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[strontium90]

Ok, I'm a bit of a n00b when it comes to this..
In N Ireland they are rolling out FTTC big style, so I checked BT wholesale's line checker and it said my cabinet would be enabled on 31st Oct...
I thought "great"...but reading on it said "customers have experienced download speeds of 500kps"....wow!!!
I'm currently getting 3.5->4 meg depending on REIN and how much I tweak my netgear...

When I checked out http://www.fasterbroadbandni.com/checkcabinet.php the cabinet they are referriing to is the furthest in the area from me...I've tried family members tel numbers, and shops, into the checker and they are all getting the same pathetic speeds...am I not connected to my nearest cabinet?...

I have an attenuation of 53dB, so does this mean when WBC 21cn is implemented, I will be worse off than ADSL Max?

Have tried phoning BT, but they just want to re-contract me which I'm not prepared to do yet as the whole thing seems to be a shambles, with stories of engineers not been trained etc...Anyone give me advice on what to do?

[waltergmw]

Hi Sr,

Re advice, I suggest it's very wise to let the dust settle on this whole operation before leaping into the dark !
Nothing in the current operation automatically addresses poor performing BT D side lines which can include aluminium.
I've not seen anything published yet, but given that they are still using the existing infrastructure, how can an "old type" BT Wholesale broadband product with No Universal Service Obligation be different from a "New" service ?

There is no guarantee that you are connected into your nearest cabinet. In the following (rare) example the lines are at least 4 Km longer that the direct route

http://www.ewhurst-broadband.org.uk/?p=424#more-424

Given the age of the BT database and that GPO Post codes were not designed to match BT O cables it is unsurprising that there are a number of anomalies.
When I investigated Ewhurst we found about 200 missing addresses from the post code listings BT supplied for a survey. This included non-existent post codes and duplicated ones where two PCPs supplied the road.
One post code was entered as GU6 7XX which seems a deliberate attempt to complete a form without having the relevant post code data available. (The real post codes come nowhere near using XX.)

Kind regards,
Walter

[strontium90]

Thanks Walter...
My phone line has been in since after the war (I live in my grandparents house) so that could explain the anomolous cabinet business..

As for 21cn...your right, I have read a lot of horror stories on the BT forum about customers re-contracting to get FTTC, only to end up with slower downstream speeds...plus, it's reported the engineers don't have a clue and are using ADSL Max equipment to test lines...best avoid
Alex

[AdrianH]

FTTC works very well for many that have changed over I guess it all depends how you get connected, if it becomes available to you try other ISP's that offer monthly contracts so you are not tied to something that may not be of benefit.

Why oh why are BT messing arround with FTTC in the first place? Here we have been told we are getting FTTP/H (pigs might fly!), and it is now suggested that BT may use FTTP/H everywhere in time. Why are they messing about with so many standards?

Go to Canada and you find 200mb fibre systems out in the back of beyond, talking online to a guy in Holland and he was moaning his speeds were poor compared to his friends......... his downstream throughput was 59.5mb  on an all fibre to home system.

Sweden has trailed 40GB fibre service, Korea has ultra fast fibre systems........... basically we are the laughing stock of the internet and while BT keep using "engineer"" that cannot wire a NTE5 box correctly and have zero clue how ADSL works will it get any better?

[waltergmw]

Hi Alex,

There's one more subtlety which can be overlooked. A FTTC circuit can be connected either via a "Full Metallic Path Facility" (FMPF) or a "Shared" one (SMPF).
This is delightful BT speak for either disconnecting the line entirely at the PCP Green Cabinet in the case of FMPF or only connecting the broadband signal in the case of SMPF and leaving the telephone part connected to the exchange. In practice a FMPF only requires a single twisted pair in the link cable into the PCP whereas a SMPF requires two pairs.

I believe most BT FTTC offerings are only SMPF so any noise on the line back to the exchange might potentially affect the broadband signal.
Perhaps a Guru might like to comment further?
(Rutland Telecom have used the FMPF facility in Lyddington and thus their telephone offerings are using a VOIP product.)

Kind regards,
Walter