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Author Topic: Bulk Availability Checker?  (Read 7152 times)

Floor3

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Bulk Availability Checker?
« on: June 17, 2010, 11:35:24 AM »

Hello,

Does anyone know if you can do a bulk availability check for a number of ADSL lines?

I have an excel sheet containing 1000 lines and their post codes but don't want to check their availability individually.

Any help much or suggestions appreciated.
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waltergmw

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Re: Bulk Availability Checker?
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2010, 11:42:29 AM »

Hi Floor and welcome,

I suspect that's impossible as the BT database isn't always accurate.

One approach is to sample one in each postcode and if it looks bad try another there.

Kind regards,
Walter
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Floor3

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Re: Bulk Availability Checker?
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2010, 11:57:10 AM »

Not a bad idea but it may be time consuming...

I'm really only after an estimate of the distance from the exchange. The ADSL checker on kitz.co.uk with the link into google maps is good enough but I don't really want to use it 1000 times to get the distance. Apparently BT Openreach have details routing records that give an accurate line distance but I have no idea how to get hold of these.

I want to identify what lines are a long way from the exchange and I'll then check to see if there are problems on the lines.

Thanks
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waltergmw

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Re: Bulk Availability Checker?
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2010, 12:34:28 PM »

Hi again Floor,

Some points to beware of:-

With 1000 lines on say 50 postcodes there's a fair chance you might have some connected to different exchanges, but with the same area code.

When you're close to the border of two PCP Green Cabinets there's no easy way of determining within one postcode which lines are connected to which PCP.

In my experience BT's records monitor the line performance data which is affected by line problems including the actual house wiring.

If you're only after approximate line distances you might be better off getting the exchange post code(s) from the Kitz checker (or just type in the exchange names at http://www.samknows.com/old/broadband/search.php) and then using a map route finder such as http://www.uk.map24.com/ using the exchange post code and the destination post code.

N.B. Samknows and Kitz use an approximate road distance algorithm which does not know the cable route. Furthermore the postcodes use the average central point of a postcode which, in rural areas, can cover anything up to about a Km. As an extreme example, from having walked the line route, I know of one in this area where the actual line distance is double that estimated in the checker.

Kind regards,
Walter
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Floor3

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Re: Bulk Availability Checker?
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2010, 03:40:15 PM »

Hello Walter,

Interesting about the CAB's and possibilty of being connected to different exchanges. The postcode disgrepancies for rural sites is also something I've not see but is worth considering.

To get a base line for the ADSL numbers I'm really after method to do a bulk report using the kitz/samknows road distance algorithm would give me and idea of the sites that I may need to look at.

EG I feed in a list of numbers and post codes and get out the appx distance from the exchange and an idea of their availability.

If only BT Open Reach would allow access to their routing distance records...

KR
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waltergmw

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Re: Bulk Availability Checker?
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2010, 05:57:49 PM »

Hello yet again Floor,

Bearing in mind that the Samknows / Kitz calculations can only extract one Grid Ref position per postcode,
you might just as well do an alpha-sort on postcode and then take one random number to use in the calculations.
The only time that method would fail is if you positively know you're working across exchange boundaries as then Samknows will pick up the different post code co-ordinates for the different exchanges.

Without trying to impute BT's internal databases if they are available (as opposed to the public line performance database) there are so many variables, such as inter-PCP and PCP to SCP tie cables, and chances for human error that I really don't think it's worth even contemplating such an exercise. In any event, once you start looking at individual twisted pairs and possibly crossed pairs, with or without cross-talk problems, with or without corroded aluminium joints, in a cable run, it's almost inevitable that quite different performances could be achieved on each pair.

All the above is one reason BT are usually quite non-committal as to the actual performance that will be achieved. Having said that, if you keep persevering and are as determined as I have had to be out the sticks, you can often find that BT can swap D side and E side cables to improve a line to the local average.

If you are looking to improve lines in an area perhaps using my method of plugging in my own modem to gather existing performance data in a few properties would be a more suitable solution.

Kind regards,
Walter
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Floor3

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Re: Bulk Availability Checker?
« Reply #6 on: June 18, 2010, 10:01:47 AM »

Hello Walter,

I found this on BT Wholesale site.

"Bulk checking enables you to submit lists of telephone numbers to BT Wholesale who process the information and provide a result against each number. The result shows a Red, Amber or Green (RAG) outcome for line length against Broadband Max, fixed rate, rate-adaptive and Wholesale Broadband Connect (WBC) products.
Bulk checking also indicates whether an exchange is already enabled for broadband, and if not, whether it is scheduled to be enabled. It also searches for incompatible line and network products that would cause a broadband order to fail if submitted.
The cost of the Bulk Checking service is £777.60 plus VAT per CD"

Pretty expensive. As these line are quite geographically disperse I'll have to see if I can use the Kitz/Samknow database to get a rough calculation of line length.

Again if anyone know how get a batch report out of the Samknows/Kitz ADSL checker it would be much appreciated.

KR
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