BT say "VERY UNLIKELY you will be able to get Broadband"

A family member has been waiting for the Marton Heath exchange (01260)
to be fitted out for ADSL (as one of the last exchanges in the area).
The date for ADSL to become active was originally 27 July, but has now
been pushed back twice to 30 November 2005.

However, BT's availability checker now says: "Our initial test
indicates that it is VERY UNLIKELY you will be able to get Broadband
from BT due to the very long length of your telephone line. However,
your order will be accepted if you still wish to order. An engineer may
need to visit who will, where possible, set up your broadband service
at the fastest possible speed your line will support depending on which
package you order."

According to the Broadband Resource
(http://www.samknows.com/broadband/), the property is less than 3km
away from the exchange (as the crow flies). So I was wondering: is line
length really the problem here? Or could there be some other issue such
as a poor quality line (aluminium?) or a DACS unit?

What approach would people advise? Just go ahead and order ADSL and see
what happens. If it turns out not to work, then "nothing's been lost"
is my thinking at the moment.

All ideas appreciated!

Chris

On 12 Aug 2005 03:20:17 -0700, "Chris" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>What approach would people advise? Just go ahead and order ADSL and see
>what happens. If it turns out not to work, then "nothing's been lost"
>is my thinking at the moment.

I would advise ordering Zen's Home250 ADSL service which connects at a
lower speed than a 512k account and therefore offers the best chance
of success. They are also a more helpful ISP, but not the cheapest.

If you get that up and running line statistics will indicate if faster
is possible. I would use an ethernet based modem/router so it can sit
in sync on the line even if you turn the PC off.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

Telephone lines usually run along the road and may be much long than a crow
flight.

"Chris" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>A family member has been waiting for the Marton Heath exchange (01260)
> to be fitted out for ADSL (as one of the last exchanges in the area).
> The date for ADSL to become active was originally 27 July, but has now
> been pushed back twice to 30 November 2005.
>
> However, BT's availability checker now says: "Our initial test
> indicates that it is VERY UNLIKELY you will be able to get Broadband
> from BT due to the very long length of your telephone line. However,
> your order will be accepted if you still wish to order. An engineer may
> need to visit who will, where possible, set up your broadband service
> at the fastest possible speed your line will support depending on which
> package you order."
>
> According to the Broadband Resource
> (http://www.samknows.com/broadband/), the property is less than 3km
> away from the exchange (as the crow flies). So I was wondering: is line
> length really the problem here? Or could there be some other issue such
> as a poor quality line (aluminium?) or a DACS unit?
>
> What approach would people advise? Just go ahead and order ADSL and see
> what happens. If it turns out not to work, then "nothing's been lost"
> is my thinking at the moment.
>
> All ideas appreciated!
>
> Chris
>

"Chris" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>A family member has been waiting for the Marton Heath exchange (01260)
>to be fitted out for ADSL (as one of the last exchanges in the area).
>The date for ADSL to become active was originally 27 July, but has now
>been pushed back twice to 30 November 2005.
>
>However, BT's availability checker now says: "Our initial test
>indicates that it is VERY UNLIKELY you will be able to get Broadband
>from BT due to the very long length of your telephone line. However,
>your order will be accepted if you still wish to order. An engineer may
>need to visit who will, where possible, set up your broadband service
>at the fastest possible speed your line will support depending on which
>package you order."
>
>According to the Broadband Resource
>(http://www.samknows.com/broadband/), the property is less than 3km
>away from the exchange (as the crow flies). So I was wondering: is line
>length really the problem here? Or could there be some other issue such
>as a poor quality line (aluminium?) or a DACS unit?
>
>What approach would people advise? Just go ahead and order ADSL and see
>what happens. If it turns out not to work, then "nothing's been lost"
>is my thinking at the moment.
>
The database can be very inaccurate. For example my line says "May get 512K or 250K"
(I paraphrase) I'm sending this on a 1meg connection that has been stable (fxing
crash <g>) since Nov 2004.

--

Andrew Sayers

Politics: def. poly:many; tics:blood-sucking parasites

> If you get that up and running line statistics will indicate if faster
> is possible. I would use an ethernet based modem/router so it can sit
> in sync on the line even if you turn the PC off.
>

Any one in particular that you recommend?
Thanks
James

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:04:03 +0100, "James Weston"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Any one in particular that you recommend?

one approach would be to order a router from Zen along with the
service, then if the service doesn't work they'll refund it.

I don't know if you have any special requirements but the cheapest Zen
offer is a Voyager 205 at £46 inc VAT. The more expensive Vigor series
have a good reputation and also have I think a long reach / extended
range firmware option http://www.draytek.co.uk/support/index.html

I know of one guy whose 3COM wouldn't connect and a Zoom X3 did.

I don't really have a "this is the best to use on long lines"
recomendation as like most people I don't have experience of enough
devices / lines to comment objectively.
http://www.yarwell.demon.co.uk/longlines.html


Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

In article <(E-Mail Removed) .com>,
"Chris" <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:
> However, BT's availability checker now says: "Our initial test
> indicates that it is VERY UNLIKELY you will be able to get Broadband
> from BT due to the very long length of your telephone line. However,
> your order will be accepted if you still wish to order. An engineer may
> need to visit who will, where possible, set up your broadband service
> at the fastest possible speed your line will support depending on which
> package you order."
>
> According to the Broadband Resource
> (http://www.samknows.com/broadband/), the property is less than 3km
> away from the exchange (as the crow flies). So I was wondering: is line
> length really the problem here? Or could there be some other issue such
> as a poor quality line (aluminium?) or a DACS unit?
>
> What approach would people advise? Just go ahead and order ADSL and see
> what happens. If it turns out not to work, then "nothing's been lost"
> is my thinking at the moment.

As other have said the route the phone line may take will not be as the
crow flies. Look at the map, consider how phone lines may have spread
out along roads generally from the exchange, and beware of obstacles
like rivers and railways which may dictate a lengthy route. Does a long
line seem possible?

What about near neighbours - do their phone numbers report badly too?
If just the line in question, it's probably not distance, but a poor
line. Of course if all lines report poorly, it could be a bad line
condition common to them all - like the aluminium you suggest.

Then, again as others have said, the broadband checker is not totally
accurate. Think of it like a weather forecast.

The above techniques might enable you to build a better picture, but in
the end there simply is no alternative to trying it as seeing, as you
say.

--
Tim Clark

On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 11:30:43 +0100, Phil Thompson
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I would advise ordering Zen's Home250 ADSL service which connects at a
>lower speed than a 512k account and therefore offers the best chance
>of success. They are also a more helpful ISP, but not the cheapest.

What benefit would that give him ? Would it not be better just to
order a standard line (i.e. 512k or faster) first and only fall back
to ordering a 256k line if that fails ? The ISP will refund the
install fee if the install fails anyway.
--
Andy Norman
http://www.gigajam.com/
Learn to Play Guitar, Bass, Keyboard and Drums.
It’s easy with our Lessons and Software!

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 15:44:41 +0100, Andrew Norman
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>What benefit would that give him ?

maximum chance of success

>Would it not be better just to
>order a standard line (i.e. 512k or faster) first and only fall back
>to ordering a 256k line if that fails ?

there is a trap - BT's original limits for 512 and 256k were the same,
a line that can't be made to work on 512k may be marked on the checker
as unsuitable for any broadband with the result that 256k can't be
ordered.

Hence my recommendation to start at the bottom and work up.

Phil
--
Tiscali - dialup speeds at Broadband prices, see
http://bbs.adslguide.org.uk/postlist...&Board=tiscali

AOL - the unlimited ISP of choice for heavy downloaders.

Phil Thompson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I would advise ordering Zen's Home250 ADSL service which connects at a
> lower speed than a 512k account and therefore offers the best chance
> of success. They are also a more helpful ISP, but not the cheapest.

Seeing as I can't get Zen to answer a simple technical query
(about _their_ systems) that would help me log in to their
backup dial-in service, all those horror stories about (other)
ISP's must be true then.

#Paul