and not service providers.

In reply to a post by MHC:

In reply to a post by maxrebo:

The site manager has already informed me that "its nothing to do with <developer>

Modern facilities have everything to do with the developer:

Water - I presume it is delivered through pipes and not collected from a communal well.
Drainage - did the developer install sewers or are you reliant on cess-pits and soak-aways?
Heating - has he installed coal bunkers or gas pipes?

Telephony/broadband - install the cheapest he can get away with!


If they will not do anything, and BT cannot do any work on site without contractual agreement with the developer, then tell the site manager you will go to the press with stories of dire broadband. Once the press get onto it the developer is not going to be happy as it will lose sales.

I have an open call with the developer about this and its been passed to their "Technical" department, this was 2 weeks ago and i havent heard anything since! Funny that!

Yes, going to the local press is something that i will pursue if i don`t get anywhere going direct, they still have a number of house still to sell and are planning another site to develop so if people realise how bad it is then im sure a number of people will reconsider!

If you've moved into a house & people drive past it to get to the sales office/showroom, it might be a good idea to advertise your piddly broadband speeds in your front lawn (on a flag?) as a warning to other potential buyers. Once the developer sees it affecting their sales, expect plans to have FTTx installed magically appear overnight for your estate. Developers only take action when it hits them hard in the pocket!!

Edited by deleted (Wed 05-Oct-16 14:06:53)

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

If you've moved into a house & people drive past it to get to the sales office/showroom, it might be a good idea to advertise your piddly broadband speeds in your front lawn (on a flag?) as a warning to other potential buyers. Once the developer sees it affecting their sales, expect plans to have FTTx installed magically appear overnight for your estate. Developers only take action when it hits them hard in the pocket!!

Its funny you should say that becasue i thought exactly the same, and our house is opposite the current show home!.

We don't yet have any idea what the reason for the low speed is. FTTC may even be available, though unlikely.

I find it very odd that the OP wasn't given a speed estimate by BT when signing up in the first place.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

We don't yet have any idea what the reason for the low speed is. FTTC may even be available, though unlikely.

I find it very odd that the OP wasn't given a speed estimate by BT when signing up in the first place.

My ISP is through Sky, but the line connection was installed through Open reach,
Its not the suprise of the speed but more now of what to do to try to get it upgraded.

In reply to a post by maxrebo:

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

If you've moved into a house & people drive past it to get to the sales office/showroom, it might be a good idea to advertise your piddly broadband speeds in your front lawn (on a flag?) as a warning to other potential buyers. Once the developer sees it affecting their sales, expect plans to have FTTx installed magically appear overnight for your estate. Developers only take action when it hits them hard in the pocket!!

Its funny you should say that becasue i thought exactly the same, and our house is opposite the current show home!.

I would seriously consider this idea then before the showhome is sold off (assuming your line is not capable of anything faster in its current state). Try to include some humour/sarcasm for greater effect eg you could put up a dummy cardboard FTTC cabinet in your front lawn with the words "Fibre broadband is NOT here" with a picture of a cute snail and 0.8 mbps emblazoned across it. Would love to see the developers reaction!! LOL

Edited by deleted (Wed 05-Oct-16 14:34:22)

Please can you try the address option of the previous link, as a subsequent poster requested ?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Please can you try the address option of the previous link, as a subsequent poster requested ?

Featured Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Downstream Range(Mbps)

WBC FTTC Availibility Date

WBC SOGEA Availibility Date

High Low High Low
VDSL Range A (Clean) 51.1 35 11.7 7.9 -- 31-Mar-17 --
VDSL Range B (Impacted) 35.1 18 9.4 4.9 -- 31-Mar-17 --
ADSL Products

Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Upstream Line Rate(Mbps)

Downstream Range(Mbps)

Availability Date


WBC ADSL 2+ Up to 7 -- 4.5 to 10 Available --
WBC ADSL 2+ Annex M Up to 7 Up to 1 4.5 to 10 Available --
ADSL Max Up to 4 -- 3.5 to 7.5 Available --
WBC Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available --
Fixed Rate 2 -- -- Available --
Other Offerings




Availability Date


VDSL Multicast -- -- -- 31-Mar-17 --
ADSL Multicast -- -- -- Available --
FTTC is currently not available on this cabinet due to following reasons:- Cabinet to be enabled between Apr-16 and Mar-17. Date to be confirmed once the survey is complete..

For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (VDSL or G.fast) services, the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.

For VDSL or G.fast Ranges A and B, the term "Clean" relates to a line which is free from any wiring issues (e.g. Bridge Taps) and/or Copper line conditions, and the term "Impacted" relates to a line which may have wiring issues (e.g. Bridge Taps) and/or Copper line conditions.

Throughput/download speeds will be less than line rates and can be affected by a number of factors within and external to BT's network, Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.

The Stop Sale date for Datastream is from 30-Jun-2012; the Formal Retirement date for Datastream is from 30-Jun-2014. The Stop Sale date for IPstream is from 31-Jan-2013; the Formal Retirement date for IPstream is from 30-Jun-2014.

Where planned or expected availability dates are shown, these may be liable to change.

Please note that postcode and address check results are indicative only. Most accurate results can be obtained from a telephone number, NAD, UPRN or Access Line ID (ALID) check.
Note: If you decide to place an order for a WBC fibre product, an appointment may be required for an engineer to visit the end user's premises to supply the service.

The DP is external to the end user premises.

Thank you for your interest.

So did you sign up for ADSLx or Fibre? In either case it seems something is amiss.

Does your router give you any line statistics?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

So did you sign up for ADSLx or Fibre? In either case it seems something is amiss.

Does your router give you any line statistics?

ADSL, it said fibre wasnt available in my area

Will check if i can get any info later off my router

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

So did you sign up for ADSLx or Fibre? In either case it seems something is amiss.

You may have missed this:

In reply to a post by maxrebo:

FTTC is currently not available on this cabinet due to following reasons:- Cabinet to be enabled between Apr-16 and Mar-17. Date to be confirmed once the survey is complete..

The first thing you need to do, is PROVE that the line speeds are low and that there is no fast alternative available. Others have asked for the BT adrees/number checker outputs - get that and see what it says. Add to that the router stats and what you were told on sign up.

If there is a discrepancy - we can give you piinters on resolving it OR proving the line is only capable of slow speed.

Get all your facts together and the proof.

I would seriously consider this idea then before the showhome is sold off

But check the contract first. When sites are still in build phase there can be clauses in contracts that stop you doing things that might impact on their sales of other properties (my brother wasn't allowed a satellite dish on the front of the house as it would detract from the look of the estate for prospective buyers).

In reply to a post by MHC:

The first thing you need to do, is PROVE that the line speeds are low and that there is no fast alternative available. Others have asked for the BT adrees/number checker outputs - get that and see what it says. Add to that the router stats and what you were told on sign up.

If there is a discrepancy - we can give you piinters on resolving it OR proving the line is only capable of slow speed.

Get all your facts together and the proof.

Ok thanks.

To be honest my gripe is with the low line speed but more down to my annoyance that the developer hadnt installed high speed broadband.
I was aware that the speeds were going to be slow and my thoughts are now on how to proceed in getting it up to speed.

In reply to a post by ian72:

I would seriously consider this idea then before the showhome is sold off

But check the contract first. When sites are still in build phase there can be clauses in contracts that stop you doing things that might impact on their sales of other properties (my brother wasn't allowed a satellite dish on the front of the house as it would detract from the look of the estate for prospective buyers).

Yes this is also the case on our estate

Okay based on where the location is, it is within relatively easy reach of http://B4rn.org.uk who as a CIC will install Gigabit FTTH at a decent price of just £30/m.

If the developer is still building on site and roads are not adopted by local authority, then B4RN would need permission of the developer, and rather than spending £1000's with the BT Fibre Community by providing some helpers on the digging it should be possible. All hinges on how easy they can cross or go under any main roads.

Looking the Local Authority situation, the cabinet does not appear on any of the existing BDUK project lists, unless anything has changed recently or it may be that the Mar 17 date is referring to a commercial deployment, though with future dates on the BT Wholesale checker never take them as gospel, since some people have seen these change for a number of years.

Edited by MrSaffron (Wed 05-Oct-16 15:23:51)

Having seen one of your later posts it appears that FTTC may appear in the next few months. You need to find out why it is not there already. It is the developer not providing ducts or access, other construction work that is stopping fibre being laid, BT not having resource ...

It also looks as thought you may have a problem with your ADSL install too, way slower than forecast. Just follow Robertos' requests for info and you may get somewhere to speed that up teemporariliy.

What exchange are you connected to? Because if there's no Sky LLU ((ADSL2+) at your exhange you will be on the notorious Sky Connect service which would explain your lousy speeds.....
https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

What exchange are you connected to? Because if there's no Sky LLU ((ADSL2+) at your exhange you will be on the notorious Sky Connect service which would explain your lousy speeds.....
https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

Lancaster

Sky has LLU available there

In reply to a post by maxrebo:

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

What exchange are you connected to? Because if there's no Sky LLU ((ADSL2+) at your exhange you will be on the notorious Sky Connect service which would explain your lousy speeds.....
https://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange_search

Lancaster

Then you can breath a sigh of relief

Your router stats are required to find out more about your line.

In reply to a post by panda:

You may have missed this:

In reply to a post by maxrebo:

FTTC is currently not available on this cabinet due to following reasons:- Cabinet to be enabled between Apr-16 and Mar-17. Date to be confirmed once the survey is complete...

I did miss that, you're right .

We do need those router stats. That's connection speeds (sync), attenuations and noise margins both downstream and upstream. As others are also now saying, according to that table the speed even on ADSL should be better than you are measuring.

There are often a few things we can do about that.

How are you connecting to your router to get that speed? Wired or wireless? Is the router plugged into the master socket, or an extension?