BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

michellez

michellez

michellez

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You guys will laugh at my problem above and what the issue was..

Checked wiring in BT box was correct. Thought the extensions must be wired differently for some reason (I know they are very old). Opened up one and got confused with odd color wires (I think they were old/faded now). Opened up the other extension box after that though and it was all wired as it should be.

Ok I thought, the junction box after the BT box would show if anything was wired odd as I know one of the extension boxes is correct. Opened that up, all correct so BT box is going to as standard too.

So I look at the BT wiring box again. Just a minute.. the blue/white and white/blue are back to front!!! Stupid *&@^ BT engineer!!

Little screw driver out and 30 secs later the phones are all working properly :D

Shell (not bad for a girl ;) - I am an IT/network engineer for a living though lol!)
 

michellez

michellez

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ARGH!! Not laughing now. Just let rip at the women who answered.

I'm sitting here, just gone 5PM thinking how the broadband/infinity engineer hasn't shown, though it could be any time until 6PM. I log on to BT.com to just look at the order status. It shows:
Your appointment is no longer required, as our engineer can connect your line without requiring access to your premises. The engineer will work to connect your line at the exchange.
Click to expand...

Rubbish!! It's Infinity, I need my VDSL modem!

I ring up.. due to a communication error at their end (they never confirmed the appointment with the engineer) he isn't coming. I even confirmed this appointment myself with them twice on the phone in the last few weeks. I have numerous letters, emails, and texts confirming the engineer. NOTHING saying it had been cancelled though.

So first they screw up the order and have to cancel it and reorder it (as they didn't put down to bring our number back over). This was only discovered by me asking my normal 10 million questions making sure nothing went wrong (experience!). It was made VERY clear when I ordered.

They then re-order it and gave me a date which I could not do. Say they will ring me back with another. I hear nothing. So I have to chase and change the date to today. Today is weeks from the original install date given. The first order was placed ages ago now!

Then I get a bill for router delivery on the cancelled order (never received it either). This was last week so while they sorted that out I double checked all the details of the new order and the lady also sent me a text with all usernames, passwords, and both BT appointment details.

Today BT phone guy comes this morning. Moans about extension problem draining too much power, regardless that it's been working fine for decades before he came. Audio difference is fine to human ear, may effect Infinity though. I like ok, fair enough, probably always been like that as the audio level is still fine for use. It was VERY loud when he demonstrated it in the master socket. He's tested it though and calls/in out fine. I can only assume he got lucky here as only the odd call I made got out. Turns out he had wired the extension in the socket back to front (duh, that's why it was 'draining' so much power!). So I got a small screw driver out and that's sorted quickly. The women I spoke to when I phoned BT (before I sussed out the issue) said it may be up to mid-night before the extension sockets get activated. WTF?!?! I just ended the phone call there..

Now the Infinity guy isn't coming......... ARGH!!!!!!!

Problem is. They're all as bad as each other!
 

John24

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That's not the first time I've seen bt not knowing what the left and right hand is doing, there is hope though. Your best bet Shell, is to post on the bt forums detailing the problem and what you need to happen, then send an email to the moderators using this form, they are pretty good and will personally see it through untill it's sorted. Just be polite and keep the thread updated. Good Luck.
 

michellez

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Cheers for tip John24! They're suppose to be phoning me back tomorrow and I'm hoping for a Saturday appointment (made it extremely clear I can not take another day off work as a result!). Also there was talk to see if this Saturday is possible. Not holding my breath there as much as I need it. I will go to the forums if I do not get any where tomorrow.

Guitarman0: Good luck ;) I never seem to have any with BT though, even at work. They screwed it up nicely at work last time I ordered a line + ADSL. Completely wrong address I found out the next day. An hour placing the order. Then another few hours to cancel. I have found BT a lot quicker to answer calls the last month or two and getting through to people I can actually hold a conversation with more often. Also they now have a 03* number so if I am forced to call from a mobile like today, no big charges.

Any one got any idea if I am with in my right to insist on an ADSL face plate? Just preference to avoid ADSL filters hanging out of various walls in the house. Will change the extension so it's plugged in to the phone socket on the ADSL faceplate if they do! Reckon the BT infinity/broadband guy can do this? Twit-who-couldn't-even-wire-it-correctly-today just put a standard face plate on a very old back box (can I ask them to replace the back box too as we're going to be decorating the hall and the old one is manky!).

Cheers :)
Shell
 

House

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as long as you have a BT line you just pay ZEN, and they make a nice profit reselling a BT product with a healthy margin.

OK not 100% im sure some of it is on ZENs network but I cant see why anyone would want to pay twice as much as BT plus an activation fee for pretty much the same product.

OK so we all hate BT and traffic management etc but twice as much how can that justified?
 

kablooey

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Old
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steamspeed1.jpg


New
1217792638.png

steamspeed2.jpg

:D :D
 
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thewanted

thewanted

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kablooey said:
lol... Someone is jealous of my connection! :cool:
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How far from the cabinet do you live? I'm getting 6.5MBit/sec with BE but the Infinity page guesstimates that I'd get 25MBit. Your previous stats look worse than mine! :p

I can get Virgin Media cable though. May just go with that and be done with all the xDSL hassle.
 

kablooey

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thewanted said:
How far from the cabinet do you live? I'm getting 6.5MBit/sec with BE but the Infinity page guesstimates that I'd get 25MBit. Your previous stats look worse than mine! :p

I can get Virgin Media cable though. May just go with that and be done with all the xDSL hassle.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how far the cabinet is as my village is split in half by the A1 and don't know what root the phone line takes, I would estimate 3-400m as the cabinet is in the other half of the village...My previous connection was so poor because I'm 6-7km from the exchange. I was estimated 30.8Mb before installation..I can't overstate how happy I am, I'm drunk on bandwidth!:D
 

thewanted

thewanted

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kablooey said:
I'm not sure how far the cabinet is as my village is split in half by the A1 and don't know what root the phone line takes, I would estimate 3-400m as the cabinet is in the other half of the village...My previous connection was so poor because I'm 6-7km from the exchange. I was estimated 30.8Mb before installation..I can't overstate how happy I am, I'm drunk on bandwidth!:D
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6-7km, dayum! That's a lot worse than me at ~3km :p Although we can never be sure how long the actual line is.
 

Deleted member 651465

D

Deleted member 651465

michellez said:
Any one got any idea if I am with in my right to insist on an ADSL face plate? Just preference to avoid ADSL filters hanging out of various walls in the house. Will change the extension so it's plugged in to the phone socket on the ADSL faceplate if they do! Reckon the BT infinity/broadband guy can do this? Twit-who-couldn't-even-wire-it-correctly-today just put a standard face plate on a very old back box (can I ask them to replace the back box too as we're going to be decorating the hall and the old one is manky!).

Cheers :)
Shell
Click to expand...

I won't quote your earlier post, as it'll seem like I'm hounding you but I have a few things you might want to know..

1) The extension cabling can be ANY colour providing they are the same on both ends. The pair that comes in to your house (and terminates on the rear of the master faceplate to screw terminals i.e. the bit you can't see) can also be either way around without issue.

2) When the Openreach engineer arrives he'll provide you with a filtered faceplate, and if you ask nicely, he might even fit a new line box if you mention your previous problems. Tea and coffee helps ;)

3) Bad news is, using a screwdriver you've possibly damaged the IDC terminals which may affect your stability. Just get a whole new backbox (it's called a Linebox, if you want to speak the jargon) and ask him for the faceplate too, to complete the set. He'll fit it as a matter of principle.
 
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michellez

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EVH said:
I won't quote your earlier post, as it'll seem like I'm hounding you but I have a few things you might want to know..

1) The extension cabling can be ANY colour providing they are the same on both ends. The pair that comes in to your house (and terminates on the rear of the master faceplate to screw terminals i.e. the bit you can't see) can also be either way around without issue.

2) When the Openreach engineer arrives he'll provide you with a filtered faceplate, and if you ask nicely, he might even fit a new line box if you mention your previous problems. Tea and coffee helps ;)

3) Bad news is, using a screwdriver you've possibly damaged the IDC terminals which may affect your stability. Just get a whole new backbox (it's called a Linebox, if you want to speak the jargon) and ask him for the faceplate too, to complete the set. He'll fit it as a matter of principle.
Click to expand...

No prob :)

1) I appreciate that (I deal with network cabling as part of my job) but the rest of the extensions is/was already there in place and wired to the 'standards' (ignoring one funny box/cable with odd colours that threw me, the rest are as documented). So him rewiring one end wrong is utterly daft on that fact alone. Also if there's a standard my belief is you should stick to it, you're only going cause others/the majority headaches who follow them other wise. They are standard for a reason.

2) Brill. Thought/hoped so :) Tea and biscuits at the ready!

3) I was careful with the choice of screwdriver ;) I needed to get the phones working though (having no proper phones until BT bothered to show up again wasn't an option) and I knew if something went wrong there was nothing that couldn't easily be sorted (re do the wiring/another faceplate!). It won't matter any way when an ADSL plate gets fitted as it will only be re-wired again :)

Again not having a go - just a good bit of banter!
 
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