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[srt]

Hi,
Well after my other issues with BT I now have an INFINITY service due to be installed on Friday next
I had been watching this fibre deveplopment closely and had registered interest but each time I checked the BT site said - - not available yet and was due to be end of December - - then end of March 2012
Well I checked again on Friday and sure enough its available
So I have to go through the palava of ordering it as if I am new to BT
All I wanted to do was upgrade but no - - its a new order and they are sending me another Home Hub
Well I already have one from my original take up of their service in May but - - - I am actually using a Business hub (2701 HGV-C) which I bought to enable me to monitor the nightmare drop outs I got due to eventually being identified as REIN ( long post elsewhere )
Well the OR chap is coming on Friday to fit the modem but I want to continue using my Business hub and not the HH3.
Would I be better starting with the HH3 and let the engineer fit it up and then change it afterward or ask to continue using the business hub?
I just wondered if any of our friendly OR folks had any views
Thanks.

[waltergmw]

Hi SRT,

It seems that you have not been properly instructed - possibly because the wonderful BT retail systems think you aren't capable !

Because you like paying for and wasting power you now MUST have a VDSL modem AS WELL AS a new HH 3.
To be strictly true that is what BT will install but there are some adjustments you can make later if your circumstances are suitable.
Even if you decide to swap the router "modems" over you won't see any broadband signals on it as they are handled separately by the VDSL2 modem.
The VDSL2 modem is likely to be the Huawei Echolife HG612, although we've seen one report of another type now being installed in Cornwall.

I would suggest you let the engineer go through the motions of his standard install before attempting anything else.
You would be well advised to take pictures of all the JDSU screens that the engineer will observe.
Note that the engineer will probably attach a tone generator to your test socket within the NTE5 before popping off to your PCP green cabinet to cut your line there and introduce it to the additional loop into the FTTC.
After that he will go through the installation procedure in your house.

You will find a very long tale of frustration here :-

http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,9726.360.html

as well as methods for obtaining your new modem's statistics.
I also suggest you should record screen pictures of the 2701 diagnostics screens from tomorrow onwards.

I'm sure we all wish you the very best of luck and you just might be one of the lucky ones !

Kind regards,
Walter

[burakkucat]

Continuing on from Walter's reply, if you only have one device (computer) that you wish to connect to the Internet then you do not need to use any router! As long as you are able to configure your computer to set up and provide the relevant PPPoE credentials for the VDSL2 link, then you could connect the computer directly to the OR provided modem. (Most likely to be a Huawei EchoLife HG612.)

If you would prefer to continue using your 2Wire 2701HGV-C as a router, I can see no problem at all with the installing engineer connecting it to the VDSL2 modem. Just ask her / him -- after you have provided the mug of tea or coffee, chocolate / custard-cream biscuits or bacon sandwiches.

As a convert to (and now very familiar with) the various 2Wire devices, I would certainly use a 2701HGV-C rather than a HH3 as the router for a FTTC set-up.

If you feel the urge to fully understand and monitor your FTTC connection, then Asbokid's unlocked firmware will need to be installed into the VDSL2 modem. Bald_Eagle1 will provide you with the relevant monitoring / graph producing scripts . . . just be careful of that beak! 

[srt]

Thanks for the replies
Oh dear - - I hope I havent opened a can of worms - - but the fibre must be better than what I get at present - - I hope
Well I do have a desktop (main) pc plus there are my daughters two laptops and an IPad so the line gets a fair bit of hammer
I am not sure about recording the diagnostics screen from tomorrow
TBH - - I would not know what page etc or really where to begin. Would there be a reason for doing this?
Anyway - - I hope to ask the engineer to use my existing 2701HGV-C so will keep everything crossed
I will keep you folks posted as well  - - - 

[burakkucat]

As for the location of the diagnostic screens with the 2701HGV-C, I can't bring them to mind. What I can do, however, is suggest that you look at the relevant page of the BT Business Hub Site (a.k.a. the master site, here in The Cattery).

You should be able to see:

* the down & upstream SYNC
* the down & upstream SNRM
* the down & upstream attenuation
* the type of modulation used
* the bit-loading versus tone graph

Walter, I know, would be interested to know those current parameters before the migration to FTTC takes place.

[Bald_Eagle1]

Hi srt,

Thanks for the replies
Oh dear - - I hope I havent opened a can of worms - - but the fibre must be better than what I get at present - - I hope

Hopefully your previous issues were permanently fixed, or that they were in the E-side copper & not your D-side.

Do you have any idea of the distance from your home to the street cabinet?
That SHOULD be the only copper part to be concerned about as the fibre goes all the way from the exchange to the cabinet, only joining up with the copper for the last few hundred yards or so.

For curiosity, what were/are your estimated FTTC speeds, prior to having it installed?
If you do ever experience connection/speed problems, they will be continually referred to by BT. 

I live anywhere between 800m & 1000m from my cabinet (nobody has been able/willing to confirm exactly what the actual distance is).

I am currently "enjoying" actual download speeds between 22 Mb & 25.5 Mb, with upload speeds around 5 Mb.

I did achieve much better download speeds at first. There are 26 pages of "issues" discussed in the link that Walter mentioned.

Hopefully, none of those issues will apply to your connection, but it would be very interesting to see how it all pans out over the next few weeks/months.

Just give me a shout, either in the forum or via the contact details that burakkucat mentioned if you do decide to unlock your modem, or obtain a spare one to unlock & you want any assistance in logging/graphing your connection stats (assuming you are a Windows user & not one of those strange penguin hugging types) 


Paul.


EDIT:-

As the Kitz forum doesn't have a dedicated FTTC section (yet), may I suggest that you post any FTTC related messages in the Broadband Technology section, including FTTC in the subject line to make it easier to find/keep separated from the ADSL messages?

[burakkucat]

( . . . & not one of those strange penguin hugging types) 

The b*cat gives one of his best slitty-eyed black looks towards the Aerie (based in the outskirts of the Devil Worshippers' land) and considers requesting that one of the Big Birds from his "second" home, a Liverbird, flies eastwards to give the Aerie's little occupant a good peck on his bald head. 
   

As the Kitz forum doesn't have a dedicated FTTC section (yet), may I suggest that you post any FTTC related messages in the Broadband Technology section, including FTTC in the subject line to make it easier to find/keep separated from the ADSL messages?

Perhaps TD, Eric or Kitz, herself, will advise with regards postings relating to fibre based connections? 

[roseway]

Perhaps TD, Eric or Kitz, herself, will advise with regards postings relating to fibre based connections?

It's a good point, and I'll discuss it with Kitz. In the meantime, please continue to discuss FTTC user issues in this section and technology issues in the Technology section. Thanks.

[Edit] New section 'FTTC Issues' is now set up.

[Bald_Eagle1]

Hi roseway,

It's a good point, and I'll discuss it with Kitz. In the meantime, please continue to discuss FTTC user issues in this section and technology issues in the Technology section. Thanks.

Just thinking aloud............

Do you feel it may be worthwhile adding a Fibre Issues section?
I don't know if that would be easy or difficult to set up, but it may help to boost the apparently dwindling volume of posts, as many fibre users may just go elsewhere that clearly shows there is a fibre section.

I almost by-passed the Kitz forum myself when I first posted, until by chance, I noticed a few posts that appeared to have been written by an active BT engineer.

TBH, I have recently started using the TBB forum for a few of my general FTTC discussions, but the clearly active BT engineer in that forum never seems to respond to my queries.
I wonder if he feels that I might have a bit of a "downer" regarding my experiences to date of BT engineers' skills & knowledge regarding FTTC issues & thus doesn't like to respond?


Paul.


EDIT:-
I see that roseway beat me to it & has created a new FTTC section anyway.
Thanks roseway 

[srt]

Well here we all are in Fibreland - - - or not so to speak
roseway - Thanks for re-site
waltergmw - I took some prints of some of the diagnostic pages thanks.
burakkucat - - As I have my 2Wire 2701HGV-C up and running I will just leave it there for the engineer to comment on as it does have a fibre port.
If she/he wants to use the hh3 so be it I guess   - - - - incidentally - I can get the screen prints of the info you mentioned, it was the other stuff that walter mentioned that I was not sure about, hopefully they make sense
Bald_Eagle1 - -Thank you for your input Yes the existing connection is pretty good tbh - - A while back I had all those disconnects etc which went on for months but it was resolved c/o a nice OR chap finding REIN. I now get a better snr margin (down) of 3968 kbs presently but I have had a tad over 4200 kbs. Interestingly the figures improved in the recent local activity of OR doing the cabinett installs etc and I have read elsewhere that often seems to happen. Coincidentally the cabinet is around the same distance as you mention and I think the BT reference was to 30 or so kbps
So even if its just 18 kbps ( hope not ) its better
I prolly wont get into the unlocking stuff as things tend to go "wrong" for me  - - -but you never know so thanks for the heads up
I guess I will continue posting here so as to maintain continuity
Thanks all.
 

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[Bald_Eagle1]

@ srt,

I prolly wont get into the unlocking stuff as things tend to go "wrong" for me  - - -but you never know so thanks for the heads up

Oh go on. You know you want to 

It really is easy to unlock the modem, & you can just as easily revert to the original firmware if you ever wanted/needed to.

Even if you don't bother with the graphing side of things, it really is THE only way you will be able to see any of your meaningful stats. The HG612 modem is otherwise completely inaccessible to end users, & the routers used with the BT modem don't obtain much at all in the way of detailed stats.

My biggest regret is that I was unable to see/monitor/store my connection stats during the first month, when everything was Hunky-Dory.

Those details would have been so useful as a comparison with my connection's current status, as proof that something is still currently a bit "pear-shaped" & needs fixing.

Plusnet have informed me that neither they, nor BT maintain any records whatsoever from the initial installation of FTTC & onward.
Apparently, all previous statistical records are overwritten whenever a connection is re-established.
I have to take that at face value, but I do find it a little strange.

Please see the attached photo, showing an engineer's JDSU display.
It shows my attenuation etc. when my connection was at its worst.
Ideally, you should also ask the installing engineer to confirm the line length that can also be displayed on his/her JDSU.

Paul.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[burakkucat]

I now get a better snr margin (down) of 3968 kbs presently but I have had a tad over 4200 kbs.

Cough! That is your downstream SYNC, not SNRM.

. . . and I think the BT reference was to 30 or so kbps
So even if its just 18 kbps ( hope not ) its better

Cough! (I just can't shift that furball. )  I hope the units for the above are Mbps and your predicted downstream speed -- Beatie's guesstimate -- is 30 Mbps.

[srt]

The cough! is very relevant at present as I have a very bad cold which seems to have gone on forever - - but in stages of nose running then not then cough then not then all together + sneezing- - urrgh!
Thats a partial excuse for my ability to tell kbps from mbps and sync from snrm

[burakkucat]

The cough! is very relevant at present as I have a very bad cold which seems to have gone on forever - - but in stages of nose running then not then cough then not then all together + sneezing- - urrgh!
Thats a partial excuse for my ability to tell kbps from mbps and sync from snrm

Oh dear!    It reads as if you need to be kept warm & pampered and be regularly supplied with small doses of throat embrocation. My medication, for such occurrences (and other occasions    ), is a triply distilled Irish brand OR a triply distilled and tenfold filtered Russian brand.    I hope you will soon be over the worst.

[renluop]

My medication, for such occurrences (and other occasions    ), is a triply distilled Irish brand OR a triply distilled and tenfold filtered Russian brand.

And I always thought the saying ended "as a newt".