BT Infinity & FTTx Discussion

Associate
Joined
16 Aug 2011
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1,531
Location
Ireland
I was due to get BT 300Mb FTTP package yesterday - however a few complications arose, I ordered the FTTP package as soon as it was made available in my area, that was back on the 3rd of August, I was given a date of 2nd of September for an engineer visit and line activation (due between 8 and 1), the BT hub was due to arrive last Friday but didn't arrive until this Tuesday ( I was getting worried it wouldn't arrived in time but turns out that didn't matter) - partly because of the bank holiday on Monday I take it

Anyways the engineer arrives on the 2nd at about half 8 nice and early, said from the looks of it he may not be able to get started because the pole to my house doesn't have a cbt box installed, he had a look around and there is one on a pole 2 streets away,he sent some pictures and phoned his manager, had a look around some more - check the pit, took some more pictures and apologised saying he couldn't do anything today, I phoned up BT - twice, first time i was in a queue for about 35 mins and after I'd say no more than 2 mins the call cut out, 2nd time much faster getting through to someone and explained the situation, he phoned openreach and then called me back, because openreach hadn't gotten the notes from the engineer on the job yet he could basically do nothing at that moment, we had a chat about my internet getting cut off at some point throughout the day because I was to officially switch providers on the 2nd, from Sky to BT, he said he would try to keep the sky connection on but was probably unlikely because it was too far along the process (and sure enough it did cut off around 1pm,/2pm) and couldn't activate the copper BT line because it wouldn't give him the option, left it saying he would call me back the next day - on the 3rd

He called me back today (3rd) he had gotten in touch with openreach and they are now due to come and assess what work they need to do next Tuesday (8th Sept) once they come out and assess what work needs done they can schedule in a time-frame for getting the work done and then after that BT can re-book an engineer to come out and install the internal work needed to get the FTTP up and running, so no idea how long it is going to be until openreach head out next Tuesday, in the meantime to keep me online the BT advisor has posted out a 4g modem (running of EE) because he still cant activate the copper line apaprently, due to arrive tomorrow, and as I've technically officially switched over to BT he assured me I wont get charged until my service is actually up and running

Been a rather disappointing day or two after looking forward to switching to FTTP for basically a month now :-/
 

RJC

RJC

Don
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
29,009
Location
Kent
I had an issue when they installed mine, the duct had a blockage and they were unable to pull Fibre through and they needed to dig and lay a new duct - I ended up getting £125 compensation which was automatic.

They also provided ADSL broadband temporary as I had like you been cut off from my previous supplier which was Virgin.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
20 Sep 2006
Posts
34,034
I've got the 910/110 fibre from BT but the home hub wifi just can't handle the download speed so I'm looking at upgrading to a wifi 6 setup instead of punching holes through all of my walls.

Has anyone done this with BT before in regards to swapping out the router for something else and if so, how easy is it? Do I need to get hold or some sort of login details to enter in to the new kit or what?

Also, anyone have a good recommendation for a wifi 6 router and also pcie card?

Just get a UniFi access point.
 
Associate
Joined
3 Jun 2007
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2,276
Location
Essex
Thought it would be a good idea to keep a record of my experience getting FTTP installed for anyone else interested in what it entails and the timelines.

03/09/2020:
Placed order with BT

04/09/2020:
Call received from Openreach engineer. coming today to survey the route from the manhole in the street to my property and install a pull line for the future engineer visit. For transparency my estate is a new build so all telephone lines run underground.
Openreach been and gone. conduit located and rope pulled through ready for the engineer to pull the fiber cable from the street to my house. Provisional date for that not until the 21st but maybe able to get it done sooner if I call up.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
16 Aug 2011
Posts
1,531
Location
Ireland
I had an issue when they installed mine, the duct had a blockage and they were unable to pull Fibre through and they needed to dig and lay a new duct - I ended up getting £125 compensation which was automatic.

They also provided ADSL broadband temporary as I had like you been cut off from my previous supplier which was Virgin.

how long did it take to sort that out? Yeh I wouldnt mindif I got adsl broadband while I waited but apparently is not an option atm - which is odd because I have had it before with BT, awaiting my 4g modem which is due at some point today
 

RJC

RJC

Don
Joined
29 May 2005
Posts
29,009
Location
Kent
how long did it take to sort that out? Yeh I wouldnt mindif I got adsl broadband while I waited but apparently is not an option atm - which is odd because I have had it before with BT, awaiting my 4g modem which is due at some point today

It was a good 4 weeks, I kept phoning and asking for an update.
 
Associate
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16 Aug 2011
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Location
Ireland
It was a good 4 weeks, I kept phoning and asking for an update.
four weeks, dont think i can cope with 4g internet for that long lol I hope i get mine sorted a little faster lol, i say that however I dont even have the 4g modem yet -
just checked the tracking on the parcel and the last update was about 4am, parcel was in BHam on its way to the Banbridge depot
 
Associate
Joined
3 Jun 2007
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2,276
Location
Essex
So just called up BT and explained the outside work had been done and logged by BTO. Next appointment on the order was set for 30th Sep.

BT phoned through to BTO and they have bumped my install date up to the 11th September, so only have to now wait one week instead of four.

its true what they say you don't ask you don't get.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2003
Posts
16,077
Wish there was some way of gauging FTTP rollout progress in a given area. Mine was announced over a year ago and has been "in progress" for about 9 months but no indication of completion, could be next month or over a year.

It's annoying as I'm soon to be out of contract with VM so it'd usually be haggling time but, as I don't want to tie myself into a new contract period, I'm going to have to pay full retail price!
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Apr 2007
Posts
13,561
Wish there was some way of gauging FTTP rollout progress in a given area. Mine was announced over a year ago and has been "in progress" for about 9 months but no indication of completion, could be next month or over a year.

It's annoying as I'm soon to be out of contract with VM so it'd usually be haggling time but, as I don't want to tie myself into a new contract period, I'm going to have to pay full retail price!
Just take a walk around and see if the optical nodes have been installed on streets nearby. Obviously presuming you have poles.
 
Soldato
Joined
28 Dec 2003
Posts
16,077
Just take a walk around and see if the optical nodes have been installed on streets nearby. Obviously presuming you have poles.

No poles down my road, not sure about surrounding area though, never really noticed.

The problem is the area I'm in is large (Solihull) so I suspect they won't "enable" it for orders etc until the whole area is done which could take ages.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
26,098
If there's no actual civils work to be done and it's just pulling cables into ducts and installing splitters into chambers then I wouldn't always expect things to appear on the roadworks maps
 
Associate
Joined
16 Aug 2011
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Location
Ireland
Just received the BT mini hub, got myself connected to it and after a few speed tests I average about 3.5-4Mb download, quite the downgrade atm it seems
 
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