BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

Cheers. Might as well just leave it on then... It was easier to setup then I thought it would be.

Thought I'd mention that there's quite a lot of FEC errors in the last 30 hours or so, which randomly increase over time:
near-end FEC error interleaved: 734779679
far-end FEC error fast: 11411

Generally, these aren't a problem though, correct?
 
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g67575 said:
I may try it at some point, but I'm having trouble even contacting my ISP at all at the moment.

What might help is if people with FTTC lines could tell me how much packet loss their line has, so I can know what to expect.
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I dont care, I just use my broadband and it works fine.

Except when I think there is an issue when I get 0.86Mbps spend half an hour trying to figure out what is causing it only to realise Cyberpunk is doing a 45gb update ! :cry:
 
So, my BQM graph looks pretty uneventful so far:

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This is with my router limiting downstream and upstream bandwidth usage to 50% via QOS, to ensure the line isn't congested. Just two instances of packet loss, so not much to comment on really.
 
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1.6 billion downstream FEC errors after 2 days of remaining synced.

Couple of other interesting stats, which I'm unsure of their significance:
outDiscards=2960
inDiscards=58

I've disabled QOS bandwidth restrictions for now.
 
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So, I started downloading a 100GB file (GTA V), already can see there's quite a few packets being dropped since doing this.

I'm guessing this is considered to be normal during downloads?
 
I found out something interesting, when uploading a large file to Google Drive, the router appears to be discarding several hundred packets per minute.

This number is currently:
outDiscards=7620

I can check this with this telnet command:
tcapi show Info_Adsl
 
You TBB graph looks quite poor over peak hours. If you have eliminated local issues (router settings, cabling etc) then I would assume that perhaps your ISP has some congestion issues.

What router are you using? Have you tried the ISP provided one?
 
It's an Asus DSL-N16. Generally, I've had issues with whatever router I've used, including the Technicolor one provided by my ISP. Like downstream sync speeds below the 'handback threshold' for my area most of the time, interleaving (not a problem in itself), and issues with video conferencing.

The line stats were a little different with the VR200 when I tried this recently. The upstream attenuation was lower, but the downstream attenuation was higher. I'll probably leave the current router in place for a bit now, as its a pain to keep switching it. In general, I've found the web interface to be better than other routers, with more options for things like QOS.

Anyone know much about discarded packets? This happens a lot more when uploading files.

Apparently, packets that are discarded need to be retransmitted, which isn't ideal for streaming / VOIP etc.
 
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SixTwoSix said:
LOL - just checked renewal price in June on my 900/100 package, they want £85/month but if I renew now, it's 'discounted' to £70 - currently paying £55.
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Got on to the BT values team on Saturday to see what they can do for me, 15 minutes talking with them and the best they can offer is a reduction to the 500 package at £64.99. I then explain that Vodafone can offer me the same at £29/month, Sky at £39.99 and they drop it to £49.99.

I mention both Vodafone and Sky have cashback deals of £90/95 but no budge. The lady continues to tell me how poorly reviewed the other providers are compare to BT and frankly, she isn't actually wrong on that front. However the price difference between BT and Vodafone is considerable.

I'll call back next week to 'cancel' and see if they can better their offer.
 
After waiting 3 months for a response from openreach, fttp rollout on my street has gone from repeated moving target dates to not planned this year...
Little frustrating as my area started getting rolled out 2 years ago and immediate streets around mine already have it.
I'm not on a small culdesac and have telephone poles along the street. The only issue I think there might be is the exchange changes part way down my street. The exchange on is fttp ready but perhaps being on the edge makes rollout tricky.
 
I have my FTTP CSP (Customer Service Point) installed right by my front door and the Telecom chamber is under the end of my drive! So far Openreach have missed two appointments since the 10th of January to do the final installation.

I only accepted the "free" upgrade as Talk Talk said it would be a simple process and would lower my monthly payment. True except I've lost two mornings waiting for the simple process to happen! So I cancelled the install and will wait till my contract runs out later this year. There are a few companies near to offer packages in the area so I'll be a bit more selective.
 
Had a BT engineer come visit to fix my speed issues/disconnections during bad weather, but apparently he was only allowed to look at the router and phone socket, and not the external line? He said he'll contact BT to send another engineer to solve my issue after confirming everything my end is fine, but about an hour later I received a text saying everything was fixed. Dropped a DM to BT's Twitter and they said the engineer reported no fault, and they're now sending another engineer to properly look at the problem.

This got me confused, does BT really have "engineers" that only looks at the home side of things or was the bloke just being incredibly lazy?
 
I'm assuming subcontractor since the van and his jacket didn't have the usual OR labels. The van itself was plain white. The only equipment he was using was a spare router as well, no line tester or anything. Hopefully the next engineer is a proper OR one who will actually look at the line and fix it.
 
OR engineer came and swapped me to a different port on the cabinet, all is working now. He said the previous engineer was most likely someone from BT directly and it wasn't right for the guy to mark it as no faults found.

So just for anyone who calls BT up and they send an engineer, if they don't have any OR labelling and hardly do anything, keep an eye on the fault tracker.
 
Orcvader said:
He said the previous engineer was most likely someone from BT directly
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Did he actually say that?

BT themselves don't do the customer facing work, it's done by Openreach or an Openreach subcontractor. Typically you get much better results from an Openreach engineer than a Kellys or Quinn engineer - they're generally hopeless.
 
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