Plusnet FTTP Woes

At present I am on a fully copper ADSL connection with speeds of 10mbs. I am still in contract, but ultimately negotiated a new contract for the lowest tier of full fibre and the contract would start after the FTTP had been installed.

My home is in a poor condition caused by all the tradesmen I have used in the past and have only noticed problems some weeks, months or years after the so called tradesmen have left. I have learnt to live with the conditions.

This being said I am limited in what I will now allow. I will give the Openreach engineer or representative an option of removing two satellite cable wires where there is considerable room to thread their cable, but because fibre cable is inherently fragile he may refuse due to the diagonal angle the wires use to get outside or he may have other reasons.

I want to keep the appointment to at least give the engineer this option or hear what he suggests, but I am not holding out much hope.

PlusNet have already told me under no circumstances can I stay on my old ADSL contract that still has three months to run. If I do not have FTTP they will cut me off and charge a termination fee !

How can they stop my service and at the same time charge a termination fee when I am prepared to stay with them until the end of my contract

In reply to a post by sadguy:

I will give the Openreach engineer or representative an option of removing two satellite cable wires

Why don't you or a family member or friend remove the satellite cables, asking an Openreach engineer to do it is unfair as there are all sorts of ramifications if they do.

But leaving them in could allow Openreach to use them as a pull line so could make the job easier.

In reply to a post by ian72:

But leaving them in could allow Openreach to use them as a pull line so could make the job easier.

Ian, I expected more from you! suggesting an Openreach guy should use a satellite cable (running through a wall) to pull a fibre cable through is nuts.

Had you not negotiated a new contract, I don't think they could charge you a termination fee on the old contract for them (or Openreach) deciding that you need to migrate to FTTP. Presumably the termination fee is against the new contract; which could be cancelled within 14 days of it being made.

I assume that you don't have a landline or are willing to forego it as Plusnet don't provide digital voice.

Openreach (or their contractor) won't remove cables for other services. They often won't even remove copper openreach cables unless they intend to use the same cable route so you should remove them and ask the installer to use the route, which he may do if he thinks it is practical.

Thanks for the replys and sorry for the delay in responding.Things are gradually getting clearer. I did have an appointment booked for FTTP for last week but on the day before it was scheduled I received a text nessage from a company I have never heard of who would be doing the work on behalf of Openreach. I looked at their website and two Plusnet agents said they had never heard of the company . Looking at their website it shows they also have various activities seperate from telecomms work , so I declined and have rebooked with Plusnet in the hopes I will get someone else.
Plusnet say I can have a total of three engineer visits If I draw it out, by the time they have all been my old contract will have expired and I can leave them. The engineer completes a form at the end of each visit and if he is unable to find suitable sockets to use or not agree to using the space of the satellite cables etc which are close to the mains sockets, or we cannot agree in general he can suggest if he thinks appropriate SOGEA even though I am in a FTTP area as only the landlines are being switched off at the end of the year

Plusnet would have to raise a request via the Openreach "exceptions process" to allow SOGEA install in an FTTP priority area at a property where FTTP is available.

This is only granted in unusual circumstances: perhaps because of high excess construction charges (e.g. it would involve digging up and reinstating 50 metres of block paved driveway)

"Customer does not like the idea of a new hole in their wall for FTTP" may not be a good enough reason. I'm just saying that to prepare you.

However, if the existing satellite cables are unused, and you tell the engineer they can simply cut the cable on both sides and pull the piece of cable out, they'll quite likely be happy to re-use the hole (it saves them some work). Generally they are pretty accommodating to customer requests for cable routing, unless it has some safety issues (e.g. the hole is high up on the wall and you refuse to allow a ladder anchor to be drilled).

If the location of the hole is not suitable - e.g. there's no power for the ONT nearby - then you'll need a new hole drilled anyway.

If you really want the ONT where the old hole is but there's no power there, then run an extension lead to that place and say "this is temporary, I'm getting an electrician to install a new power socket here". If that's not true, then there are other options - e.g. some people choose to use a PoE injector to power the ONT over CAT5e. But you still need to run a CAT5e cable to wherever the router is, of course.

Ultimately, it's a case of everyone being reasonable all round, both engineer and householder. Openreach *do* use contractors; some of them are even quite good. I don't think you should cancel an appointment on that basis alone.

Don't forget the benefits of FTTP. Even if you don't take any faster speed, it will be more reliable and consistent than SOGEA. You should weigh that up against the small inconvenience of an ONT and/or possible extra hole.

And finally, there's the long term. You can expect that Openreach will want to decommission the copper network where FTTP is available, and I would expect two things:

1. OFCOM to give Openreach permission to charge higher and higher rates for copper services where FTTP is available
2. Service providers to refuse to sell SOGEA where FTTP is available

So you can expect your costs to go up, and your choice of service providers to go down (which also means you cannot access the best deals). And in the worst case, you may lose your service completely.

Why not just get FTTP installed now, and then you never have to worry about this again?

is the satellite cable hole, near to ground level?

Thanks again for your replys. The two satellite cables enter the house via the side of the bay window.itself. The window is not disturbed, just the brickwork immediately adjacent. There is also a 4 gang power socket approximately 4-5 feet nearby. However this option for fibre even if it were possible is a worry as its a suntrap, and also gets most of the rain. Where I live the temperatures this summer has been a constant 30 to 35C.However a nearby freeview cable which enters the same side of the bay window , a few inches away from the others has been there for at least 40 years !
I would not have my concrete driveway dugup for Fibre, it is 6 inches thick, nor my garden.
There are no other power sockets at the front of the house eg: hallway.The router is in a room at the back of the house on the ground floor.
I would also decline him drilling from the outside above the power socket because it is wired via the cavity in the wall.
My house is a "problem", there isn't much good about it (an understatement) and I wouldn't want to enter a claims process to get money back if he were to damage the wires.
In fact ,the only thing that has been constantly reliable, is my fully copper broadband. The street cabinet is only about 100 yards max from my house, 2 telegraph poles away ,excliuding the one that serves my property.
Remember, I have had FTTP "offerred" to me with no other options I would be prepared to pay more than double that price for SOGEA. I will see what the engineer says on the day regarding my property. Plusnet have already told me that the engineer will make suggestions to me if FTTP does not go ahead.

Edited by sadguy (Thu 13-Aug-26 16:34:57)

Discuss with the installation engineer upon their arrival your thoughts (and also note your concerns) about the cable route. For most part it won’t be their “first rodeo” and from what you’ve described so far it seems eminently possible and sensible to use the existing hole(s) from the now defunct satellite coax cables.

The installation engineer should be able to evaluate and suggest any alternatives as necessary (that you may not have considered or thought possible). At the end of the day it’s a discussion, and they want a satisfied customer/no complaints. So if you’re not entirely comfortable with the engineer’s suggested installation / cable routing / equipment placement and you can’t come to an agreement - well it’s your house and you can always cancel the appointment.

I wouldn’t worry too much about much about the location being a sun-trap or prone to rain; as long as the new fibre cable is sealed with mastic against the brickwork that should be fine. If the coax cables have survived there 40-odd years as you claim, then the fibre cable will also be fine - these cables are designed and rated for external installation, and have a multiple sheath construction that allows them to be pared back for safe internal installation - so called ‘inside-out’ cables.

Now a point from your last post, if you’re intending to keep the router in its current position and the ONT will be located on the inside wall near to where to cable enters the building - how will you connect the ONT to the router? Do you have an existing Cat5e network cable between the two locations - or are you proposing to route the fibre cable internally to the router location and place the ONT there?