BT Broadband Availability Checker (FTTC)

According to the BT Checker, date for my line to have FTTC option have
slipped from September 2010 to December 2010 to March 2011 to June 2011.

This morning I noticed that the date had been brought forward to 16 March
2011. BT did lay new fibre circuits into the cable chambers in the road
outside a couple of months ago, but my local cabinet 200 yards away has not
had an FTTC cabinet added next to it and no sign of any nearby tell-tale
outline paint markings on the ground.

I checked with BT Sales just now and they're not able to take an FTTC order
for my line at the moment. I'm just wondering what the likelihood of them
doing the necessary work between now and 16 March would be? Not holding my
breath.

Or perhaps the plan is to link my cabinet to the next nearest recently
installed FTTC cabinet which is about 700 feet away from it as the crow
flies?

 

Try Zen Internet. They offer the service too and were extremely
helpful.

 

Spoke with Zen today and you're right, they were very helpful. Does look
like my local cabinet may be connected to an FTTC cabinet 700 feet away from
it. Just need to weigh up whether the increase in upload speed from 11+Mbps
to 36Mbps warrants an increase of £26pm plus activation fee of £90. To be
honest, probably not just now, but would definitely take them into
consideration though should our needs change.

 

Spoke with Zen today and you're right, they were very helpful. Does look
like my local cabinet may be connected to an FTTC cabinet 700 feet away from
it. Just need to weigh up whether the increase in download speed from
11+Mbps
to 36Mbps warrants an increase of £26pm plus activation fee of £90. To be
honest, probably not just now, but would definitely take them into
consideration though should our needs change.

 

BTW based FTTC is expensive, if available, get cable, otherwise
stick with LLU, at least you can get unmetered usage that way.

Fully unmetered FTTC connection via BTW will cost ~£90.

 

Always remembering that there is only capacity for 96 circuits.

 

Surely the limitations on download speed will be contention and
any traffic shaping applied? It is nice that it can actually get
to you so fast but it has to be coughed up by the system first.

 

I think you did not understand....

There is only 96 connection available from one FTTC 'cab'. It has nothing
to do with contention and all to do with physical equipm,ent.

 

In another forum, somebody said the limit was 288.
--

Cheers,

DrT

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.

 

Are all FTTC cabinets the same size, what's the typical capacity of a POTS
cabinet ? What's the ratio of FTTC to POTS capacity ?

 

It's also amazing how close the FTTC cabs are to the exchange in some
areas.
Two I know of are in Brentwood where there is one in the main road
literally about 200ft from the main (huge) exchange and the other in
Ealing where there is one just across the Green from the main Ealing
Exchange. Again only a few hundred yards away.

Surely this can't be worth it as the extra line-loss in diverting pairs
from the existing cab to the FTTC cab and back (where they aren't
co-sited)would be comparable with the line-loss on a direct path from
the exchange?
Is it also perhaps a way of bypassing LLU pressure in the exchange and
getting LLU Broadband providers kit out and their jumpers on the MDF?

I smell a very big RAT

Is it just an advertising gimmick?

They also seem to have underestimated capacity in the FTTC cabs as near
me (Walworth Exchange) there are now 2 side-by-side.

Mike

 

Well they are only putting in one DSLAM and that has 96 ports so where they
get the other 192 from god only knows..

It doesn't much difference around here as the whole thing has ground to a
halt

 

There isn't any fixed ratio, the bean counters have made a decision and
that's that..

 

I would imagine is simply that the existing kit can only handle so many
VDSL lines, and there is limited space in the cabinets for more..

 

Actually it's far more simple. The idiots decided to only put 50-100 pair
links and cross connect strips in situ. Partially cost related (ala all
things BT), but in some cases a lack a physical room in the PCP is to
blame.

For a company that pissed all that money up the wall on ATM kit in the
90's, you'd think they could run to a few metres of cable and some metal
boxes.

 

Yes, same here in Basingstoke, there's one outside the main exchange !
I walked past it the other day. I stopped to make sure it was an FTTC cab, I
gave it shove, it didn't fall over or dent, so it certainly wasn't a Virgin
Media cab

 

And here (LNWIN) too. The BT Infinity map shows Winchmore Hill exchange
going active by 31 March 2011. Samknows says RFS date is 1 June 2011.
However BT Infinity's availability checker tells me

BT Infinity is not currently due to be rolled out in your area.

Looks rather as if BT have given up on this exchange. Which is OK,
because I've given up waiting for their FTTC.

 

So very true!!

Most of them are hanging open/crashed into/wires hanging out!

Mike