Kitz Forum

Announcements => ISP Offers & Deals => Topic started by: niemand on June 20, 2020, 01:15:18 PM

Title: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on June 20, 2020, 01:15:18 PM
Just to let folks know after a long set of phone calls I have been able to sign up to Sky FTTP.

It is not easy but it's not quite impossible. Don't think they want to be selling at scale yet.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: j0hn on June 20, 2020, 02:05:48 PM
I've tried a couple times but they insist FTTP isn't available at my property.

I'm guessing they are keeping this to specific trial areas.

Out of interest what number did you call?
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: busterboy on June 20, 2020, 03:15:34 PM
Just to let folks know after a long set of phone calls I have been able to sign up to Sky FTTP.

It is not easy but it's not quite impossible. Don't think they want to be selling at scale yet.

Is it a secret or may I ask what speed have you ordered with them.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on June 20, 2020, 04:11:48 PM
They only offer superfast and ultrafast - 80 and 160.

They might be missing some cablelinks to new OLTs. They already had one to mine as it also handles cabinets.

Just called the number the website provided when I tried to order Sky Broadband there.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on June 21, 2020, 12:20:10 PM
I've tried a couple times but they insist FTTP isn't available at my property.

I'm guessing they are keeping this to specific trial areas.

Out of interest what number did you call?

Okay more complete response as I'm at a computer not a mobile device for a change.

There are no trial areas - they'll sell it wherever they've a Cablelink to the OLT serving the property. If you're on a new Nokia build or perhaps, far less likely though I suppose not impossible, an area where the OLT is a Huawei with no cabinets on it so no previous Cablelink that might explain it.

I called two different numbers.

0333 759 4255 and 0330 041 3000.

After failed attempts to order via both of those I was promised and received a callback from 0800 761 3362. This also failed and the agent escalated as he queried whether it was an issue on his side as some agents are unable to complete the order journey. At this time I was also in contact with a member of Sky's engineering management who confirmed 100% that there was a 10G Cablelink to the OLT serving me. No surprise as it had a bunch of BDUK cabinets hanging off it.

I received a call from another member of staff at Sky who repeated the process and it worked.

It's very much in pilot phase and they clearly would prefer to not take on too many customers as they're still mid-way through getting it ready but it does exist.

I was very, very impressed that they called me back when they said they would, twice. Certain other companies I could name getting a callback from them when they promise one is about as likely as being struck by lightning while hiding in a basement.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Chrysalis on June 21, 2020, 12:29:17 PM
havent you not long ago signed up to bt fttp?
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on June 21, 2020, 12:38:06 PM
4 port ONT. Some protection from issues on the BT Wholesale network.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Chrysalis on June 21, 2020, 12:47:06 PM
ok, well good luck
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on June 21, 2020, 12:50:13 PM
I've dropped you a PM. Can explain some more there.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: j0hn on June 21, 2020, 02:17:16 PM
A couple dozen Huawei cabinets on the exchange.

Not a clue if there's a Nokia OLT in the exchange but I very much doubt it.

There's zero BDUK FTTP on my exchange that I can see it all appears to be new build and retro new build.

I'll give them a call back on Monday.

I'd be very very surprised if they didn't have a 10G cablelink
to the OLT.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: burakkucat on June 21, 2020, 04:07:09 PM
4 port ONT. Some protection from issues on the BT Wholesale network.

b*cat smiles, enigmatically.  ;)
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on June 21, 2020, 06:04:51 PM
Hah!

To be honest the good people here seem more interested in >20 year old xDSL and I appear to have inadvertently annoyed a couple of people so I'll save the write up for now.

I just thought it merited mentioning that Sky FTTP is indeed a thing.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Alex Atkin UK on June 21, 2020, 11:47:35 PM
I envy you for your FTTP connections, but I still like to hear as much detail as possible about what other people are doing.

You have a lot of background in technicalities of networking and ISPs in general that most people do not.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: kitz on June 24, 2020, 11:36:49 AM
>> I appear to have inadvertently annoyed a couple of people so I'll save the write up for now.


I don't see signs of that,  i certainly enjoy reading..   and I assumed you were using them to give some sort of resiliancy/backup. :)
 

>> they'll sell it wherever they've a Cablelink to the OLT serving the property.

Will they not need a separate cablelink for the FTTP products.   The reason I ask - the supposed delay with my daughter getting g.fast was that although Zen had a presence in their exchange and thus a GEA cablelink for FTTC.. the wait was the requirement of another cablelink for the g.fast service.

In the end Zen opted to use BTw WBC for g.fast rather than install their own separate cablelinks at each exchange.  With hindsight this was probably a good move as g.fast take-up has been rather poor.  FTTP has far more promise.   Sky has a much larger userbase and although their average user will likely be far less tech than Zens,  I dont envisage sky wanting to use WBC/WBMC for any cablelinks.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: j0hn on June 24, 2020, 01:48:34 PM
No idea if they can mix and match cablelinks.

It was suggested elsewhere that Sky had been buying up 10G cablelinks link crazy as they were discounted so they should be on the front foot with the FTTP deployment.

OpenReach has a special offer on for 10G cablelinks making them the same price as a 1G cablelink.

There's a caveat to that offer though.

Quote
This offer will apply to all GEA FTTP only Layer 2 Switches UK wide and the discount will be limited to one 10 Gigabit GEA cablelink per GEA FTTP only Layer 2 Switch per Communications Provider. The offer is not available where a L2S is also supporting GEA-FTTC services.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: kitz on June 24, 2020, 08:33:05 PM
no i wasn't sure either, as i couldnt see anything concrete in the documentation..   
although from memory sinet does appear to define fttp gea, g.fast gea, fttc gea & ethernet gea cablelinks separately.

the first time i became aware that they were separate entities was when it was given as the reason for delay for g.fast installation.

it wont be an issue for WBC & WBMC isps as BTw will purchase the relevant cablelinks.

that snippet of info you found, tends to imply that some L2S's are dedicated to fttp and some may support both fttp and fttc?     

Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: highpriest on July 09, 2020, 10:32:12 AM
Excuse my ignorance but I'm guessing this is a product that is only available in FTTP enabled properties?
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: j0hn on July 09, 2020, 02:39:31 PM
Excuse my ignorance but I'm guessing this is a product that is only available in FTTP enabled properties?

Yes.

Sky still insisting it's not available to me. I've tried them 4 times and even had a call back from FTTP trained sales staff.
Computer says no.

I was quite keen to try Sky but I'm not waiting around.

I've just ordered full fibre 100 (160/30) from BT for £29.99.

Roll on August 6th.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: kitz on July 10, 2020, 12:21:09 AM
Shame that they couldn't help, but good luck for the 6th :)
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 13, 2020, 09:51:12 AM
Back from forum break - recommend everyone take one from time to time.

Sky order was cancelled after it became clear they were trying to migrate my, 22 months remaining on contract, BT service rather than provision a new one despite assurances that wasn't the case.

Ordered a service from Zen instead, which was installed and is working fine.

The issues people are having with Sky are due to Cablelinks. They have them to everything that has cabinets on it already pretty much but there are FTTP-only switches they have not purchased Cablelinks to - their coverage is not 100%.

So cases where for example all the cabinets are served by ECI and Huawei/Nokia/Ericsson has been installed for FTTP you may well find Sky haven't a Cablelink there yet.

Cablelinks can and do carry all traffic, the exception being ECI due to limitations of the equipment.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: luggles on July 14, 2020, 10:09:27 AM
Back from forum break - recommend everyone take one from time to time.

Sky order was cancelled after it became clear they were trying to migrate my, 22 months remaining on contract, BT service rather than provision a new one despite assurances that wasn't the case.

Ordered a service from Zen instead, which was installed and is working fine.

The issues people are having with Sky are due to Cablelinks. They have them to everything that has cabinets on it already pretty much but there are FTTP-only switches they have not purchased Cablelinks to - their coverage is not 100%.

So cases where for example all the cabinets are served by ECI and Huawei/Nokia/Ericsson has been installed for FTTP you may well find Sky haven't a Cablelink there yet.

Cablelinks can and do carry all traffic, the exception being ECI due to limitations of the equipment.

Would you still order from BT again if they were the only option, or were the reasons for getting a second service that bad?

Don't think I can stretch to Zens £70 so looking to return to BT.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 14, 2020, 11:50:25 AM
I have uncovered a quite major issue on the BT Wholesale network and it's unclear whether this is exclusive to BT Consumer and the product they use or impacts all WBC/WMBC customers under these circumstances.

With that in mind I can't comment.

Neither can I actually tell anyone much about the issue as, even though Nokia have found it, they/BT Wholesale refuse to tell BT Consumer who in turn have nothing to tell me.

Apart from that BT have been fine. A second line is for protection against issues with the first one as much as possible. While the protection is limited if the issue ends up being exclusive to the product BT Consumer use that justifies it.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: luggles on July 14, 2020, 02:37:06 PM
I have uncovered a quite major issue on the BT Wholesale network and it's unclear whether this is exclusive to BT Consumer and the product they use or impacts all WBC/WMBC customers under these circumstances.

With that in mind I can't comment.

Neither can I actually tell anyone much about the issue as, even though Nokia have found it, they/BT Wholesale refuse to tell BT Consumer who in turn have nothing to tell me.

Apart from that BT have been fine. A second line is for protection against issues with the first one as much as possible. While the protection is limited if the issue ends up being exclusive to the product BT Consumer use that justifies it.

Thanks for the reply, gotta love companies refusing to talk to one another ::) 

I take it then if Zen doesn't have a presence in my exchange, I'm probably going to be on BT wholesale network anyway. So I'd be effected either way by this issue, if it's not exclusive to BT consumer.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 14, 2020, 03:58:00 PM
I'm also unclear about how many exchanges are impacted. You'd have thought a lot of reports would've been received but I was apparently the first person to comment, so perhaps some particular combination of software and hardware within the SR in the exchange.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: AngelRex on July 23, 2020, 02:23:05 PM
I'm entrigued, as I've just switched to BT from Zen, I'm now wondering if this was a mistake.....

Or is this in relation to the 'Backdoor Access Found in CDATA’s Chinese FTTH Broadband Kit'?

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2020/07/backdoor-access-found-in-cdatas-chinese-ftth-broadband-kit.html
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Alex Atkin UK on July 23, 2020, 04:35:49 PM
Quote
Off the top of our heads we don’t know of any UK broadband ISPs that are using CDATA’s OLTs in their networks
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 24, 2020, 09:40:35 AM
So, while it isn't Sky my services are both up and running well.

Example 1 (https://i.postimg.cc/C1qyfYkz/Fast-Test.png) and Example 2 (https://i.postimg.cc/dtJXJGH7/Speeds.png)

[Moderator edited to convert excessively large images to direct links.]
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Alex Atkin UK on July 24, 2020, 09:58:56 AM
So, while it isn't Sky my services are both up and running well.

So you basically can max out the whole PON now?  ::)

I hate you so much, especially after you said "its not transformative" in an earlier post.  :'(

I can't even get Stadia to work reliably on either of my connections and I have no idea why.

[Moderator edited to remove the unnecessary showing of the images from the previous post.]
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 24, 2020, 11:51:42 AM
So you basically can max out the whole PON now?  ::)

Yup. All your bandwidths are belong to me.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Alex Atkin UK on July 24, 2020, 04:45:44 PM
Yup. All your bandwidths are belong to me.

So, XGPON when?  :P
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 24, 2020, 06:33:35 PM
Openreach are not deploying XGPON, it's XGSPON.

I'm going to speculate September but will keep everyone informed.

All those activities I kept intermittent due to lack of bandwidth I now don't. Just today myself plus the neighbourhood saturated the GPON split.

See what happens!
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: burakkucat on July 24, 2020, 06:48:09 PM
See what happens!

The kuro neko keeps a silent watch.  :angel:
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: underzone on July 24, 2020, 09:53:53 PM
Where is pfsense setup in your system? Not mentioned in your sig.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Alex Atkin UK on July 25, 2020, 10:51:47 AM
Openreach are not deploying XGPON, it's XGSPON.

Maybe we will finally get symmetrical speeds then?
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: niemand on July 26, 2020, 07:22:57 PM
Where is pfsense setup in your system? Not mentioned in your sig.

Running on the ESXi server next to me - duly amended.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: j0hn on July 26, 2020, 09:08:39 PM
Maybe we will finally get symmetrical speeds then?

1000/1000 is being or is due to be trialled.

Monthly prices won't be near consumer levels.
£500+ install fees.
Title: Re: Sky FTTP Ordered
Post by: Chrysalis on August 06, 2020, 12:21:40 PM
very nice Carl, I am jealous.