No capacity available at local open reach exchange

Hi there,

We've recently moved into a bungalow and are struggling to get anything offered to us more than ADSL 5-10mbps download as the local Open Reach FTTC exchange is at full capacity.

- Tried wireless broadband but didn't have any line of site so couldn't get that installed
- 4G TP-link router I'm using with an unlimited O2 SIM is only giving me 5mb (ish) but is unreliable. Other providers are even worse
- There's also no city fibre or vigrin media in the area.

IDNET are saying they can provide me a SoGEA connection that has speeds of between 50-80mb but I can't check until Monday and if they're relying on Open reach's FTTC capacity then I figured that wouldn't work anyways.

Just wondering if there's anything else I haven't thought of that you all may know to look for?

The SOGEA from them will be via Openreach FTTC, so don’t get your hopes up.

If you post your exchange name and cabinet number, there are a few users who post on here who can look in more depth at what the future plans with that cabinet are.

Hi Zarjaz,

Thanks for letting me know, that's a bit disappointing but not surprising.

I used thinkbroadbands exchange finder and it gave me the following: Littlehampton (SDLTTLH)

Is that the exchange name and number you mentioned?

You need to go to the BT Wholesale Availability checker. If it works for your landline phone number or you haven't yet got one, change to the Address Checker.

In the Address Checker the quickest method is to enter your postcode and the CAPTCHA and Submit. That gives you a dropdown list to choose your address.

Both the number checker and the address checker give you a table of estimates for your address. The line above the table gives the exchange and cabinet number . You must choose your address, as not all the addresses in the list always use the same cabinet.

Thanks for the link, Pluralist.

Here's what I found when I searched using my address (I don't have a landline number): Exchange LITTLEHAMPTON is served by Cabinet 17

VDSL range A and B for both FTTC and SoGEA are "waiting list" and when reaching out to Open Reach, all they gave me via an email was sometime next year.

I'd expect there will be a new pod on the PCP for capacity in the next couple of months or so

The previous reply this morning can be relied on, though nothing is certain until it happens. Openreach plans sometimes change, though rarely with this sort of upgrade.

The PCP is the phone cabinet and the pod referred to will be a mini fibre cabinet bolted onto the side of it.

Thank you both for the explanation.

I guess it's just a waiting game at this point in that case.

Things could be worse. "Waiting list" usually means you are waiting for someone to move house so their connection in the FTTC cabinet is freed up. Then often it's first come, first served.

Apparently not many ISPs use the waiting list for some reason.

Let us know when you get connected. It could be earlier than expected.

Edited by pluralist (Mon 04-Oct-21 11:17:29)

One of the ISPs that *does* implement the waiting list is Aquiss.