Broadband non-availability and line routing

My situation is this: I live in a building of about 20 flats in East
London, of which at least half a dozen have broadband (I have asked).
When the engineer installed my line, he mentioned that there were no
connections free in the street cabinet outside and he would have to
route my line from a box some way away. I asked about how this would
affect broadband, but he couldn't give me a solid answer. I am a fair
distance from the Poplar exchange, but am obviously in range.

Since then I have failed two secondary line checks when applying for
ADSL from Bulldog. It could be that my line routing is to blame
(either through increasing noise or adding distance). Now, while I
haven't done much about it for a while, I will really need broadband,
particularly for my work. But my problem is how do I get this sorted?

Getting through to someone in BT who knows who I should speak to seems
to be impossible. This is not a BT broadband issue, as I do not want
BT Broadband. It is not a line fault per se, as my line works fine for
everything other than ADSL. Attempts at going through BT's horrific
email contact system have failed - all I get is standard notes about
line loss. They say that their policy is not to re-route lines to
provide ADSL, but have I got a comeback to this? Can it be fair with
their 97% target that I can be provided with a lesser service than
other residents in my building? How can I even find out if it is my
routing or not? They apparently won't supply me with loss values, and
I don't know whether or not it could be unrelated to routing.

It might be that I could get broadband now, now that the maximum
distances supported have increased, but if I got 512k I wouldn't know
whether or not that figure would be 1MB+ were my routing corrected.

Anyone know the way forward? Which part of BT can I contact to try to:

a/ Find out if routing is/was at fault.
b/ Get my line re-routed, paying for the engineer call-out if
necessary.

Charlie

On 12 Oct 2004 in uk.telecom.broadband, Charlie Gibbons wrote:

>It might be that I could get broadband now, now that the maximum
>distances supported have increased, but if I got 512k I wouldn't know
>whether or not that figure would be 1MB+ were my routing corrected.
>
>a/ Find out if routing is/was at fault.

If you haven't applied since Sept 6th, then it is unclear if you'd still
fail to get access. Order the max speed first, and see what happens, as
you might then get a response "You cannot have 1000 kbps but we can give
you 500" (or whatever). If Bulldog isn't giving you sufficient feedback
then perhaps some other ISP would (and if it is work-related, hope there
would not be major worry over higher cost - aaisp.net for example may be
able to explain more about the results of the test on your line... Also
you might find someone else on the same floor who could be persuaded (at
modest cost compared with a new connection) to share their link, if they
are out when you work, and you can live with a non-exclusive connection!

As I use the internet for work I have a couple of connections and that's
another option - a new phone line specifically for ADSL (though my guess
is that BT still doesn't guarantee it is available/a condition of supply
for your order). Good Luck ! Peter M.

PS Metronet might also be worth trying, or Eclipse. Some ISPs are less
teleworker friendly than others, however...


--
PlusNet <http://tinyurl.com/24ymz> - I recommend them and save some cash.

Charlie Gibbons wrote:
> My situation is this: I live in a building of about 20 flats in East
> London, of which at least half a dozen have broadband (I have
> asked). When the engineer installed my line, he mentioned that
> there were no connections free in the street cabinet outside and he
> would have to route my line from a box some way away. I asked about
> how this would affect broadband, but he couldn't give me a solid
> answer. I am a fair distance from the Poplar exchange, but am
> obviously in range.
>
> Since then I have failed two secondary line checks when applying for
> ADSL from Bulldog. It could be that my line routing is to blame
> (either through increasing noise or adding distance). Now, while I
> haven't done much about it for a while, I will really need
> broadband, particularly for my work. But my problem is how do I get
> this sorted?
>
> Getting through to someone in BT who knows who I should speak to
> seems to be impossible. This is not a BT broadband issue, as I do
> not want BT Broadband. It is not a line fault per se, as my line
> works fine for everything other than ADSL. Attempts at going
> through BT's horrific email contact system have failed - all I get
> is standard notes about line loss. They say that their policy is
> not to re-route lines to provide ADSL, but have I got a comeback to
> this?

Well since the begining of September it is standard practice for BT to
attempt a rerouting (only one pair mind you) to get ADSL working (believe it
or not BT do want you to have ADSL & that's a big DO WANT). Have you tried
to apply again, possibly with another ISP (yes I know maybe not ideal) as
nowadays BT tend to put the service in place & then fail the ones which they
can't get to work.

You haven't said which level of service you are after, I would advise you to
go for 512k & see how that goes & what your diagnostics are like, maybe
bumping it up to 1meg if possible a few months later...

On 12 Oct 2004 in uk.telecom.broadband, "Kráftéé" wrote:

>go for 512k & see how that goes & what your diagnostics are like, maybe
>bumping it up to 1meg if possible a few months later...

There's always the chance of something like the Eclipse 'flex' a/c which
would allow 1000 kbps when needed (for a small fee per hour)... Peter

--
PlusNet <http://tinyurl.com/24ymz> - I recommend them and save some cash.

On 12 Oct 2004 09:41:34 -0700, (E-Mail Removed) (Charlie
Gibbons) wrote:


>Since then I have failed two secondary line checks when applying for
>ADSL from Bulldog.

was this Bulldog LLU service (the 4M one) or one provided by BT
Wholesale (max 2M),

What result does your number get at www.bt.com/broadband ?

Bulldog's number checker says you can have 2M even if the line will
only support 512k, so they aren't the simplest to work with.

Phil
--
spamcop.net address commissioned 18/06/04
Come on down !

"Charlie Gibbons" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) om
> Since then I have failed two secondary line checks when applying for
> ADSL from Bulldog. It could be that my line routing is to blame
> (either through increasing noise or adding distance). Now, while I
> haven't done much about it for a while, I will really need broadband,
> particularly for my work. But my problem is how do I get this sorted?

Bulldog (or any other ISP) should normally be able to get this information
for you from BT Wholesale.

However, if you haven't applied since the 6th of September you should
reapply. (especially for the 512K service)

If you are going to sign up with Bulldog would you mind quoting my referral
code -just quote "bdol 87431" when signing up online (under "How did you
hear about Bulldog?/Referred by a Friend") or if ordering by telephone?

Regards
Sunil