Exchange-Only line/upgrade

Hello all,

Got a newbie question (but I've done my fair share of googling and searching various fora) for the collective. I'm about to move house (South London) and the new place only has an EO line (grrr). Using the Openreach site, my exchange is listed as Vauxhall where it say it is "exploring options". However my next door neighbor connects to a FTTC and exchange in Walworth! I seem to be the only house nearby in this position. Is there any way to raise a ticket with Openreach to change my connection?

Or do I just have to wait....?

Thanks!

Did you use the Address option of this checker, or some other? (There is a prettier version from BT Wholesale that seems to give identical results).

Openreach sites are useful for forecasts. This site is definitive for existing availability.

Use the Address option, only in desperation the Postcode one. I assume you don't know the current phone number - that is best of all unless it is Sky, TalkTalk, or other "LLU".

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 16-Mar-19 00:19:36)

Hello RobertoS,

Thanks for the reply: I used this openreach website https://www.homeandbusiness.openreach.co.uk/fibre-br...

But I just tried your link too (cheers) and it comes up with essentially the same information - an ADSL 2+ service with 8/1 MBit UL/DL. I've now manged to find a web-form to contact openreach - Guess I'll see what they say!

A quick search in google maps shows me that all the properties nearby go to Walworth exchange and different FTTC cabinets (30, 55, 56 are all listed). Seems my new place is something of an island - I'm not sure how they'd handle that as it's not like a large cluster of customers would get together and approach them, it's just me!

A useful variant is to use the link I gave you, go to the Address option, then enter just the post code and click "Return".

That gives you a dropdown list of all properties with that postcode, and you can check each one.

In the case of what looks like a database error there, MrSaffron can be very helpful. He can point it out to useful contacts and get it corrected.

A common problem which may or may not apply to your intended premises, I cannot know, is where it is the show house of a new development. That often gets a line that is routed differently from the rest of the estate, if a new PCP (phone cabinet) is installed to supply that estate.

If you are moving to such a premises then you have a possibly expensive solution. It's called a Network Rearrangement, to move that address to the new cabinet.

Excellent advice - many thanks for your help again.

Doing a bit more digging suggests this property is indeed something of an outlier. It's new-ish, but I think was added at a different time to the surrounding houses. So perhaps not the show home but I wonder if the line it has was an original EO line that connected to much older building that was originally on the site, and the other properties were connected differently? Guessing, of course.

So yes, an annoying situation. I'll mull it over and and inquire, in due course, with Openreach to see if if Network Rearrangement is an option... I guess.

Little islands like this usually exist for a historic reason and to be honest if it is a single property then unlikely to be resolved in the next year or two.

On exchanges announced as part of the Fibre First scheme (which those two are not) I'd be more confident about something happening, but would suggest in your case the exploring solutions means more like 5 years away or longer

For fast broadband have you checked Virgin Media or failing that 4G options

Can you see any obvious network when you look at the house?

I assume it is fed by an underground cable?

If you are fed by a pole though and that pole is the same one feeding your neighbours then clearly the checkers are incorrect.

With underground feeds it�s harder to tell what�s going on.

While the general logic may work like that, there can be quirks that while on the same pole further down the road their line goes another way...

Hello, thanks for the reply.

I've learned more about network infrastructure in the last 24 hours than I though possible (and I'm a self confessed geek anyway!). Virgin isn't connected in this area either, unfortunately. I'm exploring 4G options but as I will likely work from home it's the uplink that's an issue, not just downlink - if I want to remote login then sending data becomes the bottleneck and 1/mbit really doesn't cut it for (wired) and will likely blow through the acceptable use policy I read for Relish - the only provider for 4G broadband that has a sensible price for 'unlimited' provision.

The plot has thickened somewhat - I've check a few more addresses using the method RobertoS suggested, and it seems that my property is not the only one to be connected to the vauxhall exchange via EO line, house #'s 126, 130, 132, 136, and 140 are all EO to Vauxhall, and the rest, including my neighbor at 128 go to Wallworth. How this was planned this way (all mixed and jumbled up!) is just beyond me.... clearly FTTC can be done so at the moment I'm crossing my fingers that openreach listen to the ticket I opened.

Hello Icarus,

I am assuming an underground cable - there's no obvious network and no pole - although just round the corner, there is a pole: not sure if a cable could fly from that, but it'd likely go right by (across) a neighboring property - if they agree a cable could conceivably be fixed to that, and then to me... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Cheers.

My advice is not to buy a house that you know has poor broadband if you need good broadband.

The forum is littered with people who have done this and are surprised when Openreach don't jump to sort it out pronto.

Edited by deleted (Sat 16-Mar-19 12:40:23)

Haha! you have me there... but it's not just about me unfortunately! 8/1 will be "okay" and as soon as we get to the end of 2019 and ofcom comes in with the broadband service obligation minimum standards, I'll apply via that for the minimum 10/1. I'm not overse to paying for the upgrade you see - as it is clear that there are solutions out there!

Took ages to find a decent place we could afford and we're no going trough that again. Who knew EO lines were still "with us" in the capital of the UK, in this day and age.

+1

If your ADSL2+ line syncs at 10,001 Kbps downstream and 1,001 Kbps upstream it will probably not be counted for USO help

As for 'who knew' have done a few articles for papers covering this issue for parts of London, and it repeats for a good of other cities

There are many thousand EO lines in London. Walworth exchange has 122 EO bundles and each bundle can be as many as 100 or more lines. Vauxhall exchange has 57 EO bundles. I'm on the Vauxhall exchange and our development (SW9 6) was on an EO bundle of over 80 lines and a couple of years ago we part funded a network rearrangement and the installation of an AIO cab.

Edit: Duplicate word deleted.

Edited by deleted (Sat 16-Mar-19 23:39:19)

Fair enough, and thanks for the insight. I'm happy to pay for a better service - up to a point of course! - and if I need to wait then I guess so be it. It's a fascinating history (EO, London comms, etc.), that's for sure. Perhaps the USO will evolve with time as well.

Fascinating stuff! Thanks. Perhaps I'll do the same in that case. May I ask, was the Network Re-arrangement expensive (if such a topic is permitted on this forum?).

Have you thought about following RobertoS's example (documented at http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/mobilebroadband/f/4...) of not having a landline and using a 4G connection?

I am indeed. There's also a good offer from Relish as well who do a 4G modem for £22/mo with unlimited data. But their agent yesterday said uplink was quite variable between 0.1 and 5 M/Bit. But hey ho.... it's an option!

You can try Three 4G speeds at the location, preferably inside, using a £1 SIM from a newsagent in your phone, (assuming a 4G-capable phone), plus a minimum topup. See mine in my sig.

Latency is very variable, which wouldn't suit gamers, but mine isn't very noticeable on ordinary browsing. Streaming works fine.