NexFibre is building their FTTP network in my street

alex24 said:
Why? My understanding is that it means you're stuck with the ISP router, which is a big negative for thsoe of us who rely or want to use features that router will unlikely have. Unless I'm missing something? This is my main concern about the nexfibre/VMO2 rollout in my area, but it may be my only option to get beyond the rough 20 mbit/s I have now...

That and they put the outlet in the street nowhere near the ducting I laid under my driveway, meaning I also probably have to take the fibre on a run around the house somehow. I think they assume you want it run to the living room (like VM would have done before for TV services?) but actually the front door/hallway area is way better for me as that's where my current infrastructure is.
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I like it in that it's a bit unusual, cuts out another box that could go wrong. Appreciate it limits replacement options.
 
Duke said:
Nexfibre are like Openreach/Netnomia, so would be the ISP on top of that which is just Virgin Media at the moment.
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Thanks.

I'm not sure we'll be going ahead with getting Virgin FTTP installed now, because my dad keeps going on about damage to the garden or the house / risk of hitting cables etc.

Might have to stick with 48mbps FTTC, after waiting for years :cry:
 
g67575 said:
Thanks.

I'm not sure we'll be going ahead with getting Virgin FTTP installed now, because my dad keeps going on about damage to the garden or the house / risk of hitting cables etc.

Might have to stick with 48mbps FTTC, after waiting for years :cry:
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Depending on the garden they just cut a slit if its grass, they don't dig a big trench or anything. Harder if its paved or just driveway though.
 
I've been talking more with my dad about it, we're considering chipping into the plaster in our front room, to install some conduit for the ethernet cable, that would run between this room and the hall. And we'd need to install a new ethernet socket as well.

He seems less concerned about the garden now (it's a lawn with some plants, sloped), so I think the fibre could be run through there, and into the front room.

Will be quite a bit of work, but he thinks it's doable.
 
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I drew a quick network diagram in MS Paint, I was just wondering if this network would work well:

QFbBL72.jpeg


I could upgrade the switch later, if speed becomes a bottleneck on the LAN network, but I think we will probably use a 1Gbps switch to start with (the ethernet cables themselves are Cat6A, so can handle upto 10gbps).

EDIT - I was thinking of buying a 2.5gbps 5 port switch, maybe a TP Link TL-SG105-M2 (5-ports), as these aren't that expensive. The Virgin router can handle upto 10gbps on a single port.
 
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g67575 said:
I drew a quick network diagram in MS Paint, I was just wondering if this network would work well:

QFbBL72.jpeg


I could upgrade the switch later, if speed becomes a bottleneck on the LAN network, but I think we will probably use a 1Gbps switch to start with (the ethernet cables themselves are Cat6A, so can handle upto 10gbps).

EDIT - I was thinking of buying a 2.5gbps 5 port switch, maybe a TP Link TL-SG105-M2 (5-ports), as these aren't that expensive. The Virgin router can handle upto 10gbps on a single port.
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It's not really much of a "network" - you're essentially just plugging the switch into the back of the router, but rather than having a cable trailing indoors between the two, you're going outdoors instead.
 
Semple said:
It's not really much of a "network" - you're essentially just plugging the switch into the back of the router, but rather than having a cable trailing indoors between the two, you're going outdoors instead.
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That's correct it's fairly simple, but the ethernet cable between socket A and socket B will be buried in the wall, and also need to go under floorboards partially.

There's 3 pre existing ethernet connections leading to various rooms installed at C, which aren't detailed on the diagram.

Any future fibre connections (from other FTTP networks) can be installed in the front room.
 
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If we go ahead and have Virgin setup their fibre service on NexFibre's network, is the cable that's installed limited to use on Virgin?

Or, can other future ISPs on NexFibre's network use the same cable that is installed by Virgin engineers?

NexFibre has mentioned that they want to allow other ISPs to use their network infrastructure in the future, with Zen likely to be the first (possibly next year).
 
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Broken Hope said:
For OpenReach, City Fibre and probably any other FTTP provider you'd be correct, but Virgin like to be awkward.

This is what you get. Note the fibre link at the bottom instead of coax cable.

VM-PIA-hub5x-connection.jpg
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OT but what is that connection called and can you get an adapter for an ethernet port to connect a different router?
 
Just signed up to dreaded VM but they are now offering the recently installed XGS-PON network. Going for symmetrical 1Gbps.

The salesperson confirmed that modem mode is now supported on the Hub 5x, but honestly I’ll believe it when I see it. Next challenge is getting fibre to my internal comms rack (upstairs - via loft ideally), as my house is wired with Cat5e so an installation anywhere else will bottleneck. I doubt the installer will do that so will need to think of options.

The salesperson also confirmed it should support up to 10Gbps in the future and the starting package will be 1Gbps at some point. On that basis, I’m thinking about router options. I run VLANS, PiHole, a home server and VPN server so really need something decent. Using a Mikrotik box now but that will likely struggle with the 1 Gig and wouldn’t go to 2-10 in the future. Since I have UniFi APs the idea of a UDM-Pro is appealing, but expensive.
 
I've been checking the Cat 6a cable that we've run through 2 walls from our garage. The install isn't complete yet, but we've wired up a keystone module to test it at the current stage.

It seems to working well and the link speed is reported as 1gbps (maxing out the speed of the network card). Before doing this, we connected it to a basic cable tester and all wires reported as functional.

Transferring a file reported transfer speeds of ~980mbps.

I used the command 'netstat -s' on the PC connected to the cable, and the number of reported 'Segments Retransmitted' (in the IPv4 section) does not increase while transferring a large 13GB file over the LAN.

Are these sufficient tests to determine if the cable is working well?
 
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The contractor workers finished their work in my street on the 12th of August. On the same day, they installed a Toby box with a Virgin Logo on it in front of our garden.

Is it likely to be 3-6 months before we can actually make an order with Virgin?

I asked one of the guys in the street when he thought we might be able to order, he reckoned just a couple of weeks, because the fibre has not yet been blown through the ducts.
 
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g67575 said:
The contractor workers finished their work in my street on the 12th of August. On the same day, they installed a Toby box with a Virgin Logo on it in front of our garden.

Is it likely to be 3-6 months before we can actually make an order with Virgin?

I asked one of the guys in the street when he thought we might be able to order, he reckoned just a couple of weeks, because the fibre has not yet been blown through the ducts.
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It was a couple of weeks after that they blew the fibre through, and a sales rep came round the same day to sign us up. Check the website to see what it says for your address.
 
NexFibre have been rolling out fibre around here, and when VM started offering service I took a gamble and went for the M350 package.
It has been reliable so far (about a month). The Hub 5X seems ok but is restrictive if you want to do anything more than 'plug and play' - e.g. they have fixed it's IP address to 192.168.0.1 and you can't change DNS, so I had to change a load of static IPs back to DHCP before it was installed. I've got the WiFi disabled as I'm using my own APs so don't know how that performs. VM couldn't transfer our home phone line, so I've ported that to a VOIP provider.
Modem mode still isn't available - there are people who have managed to get it to work via a hidden web page on the hub but I haven't tried it yet.
 
wonko said:
NexFibre have been rolling out fibre around here, and when VM started offering service I took a gamble and went for the M350 package.
It has been reliable so far (about a month). The Hub 5X seems ok but is restrictive if you want to do anything more than 'plug and play' - e.g. they have fixed it's IP address to 192.168.0.1 and you can't change DNS, so I had to change a load of static IPs back to DHCP before it was installed. I've got the WiFi disabled as I'm using my own APs so don't know how that performs. VM couldn't transfer our home phone line, so I've ported that to a VOIP provider.
Modem mode still isn't available - there are people who have managed to get it to work via a hidden web page on the hub but I haven't tried it yet.
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The VM sales rep told me (after I asked the previous day) that modem mode was now available on the Hub 5x. But I'm pretty sceptical about that, especially since sales reps tend to be economical with the truth if it means they can get a sale and commission. Perhaps I'm being unfair. We'll find out in a week or so.

There is also this - https://fttppro.co.uk/replacing-the...fp-module-on-virgin-medias-xgs-pon-broadband/

Obviously you'd need the right kit to make use of it, it's pretty expensive and a risk one day it may just stop working...
 
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