Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => ISPs => Topic started by: Ronski on April 11, 2017, 08:02:19 PM
-
Noticed quite a few of these scheduled around Thanet over the next few months on Roadworks.org
Installation of Virgin Media Powered Hub Cabinets 1 x 1700mm(H) x 1800mm(W) x 650mm(D) and 1 x 985mm(H) x 535mm(W) x 330mm(D).
Locations are:
- On verge side of 17 Pysons Road, Broadstairs CT12 6TR 6 Jul - 17 Jul
- On footway opp 48-50 Northdown Road, Maragate CT9 2RN. 5 Jun - 14 Jun
- On verge opp 14 George V Avenue, Margate CT9 5PX. 5 Jun - 14 Jun
- On verge O/S 6 Park Road, Birchington CT7 0AE 5 Jun - 14 Jun
- On verge side of 2 Cross Road, Birchington CT7 9HN 5 Jun - 14 Jun
- On footway outside Arlington Square, Marine Terrace, Margate CT9 1XN.22 Jun - 3 Jul
- On footway side of Kent fire and Rescue service, Canterbury Road Westgate, CT8 8NF. 22 Jun - 3 Jul
- On verge opposite KFC, Westwood Road, Broadstairs CT10 2LJ. 22 Jun - 3 Jul
Is this the start of VM's local roll out to Broadstairs, Ramsgate & Margate?
Edited to add more locations
-
Was VM given a slap on the jaw by over estimating there roll out a few weeks ago even here the rumors of VM being scheduled was rife, they call it fake news these days.
-
Noticed quite a few of these scheduled around Thanet over the next few months on Roadworks.org
Is this the start of VM's local roll out to Broadstairs, Ramsgate & Margate?
Yep. The recent story is nothing to do with these, and roadworks being scheduled are not 'fake news'. That referred to incomplete builds, not completely phantom ones.
Better still, the dimensions of those cabinets indicate FTTP :)
-
Hopefully this might be working in 18 months when my contract with TalkTalk expires. Be good to have some real competition.
Stuart
-
Exactly what I was thinking Stuart.
How many of those carbs do they need to cover an area? As at the moment there's only a few showing over the entire area.
I presume being fttp. It shouldn't suffer with congestion?
-
Each of those cabinets is for up to 3,000 premises passed. There will be many more distribution cabinets built, along with of course the ducting, over the next months.
-
On your other question congestion is unlikely on FTTP. In fact it's unlikely in new build areas at all due to take up and how they are built.
While it may start out using the same technology as the HFC areas, just all fibre with no coax, VM can selectively move to an XGPON solution at their convenience. Heavy customers can be migrated to it to relieve the DOCSIS / RFoG network, followed by everyone else progressively.
I understand that at some point in the future the FTTP and HFC areas will diverge slightly as far as what is available goes. Not all VM areas are created equally and holding back some until others can keep up doesn't make commercial sense.
-
Thanks Ignitionnet, that's good to know and I'll keep my eyes open. The ones I've found are all scheduled for June and July.
-
Yes indeed. You'll see tons of works appearing in the near future for the ducts and distribution cabinets. From what I saw of a small sample of those cabinets they were going on permit roads so VM needed to be sure they had something to connect homes to before they start the expensive bit.
That part really isn't hard to spot.
[Moderator edited to remove an oversized and irrelevant image, off-topic for the location under discussion.]
-
Hey Ronski.
Thought I would signup to the Kitz forum especially for this thread ;).
As per my heads up on the TBB forum, VM are indeed coming to Thanet in a significant way.
It's looking like it's going to be a busy time at work for some of my colleagues!!
-
Welcome to the forums Zico, hopefully all the roadworks won't cause too many traffic issues, but it'll be worth it in the end.
-
I've sent you a PM with some info.
With regards to the civils, my colleagues and I are also hoping that things go smoothly. The likelihood of some disruption is probably to be expected but my managers will certainly not be tolerating it.
I understand that the VM works in the West of Kent have had a number of issues. Ashford has had a mini expansion of FTTP and there have been a few minor issues which were dealt with. Unfortunately a small minority of the locals kicked up a fuss with comparison of the works to Syria ::).
-
I wanted to post here and clarify that I don't work for Virgin Media so unfortunately, if you are after details regarding other areas outside of Kent, I won't be able to help (and to a lesser extent even within Kent I may not be aware or allowed to pass on certain info I may be privy to).
-
b*cat leaves out some of his kitteh biscuits for Zirco . . . which is one way of saying "Welcome to the Kitz forum." :)
-
Cheers Burakkucat.
As you might see from my Avatar, I'm a dog man so hopefully there won't be any falling out :D.
**edit** Also just made a small contribution to the forum costs :thumbs:.
-
. . . I'm a dog man so hopefully there won't be any falling out :D
Of course not. We have a wide-ranging menagerie . . . penguins, frogs, sheep, eagles, dogs and overseeing them all, felis catus domestica. ;)
-
Blimey, who's have thought Christmas would come early for Thanet... triangle flakes raining down on the map :)
-
Blimey, who's have thought Christmas would come early for Thanet... triangle flakes raining down on the map :)
That's a snip from Leeds :D
I think that Ignitionnet was just taking a snip as an example to represent what Thanet might look like with the works permits in place :)
-
Well the first permits for trench work are showing, scheduled for June & July. All the phone symbols are for VM road works, and there's one on Hartsdown Road as well where the roadworks symbol is.
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi672.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fvv87%2FRonskiman%2FMargate%25202017-04-14_zpsfq40ckku.png&hash=ad8aeadb31718fd60f0ebd4d34eb9a6e96f8176d) (http://s672.photobucket.com/user/Ronskiman/media/Margate%202017-04-14_zpsfq40ckku.png.html)
-
Appreciate it won't be much compared to the massive investment Openreach have made in next generation access in your and most other areas but VM's teams will do their best.
-
You've lost me Ignitionnet ???
-
Sorry.
A senior BT guy made a remark that they were investing while others are hiding. Ever since I heard that it's made me a little passive aggressive. BT are absolutely spending the bare minimum. Indeed they should be used as a case study on how to fool people into thinking you're spending a bunch of money on superfast and ultrafast networks when you're barely spending more than you had budgeted for pure copper.
Add that to the dodgy VDSL I have at the moment, the over a year scrap I had to get it, and that VM don't even sell services with the speed of my two lines combined anymore and I'm a little... bitter.
-
Has this thread turned into a therapy session for Ignitionnet? ;D
If I were to add my 2p, it would be that I don't like the fact that other providers didn't take up the chance to start a major rollout of fibre sooner. The news reports of Sky, Talktalk etc. all moaning over the years but none of them actually taking the initiative to join forces with a major provider and build there own networks (and this included Virgin Media prior to Project Lightning).
Anyway, I'm waiting for some additional info regarding the Thanet works :-X.
-
Local virgin activity near me. Certainly lots of work booked.
[attachment deleted by admin]
-
Good to see some serious investment in UK broadband infrastructure.
-
Just a wee question how many people need to register an interest to bring VM to your area ?
when looking at the TBB map VM seems to concentrate their roll out in built up areas see map uploaded with purple being Virgin Media active.
-
That's no surprise, NS ......... they're running it as a profit-making business. ;) :) :)
-
Newt unlike BT their deployment is based on profitability rather than political leaning and subsidies, thats why. :)
-
So are small village with 1400 residents will be totally ignored by Virgin Media because it ain't commercial profitable.
The town Holywood in my map which has less residents has VM (12000) residents yet my local town Bangor N.I has (56000) residents and the distance is just 5-6 miles and VM have not even had a look, very strange company ???
-
VM aren't BT. Whether there are 1,400 or 14,000 residents in a place if they have fibre running through it it'll have the same kind of viability. Most companies have to dig ducts passing each home to deliver broadband services and population density is more important. Villages can be among the cheapest places to deploy new network and only become a problem either when long fibre runs are required to reach them, or using a legacy FTTC solution.
Holywood's network would've probably been built by one of VM's predecessors that may or may not have had the franchise for Bangor.
The build in Bangor is in progress and has been since at least January.
-
VM is already here in my town and has been for years. The annoying thing is we are on a new development and vm cables run right past the estate being at the bottom of the road that enters the estate. Why ever the developer did not get them to lay cables at the same time is beyond me. I have tried to speak to vm about it as there are plenty of houses that they would probably pick up but they just don't seem remotely interested, considering the service is already here surely this would be an easy way to pick up some more customers but it seems not to be ::)
-
The build in Bangor is in progress and has been since at least January.
Interesting we don't have roadworks.org like you have on the mainland have looked for something similar for here but can't find one on the NET
-
Interesting we don't have roadworks.org like you have on the mainland have looked for something similar for here but can't find one on the NET
http://trafficwatchni.com/travel-information-map
Only seems to show road/lane closures, and a few other minor works.
[attachment deleted by admin]
-
Many thanks John for the link it's better than having nothing at all.
-
I can confirm that Virgin Media is coming to Thanet (I do work for them) - we start in Garlinge next Monday and rollout the rest of Thanet over the next 18 months. An aggressive plan is in place to get the WHOLE of Thanet in Fibre to the premise network by August 2018.
Look out for information events being held in the area and men spraying biodegradable paint marking the paths. They will also be working with big orange barriers and boards saying 'Virgin Media'.. so hopefully won't be hard to spot!!
There will also be introductory offers and you register your interest in advance.
Thanks! :)
-
Thanks for the update CLOKent and welcome to the forums.
I registered my interest months ago, looking forward to having the option.
-
Great news.... nice to see some real information
Stuart
-
There are roadworks scheduled for this week in the Hartsdown area, nothing showing for Garlinge yet though.
-
I can confirm that Virgin Media is coming to Thanet (I do work for them) - we start in Garlinge next Monday and rollout the rest of Thanet over the next 18 months. An aggressive plan is in place to get the WHOLE of Thanet in Fibre to the premise network by August 2018.
Look out for information events being held in the area and men spraying biodegradable paint marking the paths. They will also be working with big orange barriers and boards saying 'Virgin Media'.. so hopefully won't be hard to spot!!
There will also be introductory offers and you register your interest in advance.
Thanks! :)
Welcome CLOKent. Good to have somebody direct from VM participating on the forum.
There are roadworks scheduled for this week in the Hartsdown area, nothing showing for Garlinge yet though.
I think that the area is the Garlinge electoral ward. Still, first permits starting tomorrow, plenty more to come!
-
Just a thought, but how does the physical connection work with VM. Do they install specific connection points in the pavement outside each house when they lay the fibre?
When I built the house extension I ran a 15mm plastic conduit (which is hopefully suitable) from the outside wall to my server room in anticipation of FTTP, obviously there is an optimum point nearest to this in the pavement.
-
Just a thought, but how does the physical connection work with VM. Do they install specific connection points in the pavement outside each house when they lay the fibre?
Correct.
-
Thanks for the confirmation, any way to make sure it's installed in a suitable location?
-
Thanks for the confirmation, any way to make sure it's installed in a suitable location?
Not really, unless you are around when they are doing the work. A guy will spray a T on the pavement and your swept tee where the fibre will break from the duct in the pavement and enter your property will go roughly there.
For the install itself in common with BT they want to install a termination point on a wall then go through the wall into the property. I'm not sure how accommodating they can be for you but if it came to it it couldn't hurt to ask the question.
-
Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for the sprayed T, might have to erase one and spray another ;)
-
Signed up specifically for this thread. Really happy we'll be able to get VM fairly soon (Especially considering my place or work pays for my internet!).
I live between WWX and Westwood Industrial Estate. I've signed up for my interest to get Virgin and they stated that there are absolutely no plans currently to come to my area? I find this a little strange since Virgin seem to currently be cabling down Poorhole Lane; a 5-minute walk from my house. Any thoughts/ideas?
-
Look on roadworks.org and set the date filter to three months, you'll see lots of Virgin Media work scheduled with more being adding regulary.
I'm on the Wimpy estate not far from you and there are signs up advising of the work starting next week, also around Northwood, the whole majority of Thanet is being done eventually.
-
It's probably better to say that a large majority of Thanet is being connected up. There will be areas that will be missed for whatever reasons. Only VM would be able to state where and why they have chosen areas.
-
Virgin are experts at covering entire areas but randomly skipping individual streets/villages.
Is your postcode different to those around you?
Like everyone else is AB12 3xx but you are AB12 4xx
If your postcode isn't slightly different to those around then there's always the possibility they will just pass you by. It could be something expensive preventing them reaching a small number of properties so not worth it.
-
It's probably better to say that a large majority of Thanet is being connected up. There will be areas that will be missed for whatever reasons. Only VM would be able to state where and why they have chosen areas.
Yes that is very true.
-
Not sure if this is Virgin coming to Rathmore Road Bangor N.I we don't have Roadworks.Org so just going by eyesight large reels of green cable seen last week and now it's been put under the pathways KN networks are doing the job and grey cabinets are popping up.
This all happening a mile away from me just wondering whats going on as it's on a massive scale
-
VM are using green ducting for the fibre strands and they are linked back to small grey cabinets in turn.
You could try visiting the Cable My Street link to check if they are indeed expanding in your area.
http://www.virginmedia.com/cablemystreet/
-
Have tried 20 postcodes in the area and same results
We're expanding our network
Although we can't connect you to Virgin Media at the moment, we're still planning where we're going. That's where you come in. Register your interest below to help us decide which communities to connect as part of our expansion plans.
-
Might be worth just stopping and having a chat with one of the contractors.
-
I was chatting to a friend last night who knows someone quite high up in VM and he said that Carlton Avenue Broadstairs (where he lives) is not scheduled in the next 18 months, something to do with the cost of closing off the top junction. He also said that the data would be routed via Ashford and Dover, and this could cause congestion problems, no idea how true this is though.
I spoke to the contractors doing our estate, and they are not doing our section, apparently another team is. I see further area's of Broadstiars are now showing scheduled for September.
-
The cost of a TTRO (Temporary traffic regulation order) for a closure is £475 + ~£100 for advertising. The rest of the costs will be down to the potential construction and civil costs of Virgin Media. A TTRO can be made up for multiple closures so effectively you could have one TTRO drawn up covering all roads that VM needed to close in the process (though the more roads and dates etc. the messier it gets to keep to advertised dates if there are interruptions or other reasons for delay).
I've no idea on the routing from Thanet. The nearest points are obviously Ashford or Dover for the time being (though the hope in the longer term is that Herne Bay, Whitstable & Canterbury are included in VM expansion).
There will be more gangs coming on stream soon. There are already several gangs operating under different sub-contractors who are all ultimately working for Virgin Media. My colleagues are meeting regularly with the main sub contractor and Virgin Media to discuss the works to date and there has been a few hiccups already.
-
I was chatting to a friend last night who knows someone quite high up in VM and he said that Carlton Avenue Broadstairs (where he lives) is not scheduled in the next 18 months, something to do with the cost of closing off the top junction. He also said that the data would be routed via Ashford and Dover, and this could cause congestion problems, no idea how true this is though.
I spoke to the contractors doing our estate, and they are not doing our section, apparently another team is. I see further area's of Broadstiars are now showing scheduled for September.
That probably means Crow Hill is out as well..... :( Carlton Avenue is a bus route for the 38 bus.
Stuart
-
I was sat in a friend's front garden in Crow Hill Saturday evening enjoying a beer & BBQ.
-
Thanks Zico for the info, I missed your post earlier.
-
After the comment about Carlton Avenue I just checked Roadworks.org and it show VM working in Lindenthorpe Road from 20/9 to 10/10 later this year which is only just up the road from Crow Hill, plus lots around the Chess Board area ans Stanley Road. This is all so close to me it will be very frustrating if they dont come my way!
Stuart
-
There are plenty of Provisional advance authorisation (PAAs) coming through for VM's works. Until they are processed (by Kent within 1 month of receipt) they won't appear on Roadworks.org . Once processed, and if approved, then the works will appear on Roadworks.org but they can change in dates/details within reason if VM request such alterations and they are in turn approved by KCC Street Works.
-
Plenty of green tubing with a red stripe going in nearby, but not in my street yet :no:
-
ronski you going to keep vdsl or ditch plusnet?
-
Very temped to ditch VDSL, but I am apprehensive of VM reputation, and currently their lousy upload speeds (hopefully they'll bump this up) which are not much better than what I have unless I go for a more expensive package which I don't want to.
-
They built here too early. Think we're about the last major 'new' build, rather than an infill, that isn't FTTP ;D
I'm sure some EPON magic will resolve the upload speed concerns though in the interim the more expensive package is the only option.
VM aren't fans of TalkTalk's approach, not least because TalkTalk don't make money on it, and aren't Sky so can't massively subsidise broadband with TV revenues.
-
I'm not a fan of TalkTalk full stop.
Thanet is ramping up. My colleague had a few hiccups today but nothing new in our day to day business with Statuary Undertakers :cool:
-
Might be worth just stopping and having a chat with one of the contractors.
That I did to-day it's Virgin Fibre Optics talked to the guys that were laying down this thin green tube you call a fibre duct it looked like a core diameter of 5mm, most of Bangor N.I has had gone though the same procedure they say it takes a month after laying the duct to then become live.
-
. . . it looked like a core diameter of 5mm, . . .
That will probably be the tubing through which the fibre itself is pushed, whilst floating within a stream of air.
-
Would like to see how the fibre optics are pushed through this wee duct in a real life experience and yes have watched B4RN videos on how they do it. how many strands of fibre can this green duct hold
-
Would like to see how the fibre optics are pushed through this wee duct in a real life experience and yes have watched B4RN videos on how they do it. how many strands of fibre can this green duct hold
The kitizen best "qualified" to answer your queries would be Walter. He has spent many hours in the company of the BT technicians (and the various contractors) whilst the FTTC cabinets were being connected in the Guildford and Surrey Hills areas.
-
There's really not much to see. They'll use a fibre blowing machine, nothing arcane about it.
Contrary to popular opinion it's all rather routine and simple. The tricky bit is getting the ducts into the ground, sending the fibre down them is trivial. Tons of videos of fibre being blown can be found on You Tube.
If you're curious about VM's network build more details here - https://keepup.virginmedia.com/Content/networkExpansion/doc/New_Build_Developers_Guide.pdf - going by that what goes to homes is a simple 6 mm diameter blown fibre micro tube carried inside a 54 mm duct connected to a termination box.
-
I guess one of the things which interests me is how they get the fibre across one's property and into the house. Our house for example has an all concrete/crazy paving front garden and no driveway, also ground level in the garden is some 3-4 feet above pavement level and and when I dig in the odd flower bed I find only about 18 inches of soil before hitting solid chalk. This also means that any road works within a hundred yards or so vibrate the downstairs floor (which is solid not suspended.
Stuart
-
They'll run it along a wall or fence above ground most likely. They aren't going to be too desperate to shift a load of flags, dig underneath, then replace them. That makes the install a tad too expensive.
-
That all sounds a bit shoddy, most of our estate has open plan front gardens, although some have walls/fences. I suppose the majority have gardens so easy to dig a small channel to bury the cable in, but there will be many with obstacles.
-
The problem here is that our house and garden ground level is so far above the footpath level and its not a slope but a vertical stone wall, also there is a concrete path all round the hose so there is no way to get anything underground easily. We have concrete steps up a narrow path into the garden but again no easy way under it and they would have to avoid the water and drainage service which run under the path/steps. So I guess it will be problematic and along the side wall is the best bet, but they still have to cross the side passage somehow.
Stuart
-
Hello everyone, first time poster but serial lurker! I'm in Margate between WWX and the Hornby and have had terrible broadband all the time I've lived here. The problem is aluminium cable in the road, I gave up months ago trying to get it swapped for copper! I pay for 80/20 business fibre and get 11/0.5 at best! Anyway, I have worked for Openreach both as an engineer and as an Operations Manager and also for a contracting company installing for Virgin Media (NOTE, this was just before they took over the network, in those days it was NTL). I was running a gang of 3 guys getting cable in from the T outside and doing the internal fits.
I'm interested in what goes on with this, so thought I'd join the forum & see what's what. Actually I wouldn't mind working for VM as a local manager seeing as they are expanding, anyone got any connections? I tried the VM job site to no avail...
Anyway, regarding one of the earlier posts about cabling from the street into the premises, if it's anything at all like it used to be, it will be push, push, push by VM to get everything in as quick as possible. When I was on the tools for them, we sometimes had up to 8 jobs a day and were threatened with the sack if they weren't all completed, so we used to join up with other crews and help each other out.
I really hope this ethos has changed as it just means shoddy workmanship. We had a supervisor who would check the depth of buried cables (we used either armoured direct burial shotgun or put a length of copex in and ran the cable inside that) and if it was out of tolerance he would rip it out the ground and make us go back and do it again! It was all performance driven, but this was in the late 90s/early 2000s (random fact, I was installing in a customers house and when we put the TV on it was the world trade towers attack and the first plane had hit, but second hadn't hit yet, we just stood there with jaws on the floor!)
In the end, we turned up for work one morning and the company went into liquidation and everyone lost their jobs.
So hopefully quality control is there and the schedule is within reason!
-
Welcome to the forums Steven_W, I'm not far from you on the Wimpy estate, and Stuart (username Broadstairs) is also in Broadstairs.
CLOKent works for VM and posted earlier in the thread, it might pay to PM him/her. They're holding an open day on the 5th August at WWX and CLOKent will be there.
Hopefully working conditions have improved. I'll probably run my own duct from the T back to where I need it, as I've built a cable entry point into my house with tubing leading back to my server room, hopefully it'll be suitable. Although by the sounds of it they'll be glad of anything which keeps installation time and costs down.
-
Hi Steven. As Ronski has pointed out, CLOKent is a VM representative so you could try contacting him for any assistance. I would add that if you've got previous experience in civils (and hold an up-to-date NRSWA ticket) then you'll probably be of some interest to the contractors.
Without giving figures, the VM rollout in Thanet has only just scratched the surface when it comes to km's of fibre laid out of the whole total proposed.
If I remember, I might drop in at the WWX open day. It will give me an excuse to grab another a burger at Five Guys ;D
-
hi has anyone else noticed they have missed out The Hawthorns on the wimpy estate when they laid the cables looks like they have done all the other cul de sac's but just missed out The Hawthorns
just my luck
ive just looked on Roadworks.org and there is no scheduled road works for the hawthorns in the next 12 months dose anyone know any diffrent ??
cheers Hornet156
-
Rest assured The Hawthorns is on the list (permit will appear in due course when processed - if nothing has been processed then Roadworks.org won't show anything).
-
So far the Crow Hill area has not been added to roadworks.org but just up the road where it joins Lindenthorpe Road they are working and behind us in what is known as the chessboard area is also being done so I am hopeful being so close we will get done soon after.
Stuart
-
There are a number of permits for Broadstairs in the queue for processing. More are continuing to come in everyday so it's almost certain that whichever road you're looking for will appear at some point.
-
There are a number of permits for Broadstairs in the queue for processing. More are continuing to come in everyday so it's almost certain that whichever road you're looking for will appear at some point.
That's what I am hoping for and will continue to look each month.
Stuart
-
Did anyone manage to go to the open day at WWX? I had other things going on so couldn't make it.
-
No. Totally forgot about it. Plus it started to chuck it down this afternoon so didn't fancy going out anyway.
-
The rest of the Wimpy estate has appeared on Roadworks.org scheduled for the end of October.
-
Things clearly seem to be improving with VM, which is good news.
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/7788-are-the-dark-days-over-for-virgin-media-customers
-
I don't know where Ashford or Folkestone reside in that graph but Dover is positioned in the worst spot if below 1 is good.
Quoting the post by UnisoftUK from the TBB link:
still rubbish for downloading any files in any web browser (single thread) in the Temple Ewell, Kearsney, River and Dover areas.... 1-6mbps on average on VIVID 200 Gamer. The CMTS is still end of life Motorola/River Delta. Even upstream affected in evenings now and down to 4-6mbps. Latency getting higher. Not even on a crowded cabinet, and never had a history in this area of over utilisation. Power levels, SNR are fine on the Hub 3.0. Started happening towards end of 2016 when on Superhub 2AC. ADSL is actually faster.
-
Yes Dover is in the worse spot, and unisoftuk mentions in the comments that Dover is bad, perhaps they haven't got round to sorting Dover out yet.
Edit. You beat me to it.
-
The Dover hubsite is missing space/power/aircon for the new equipment to be put in.
It's going to need the older Motorola equipment removing and the new CMTS installing over night as a 'hot swap'.
In addition going forward it's going to need more advanced cabinets installing as there's no space for optical transmission kit to power new nodes. VM are going to have to move intelligence out of the hub and into the field.
Nightmare.
-
Morning All,
Hope to shed some light on a few things here I have read - we will be doing every road in Thanet from Brooksend in Birchington all the way to Pegwell Bay in Ramsgate area. We will not be going to Cliffsend or Acol at the moment but when we expand further towards Canterbury these plus Minster will all be looked at as potential routes and villages to add. The only roads we cannot guarantee we will be doing are private roads or private areas which we have not received written confirmation we can go into (just to add we have already received this for North Foreland Estate for anyone who lives in/near there and I am looking at quite a few other private roads/areas this week to request permissions).
Our plan is to complete the whole of Thanet area by Dec 2018 so quite a big feat.
We are just about to start Broadstairs and Margate High Streets and seafronts over the winter months.
From what I have been told about the trunk route plans we will not be going through Dover - but trunking down from Ashford to our hubsite in Margate, All Saints Industrial Estate.
Lastly,Roadworks.org as Ronski has said is regularly updated but you may find randomly a road here or there that has been added for 2 weeks time rather than the usual 3 months in advance, this is as our relationship with KCC grows we can request some early starts on certain roads and where applicable KCC can accept or reject these. Usually when random roads are added with a start date very soon - they have accepted our early start date (this is what we are trying to do for the Hawthorns at the moment).
As Ronski has already mentioned any further questions you are more than welcome to PM me - happy to help!
Thanks,
CLOKent
-
Thanks for the updates CLOKent, much appreciated.
-
@Broadstairs, Claire Court is now scheduled for the end of December, so getting closer to you.
-
That's only about 80 or so yards down the road from me.
Stuart
-
My T was installed yesterday and as the wife was home she spoke to the contractors and they located it in a suitable location :)
-
:thumbs:
-
Not too long now guys, before you're 'midnight surfing' ....... ;) ;D
-
LOL BS, I'm fully aware of VMs reputation, but things have apparently been improving recently as mentioned on TBB, whether they will slip back to their old ways who knows, only time will tell. Add to that the roll out in Thanet is completely new full fibre to my front door, not some dodgy ECI cabinet and then over some dodgy copper cable with probably some aluminium mixed in that's over 40 years old.
One would hope that this new network has sufficient capacity built in to last a good few years and then some (I've been assured it has), so in theory I should be able to get a decent upload speed of 20Mbps, and as a bonus a download speed of 300Mbps, instead of the 46/6 I currently get.
So far I've been kept far more up to date about the roll out than I ever was with FTTC, and it looks like I will be able to order it much quicker than I did with FTTC. My FTTC cab was stood in February 2012 and I was finally connected in late August 2012. FTTC has served me well, but my upload has halved over the 5 years, whilst download has fluctuated but stayed about the same.
Bottom line is VM have invested in full fibre to my front door, and I'm willing to stump up the money each month to give them a chance to prove themselves.
If BT ever get around to giving me a better option then perhaps they can have my money again. IF VM had not been rolling out in Thanet then I would have had a new line installed, which would have almost certainly been connected to the Huawei cabinet that was stood earlier in the year, but alas a better option came along ;D
-
Well said Ronski. Although I pay TT for my service all my issues have been with OR and the lousy choice of ECI cabinets and old fashioned copper cables. If BT want to stay in this game then at some point they will have to bite the bullet and get into the 21st century with their local infrastructure as it is its barely 20th century.
Stuart
-
Ha ha ...... not quite the 'Full angst' bite, I was expecting from the two gentleman above. ;) ;D ;D
In all seriousness, that's what competitive markets are there for ... to suit the individual needs of the consumers. Be that, price, speed, after-sales service etc etc .....
In any new venture ... you pays yer money, you teks yer chance ....... I do sincerely hope it pays off for you both.
-
Thanks BS, I considered it a be nice to purple sheep day ;D and I was determined not to bite back.
Worse case scenario I'll take out another FTTC line, but I really doubt it will come to that, it will take quite a while for VM to build up customers to saturation point.
-
:) :drink:
-
to be fair ronski I would do the same, you in a brand new area, might be fine.
But I would keep the dsl active when its ordered and then you got option to fall back easily if its not working well, especially as VM got 30 days refund policy.
-
That's the plan :fingers:
-
Congestion on the new FTTP areas is unlikely. These are much easier to upgrade when they start to get full than the hybrid networks. As long as Margate doesn't have any issues, and it really shouldn't have been picked as the hubsite for this deployment if it did, all should be good.
The FTTP sites are a boon for VM too - no need for optical transceivers in the hubsite, Ethernet switches take their place with the areas that would've required separate lasers between Margate and them just running as VLANs in between Margate and the virtual hub cabinet in question. Whereas with the hybrid network they may need new fibre to split areas and reduce the customers sharing the bandwidth with the RFoG solution as long as there's room on line cards and Ethernet ports it's configuration changes.
-
Hello all, so I am a massive massive fan/supporter of Virgin Media and ever since I first discovered the world of broadband I took out a package with Virgin Media (down in london) fast forward many many years...and I had to move out to Kent, Herne Bay. To my horror , I found out that Virgin Media broadband was not possible out here, and was forced to take out packages with other companies. I have never been happy...and now have moved to Thanet, Ramsgate (clements road) to be exact whereby Virgin Media was not available too which I assumed. However, a google search of if it is coming or planned has brought me here and needless to say, I am one step away from peeing myself with excitement. If I understand this correctly, Virgin Media are bringing broadband to thanet? and it is going to be live very soon? Their website unfortunately is still showing as broadband not available and not planned for my postcode but does anyone know when and if my road specifically will be having Virgin media broadband?
I've seen a load of Virgin Media vans doing construction on the road itself which looks very promising! but again, anyone know exactly when or IF the broadband will be coming ? I have heard/read somewhere that theyre only bringing mobile telephone services here, but not broadband. Given this topic it seems that is not the case?
I just really can't wait to cancel this current broadband service and get back to Virgin Media!!
-
Hi John.
Virgin are pretty much covering the whole of Thanet and are currently working on the A254 Margate Road. There are permits in for works on the western side of the A254 and you can keep tabs on this by keeping an eye on www.roadworks.org
CLOKent should be able to provide you some assistance as he/she is involved with the Virgin Media liaison.
-
Hi John2005, welcome to the forums, nice to see another local on here.
Are you sure Clements Road has not been cabled* yet, they've done Pysons Road, Greenfield and neighbouring roads. Have a look in the pavement for recent works specifically the VM Toby covers outside/between each house.
As Zico stated they are pretty much doing all of Thanet, for further info read this post.
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg356144.html#msg356144
*They are installing fibre not cables, so they've put in the tube's but not necessarily yet installed the fibres.
PS keep an eye on Roadworks.org and change the date period from today.
-
It appears that VM have already been down part of Clements Road already (From 161 to Margate Road.) and are planning to finish off the other section at a later date (From o/s 26 all the way round to junction of Margate Road.).
Keep an eye out on Roadworks.org for the new permit from VM for the remaining works.
-
hi all do we have any go live dates yet for Broadstairs
cheers
-
No not yet, there still seems to be a lot of work to do, the main cabinets haven't been installed yet - they still have temporary yellow tops on the prepared bases. I reckon another couple of months at least.
-
It's gone live in parts of Garlinge/Westbrook.
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4575509-re-virgin-media-fttp-coming-to-thanet.html
Wonder how long for my area, Wimpy estate near St Georges School? I'll have to take a look and see if our main cabinet has been installed, haven't seen any fibre being installed either.
-
As per my post on TBB, the roadworks started in May so it's a gradual process to switch on those sectors which have been cabled. Long way to go yet to complete the planned cover of Thanet.
-
It's gone live in parts of Garlinge/Westbrook.
http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/fibre/t/4575509-re-virgin-media-fttp-coming-to-thanet.html
Wonder how long for my area, Wimpy estate near St Georges School? I'll have to take a look and see if our main cabinet has been installed, haven't seen any fibre being installed either.
im wondering also i was told when i spoke to virgin at westwood that the wimpy area would be around end of feb beginning of march
-
All this digging and roadworks traffic congestion over the last 2 months Virgin Media has missed my location by 1.1 Km all the work seemed to stop when it came close to our semi rural village, so VM only covers densely populated areas :(
-
Virgin are far from finished in Thanet. The works started in May and they have a lot more areas to cover.
CLO's post here states a few locations that aren't on the current rollout but that's not to say they will never be included if enough interest is registered for the service (cable my street).
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg356144.html#msg356144
-
I think I had better comment here, before confusion occurs.
N*Star's village is in Northern Ireland and not on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, England. :)
-
No point in making another thread VM coming to Bangor N.I which it has as shown on the Map outlined in red and my village marked by the blue X, was wondering if Zico had any info whether VM plan to install this in my area and have placed a interest on their Web Site.
-
I think I had better comment here, before confusion occurs.
N*Star's village is in Northern Ireland and not on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, England. :)
Yes, sorry, I've just realised that after going back in the thread :doh:.
No point in making another thread VM coming to Bangor N.I which it has as shown on the Map outlined in red and my village marked by the blue X, was wondering if Zico had any info whether VM plan to install this in my area and have placed a interest on their Web Site.
Sorry NewtronStar, I don't work for Virgin Media so have no idea of the rollouts outside of Kent. I only know certain information in Kent due to my employment elsewhere.
-
Sorry NewtronStar, I don't work for Virgin Media so have no idea of the rollouts outside of Kent. I only know certain information in Kent due to my employment elsewhere.
No worries Zico any info is welcome it's a bit like me asking BlackSheep to map out my D-SIDE he is not privy to this info, I know my D-SIDE very well 1KM with 10 footpath joints each one nearly 100 meters apart to PCP cabinet.
-
NS drop CLOKent a PM, he/she does work for VM so may well be able to find out.
-
Had a few fun days with a VM cabinet issue at work. Thankfully things went well and in the end everybody was happy (I think).
Come on VM, put a fibre cab outside my house, I would love you for it :D
-
No point in making another thread VM coming to Bangor N.I which it has as shown on the Map outlined in red and my village marked by the blue X, was wondering if Zico had any info whether VM plan to install this in my area and have placed a interest on their Web Site.
If VM have duct down the B20 they'll very likely build to that area. If they don't and the fibre path is going down the B20 could also be good. No reason why they wouldn't take that route as long as the costs aren't significantly different from taking the A2 all the way. Sometimes taking 'B' roads is less disruptive than A roads. On the flip side they may also have narrow or congested pavements requiring the narrow trench to go into the carriageway a lot which quickly gets expensive.
I have no idea if you can monitor roadworks but keep an eye on them if possible. They have to get fibre from Belfast to Bangor somehow and will certainly be taking in Holywood if they haven't already built there. If they do Helen's Bay you're in luck I think.
This village built outside Leeds might give you some hope. If they are going through villages they can and do build to them - makes a few quid off the long trek in between population centres.
[attachment deleted by admin]
-
All the VM work has come to a end on the B20 route for this year 2017 and WEB roadworks info is very limited here, Will be keeping a keen eye for any more VM action in the new year.
I agree if they do Helen's Bay it's looking good and I'm not looking for the high end rate of 300Mbps 70-80Mbps would do me just fine and can't see away for Openreach to build a FTTC & PCP cabinet closer to my premises in the next 15 years.
-
so do we have any go live dates for broadstairs yet ?
-
Not that I'm aware of, and the two hub cabinets I've passed recently (St George's and Pysons Rd) haven't been installed yet. So very unlikely to be in January.
-
Work should be starting back up after the holiday break.
Busy, busy, busy!
-
so any news on when we can sign up ive just noticed my bt deal runs out on the 28th of feb so not sure what to do as its going to jump up quite a bit in price after that
-
I've not heard anything, and our hub cabinet opposite the Harvester has not yet been installed, once that goes in it should be around 4 to 5 weeks I think.
-
o right well hopefully not to long then
also to all the emergency services workers out there if you sign up for the blue light card wich is £5 for 5 years virgin have some good offers. full house bundle vivid 200 for £51 a month it should be £75
-
Just joining in the thread to stay informed.
Patiently waiting for a work crew to arrive on the Eastern Esplanade.
Will be ordering as soon as it's live!
-
I've not heard anything, and our hub cabinet opposite the Harvester has not yet been installed, once that goes in it should be around 4 to 5 weeks I think.
Drove past these cabinets a couple of days or so ago and they already have graffiti on them so now the are gray embellished with black tags ::)
Stuart
-
The hub cabinet has been installed in Pysons Road, so looks like it's getting closer for that area.
Don't think my hub cabinet outside the Asda superstore has yet been installed though :-( Although haven't been past that way for a few weeks.
-
Don't think my hub cabinet outside the Asda superstore has yet been installed though :-( Although haven't been past that way for a few weeks.
That's the ones I was talking about by the ASDA roundabout opposite KFC and The David Copperfield (Harvester) both now covered in graffiti.
Stuart
-
So the yellow cover has gone, and there's now a large cabinet instead? As I think there was some small cabinets there as well.
-
So the yellow cover has gone, and there's now a large cabinet instead? As I think there was some small cabinets there as well.
Yup if I remember correctly there is a large grey cabinet and a small grey one next to it.
Stuart
-
Thanks Stuart, that should mean four weeks or so and I should be able to order.
-
I'm still watching for them to dig up our road, nothing showing yet in next 12 months. They are working all round here just not in our road. :'(
Stuart
-
I also keep having a look at your road, they will do it as they've done the side roads. Bit like my road was left to last in our area.
-
oh sounds promising maybe it will be ready b4 my bt contract ends hope so
-
lots of workers working on the little gray cabinets today on the wimpy
-
Thanks for the info, I miss stuff like that as I'm off to work before they start and home after they've finished.
Sounds like things are progressing well, hopefully won't be long before we can order :fingers:
I've started things in motion by moving my email to a dictated system (hosted by d2d4j) to get away from ISP hosted email.
-
Hi. Been lurking and keeping my eye on this thread for a while. Got a letter from Virgin today and looks like work is about to start on the roads around Budgens in Broadstairs, Fourdon, Percy, Walmsley, Ethel etc.. Have been with Sky for 7 years, but now out of contract with them so have moved over to NowTV for broadband (fibre) and phone on a rolling monthly contract. Hopefully not too long before Virgin offers some nice deals for us in Thanet. Slightly put off about the amount of complaints on the VM forums about the Hub 3 ping\latency issues. Main thread is 290 pages long! Big house of gamers here so lag will not go down well... Could be a while before it's all ready anyway, so hopefully that will be fixed by then.
Anyone here actually up and running with VM in Thanet yet?
-
There's somebody in Westgate/Garlinge area on the TBB forums that posted on the 3rd December to say they are up and running.
PS beeblebrox welcome to the forums, I've lost count of how many locals we have on here now.
-
Cheers Ronski :cool:
I'll have a chat with the workers when they appear in my road (next week I believe), and see if I can glean any further info.
-
They won't know much, keep a look out for your hub cabinet, it's the large grey cabinet. They do the ground work then put a yellow cover over it, once the hub cabinet is stood it's about 5 or 6 weeks to being live I think.
-
Hey everyone, another person who has been stalking this thread for pretty much its existence here, I too am close to the Hub opposite Harvester/KFC it's been up for about 3 or 4 weeks now (I go past almost every day) so hopefully only a couple more weeks of waiting and I can get off this depressing 7.5down/0.75up that I have been stuck with since February last year haha, feels like an eternity ago I first heard Virgin were coming to the area.
-
Hi CharTang and welcome to the forums, you must be one of a handful that is on cabinet 9 I'm guessing, as every other cabinet in the area has FTTC.
Hopefully it should not be much longer before we go live.
-
Hey Ronski.
Yeah cabinet 9 indeed rather frustrating, strange that every other cabinet in the area is FTTC but hopefully that wont matter for much long.
-
They finished digging up clements road (ramsgate) in december had a couple of guys back and forth doing wires in the small cabinets over the past few weeks and the big cabinet is done at the end of the road but still no sign of being able to order =/ call them atleast once a week and no info still also noticed they are going back to pysons road again on the 28th of feb.
I'm getting close to the end of my contract with plusnet getting fedup of this 38meg down because of the aluminium cables in the road.
You'd think the call centers would atleast have a rough date for area's going live
Interestingly on the DSL Checker site it shows im on Cab 18 and that FTTP on Demand is Available
(https://i.imgur.com/esWS9gB.png)
-
Hi supernoodles, welcome to the forums.
It will show FTTPod on most fibre enabled cabinets these days, but unless you're willing to pay potentially thousands of pounds in construction costs its not even worth thinking about.
Hopefully won't be long before VM is live, I've been checking on the website, it still says they are not in my area ???
-
Interestingly on the DSL Checker site it shows im on Cab 18 and that FTTP on Demand is Available
(https://i.imgur.com/esWS9gB.png)
Welcome Supernoodles.
Further to Ronski's post, the DSL checker is only for services that are provided over the Openreach network so you won't be able to get any details of Virgin's network update.
It probably won't be long before your area is enabled as Virgin want to get sectors lit up and running asap to get the return on investment.
-
Thanks for the replies that actually makes sense dunno why it didnt occur to me before lol
I'm hoping it wont be much longer sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to order can't even watch a stream or youtube video while the Mrs updates her ps4 games lol
-
Been watching this thread for quite a while... My cabinet is 27 (Lister Road near the hospital) and have been waiting for any Virgin roadworks, but haven't seen any! Anyone got any idea if this cabinet is even planned?!
-
I watch out on https://v6.roadworks.org/ (https://v6.roadworks.org/) for roadworks which show up as being for Virgin Media, you may need to change the time period to 12 months for a longer view.
Stuart
-
Welcome to the forums DrDaveDeath,
VM are doing pretty much all of Thanet, see this post for more detail (http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg356144.html#msg356144). So I should think its only a matter of time.
By the way it's not based on cabinet areas, although they will probably have taken into account what other services are available in the area.
-
Yeah we can get BT Infinity 2 here, but I just want to ditch BT. I'll keep an eye out :fingers:
-
Noticed some new work has popped up on roadworks.org in Martins Close the next road over from me it says "To complete interim to perm work." not sure what that means.
Also along pysons road there's "To complete remedial work." and in a few other roads that were already done there are more "To complete interim to perm work" if anyone know's what that mean's
-
I'm pretty sure that it just means finishing off a temporary surface finish to a permanent finish. I've often seen those notices when OR has been doing work.
PS seems to be taking ages to go live, considering the my main hub cabinet was installed late January.
-
Noticed some new work has popped up on roadworks.org in Martins Close the next road over from me it says "To complete interim to perm work." not sure what that means.
Also along pysons road there's "To complete remedial work." and in a few other roads that were already done there are more "To complete interim to perm work" if anyone know's what that mean's
I can confirm that 'interim to perm' is where a temporary reinstatement is made to a permanent finish. Remedial work is where a defect has been identified with the permanent reinstatement (either by Virgin or the highway authority) and this is made good.
Irrespective of the interim to perm or remedial civils work, if the fibre is in place and the cabinets sited, I would imagine that the Virgin network guys are working away in the background to get areas lit up as fast as they can.
-
I can confirm that 'interim to perm' is where a temporary reinstatement is made to a permanent finish.
Are you sure it isn't where a permanent reinstatement is made to a temporary finish? ;)
-
In some cases a utility can reinstate worse that temp :D
-
Yes I've seen some very poor re-instatement by utilities and in fact contractors working for Kent Highways.
On a different note I am yet to see any roadworks scheduled this year for Crow Hill, they've worked round the Chessboard area and other roads including Stone Gardens and Stone Road including Thanet Close I believe but nothing yet for Crow Hill.
Stuart
-
Woke up this morning to the sound of virgin (NPS) doing something outside my flat went onto roadworks.org and it says Description: To clear 2 x blockages - customer service not sure what they mean by that and apparently they are on pysons for another blockage it says "customer out of service" which doesn't make much sense since you cant even order on pysons road yet
-
I saw that and thought it odd, I think they may get a permit quicker by stating customer out of service, so perhaps they are bending the rules a bit to speed things up.
-
We'll be teleporting, before you guys get VM !!! ;)
-
I saw that and thought it odd, I think they may get a permit quicker by stating customer out of service, so perhaps they are bending the rules a bit to speed things up.
Passing off planned works as urgent/emergency works is frowned upon. This particular permit did raise a question today.
-
Passing off planned works as urgent/emergency works is frowned upon. This particular permit did raise a question today.
But we are without service from VM ;D ;) ;)
We'll be teleporting, before you guys get VM !!! ;)
We'll be travelling at light speed long before BTor are sending light down a fibre to my house :P Beam me up Scotty...then engage the warp drives.
-
We'll be travelling at light speed long before BTor are sending light down a fibre to my house :P Beam me up Scotty...then engage the warp drives.
Not if I manage to reverse the polarity of the neutron flow first! :D
-
@Broadstairs, your road is finally showing as scheduled for June.
-
any news on the live date for the wimpy yet ? its got to be about 7-8 weeks since the main cabinet was installed so it must be soon
-
No, unfortunately nothing. I did send CLOKent a PM a few weeks ago but have heard nothing. So I'm as much in the dark as you, hopefully it will be soon.
PS. Hub cabinet was installed around 20 January, which was 8 weeks ago.
-
PS. Hub cabinet was installed around 20 January, which was 8 weeks ago.
How do i find out when my cab was installed? still not able to order here on clements road :/
-
You can't, but I drove past it on the 26 January and it was installed then but wasn't a week or two before, now I am presuming the cabinet on the corner of Greenfields Road & Pysons Road will serve Clements Road.
-
You can't, but I drove past it on the 26 January and it was installed then but wasn't a week or two before, now I am presuming the cabinet on the corner of Greenfields Road & Pysons Road will serve Clements Road.
oh okay lol i assumed there was a website for it :P
-
Mrs Ronski spotted engineer's working in our hub cabinet today, the one opposite Asda.
-
hopefully we can order soon then
-
I did an online chat yesterday and they sent me a link to fill out a form for an engineer to contact me and discuss what services I can have I told them my street was cabled but could not order on the site yet that's when they sent me the link also they said about an engineer to visit to look how they're going to get from the path to my house
ill let you know what happens once I have heard from them
-
@Broadstairs, your road is finally showing as scheduled for June.
Thanks for the heads up .... been away for 10 days which is why I had not replied.
Stuart
-
@Hornet156, be interesting to hear how you get on, might give that a go myself, although it's very easy to get from the path into my house, as long as they are happy using what I've installed.
@Broadstairs, I thought you must off been away, hope you had a nice break.
-
I'm not sure how they're going to do mine as my drive is all concrete
-
How are you guys covered for broadband at the moment? Is there a chance the uptake will be quite high?
VM will install the bare minimum of capacity and may be somewhat tardy about upgrading it, even though it'll be relatively easy to do so.
Ports cost money. Once the network is in the ground and live it moves to operational expenditure, and that particular purse string is tighter than a camel's sphincter in a sandstorm.
Incidentally do not order the Business 'Voom' service with a static IP address. VM cannot support this properly, know they cannot support it properly, but sell it anyway.
-
You seem to have changed you're tone a bit.
Speeds are not great on our estate, I'm just over 450 meters and get around 47/7, so I suspect uptake could be high.
I'm not going for a business package, wouldn't want to risk a 2 year contract, will most likely go 350/20 just for the faster upload.
-
You seem to have changed you're tone a bit.
Bitter experience. Eyes have been opened to the absurd reality of how disconnected the budget for Lightning and the operational budget are - see my BQM in the thread for that, or this:
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/_assets/speedtest/button/1522009013457481555.png)
350 has never been available here, even to businesses.
-
. . . see my BQM in the thread for that, or this:
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/_assets/speedtest/button/1522009013457481555.png)
Yuck. :yuck:
Is your service over a hybrid (fibre/co-axial) connection?
-
That is very bad, can't remember the history on your area, is it new?
Awaits comments from BS ;)
-
That is very bad, can't remember the history on your area, is it new?
Awaits comments from BS ;)
Ha ha ..... would I !! ;) ;D
-
My street became live in September of last year. The node itself was built the previous year. It's a part of the Lightning build.
It is hybrid, not FTTP, however that's not a limiting factor really. Per http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/GRE-tunnel-endpoint-IPs/m-p/3686545#M178648 there is plenty of capacity free on the RF network.
-
Perhaps you need to speak to BBC Watchdog, I'm sure they would love to know that VM are still carrying on in their old ways.
-
@Ignitionnet
I note the level of official response from Virgin Media to your posts. Is that typical?
-
Yes. The social media team respond but are no help. The escalation team are giving the mushroom treatment.
-
saw a guy in a virgin media hi-vis jacket today in my road (Clements road) opening the small grey cabinets writing something down then moving onto the next one sadly I was unable to go and ask if he knew how much longer I was looking to wait :(
-
saw a guy in a virgin media hi-vis jacket today in my road (Clements road) opening the small grey cabinets writing something down then moving onto the next one sadly I was unable to go and ask if he knew how much longer I was looking to wait :(
i saw him in the big grey box at the end of greenfield road
today looked like he was connecting wires in there
-
Just got back from ASDA and there are two VM Vans right by the two cabinets by the roundabout with a tent over one of the cabinets so work is afoot on there for someting.
Stuart
-
Two virgin media vans were outside my house at the small grey cab around 30 mins ago went out and caught one of them running some sort of test so asked when it was going live got told thats what they were doing so the service in my road is now live but gotta wait for the system to update and recognise that.
Also asked about up by Asda and he said a few of the roads connected to the big main cab should be live today but he didn't know which ones as he was working on the roads near me
-
It's all getting exciting ...... looking forward to seeing ronski's 12Mbps speeds, veeeery soon !! ;D ;D
-
Thanks for the updates.
BS. As long as that's the upload speed it will be a 50% improvement on what I have now :P
-
anything is better than this 36/6 I'm getting at the moment on this shoddy aluminium cable lol time to start an auto refresh add-on on the virgin media postcode checker lol
Also the guy I spoke to mentioned that they have a newish bigger package 350/20 but sadly didn't tell me if that was gonna be the case for my road
-
The package that is 350Mbps at 2am but slows to a crawl at peak times?
-
That is a chance we'll have to take, if it gets that bad I'll insist on being released from my contract.
-
Don't they offer a trial period? Good time to test it out while you have your current setup still working.
-
I am supposed to be on 80/20 but capped (again and have been for weeks) at 60 down by DLM and 20 up OK. Issue is that if I had a Huawei cab on G.INP on ECI my down would be running at over 70 which is what it was doing before they pulled G.INP. I notice that the latest available from BT is advertised around 50/20 which just goes to show how they feel about stuff nowadays.
Stuart
-
Lots of activity, the wife saw 5 vans opposite Asda, 2 more vans at another cabinet and theres one working on a cab on our estate at the moment.
Don't they offer a trial period? Good time to test it out while you have your current setup still working.
I believe they do, I think it used to be 30 days but was reduced to 14. If we do have problems it won't be straight away, it will take time to build up customer levels to the point of causing problems.
If VM is really bad then at least I should end up on a Huawei cab if I change back to FTTC.
-
Just been and had a chat in between the showers, he said they've been getting 4 areas ready today, and said we should be able to order soon. He'd spent quite a bit of time in Pysons Rd and opposite Asda today running checks. I'm sure he also mentioned that we should be able to order 350/20.
:fingers: that we don't suffer with congestion, BS will never let me forget the grass isn't always greener :sick:
-
I notice that the latest available from BT is advertised around 50/20 which just goes to show how they feel about stuff nowadays.
That speed will be based on the line speeds that are currently being observed. If/when DLM is rolled out expect the speeds advertised to increase after a few weeks
-
LOL ....... it wouldn't be constant ..... just a little dig every now and again. ;) ;D
Once you and Stuart are 'live', start a leafleting campaign to warn others off using VM's services ..... backhaul joy for ever. :)
-
I believe they do, I think it used to be 30 days but was reduced to 14. If we do have problems it won't be straight away, it will take time to build up customer levels to the point of causing problems.
In that case your bast ploy is NOT to be one of the first to take up the service. Encourage as many as possible in the area to take up the service so that when you do switch it is already well loaded. That way you should see a realistic experience of what it is like during your 14 day trial.
-
Nice idea, but I've absolutely no way of knowing how many people have taken up the service at any given point in time or what the load is, unless of course people come on here complaining its congested, I'll just take my chances ;D
-
To be honest that's my intention especially as I signed up with TT for 18 months and I'm not paying them a penny in exit fees. When my contract is up then and only then will I look to see if VM is a viable option.
However to be honest getting away from BTOR would be my intention. I have never been a fan of BT in all its guises and have had so many issues in the past which I am convinced were because they simply do not care about the end user and I have seen the way the company works from inside as well. The current system of copper cables should have been ditched many years ago, fibre has been around for years. I dont criticise the employees at black sheep's level as they have zero input to the corporate direction, but their senior management for sticking to outdated and outmoded infrastructure and not allowing the system to really provide a 21st century network.
Stuart
-
However to be honest getting away from BTOR would be my intention. I have never been a fan of BT in all its guises and have had so many issues in the past which I am convinced were because they simply do not care about the end user and I have seen the way the company works from inside as well. The current system of copper cables should have been ditched many years ago, fibre has been around for years. I dont criticise the employees at black sheep's level as they have zero input to the corporate direction, but their senior management for sticking to outdated and outmoded infrastructure and not allowing the system to really provide a 21st century network.
OT for this thread but I suspect the relative lack of fibre is more down to Ofcom regulation rather than BT's management.
-
All seems okay again here now. :fingers:
Back to nearly full speed... which is more than Openreach could ever deliver as I don't live inside the cabinet :P
-
That's good to hear :fingers:
-
Yes. I have no idea what was up but it was transitive and resolved rapidly.
I also can't be bothered with trying to find out. As long as it behaves itself it can stay.
Glares aggressively at Shitron router.
-
Hi all, normally post on Thinkbroadband forums, and not here.
We've just had the 200mb service installed at our office in Westgate on Sea. Not had a chance to test it just yet though! But thought this may be useful for other people in the area... once I've had some time to test I'll post some results.
I personally live near Monkton, so hoping the service will be run through this village in the near future (fingers crossed!)
-
Think something must have broke on the VM postcode checker when i put my postcode in it no longer shows my house number it was showing 113 to 135 now its showing 113 to 159 lol (Our postcode is different because we are in the flats) also if i check for example number 27 in my road it says they can order but if i chose "Can't find your address?" and choose 27 again it says not available in my area lol
It also shows that some houses in the road can order that have different postcodes to me
Been checking the surrounding roads and apparently Pysons road / Greenfield road can order now it says "part serviceable lightning" up to 200Mb
Rumfields road is showing able to order now also "part serviceable lightning" up to 200Mb
Curious how it works if we can only order 200Mb and then they bump it up to 300/350?
-
Sill showing not available to me :-(
@SlimJ will be interested hear how you get on. Did you have the option of 350?
@Supernoodles, perhaps they are just slow updating the database for the checker, perhaps give online chat a go.
-
@Supernoodles, perhaps they are just slow updating the database for the checker, perhaps give online chat a go.
Spoke to someone on the online chat earlier today and sadly they seem kinda clueless basically just asked me to fill out the cable my street form despite me telling them it went live yesterday lol
-
Curious how it works if we can only order 200Mb and then they bump it up to 300/350?
Just checked a property on Rumfields Rd and it shows "Part Servicable up to 200Mb", but underneath it shows all packages available right up to Vivid 350. I did notice that phone is not available, so thats probably what the "Part servicable" refers to.
It seems half the Wimpy estate is live, but not the half I'm in.
-
Just checked a property on Rumfields Rd and it shows "Part Servicable up to 200Mb", but underneath it shows all packages available right up to Vivid 350. I did notice that phone is not available, so thats probably what the "Part servicable" refers to.
It seems half the Wimpy estate is live, but not the half I'm in.
interesting when i checked it only showed me packages supporting up to 200Mb.
kinda hitting a brick wall in terms of the postcode checker just called their sales team and they can't seem to tell me why half of my road can order, but i can't and they can't tell me why my address is missing from the checker then decided to spout some nonsense to me about my address still being in the "planning" stage and that the service will be live within 3 to 18 months time despite the fact the engineer told me yesterday it was live I assume the call centre staff just don't have the correct information or something.
-
postcode checker appears to have been corrected it's now showing my house number again this morning still can't order sadly
Also I'm seeing that you can order 350 despite it saying 200 available now my page must have been cached yesterday
-
i can order today :) :) :)
-
i can order today :) :) :)
lucky for some :p I gotta try and look out for an engineer and find out why the other side of my road can order but my side can't lol
are you planning to order by phone or online? curious about the 350 package despite the website saying max atm is 200 that's all
-
i can order today :) :) :)
So can I ;D
Still only says up to 200Mb at the top in the green bit, but it shows the Vivid 350 package below as available. I think they just haven't updated the website code to reflect that 350 is available in some areas.
-
I'm still not sure what to go for ive been looking the 200 is good for me but they want £50 a month for the vivid 200 my mate in garlinge has it he only pays £44 hes been connected a week so I mite give them a call see if I can get it the same price
-
well now every house in Clements road can order just not the flats which I'm in :(
-
well now every house in Clements road can order just not the flats which I'm in :(
If you live in a flat they probably need permission from the freeholder to connect into the block.
Stuart
-
If you live in a flat they probably need permission from the freeholder to connect into the block.
Stuart
well the small black flaps are down outside and the building is east kent housing never needed permission for bt to drill any holes or anything and there's even a grey cabinet right outside =/
-
Hi All,
Have tried to read through as much as possible they released quite a bit yesterday but had a couple of last minute issues which are all sorted and released now - please check again!
If you have any concerns/questions please get in touch - I am obviously off for 4 days :cool: but in relation to flats we have to pre-wire the properties before you can order - yes we do have to have an agreement with the freeholder or ALL leaseholders. East Kent Housing I *think* we have an agreement with but they need to sign off on the route internally before you can order. I can ask internally about east kent housing and how we can go about getting this serviced for you.
BT probably didn't need permission from you but went straight to EKH (which generally we would do but its another team) :)
Thanks and have a fantastic easter!
CLOKent
-
Hi All,
Have tried to read through as much as possible they released quite a bit yesterday but had a couple of last minute issues which are all sorted and released now - please check again!
If you have any concerns/questions please get in touch - I am obviously off for 4 days :cool: but in relation to flats we have to pre-wire the properties before you can order - yes we do have to have an agreement with the freeholder or ALL leaseholders. East Kent Housing I *think* we have an agreement with but they need to sign off on the route internally before you can order. I can ask internally about east kent housing and how we can go about getting this serviced for you.
BT probably didn't need permission from you but went straight to EKH (which generally we would do but its another team) :)
Thanks and have a fantastic easter!
CLOKent
It would be great if you could find out for me as I'm very excited to get ordering if you need any information from me I'll happily provide it to you via pm or if there's a number I can call I'll gladly take it.
hopefully the process isn't too long winded seeing as my Plusnet contract ends soon
-
One thing I am intrigued about is how the contractors decide where to place the connector in the road outside each property. When they do my road in June it will be quite important to get this in the right place. There are a couple of issues, firstly we only have a gate and narrow path accessing our house but it also is concreted and beneath it runs the foul sewer, water supply pipes and the mains cabling as well, secondly our garden level is about 4 feet above the path level and we have a 5+ foot wall along our entire frontage apart form the gate & path. The final issue is getting into our house if we decide to sign up as our property is surrounded by concrete paths across the front and up both sides. The only way I see for getting a connection across our garden and to the house is to come up inside our garden wall and run along the wall which separates us from our neighbour, then over the side gate to get to the house exterior wall and run it along the wall and through at the correct place `to terminate inside. All of this means that to minimise their cable run the connector in the path needs to be at the complete other side of our property from the gate access.
Hence my interest in how they decide where to put these things.
Stuart
-
I am wondering how they're going to connect me as my drive is all concreated to the house will they have to dig up my drive ?? I suppose I'll find out on the 12th when they turn up to connect me
o yer I ordered the vivid 200 with install date as the 12th April
-
@Broadstairs.
I also required my Toby to be in the correct place, otherwise I would have had to get the cable under our front path. At some point somebody comes round and marks where the toby's will be installed, now from my observations if the houses are semi's or terraced then there is one toby per two properties usually placed at the dividing line. If it's a detached property they appear to get their own toby. I presume VM decide what goes where, at least thats what the installation contractors told us.
I was lucky my wife was home when they installed ours, she asked the contractor to put it where I wanted and he dually obliged :)
@hornet156, are they coming round beforehand or just going to turn up and decide then?
-
Not off to good start here, they just told me via online chat that it's not available and I should register my interest :no: :lol:
-
Not off to good start here, they just told me via online chat that it's not available and I should register my interest :no: :lol:
atleast you don't live in a flat lol it's gonna be a headache to get it up and running for me gave a number a call I found on a vm page about the wayleave agreement got them hopefully calling me back after the bank holiday but god knows how long the process is gonna be meanwhile I have to sit and watch neighbours get connected :'(
-
Yes that is annoying, hopefully they'll be able to sort it out quickly - perhaps CLOkent can help there.
I did have another chat session, they tried to tell me that Vivid 350 was not available even though the website says it is, also they wouldn't budge on price :no: so I'll leave it for a while.
-
Yes that is annoying, hopefully they'll be able to sort it out quickly - perhaps CLOkent can help there.
I did have another chat session, they tried to tell me that Vivid 350 was not available even though the website says it is, also they wouldn't budge on price :no: so I'll leave it for a while.
yeah hopefully someone can get it moving for me also seems odd the website would allow you to potentially order 350 if it's not supported maybe an oversight on their end.
-
My good God ..... this thread should be aired on TV every Mon, Wed and Fri at 1930.
Surely, it can't be long before one of you gets murdered by Pat ??!! I can't take it anymore ... ::) :wall: :wall:
-
They usually carpet bomb newly activated areas with sales reps right after they go live. They are more likely to have some kind of offer.
-
BS Stop watching East Ender's then :P :P :P
@john I'm sure they will.
-
I was going to say that BS will have this pleasure to come in the future but thinking about it he will probably be at least 250 years old before BT do FTTP for everyone ;) :lol:
Stuart
-
@Broadstairs. I think they're
I also required my Toby to be in the correct place, otherwise I would have had to get the cable under our front path. At some point somebody comes round and marks where the toby's will be installed, now from my observations if the houses are semi's or terraced then there is one toby per two properties usually placed at the dividing line. If it's a detached property they appear to get their own toby. I presume VM decide what goes where, at least that's what the installation contractors told us.
I was lucky my wife was home when they installed ours, she asked the contractor to put it where I wanted and he dually obliged :)
@hornet156, are they coming round beforehand or just going to turn up and decide then?
just turning up on the 12th to setup so I'm not sure if they do it there and then or will have to come back I mite give them a ring after the bank holiday just to clarify
-
I reckon that give it a few weeks after you've all been installed, Black Sheep will be roaming around Thanet with a jack hammer chopping through the fibre cables >:D :lol:
-
I was going to say that BS will have this pleasure to come in the future but thinking about it he will probably be at least 250 years old before BT do FTTP for everyone ;) :lol:
Stuart
Ironically enough, one of my colleagues who's been dealing with the VM works recently moved into a new house in December that is served by Openreach FTTP so he was happy.
-
I'd much rather have FTTP, but alas I can't and I also will probably be 250 years old by the time BTor roll it out here. My only option for a package with a decent upload is to go with VM.
-
Ha ha ........ enjoying the banter, guys. I was expecting a bigger bite from Stuart and Ron .... but the BH weekend must have a calming effect on them.
I'll succeed though ..... another time. ;) ;D
-
Ha ha ........ enjoying the banter, guys. I was expecting a bigger bite from Stuart and Ron .... but the BH weekend must have a calming effect on them.
I'll succeed though ..... another time. ;) ;D
:lol:
Stuart
-
I reckon that give it a few weeks after you've all been installed, Black Sheep will be roaming around Thanet with a jack hammer chopping through the fibre cables >:D :lol:
More likely to be raiding the chambers and cabinets to scavenge kit and try and save a few quid on Openreach's own FTTP deployments such as they are.
Every little helps.
-
Hi All,
Have tried to read through as much as possible they released quite a bit yesterday but had a couple of last minute issues which are all sorted and released now - please check again!
If you have any concerns/questions please get in touch - I am obviously off for 4 days :cool: but in relation to flats we have to pre-wire the properties before you can order - yes we do have to have an agreement with the freeholder or ALL leaseholders. East Kent Housing I *think* we have an agreement with but they need to sign off on the route internally before you can order. I can ask internally about east kent housing and how we can go about getting this serviced for you.
BT probably didn't need permission from you but went straight to EKH (which generally we would do but its another team) :)
Thanks and have a fantastic easter!
CLOKent
Also in terms of "pre-wiring" would that mean every flat in the block would need to be wired just so i can order or would there be an occasion where literally just i would get cabled? the small black flap things are right outside my window about 3 meters away and there are four lots of two total for my block i assume only two because you do not supply above the first floor because of health and safety as ive been told?
But as an example ive made a picture
red = cables laid
grey = cabinet
back = small flaps
orange = my flat
blue = an example of how easy it is to cable me
https://i.imgur.com/GfoX7R0.png
-
Won't that cause problems if they have installed the cable in through the rear windscreen of the blue VW? :silly:
-
Only when the rear wiper is turned on. :D
-
Only when the rear wiper is turned on. :D
Won't that cause problems if they have installed the cable in through the rear windscreen of the blue VW? :silly:
:D
I also noticed that none of the other flats in the road have the small black flap things :hmm:
-
Well for the first time today the postcode checker came up with a totally different page to normal, just said "we're pretty sure we can provide your perfect media package we just need some more info" then had to fill out a short form and at the end said I'll be contacted within 5 working days, hopefully I can order then too :-D
-
Ha ha ........ enjoying the banter, guys.
I'll succeed though ..... another time. ;) ;D
Nice to see it is just banter and no need for me to use this :troll: . Oops I just did :D
Had to laugh at the rear wiper comment on the VW :lol:
@Ignition - Glad you got yours sorted and its now usable again :)
-
I've been away over the weekend, had half expected some VM blurb through the letter box over the weekend, but we didn't get any.
PS Surely BS wouldn't be trolling the VM thread would he :lol:
-
well 2 guys turned up this morning to run the cable from the street to my house I would suggest if you are going to get this installed I would find out when they are coming to do it so you can direct them to where you would like the box fixed to your house they fitted mine b4 i realized how ugly the box is if they hadn't already put the block paving back I would have had them move it but its done now
I don't think the wife will be happy when she gets in as its right in the middle of the front of my house
also, they broke a few of the block paving but I've just taken it back up and laid new ones
if you want your cable run a certain way I would suggest your phone to find out when they are coming as they just showed up today without any notice
-
Thanks for the heads up, I'll need to be home when they do mine or they will make a right mess of it I expect. I've not ordered yet, good job as I can't get time off from work for a couple of weeks.
Could you post a photo, so I can see what the box looks like?
-
Well still not any closer to getting my issue resolved atm ive had to put an email through to east kent housing for a wayleave agreement god knows if they will ever get back to me hopefully they do :|
Honestly the woman on the other end of the phone didn't have a clue what a wayleave agreement was and just said virigin could install what they want but of course virgin need it in writing also for legal reasons
Hopefully CLOKent can help if they can't figure out what i need or decide to be awkward about it.
-
here you go i wish i had seen b4 they had finished i would have had them put it right over to right hand side by the downpipe
ignore the black cables there the sky ones they will be going once the virgin is set up
[attachment deleted by admin]
-
If you wished to disguise/hide it, could you not get some patterned sticker/wrap to place over it?
If it's really bothering you then do you want to swap house :D :lol:
-
If it's really bothering you then do you want to swap house :D :lol:
I'll gladly let him move into my flat where its becoming a nightmare to get cabled :P
-
If you wished to disguise/hide it, could you not get some patterned sticker/wrap to place over it?
I'm sure BS could supply you with some nice OpenReach stickers to put over it!
-
:thumbs:
-
Thanks Hornet, luckily it won't be seen on my house. The vinyl wrap would be a good way to disguise it.
-
I've a dialogue open with some senior people in VM regarding the issues here since the area was made live.
Hopefully help ensure they aren't repeated.
-
Bitter experience. Eyes have been opened to the absurd reality of how disconnected the budget for Lightning and the operational budget are - see my BQM in the thread for that, or this:
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/_assets/speedtest/button/1522009013457481555.png)
350 has never been available here, even to businesses.
is that new ASA guideline still planned? which I thought was changing VMs approach to capacity?
-
hornet156, I have had Virgin broadband at my home, which I won't comment on, but the Virgin wiring and box I have still left in place in case I ever did wanted to go back to them - unlikely. When I originally ordered the Virgin broadband a few years ago, I installed my own duct ( water pipe ) in the garden that went to a dummy drain installed in the path going in front of my house, and insisted at the time of the order that Virgin used my duct when the line was being installed. As a result of my forward planning, no digging was required on the installation day, and I was not left with wires going across the surface of my new path. I would suggest in your case that you leave the previous phone line wiring in place, as in future if you did want to move from Virgin, the installation work for the new provider would be easy for you.
-
Well the deed is done, got a couple of phone calls from VM tonight, come the 28 April I'm moving to the dark side ( :P :P :P) on 350/20. They did have earlier install dates but that suites me better.
Thanks to Hornet156 I also made sure that they were fully aware that I need to be here when they do the external install, so they are supposed to ring me to arrange that. Just as a heads up for anyone else they book an install date (Tuesday to Saturdays), but what they don't explain is that there is actually an external install and an internal install, the date they book is for the internal install, as Hornet156 found out they just turn up whenever to do the external install, which is really not on as I expect a lot of people want the cable to come in a specific place, or routed around their garden a certain way.
Virgin does a refer a friend deal, where each person gets £50 off their bill. So if anyone is interested I'll donate half to Kitz once it comes off my bill.
After the 28 it will be good bye substandard ECI and hello.......................... :fingers: :fingers: :fingers:
-
Good luck Ronski :fingers:
Virgin does a refer a friend deal, where each person gets £50 off their bill. So if anyone is interested I'll donate half to Kitz once it comes off my bill.
Thank you, that is very kind of you to offer :)
-
Thanks Kitz, hopefully they won't live up to their reputation and everything will go smoothly and work as it should.
-
Thanks Kitz, hopefully they won't live up to their reputation and everything will go smoothly and work as it should.
Noooooo, don't leave us just yet, it's too soon ... I haven't prepared a speech or anything !! :'( :'(
What if .... pssst ..... I was to offer you a free bucket of G.INP and your own personal Vector Card, would you please consider staying ??
I can almost hear you swearing at me from here ;) ;D.
Good luck with VM ... and I suppose shortly after the 28th, apart from the fully expected speedtest screen-shots for a couple of weeks, we won't be hearing from you again as you will have found utopia.
It's been a pleasure. :)
-
Noooooo, don't leave us just yet, it's too soon ... I haven't prepared a speech or anything !! :'( :'(
LOL :lol: :lol: :lol:
What if .... pssst ..... I was to offer you a free bucket of G.INP and your own personal Vector Card, would you please consider staying ??
I can almost hear you swearing at me from here ;) ;D.
If you added some 0.9mm copper all the way back to the cabinet as well then I'd stay, even some 0.5mm copper would probably suffice, oh and you'd have to give everyone on the cabinet vectoring to make it worthwhile - there is a Huawei cab to give you a head start, you've got 14 days ;D
Good luck with VM ... and I suppose shortly after the 28th, apart from the fully expected speedtest screen-shots for a couple of weeks, we won't be hearing from you again as you will have found utopia.
It's been a pleasure. :)
Thanks, I'll still be around, if just to post the screen-shots, best make sure I've got some of my current FTTC screen-shots for comparison :P
Here's one for good measure
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/_assets/speedtest/button/1522957595258084055.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/results.html?test=1522957595258084055)
Current sync speeds are 42/7.4Mbps come the 28 it should be around 380/22, might even manage 422/51 ;)
-
Ha ha, touche !! ;D
-
Dont worry ronski, as long as you have a billion threads you can get full speed on VM. :D
-
My speeds already decreased and I'm not even connected yet ::) ::) Just had phone call saying Vivid 350 isn't available.
I noticed earlier this week that the website sometimes said Vivid 350 wasn't available, other times it was.
-
Is that the one you really want or not happy with their 200mbit service? Still circa 4x higher max burst speed than your vdsl.
-
It's the upload speed I really want to improve, hence wanting Vivid 350 which has 20Mbps upload, Vivid 200 only has 12Mbps. Still better than my current 7Mbps.
Of course the extra download speed will be nice to.
-
So whats the status, is the entire order on hold or you going ahead with 200 and plan to upgrade when 350 comes online?
-
Going ahead with 200, and if they don't upgrade upload speeds (been rumoured for along time, so won't count on it) then I'll upgrade to 350 when available.
-
I should mention 350 is now available in my area. For whatever reason what seemed like congestion was a transitive thing. As can be seen from my BQM things are fairly well behaved now.
I'm okay with running this contract down until we move to somewhere with awful 'shared, asymmetrical fibre'.
-
I'm all setup now tv seems to be ok not really watched it much yet
bit of an issue with the fiber but that is my issue not virgin as I use power adapters and only seem to be getting around 50-60 down and 12up hard-wired to my pc using the powerline but I have checked on my phone and I'm getting around 175 down and 12up
I'm going to get a wifi card for my pc over the weekend so ill let you know how I get on
-
That's good, glad it went well (so far), got a while to go for mine, just hope they phone when they come to install the outside stuff.
When they did the outside work did they install the fibre to the house then or just ducting?
-
they installed it then the guy today just installed a little white box on my wall then the cables from that to the tv box and modem
also, you need 3 plug sockets 1 each for the tv and router and one that powers the little white box on the wall
-
Thanks Hornet156, had forget the media converter would need power as well as the hub, running a little short of sockets in my server room. Best I sort that out before install day.
-
I know this is completely OT, but hopefully it will amuse you. A town not far from me is having VM, but is full of crusties like this one (http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/16150773.Resident_writes_to_Sir_Richard_Branson_after__appalling__Virgin_Media_work/).
-
I know this is completely OT, but hopefully it will amuse you. A town not far from me is having VM, but is full of crusties like this one.
Well there are quite a lot of people here who are fed up with the appalling mess they make while they are doing the work and feel the same about the state of the footpaths after it is finished. Paved paths are simply filled in with tarmac not re-instated and grass verges are left muddy with no grass left. I know this work is intrusive and certainly some of the contractors have been accommodating in allowing access but by no means all, but the paths are NOT being re-instated as they were before and to my mind they should have been. If it's paved then re-pave it, if it's tarmac then use the same colour tarmac (not all our pavements are black tarmac) and if it's concrete then re-concrete. They really should leave it so their work is almost invisible.
Stuart
-
Though my suspicions are that he expects absolute perfect reinstatement. Unblemished pavements are not frequent and I'm sure you would not expect that.
That town wants to hold back the future. They are fighting a merger with Bournemouth and Poole, approved by Govt, and ridiculously tried to move from Dorset to Hampshire. And to write to Branson suggests more out of touchness with the world.
I wouldn't think Thanet is like that.
End of thread interruption.
-
I know this is completely OT, but hopefully it will amuse you. A town not far from me is having VM, but is full of crusties like this one (http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/16150773.Resident_writes_to_Sir_Richard_Branson_after__appalling__Virgin_Media_work/).
I just had to pinch this and share elsewhere.
-
Well there are quite a lot of people here who are fed up with the appalling mess they make while they are doing the work and feel the same about the state of the footpaths after it is finished. Paved paths are simply filled in with tarmac not re-instated and grass verges are left muddy with no grass left. I know this work is intrusive and certainly some of the contractors have been accommodating in allowing access but by no means all, but the paths are NOT being re-instated as they were before and to my mind they should have been. If it's paved then re-pave it, if it's tarmac then use the same colour tarmac (not all our pavements are black tarmac) and if it's concrete then re-concrete. They really should leave it so their work is almost invisible.
Stuart
***WARNING non-directed rant incoming***
The national requirement for utilities is that they re-instate where they have worked (the trench/excavation only) with like for like material. Tarmac for tarmac, slabs for slabs, brick sets for brick sets etc.. Tarmac fades overtime from the normal dark black to a grey black colour and there is nothing that can be done to stop this. Once any new tarmac reinstatement is carried out it WILL stand out as it's fresh. The trench lines are often not dead straight as the utilities have to work around other apparatus beneath the surface. There are standards that need to be accounted for with any reinstatement and if they aren't to specification then they will be defected by a highway authority accordingly.
Other materials can be used with agreement of the local highway authority. Some highway authorities replace damaged slabs with tarmac as it's a more flexible and easier material to maintain. This can also be extended out to a utility in a similar fashion, damaged/cracked slabs replaced with tarmac. Obviously if undamaged slabs are being removed/cut through then this is also an issue that is taken up with by the highway authorities and can be defected against a reinstatement.
Grassed verges/areas should normally be cleared of any debris (stone/chippings etc..) and levelled before they are seeded to allow the grass to re-grow. Weather is an obvious factor for delaying or disrupting this process. It's a misconception that utilities have to instantly re-turf grassed areas and I've never known this to have happened once. If a grassed area is not dealt with (even if the weather is not an impacting factor) then it can be defected and dealt with in normal process of dealing with utility defects.
It doesn't help that some people complain of muddy verges because of utility works and yet right next to the site there are people parking their cars on the verge, or over running the verges/footway to illegally access off road parking without a proper vehicle crossing. Also, if there are muddy verges, TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES before you walk into your house. How is it a third parties fault that you walk mud into your house when normal people would take of their shoes!!
***Rant over***
:D
-
I know this is completely OT, but hopefully it will amuse you. A town not far from me is having VM, but is full of crusties like this one (http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/16150773.Resident_writes_to_Sir_Richard_Branson_after__appalling__Virgin_Media_work/).
Don't worry, there are war zones all over VM sites. Here's a recent example in Ashford:
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/weve-been-blitzed-by-broadband-117114/
-
Though my suspicions are that he expects absolute perfect reinstatement. Unblemished pavements are not frequent and I'm sure you would not expect that.
That town wants to hold back the future. They are fighting a merger with Bournemouth and Poole, approved by Govt, and ridiculously tried to move from Dorset to Hampshire. And to write to Branson suggests more out of touchness with the world.
I wouldn't think Thanet is like that.
End of thread interruption.
Highway authorities can create Section 58 restrictions to help protect streets.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/22/section/58
Section 58 restrictions protect streets following the completion of substantial works and prevent the new works from being excavated by other works promoters or for successive works to take place in the same location.
This protection would legally prevent future planned works from taking place for a pre-determined time once the works have been completed.
Different periods of restriction apply depending on the type of work completed and the reinstatement category of that street. These can range from six months to five years.
Section 58 restrictions are often only found where a carriageway or footway have been fully resurfaced or reconstructed and do not prevent emergency or urgent works from being carried out. Even new individual customer connection works can be carried out with a S58 in place.
-
It just goes to show how out of touch with reality they are if comparing to a war zone, perhaps they should go to Syria to see just how bad it is.
Yes it would be nice if the paths were totally resurfaced, or even if they just followed along the kerb, but I guess it's not practical.
Funny enough whilst out just now I said to my wife/daughters that it would be nice if the trench was dug adjacent to the kerb, but one of them replied they have to go around whatever is already in the ground.
-
They could be a Street Works inspector yet ;)
-
There are no doubt people who simply think this is too inconvenience caused by this work which is likely to not have a huge take up. Also if BT allowed their ducts to take the fibre things would not need so much work to be done to provide fibre in the first place, the final part could be done via the poles, and this I believe is being done in some areas although it's BT doing it. Since the vast majority of the infrastructure was done prior to privatisation it should be publicly owned and available to all!
Stuart
-
The DPA (duct and pole access) that has been in place for a number of years hasn't really been taken up by any of the other big players. I understand that a simplified process was trialled in 2016 but I don't believe that any of the big communications companies took part (again).
Access to other operators ducts/poles doesn't avoid the need for civil works to clear blocked ducts or carry out maintenance.
The fact that telecoms companies have existing powers under the Electronic Communications Code (https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/information-for-industry/policy/electronic-comm-code - further reformed by the Digital Economy Act 2017 - http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2017/30/part/2/enacted ) also doesn't stop new/independent networks being rolled out.
-
@Broadstairs Poles and ducts would be no good on our estate, there isn't any. Even if there were ducts they'd still need to break out at each property anyway.
I really don't think the works have been much of an issue. We can look forward to it again in a few decades when BT finally gets around to putting fibre in.
-
Don't worry, there are war zones all over VM sites. Here's a recent example in Ashford:
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/ashford/news/weve-been-blitzed-by-broadband-117114/
I see the Kent-on-line photographer went to the same college as that of the Bournemouth Echo, whence my article came.
Instructions. Angry citizens must be photoed with folded arms and stern look, ::) ;D
-
There are no doubt people who simply think this is too inconvenience caused by this work which is likely to not have a huge take up. Also if BT allowed their ducts to take the fibre things would not need so much work to be done to provide fibre in the first place, the final part could be done via the poles, and this I believe is being done in some areas although it's BT doing it. Since the vast majority of the infrastructure was done prior to privatisation it should be publicly owned and available to all!
Stuart
As Zico points out, access to our ducts has been available for years now ..... nobody wants to play though.
Another posting by Zico, also confirms a change in working practices regarding reinstatements as imposed by our local councils.
I'm struggling to put a time-frame on it, but lets say it was probably over a decade ago that if we put in for 'a dig' to be done by our contractors, we had to make damned sure we were certain it was a) needed and, b) in the correct location ..... as the reinstatement wouldn't be just a 3x3ft patch of tarmac, it would be for tens of metres.
As mentioned in Zico's link, woe betide if there was a secondary fault on the same circuit ..... as we couldn't have it dug up again for at least 6 months !!
As with all things, this lasted for about a year ..... the back to BAU. :)
-
With regards to DPA, it's not like Openreach are entirely to blame for the almost non-existent take up of access. Trying to get the reverse is next to impossible. Trying to get two utilities to even share road space when carrying out works is a pain in the rear. There are plenty of issues such as who accepts responsibility or liability for a whole host of outcomes that tends to be a constant block in sharing things.
With regards to reinstatements, It's before my time if it was more than a decade ago, but there is nothing to stop a whole trench line being taken up and redone in present times if it fails coring tests (though if you're talking a really long length then it's likely multiple cores would be taken at various points to establish just how much of a reinstatement may have failed/passed inspection). I know of at least one job that required several hundred metres of trench redone because of the re-bar not being installed correctly within a concrete road. That cost a penny or two. I know of one job now that's being carried out that's costing up to half a million to perform a permanent reinstatement :o.
I've not known a Section 58 stop any fault works from taking place for obvious reasons. I do know of a few examples though of where the utility has been made to carry out full width reinstatement though due to the area having recently (sometimes hours before) been re-surfaced. Sometimes it's just unlucky that things happen where they do :D.
-
VM really haven't helped themselves with some of the decisions made over the Lightning project, though I think they're changing that now - just note the areas that have been deemed overbudget where previously they were happy to spend insane amounts per premises.
Case in point here - they did full width reinstatement on a 150m stretch in order to complete secondary fibre route for a pair of MSANs and built in kilometres of block paving. The recently announced / reannounced Rothwell build - to get there from Leeds required going through another suburb, Robin Hood. Getting to Robin Hood required about 4km of narrow trenching after the original plans, a roughly 1km trench, fell through.
It's going to border on miraculous getting the project finished on time and within budget, however I'm aware of what happens either way if those aren't met.
-
Isnt this often the case?
Early in a rollout you fare better as at that stage things are experimental and purse strings are looser.
At some point the accountants do an audit of spending and things get reigned in, meaning latter part of rollout things might not work out as well.
I remember countless VM trials where people were overjoyed with great performance, probably due to out of budget capacity been supplied, but then post trial the accountants do the maths and actual rollout things were not as good, so many of those stories on cableforum from years ago.
BT similar I suppose with the g.fast fiasco, in trial was done from poles, then actual rollout from cabinets at least until further notice..
-
Yup. The amounts BT spent on their FTTP trials were pretty unpleasant too. Unpleasant enough to cause them to cancel virtually all of the commercial FTTP deployment in favour of FTTC :)
-
I now have a lit fibre attached to my house ;D
I had asked VM to make sure I was notified when my external install was being carried out, and also that the engineer was to ring me prior to installation, as I guessed they didn't inform him or me!
Luckily I had the foresight to print a note and put it in the Toby, once he found it he phoned me, but he had already attached the box to the porch!
He was quite happy to wait the 20 minutes it took me to get home, he then proceeded to install it where I wanted it and was more than happy that I'd already dug a narrow trench across the garden. I hadn't dug any holes on the path side of the hedge as it would of been dangerous, all he did there was basically slit the earth with a shovel and poke the cable in - he did this bit before I got home. He'd also drilled a hole through the Toby into a hole the other side of path. The tube looks to be 8mm in diameter and is simply joined to the one in the Toby by what effectively looks like a push fit fitting.
He had a small compressor and blew the fibre back to the cabinet. They have rolls of fibre that come in set lengths, can't remember the exact lengths but they go up in 25m lengths to either 200m or 300m then go up in 50 meter increments, hence why there is quite a bit of fibre wrapped around the inside of the box - which is huge, I'm really glad its not on the porch.
The box is rather crooked, so I'll straighten that up at the weekend, and fill the three screw holes in the porch.
PS The large expanse of soil by the door is where I've dug down to take a look at the porch foundations as it's been slowly sinking, mainly due to the cowboys that filled the hole where the drains went in with bricks, block paviors and anything else they could find then just put a slab over top.
-
It never quite works out when you ask for a call to be ready/at home for a lot of things but good thinking on the note in the Toby point :drink:.
-
The gubbins shown in Pic 2.jpg is the media converter for optical <---> RF, I believe. It looks as if the optical connector is SC/PC but I can't be sure.
-
Yes it is the media converter, I can get some more pics at the weekend if you want, but here's a link to the datasheet.
https://vectortechnologies.com/products/boostral-611/
-
Thank you. Pictures are always appreciated. ;)
-
My VM installation will be coax from the nearest box. I too have dig a trench to make it obvious where the cable should go if they should turn up unannounced. >:D
-
well I've run my flat ethernet cable from my router to my pc I bought a 30m one think a 25m would have been fine I'm now getting around 175 down and 12 up although I just checked it right now and I'm only getting around 35down on my pc and 107 on my phone with wifi so not sure whats going on there
ronski when is your engineer date ?? will be interesting to see what speeds you get as we are in the same area
-
Hi Hornet156, I've got to wait until next Saturday for my install.
I walked through the estate to the Harvester last night and didn't notice any other VM installs.
-
Tidied up my external install today, the fibre was only about 4" below the grass out the front of the house so I dug that down deeper except for where it comes through from the Toby. I also adjusted the box on the wall so it's straight and tidied up the excess fibre as two bits were pulled quite tight diagonally across the coil. Just need to remove my 4 way socket and install a 6 way socket where my networking gear is to allow for the additional two plugs.
-
BC It looks like that connector is a SC/PC connector.
-
BC It looks like that connector is a SC/PC connector.
Many thanks for the latest set of pictures.
It definitely is an SC/APC connector. The size and shape is SC and the green colour of an SC connector indicates APC.
Not only that but the label shown in Pic2.jpg states "SC/APC - LC/APC", the length (150 Metres) and the manufacturing tolerances measured from the end with the LC/APC connector. :)
-
Curious! What is Toby? :)
-
It's the connection point in the footway outside of the property.
The first photo in Ronski's post here:
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg370591.html#msg370591
-
Thank you! I presume Toby is a mnemonic for something?
-
Hey everyone,
So whenever I use the postcode checker I get the page that I've attached, it states I'll be contacted to discuss my options, the trouble is over the past 3 weeks I have filled this form out 3 times and haven't had a call or anything so I attempted to call them and got through to a helpful chap who said he'll speak to the cabling team and call me back within 24-48hours that was on Wednesday the 11th much more than 48 hours so now I'm at a loss as I know the cabinet is live as it is the one opposite KFC/Harvester and I can see it from my window.
Did anyone else get this screen first and if so what next steps did you take to bypass it?
Cheers for any help.
-
Hi CharTang,
I think the answer is below, presuming I'm correct and your in a flat, I'd suggest sending CLOKent a PM
If you have any concerns/questions please get in touch - I am obviously off for 4 days :cool: but in relation to flats we have to pre-wire the properties before you can order - yes we do have to have an agreement with the freeholder or ALL leaseholders.
-
Nice thanks ronski, yeah in a flat will send a message, to be fair CLOkent has been the most useful person throughout these works imo.
-
Nice thanks ronski, yeah in a flat will send a message, to be fair CLOkent has been the most useful person throughout these works imo.
If your flat has anything to do with TDC or Eask Kent Housing i wish you good luck.. i sent them an email at the start of the month and have heard nothing.
Called in today spoke to someone at EKH and TDC both sent me to the other and nobody had a clue what i was asking for =/ guess ill never get installed.
-
Had confirmation today that i wont be getting installed unless East Kent Housing reply to the wayleave team and that could take up to 6 months or longer kinda sucks watching your neighbours get installed and you cant lol :(
-
That's really annoying, have you managed to track anyone down at East Kent Housing and bend their ear?
-
I was scheduled for PM install, but got a phone call mid morning asking if he could come early, which was fine by me.
We run the coax in exactly where I wanted it, although there is some excess internally, only problem with coax is it's not very flexible and you mustn't bend it too tightly. I didn't let him fix anything to the wall internally, I wanted to keep it as tidy as possible, so for him it was a nice quick job. Apart from what's seen in the attached photo's there is no other coax visible, I have trunking that runs around the room for all the other cables, so the coax is in this, then goes through a plastic pipe (actually 15mm plastic plumbing pipe) I installed years ago, which exits near the external box.
Picture 1 shows a 15dB wideband attenuator attached to the Hub 3, apparently used to reduce the power level, not a problem in my situation but these do stick out quite a bit, and then you have stiff coax.
Picture 2 shows the power injector.
Picture 3 shows the case that the power injector is mounted in screwed to the wall. Top left cable goes to the hub, bottom left is power in via coax from the plug in transformer, the coax feed in can't be seen but it is basically top right.
PS. Glad I haven't got Virgin TV, I hate the thought of having to put further coax around the house.
-
Pictures of external cabling, although I do need to pick up a cable cover for where it enters the house, would like a grey one but can't seem to find one, so may have be white.
-
And especially for Blacksheep :P
PlusNet FTTC
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F7266071619.png&hash=a81fa6c107edff96db5c6929ac7f89ac5d145b95) (http://www.speedtest.net/result/7266071619)
Virgin Media
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F7265994850.png&hash=f50a16edf689c588eb03b367872fa0c67dc81c90) (http://www.speedtest.net/result/7265994850)
This one is actually both connections, so don't let the PlusNet bit throw you.
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F7265989793.png&hash=5beec7e6cec873389a471898e324f776f9659e6b) (http://www.speedtest.net/result/7265989793)
Had some issues getting things working with PFsense, but seems to be sorted now, mainly to do with load balancing/DNS, but I've turned off the FTTC connection anyway as I want to see how things go with Virgin.
TBB Ping monitor doesn't look very nice, ignore the red drop outs, that's just me playing about with things.
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/thumb/94651743799f3513009133454ab33439a7dbcec7-28-04-2018.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/94651743799f3513009133454ab33439a7dbcec7-28-04-2018)
-
That's really annoying, have you managed to track anyone down at East Kent Housing and bend their ear?
Sadly anyone i talk to there has no clue what im asking for they basically just say "we dont care do what you want" but thats not good enough for virgin they need the wayleave agreement from them and sadly EKH is useless and don't even know what one is
-
Only thing I could suggest is perhaps a visit or phone call to their head office in Aylesham (https://goo.gl/maps/RAANCoG66z82), someone there must know what a way-leave is.
-
Perhaps asking/writing to the EKH legal team/dept. would be better than just trying the normal contact methods. Because a Wayleave is a legal agreement, it would have to be dealt with by the appropriate people acting on behalf of EKH.
-
Thank you for the latest set of images.
So you still do not have native FTTP . . . the fibre is terminated outside the premises and the media converter feeds an RF signal along the co-axial cable to the internal CPE. So close but not quite there! :P
Ideally I would have liked to have seen the fibre brought right into your server room and connected to a media converter with a Gigabit Ethernet socket.
-
Ideally I would have liked to have seen the fibre brought right into your server room and connected to a media converter with a Gigabit Ethernet socket.
So would I, but I guess they do it that way so they only need one type of modem/router. I'm sure the 10 meters or so of RG59 coax is well up to the job in hand :P
Edited to add, they also need coax for their TV boxes as well, which seems so antiquated!
-
speeds staying stable ronski?
the graph I expect is due to what looks like you have the puma modem.
-
Looks very nice to me Ronski and how much does it cost per month and when can I get it ?
-
Speeds certainly seem to be, done speed tests at various times last night and all was well. Yes I suspect it is the Puma problem, which luckily won't affect us for what we use it for.
The Hub 3 really is basic, also in router mode you can see the channels it's using but in modem mode you can't.
Cost is currently £37 a month, I did want Vivid 350 for the faster upload but its not available yet.
-
You can get information from the Hub in modem mode - try http://192.168.100.1 and don't log in - there should be something in the top right if I recall to get modem stats from.
-
Thanks, yes there is, "Check router Status" it's in the middle underneath the login, actually pretty good idea to put it there, saves logging in.
-
Sorry only just seen this thread as I've been distracted with other things.
Congrats on finally getting there. :yay: :dance: :clap:
-
Thanks Kitz.
-
Indeed. You're in a good place both for DOCSIS 3.1 and EPON if they ever get around to actually rolling it out!
-
Talking to someone who lives in Stone Gardens today it transpires that VM managed to cut the BT underground cable a couple of weeks ago while doing their thing in that cul-de-sac. They were without landlines and internet for nearly 24 hours because BT could not/would not come out till the next day to repair it. Several very unhappy bunnies in that road!
Stuart
-
A few years back the gas board cut through about 200 lines near the exchange in Sandwich, that took a long time to fix, at least the broadband still worked.
-
Cancelled our Plusnet phone and broadband this morning, bit sad as I've been a customer for around 15 years.
Also upgraded to Vivid 350, CLOKent managed to get things sorted so it's now available ;D
Finally a decent upload, oh and faster than 98% of the UK ;D
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F7284509915.png&hash=3154fc8253812421ae869136ec1ab3ed8cb7481b) (http://www.speedtest.net/result/7284509915)
Speeds seem very stable at peak times (so far) - see attached
-
Cancelled our Plusnet phone and broadband this morning, bit sad as I've been a customer for around 15 years.
Also upgraded to Vivid 350, CLOKent managed to get things sorted so it's now available ;D
Finally a decent upload, oh and faster than 98% of the UK ;D
(https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.speedtest.net%2Fresult%2F7284509915.png&hash=3154fc8253812421ae869136ec1ab3ed8cb7481b) (http://www.speedtest.net/result/7284509915)
Speeds seem very stable at peak times (so far) - see attached
such a beautiful sight almost makes me wanna cry lol
i need some of that CLOKent loving
-
@supernoodles have you tried speaking to EK Housings legal department or head office?
-
@supernoodles have you tried speaking to EK Housings legal department or head office?
Sadly not yet have been busy the last week will try to see what i can do tuesday
-
Cancelled our Plusnet phone and broadband this morning, bit sad as I've been a customer for around 15 years.
We have been with BT for over 40 years. They did contact me about staying, but when I mentioned being 3k from the DSLAM and switching to VM, the guy accepted that BT could not compete on product speed.
-
Same here, although only 450 meters roughly, BTor copper/ally cables just can't compete speed wise, PN never once even asked me to stay. If I could get 80/20 I would of stayed.
-
Wow thats an awesome speed Ronski! :)
Can you feel the speed change?
I know when I happen to get interleaving taken off this line (happens about once a year) I feel the quickness in that extra 10MB.
-
Can't say I've really noticed, I use Firefox ESR with grouped tabs and dozens of pages/tabs/groups open which even with a very powerful PC it seems to get sluggish, Chrome is very responsive though.
It's the upload speed that really helps though (cloud backup etc), and the only reason I went for a package with such a high download.
-
Bowden its more likely the lower latency is adding snappiness in your case.
Where it will really help ronski is things like steam downloads and PSN that type of stuff. Plus the fact he never needs to worry about DLM again.
-
DLM whats that ;) :P
-
Ronski what are you doing about a landline now? I suspect my other half will not do without one if I want to swap over.
BTW I am around 3-400 metres from my cabinet and get a full 20 meg upload speed so I am wondering what hit your upload speeds on VDSL?
Stuart
-
Doing away with it completely. I've gradually weaned the wife off the land line, we've had mobiles for years with inclusive minutes (me & the wife, the kids are both PAYG but £10 last 3 months +), and for all four of us the cost is not much more than BT's line rental per month. Only person that ever rings the land line is the mother-in-law and so she can ring our mobiles instead - not sure what call allowance she gets on her LL/Mobile though.
Only potential problem I can see is when the wife needs to get hold of the doctors she has to use ring back (constantly engaged), which is not available on mobiles - she'll have to just keep trying. If it does become an issue then I can get a line from Virgin, it's only £2 a month, but I'd rather not as the cost is already more with Virgin.
As for my VDSL speeds they've never been great, used to get 12Mbps upload but gradually its dropped away. Download has fluctuated up and down, been as low as 38 and very briefly around 60Mpbs when first installed, but was generally around the mid 40's. BS checked out the route my cable takes and it's length, which was 450m plus a bit from the last JB into the house, so 450 - 500m. But he couldn't see what the cable make up was, but highly suspect its is or has ally in it. Oh and being on ECI cab means that holds it back, prior to VM announcing their installation I was planning to get a new line installed, which would have been on the twin Huawei cab (hopefully) installed last year.
-
Reference the mother in law, why don't you get a free SIPGATE VOIP line, which will be a standard land line number. Unfortunately Sipgate does not provide ring back facility. But to be honest I never used the facility, because I found the standard redial facility on the phone was more effective when I used to have to do that with my doctor's surgery. Thankfully, my doctor now has a 10.00 walk in surgery which is much better.
Incidentally I use a GRANDSTREAM 502 ATA box for some of my Sipgate lines. Sipgate call charges are very low if you did ever want to use it for outgoing calls......
-
Thanks for the heads up Benji09, I'll see how we get on.
-
Thought I'd share this.
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest/1525644287792848255
-
It's interesting that at 150 times slower speeds they call my DSL links broadband. The difference is far far greater than when I changed from 50kbps dialup to 0.5Mbps ADSL in 2004.
-
@Ignitionnet are you having issues again?
@weaver I'm sure yours will evolve one day, just hope you don't have to wait much longer.
-
The problem is, with nearly 400 Mbps what on earth would I do for a router, I would need to upgrade to an FB2900 as I doubt the FB2700 could quite hack it as they don't claim any more than 350 Mbps throughput. (Although I don't know under what conditions they mean, as surely it depends on the packets per second rate and on the processing you are asking it to do - number of complex firewall rules and the amount of per-packet processing.)
-
@Ignitionnet are you having issues again?
I presumed that was what we were supposed to "divine". ;)
-
The problem is, with nearly 400 Mbps what on earth would I do for a router, I would need to upgrade to an FB2900 as I doubt the FB2700 could quite hack it as they don't claim any more than 350 Mbps throughput.
If you did have such a service, without checking, would you really know that your FB2700 was throttling it to 350 Mbps (or thereabouts)? I suggest that without bothering to check, 350 Mbps and 400 Mbps would be indistinguishable. :P
(Parenthesised; remember that your current throughput is actually better than my own and I do not find my throughput particularly limiting!)
Oops, we are taking this thread (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.centos.toracat.org%2Fajb%2Ftmp%2Fofftopic.gif&hash=005eae2d7f3f76ef63a1b2ab05fd62acd8236ddd)
-
More the IP version. ;)
-
Good point, I did notice that it was IPv6 but didn't think anything of it, but now you mention it I didn't think VM did IPv6.
-
My TBB graph seems to have improved vastly when I changed from Vivid 200 to Vivid 350, perhaps the modem updated the firmware to the version that masks the problem.
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/thumb/bb7fa552b368c6b82b49d27a91d6b78c2343fcb2-05-05-2018.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/bb7fa552b368c6b82b49d27a91d6b78c2343fcb2-05-05-2018)
-
More the IP version. ;)
Is it proper IPV6 or that weird tunnelled stuff I posted about a while back on here?
-
My TBB graph seems to have improved vastly when I changed from Vivid 200 to Vivid 350, perhaps the modem updated the firmware to the version that masks the problem.
Correct. Firmware update.
-
Was just browsing roadworks.org for an unrelated thing when I noticed that Crow Hill roadworks for VM does not now show, Linden Avenue and Dalmaney Close show up but not Crow Hill now. Not at all for the next 12 months. Was showing for June if I remember correctly.
Stuart
-
Yes it was June. That's what happened with ours, perhaps Zico or CLOKent can shed some light on what's happened.
-
Permit is still in the works. Looks as if the provisional application was for dates in June but now looking at July with a possible road closure. The pinch point from Stone Road to Claire Court being the location in question where the works would likely require a closure for the safety of the workforce.
The permit is gone from Roadworks.org as it's currently not in a 'Granted' state. Once the permit is updated and granted it will re-appear.
-
Thanks Zico, I'll hazard a guess that it will be late July during school holidays, so less traffic.
-
Thanks Zico, I'll hazard a guess that it will be late July during school holidays, so less traffic.
Frankly in my view out of holiday time would have been much better as it is most busy here during the whole July/August holiday period, if I move my car I frequently cannot park again until late evening in Crow Hill. This timing cold not possibly be worse. Delaying till early September would be better if it cannot be brought forward.
If that's when it has to be then I just hope they avoid Folk Week because it is chaos round here and if they close the Albion Street in the evenings Crow Hill becomes the route down to the car park at the bottom of Nelson Place. Having said that it is very busy in Crow Hill all through the holidays because that's where everyone tries to park because either the car parks are full or folks wont pay the prices in the car parks, so any road closure needs very well signing well before Crow Hill in order to stop folks trying to get down this way.
Stuart
-
It was a pure guess on my part, hopefully the permit department is aware of when's the best time and take you're feedback into account :fingers:
-
It was a pure guess on my part, hopefully the permit department is aware of when's the best time and take you're feedback into account :fingers:
I think you overestimate their abilities, in the past they have made significant errors when arranging roadworks in Crow Hill. ;)
Stuart
-
Frankly in my view out of holiday time would have been much better as it is most busy here during the whole July/August holiday period, if I move my car I frequently cannot park again until late evening in Crow Hill. This timing cold not possibly be worse. Delaying till early September would be better if it cannot be brought forward.
If that's when it has to be then I just hope they avoid Folk Week because it is chaos round here and if they close the Albion Street in the evenings Crow Hill becomes the route down to the car park at the bottom of Nelson Place. Having said that it is very busy in Crow Hill all through the holidays because that's where everyone tries to park because either the car parks are full or folks wont pay the prices in the car parks, so any road closure needs very well signing well before Crow Hill in order to stop folks trying to get down this way.
Stuart
PM'd.
Ultimately a road closure is the last resort for traffic management.
Signage is covered here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual
Chapters 8 covers road works signage.
Traffic management plans can be simple or complex but it's really down to the individual circumstances of a closure and location as to what may be required or requested. Once a closure is in progress, the relevant organisation/utility are then responsible for maintaining all signage during the works. Yes, signs can be missed out/moved/damaged/stolen or simply driven past and ignored no matter how many or where they have been located.
Right, I think I am off to bed now seeing as it's 3:16am :o
-
@Zico Thanks for the update and the PM.
Stuart
-
Our street got cabled in I think either February or March, but 'CableMyStreet' still says there are no plans to cable our area - Is this a concern? They were very prompt in cabling our street (I think 2 days, only a minor nuisance for a day).
If it isn't a concern, any ideas on how long it takes from 'Cabled' to allowing me to order? I'm getting antsy - I want it now!
-
It's nothing to worry about, our was showing that until the day I could order. Our street was cabled in October, order placed 5 April.
No idea why you are not live yet, perhaps CLOKent could shed some light on it.
-
I believe that VM need to get certain areas cabled before they can then light them up. It's likely that other areas are needed to be completed before everything can be switched on.
As Ronski has mentioned, CLOKent is from VM so may have a better idea where they are in the process for your street.
-
Does VM do FTTP as well as cable now?
-
Does VM do FTTP as well as cable now?
In certain area's they are doing full FTTP installs, but they're not advertised as such. They're still advertised as their same tiers.
-
Does VM do FTTP as well as cable now?
New deployment areas tend to be full FTTP.
The fibre is converted to coaxial inside the customers property. Their modems and TV boxes still use exclusively coaxial.
I believe they still use DOCSIS 3.0?
They use RFOG (radio frequency over glass) to carry the DOCSIS signal over the fibre.
-
New deployment areas tend to be full FTTP.
The fibre is converted to coaxial inside the customers property. Their modems and TV boxes still use exclusively coaxial.
I believe they still use DOCSIS 3.0?
They use RFOG (radio frequency over glass) to carry the DOCSIS signal over the fibre.
So even with an actual fibre into your house it still uses the same "signal to everyone" setup that normal cable modems use?
Edit: Realise this is kind of a stupid question, its been a long time since I lived somewhere with VM but I remember provisioning/contention being pretty abysmal, with the more houses connected to your streets node causing worse and worse peak time slowdowns, I attributed at least some of this to the way DOCSIS worked with VM, sending the same signal to every house and having actual streams separated by TDMA/CDMA, so more houses = worse performance, not like other topologies with fixed contention ratios. Is this still the case even with their FTTP?
-
Unhelpful comment alert: The RFoG docs I read were just confined to the (analog) physical layer basically the simplest optical-to-electrical transceiver/media converter, assuming I read it right. It was all about saving money and getting backwards compatibility at all costs because they don't have to swap out so much kit, nor have two lots of separate systems in some parts of the setup. Seeing that costs (which does include reliability) not performance are where it is aimed, then I wouldn't be too surprised if someone told me they were still using the same horrid broadcast system. But I have no idea, haven't found anything in my reading yet. Performance should be really good though because if the low SNR.
-
The vast majority of FTTP uses a horrid broadcast system?
-
@Johnson VM used to have loads of congestion issues, but thanks to the new average peak time speed advertising and the very bad press they got on BBC Watchdog last year most areas have been vastly improved. I've certainly had no issues yet :fingers:
-
Been on VM for a month and rock solid so far.
-
From my experience, it's very area-dependant with regards to their capacity issues. I know where I live that I can get VM up to 350, but I just couldn't put myself through it again (I’ve been there before). I know people who are on my street and on the 350 package, they have a visit once a month from VM to attach new attenuators to their coax and they just cannot get anywhere near 100mb at peak. They're fully aware that our area is over congested and poor quality - it's based on the ex NTL/Videotron and hasn't been touched since those days, so seriously lacking investment.
So if you're lucky enough to be in a newish build area then you'll probably get good results. Not sure I'll be going near them for the time being though!
-
. . . The fibre is converted to coaxial inside the customers property. . . .
If you check the images that Ronski has provided (Pic4.jpg here (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg371094.html#msg371094)), you'll see that the media converter (fibre <---> co-axial) is located outside the premises. ;)
-
I noticed there is an update on this story: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/02/quick-update-virgin-media-hub-3-router-latency-fix.html (https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/02/quick-update-virgin-media-hub-3-router-latency-fix.html)
UPDATE 4th June 2018
Some of you have been asking for an update. So far the new firmware (e.g. v9.1.116.603 and .608) is supposed to have been deployed to both trial users and owners of the Hub 3.0 on Virgin Media’s top broadband tier (currently 350Mbps or 300Mbps before that), although Hub 3.0 owners on slower tiers have been left to wait.
A spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk, “Further firmware updates are being worked on and we’re hoping to roll these out as soon as possible (testing permitted).” Sadly they couldn’t give a clearer indication than that.
As anyone used the firmware v9.1.116.603 or v9.1.116.608?
Did you find any improvement with the Hub 3?
-
Certainly seems to have fixed mine.
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/thumb/ba71f5e98df6a8d5599a7e4ed728330e806dd673-04-06-2018.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/ba71f5e98df6a8d5599a7e4ed728330e806dd673-04-06-2018)
-
Still no sign on roadsworks.org for Crow Hill being done. Did see a sign yesterday which said coming soon which was just above Claire Court on the corner of Linden Avenue, but dont know if it is relevant or just not been collected. VM are ripping up Linden Avenue at the moment but until Crow Hill is done there will be no way to connect it as both ends are in Crow Hill.
Stuart
-
Crow Hill is still coming.
-
Crow Hill is still coming.
I'm sure it is, just interested as to when we are being dug up ;)
Stuart
-
sorry to be a pain. been keeping an eye on the thread over the past few months but not seen anyone mention it. DOes anyone know if St Peters north of the railway bridge is planning on being done any time soon (Where Revolution is)?
I'm in Westover Gardens
I see that St Peters village was done recently and i see postings on roadworks.org for Kingsgate, but nothing in the middle where I am.
Want to know If i should be renewing my sky contract or holding on a little longer.
Thanks
-
@galballyj Welcome to the forums, yes apparently pretty much all of Thanet will be done, possible exceptions might be private roads for example.
Actually Westover Gardens is scheduled for the 18 July to 2 August on Roadworks.org - make sure you select 12 months view.
I can confirm that Virgin Media is coming to Thanet (I do work for them) - we start in Garlinge next Monday and rollout the rest of Thanet over the next 18 months. An aggressive plan is in place to get the WHOLE of Thanet in Fibre to the premise network by August 2018.
Look out for information events being held in the area and men spraying biodegradable paint marking the paths. They will also be working with big orange barriers and boards saying 'Virgin Media'.. so hopefully won't be hard to spot!!
There will also be introductory offers and you register your interest in advance.
Thanks! :)
Edited to add: The rest of the estate is scheduled for September/October, so Westover Rd may well not be live for some months.
-
sorry to be a pain. been keeping an eye on the thread over the past few months but not seen anyone mention it. DOes anyone know if St Peters north of the railway bridge is planning on being done any time soon (Where Revolution is)?
I'm in Westover Gardens
I see that St Peters village was done recently and i see postings on roadworks.org for Kingsgate, but nothing in the middle where I am.
Want to know If i should be renewing my sky contract or holding on a little longer.
Thanks
As per Ronski's reply, VM are proposed to be in Westover Gardens from 18th July.
This link will take you to the precise permit: https://roadworks.org/?105560810
You can also setup alerts via the Roadworks.org site as dates do change.
-
Well I checked this morning and now Crow Hill shows up on Roadworks.org with a road closure between Stone Road and Claire Court from the 21st July to 10th August. Great timing as this is right at the start of the summer holiday period.
What I don't know is whether this means they will be doing the whole of Crow Hill in these 10 days or just the lower bit as both Claire Court and Linden Avenue/Dalmeny Close are all (or very nearly) done now.
Stuart
-
The permit is for works as described in the description but includes the ~100m section from Claire Court to Stone Road.
The permit is showing the highest level of traffic management, which is starting with the closure at the pinch point, and will be altered when the works progress onto the other sections of Crow Hill which won't be under a road closure.
From the permit:
Location: Claire court to junction of Stone Road and Claire Court to o/s 112 Linden Place
Description: Trench work in footway 490m. trench work in carriageway approx 200m
-
Thanks Zico....
Stuart
-
Hello all figured i'd give a little update to my situation.
Still no closer to getting service at my flat the person i spoke to back in march hasn't been in touch since.
Spoke to someone on the wayleave team again last thursday who said he would get the local data rep to contact me and let me know what was going on with my building being serviced but sadly i still haven't heard anything :(
Anyone else in the area with East Kent Housing and managed to get Virgin in their flat yet?
-
If you've not already done so, try the Leasehold team who, at a guess, should know what to do to help with answering about getting the building connected. Seeing as the Leasehold page dictates what you can/can't do as a lease holder, they should be able to deal with a request for the building to get wired up as a whole.
https://www.eastkenthousing.org.uk/information-for-leaseholders/contact-the-leasehold-team/
-
Well completely p****d off with VM's contractors today. They completely blocked access for Thanet Council bin men today so in this heat our rubbish bin has not been collected and the Council say we could wait up to 5 days for a collection if they even bother. Now I did go out first thing and told one of the contractors they had to allow access but as I rather expected they totally ignored me. Also I explained that where they were placing the connector box outside our property was completely in the wrong place as there is no way of them being able to get a cable under our concrete path it has still been placed there. So if we ever get VM they will need to run a cable the long way round our garden to get to the correct side of the property to provide a connection, no way will I allow them to decide where to run the connection - it will go where I want or it wont happen.
Stuart
-
Stuart! It wasn't VM, but ( sorry if I've told this before), our BT cable broke just as we had a new drive, and repair would have spoilt it. With BT we got them to divert the cable, provided we dug the shallow trench.
Could you see,if something like that is acceptable, and, of course find a churl relative to do the deed?
-
Sorry to hear you've had issues Stuart, the contractors that did ours was quite happy to move it's position, even happier when I slipped them a tenner for their trouble.
Depending on if your house is detached or a semi they might not have been able to move it, they seem to put one Toby in the middle of semi's, detached properties seem to get their own Toby.
If you want I could pop round at some point and see if there is a way around it.
-
No worries. As far as I'm concerned its their problem. No skin off my nose, if it causes them extra work tough. Its detached by the way.
Stuart
-
That's probably exactly the attitude that the installer will take, they get paid peanuts so they want to get it done as quickly as possible, I bet most don't care what it looks like either. I left a nice note in my Toby explaining where I wanted it routed and I'd dug a trench the other side of the hedge, I was lucky the guy phoned me and waited for me to drive up from Sandwich.
-
The issue they will have if we go with VM is that there is no way a continuous trench can be dug from our front garden wall to our house, unless you use a pneumatic drill which would wreck the crazy paving and the 6 inch thick concrete path surrounding the house. The other issue is that our ground level in the garden is roughly 4 feet above the street level where their connector box is. The only route that can be run easily once the come up our side of the front garden wall is above ground round the garden walls and up over a gate frame and on to the house wall, then along the wall some 12 feet to where they would have to place any external box prior to drilling through to indoors.
However I have a major obstacle in getting VM and that is my wife. She is so furious at the mess and disruption, which she cannot possibly see any good reason for, that she flatly refuses to contemplate allowing VM in the house.
Stuart
-
Choose an install date when she's out for the day :-X
They don't really need a trench, just a slit, or rake out a morter joint in the paving. The tube they install is either 6 or 8mm diameter, I'm sure it's a 6mm tube.
-
Sadly the "local data rep" never got back to me after me calling in over 4 times in a month and being told i should hear something within a week...
Now recontracted to Plusnet for another year ::)
-
That's a shame, seems to be a fair few people complaining they can't get decent broadband due to wayleaves not being sorted out.
-
Sadly the "local data rep" never got back to me after me calling in over 4 times in a month and being told i should hear something within a week...
Now recontracted to Plusnet for another year ::)
Couldn't you just do a rolling contract with PlusNet until you got some info?
-
Couldn't you just do a rolling contract with PlusNet until you got some info?
Was never offered and don't see the option on their website sadly
-
If you don't sign up for a new contract, you are automatically put on a rolling contract.
-
It was mid February when I last posted. Cables were laid back then in my area around Percy road budgens garage etc.. Been no sign of any activity since then. The grey boxes are still empty. I've been on a rolling nowtv fibre account. They seem to be the only ones offering a monthly rolling contract though they charge a one off fee of 50 quid for the pleasure. I can get a cheaper max fibre contract but have to commit to the usual 18 months and seems to be taking virgin forever to get this area live. That and the 500 page thread on the virgin community forum about problems with the superhub 3 is kinda putting me off waiting any longer. How's it going for any one actually connected?
-
I'm using SH3 in modem mode and have no issues, the latency issue was fixed soon after I had mine installed if that's the thread you're referring to.
As for speed I've tested regularly and they all been very good, I'm on Vivid 350.
Perhaps CLOKent could find out what the hold up is for you.
-
I'm using SH3 in modem mode and have no issues, the latency issue was fixed soon after I had mine installed if that's the thread you're referring to.
As for speed I've tested regularly and they all been very good, I'm on Vivid 350.
Have they rolled out the fix to all customers now though?
I remember seeing your early BQM with Virgin and it was shocking. It only fixed when you upgraded to Vivid 350.
That wasn't a coincidence as at the time the fix was only going to Vivid 350 customers.
They seem to be the only ones offering a monthly rolling contract though they charge a one off fee of 50 quid for the pleasure.
Confused by this comment.
When your contact is up with a provider you automatically go on to a "rolling contract" if you do nothing.
I don't know any ISP who forces you to recontract or leave.
I know you lose any existing discounts but there really shouldn't be a fee, never ever heard of such a thing.
edit: looking at their site the £50 to go on a monthly rolling contract should only be for new customers who don't want to sign up to 12 months. If they have charged that to you I would be demanding a refund.
-
That wasn't a coincidence as at the time the fix was only going to Vivid 350 customers.
I wasn't aware of that.
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/thumb/1d6fcf2a6171c36e1ae1f255513a45d3adad717a.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband..com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/1d6fcf2a6171c36e1ae1f255513a45d3adad717a)
-
Have they rolled out the fix to all customers now though?
I remember seeing your early BQM with Virgin and it was shocking. It only fixed when you upgraded to Vivid 350.
That wasn't a coincidence as at the time the fix was only going to Vivid 350 customers.
Assuming there is a period where you can cancel any upgrade from a lower subscription, couldn't you upgrade to Vivid 350 (if available) and get the fix, then regrade back to your old subscription within the cooling off period? Would be a hassle if this is the only current way of getting the fix onto the hub.
-
I wasn't aware of that.
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2018/02/quick-update-virgin-media-hub-3-router-latency-fix.html
UPDATE 4th June 2018
Some of you have been asking for an update. So far the new firmware (e.g. v9.1.116.603 and .608) is supposed to have been deployed to both trial users and owners of the Hub 3.0 on Virgin Media’s top broadband tier (currently 350Mbps or 300Mbps before that), although Hub 3.0 owners on slower tiers have been left to wait.
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/SUPERHUB-3-0-FIRMWARE-UPDATE-9-1-116-608/td-p/3746956
You can see it in your post (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg371999.html#msg371999) when you upgraded to Vivid 350.
-
I know it updated then, just thought it was coincidence, didn't realise it was only be rolled out to top tier customer's.
-
Having finally found out that my current TT contract is up on the 6th October I find that VM are still saying that my street does not have VM available. The other issue now is that TT seem to be pushing 24 month contracts which I dont really want. How long does it take for VM to activate their infrastructure once the cabling and cabinets are installed?
Stuart
-
Best thing you can do is PM CLOKent
Have you seen fibre being blown from the large cabinets to the smaller cabinets yet?
Can you not stay with TT on a rolling contract?
-
Can you not stay with TT on a rolling contract?
I could but it is expensive!
Stuart
-
I've been with Virgin - 50mbs package for a few months. Not a hitch at all running with the Super Hub 3 in modem mode with Netgear Orbi attached.
My only downtime was when new SH firmware was installed a month or so ago. Now on 9.1.116.608.
-
As this has become a more general Virgin Media thread:
Binning them on the Voom 3 business service here.
I am aware of some of their plans for future products, though not the specific timelines and regardless they don't impact me as they're unlikely to be with us in time.
Their 350/20 will be replaced by 2 x 65/19.5 VDSL lines that will use secret sauce to bond them.
-
Hi, do we know if there are any further plans to expand service to villages surrounding Thanet? Would be nice to have the service available in Minster & Monkton.
-
I only know what CLOKent posted in this post (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,19668.msg356144.html#msg356144), which is Minster would be considered at a later date. If you get as many locals as possible to register an interest it might help. You could also PM CLOKent to find out if they know anything.
-
Carl is it because of the possible future rollout of DS-Lite you moving away?
-
I'm pretty sure the major reason is lack of upload speed.
-
ok thanks guys, the second link has access denied.
-
I know that my street in Broadstairs has gone live and Virgin are accepting orders.
However, I note that only the Vivid 200 (Or whatever it is called) is the max available. I was looking forward to the fastest internet speeds.
Is it normal for an area NOT to have the fastest speed available upon launch?
-
I had exactly the same issue when our's went live. I PM'd @CLOKent (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=9707) and they managed to get the issue sorted, apparently they hadn't set something up to say the area was capable of supporting Vivid 350. Their words were some paperwork hadn't been checked and uploaded and once done it basically required a switch to be flipped.
PS. Welcome to the forums.
-
I've just PM'd clokent as Crow Hill is still not showing any availability and it's 6 months since they ruined our pavement and blocked the drains installing it. We have a VM box about 30 yards don the road which was worked on months ago.
A bit academic now as I had to re-contract with TT for 18 months but at least I was able to negotiate a very cheap deal.
Stuart
-
sadly my building on blements road still never got cabled despite there being cables right outside it and t-junction's right outside too :/ ended up recontracting to plusnet guess ill try again when i move out of here.
-
ok thanks guys, the second link has access denied.
I'm on VMB. My public IP addresses are going nowhere whether running over static or dynamic.
-
Unfortunately my road is showing as active, tried getting it and they fitted the box to the front of our house (Poorly), only to find out that the cable was blocked somewhere between the grey box and our house. They said it'll take up to 6 weeks to resolve. That was in September. On the verge of giving up. VM support is awful.
-
You got one step closer than us, our road, Albert Road, St Peters hasn't had fibre laid at all or any work started, where as the others just 50m round the corner have! Guess I'll be stuck with my 20mbps FTTC for a while then, weep ;)
C
-
Can someone tell me if CT9 3EJ has actually had cable fitted and if it will be going live soon - all the roads around me seem to be live, but not mine - maybe someone can shed some light on this there are cabinets all over the place in Palm bay, but not been able to get any sensible responses from VM :(
-
Only thing I can really suggest is sending CLOKent (https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php?action=profile;u=9707) a PM on here, he/she works for VM and I'm sure CLO stands for customer liasion officer ;)
@afy65 It looks like they did Princess Margaret Avenue last August - the works are actually captured on Google Street View, so I would have thought they'd done The Ridings. Easy way to tell is have a look in the pavement, is there a fresh strip of tarmac about 12" wide, and plastic covers outside each house with Virgin on them, if not then for some reason they haven't installed down there.
@craigv That does sound odd, have they done both Whitfield Ave & Camden Rd? Have you considered using Three, you're about 500m from a mast and they do unlimited data (possibly throttled after 1TB) for £20 a month - I get 100/30Mbps. So long as you don't need a public IP and CGNat doesn't affect any games you might play it may be a suitable alternative.
@Yokomoko Sounds like the tube they blow the fibre through is crushed/damaged - I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't bother fixing it if it only affects one property - may be considered too costly.
-
Ronski, thanks for putting so much effort into your reply :-)
Only thing I can really suggest is sending CLOKent a PM on here, he/she works for VM and I'm sure CLO stands for customer liasion officer ;)
I already did that before my slight moan ;-) hopefully will hear something back, but I imagine it's not the most important thing to them.
@craigv That does sound odd, have they done both Whitfield Ave & Camden Rd? Have you considered using Three, you're about 500m from a mast and they do unlimited data (possibly throttled after 1TB) for £20 a month - I get 100/30Mbps. So long as you don't need a public IP and CGNat doesn't affect any games you might play it may be a suitable alternative.
They've done Camden Rd, but I don't think they've done Whitfield Ave either - it's almost like they made it so far up Northdown Hill and then stopped :)
I hadn't really seriously considered a mobile connection, but £20 for unlimited is decent! I'll have a closer look into that :) I do need a static IP for work, but perhaps something to consider alongside the FTTC for the time being - if I can get the Mrs' Approval!
Thanks again for your feedback :)
C
-
I hadn't really seriously considered a mobile connection, but £20 for unlimited is decent! I'll have a closer look into that :) I do need a static IP for work, but perhaps something to consider alongside the FTTC for the time being - if I can get the Mrs' Approval!
In that case this thread may interest you https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,23028.0.html
-
In that case this thread may interest you https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,23028.0.html
Thanks for that, Sir :) I shall do my research!
Just to return the final piece of the puzzle on VM for me, CLOKent did respond today and say that our road, and therefore probably also Whitfield Ave & Victoria Ave come under the Millmead area, and that's why they haven't been done yet - sad times!
-
Hi all dose anyone know when London Road will be up and running it was cabled about 6 months ago
Cheers
-
Best bet is to PM CLOKent.
-
Anybody else in Thanet having issues on Virgin, we often get very bad pings lately, seemed to start on 21 January and its getting worse?
21/01/2020
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/thumb/331ba3f917b35a9c72e17463c86f7388ebf2860f-21-01-2020.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/331ba3f917b35a9c72e17463c86f7388ebf2860f-21-01-2020)
04/04/2020
(https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/thumb/bb7eb48e95fa628a6e87e5ffc8db9f08d3c010c0-04-04-2020.png) (https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality/share/bb7eb48e95fa628a6e87e5ffc8db9f08d3c010c0-04-04-2020)
I still seem to get very good speed tests, just sometimes web pages fail to load, PFSense shows a very high ping time, and when I ping an IP when this is happening it's all over the place, so not sure if it's something my end or something else.
Pinging bbc.co.uk [151.101.128.81] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=427ms TTL=58
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=13ms TTL=58
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=440ms TTL=58
Reply from 151.101.128.81: bytes=32 time=493ms TTL=58
-
Hi ronski
Have you tried pathping to help identify any issues.
Many thanks
John
-
Thank's John, I have now and posted the results to a new thread here https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,24600.0.html