Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[UncleUB]

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2012/01/27/bt-openreach-uk-replacing-faulty-fttc-superfast-broadband-modems.html

Customers of BT Retail's new superfast 'up to' 40Mbps (soon to be 80Mbps) BT-Infinity broadband service are being sent a new and "even better" VDSL2 / FTTC modem (Huawei EchoLife HG612) for free. A letter to affected users states that the new modems will "improve your broadband connection", but in reality they're just replacing faulty kit with a working version.

[kitz]

>>> the new modems will "improve your broadband connection", but in reality they're just replacing faulty kit with a working version

Dont you just love some of the stuff they come up with 

[asbokid]

The modems are being posted now, to save on an engineer's visit?  Are they collecting the old ones? If not, ebay is going to be awash surplus kit. What of those who aren't comfortable doing the swap-over themselves?

[camallison]

No - a letter is sent to the customer explaining what is about to happen.  Kelly Communications staff then come and do a swap out.  The offending modems are to be returned to Huawei under their warranty terms with Openreach.

Actually seen it happen for an ex-neighbour with an affected one.

Colin

[asbokid]

That's good news. A lot of ladies relish a home visit, especially from an openreach engineer. It's something to do with the uniform, all neatly pressed and freshly starched. It's like a pheromone: hard for them to resist.  Moths to a candle, as it were.

EDIT: was going to recount the story of a young openreach engineer. he was out on one of his first house visits. Little did he know that he'd been set up. They had sent him to the home of a notorious sex-starved spinster. She was infamous for reporting fictitious line faults, as the pretext for luring an engineer into her clutches.

There's a chance the lad might read this forum, so perhaps it would be kinder to stay schtum, for the sake of his dignity! 

With all this talk of bogus callers posing as engineers, it's only right to paint the other side of the story.. the very real risks that an engineer undertakes whenever he steps over the threshold into consumer premises.

Reminds me of one of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected..  The landlady of a B&B who drugged her young gentlemen guests so they would stay forever. It's a little known fact that Dahl was in MI6. Revealing the source of inspiration for his deeply twisted plots?!

[sevenlayermuddle]

>>> the new modems will "improve your broadband connection", but in reality they're just replacing faulty kit with a working version

Dont you just love some of the stuff they come up with 

 

It should be stressed that there is no risk of the overheating problem causing a fire

In the dog-eat-dog, back-stabbing world of modern commerce, am I alone in wondering why on earth they would be replacing these devices for any other reason than fear of litigation (ie in the event of fire damage)?

I'd hazard a guess that the replacements, whilst they may appear identical, may have similar components but sourced from more reputable suppliers.  Cheap capacitors spring to mind, as discussed in a number of recent threads.

[asbokid]

yes, you're likely right, SLM.. and maybe when they do blow, they could take out the kit in the cabinet?

[waltergmw]

Gentlefolk,

It is surely unlikely that a modem failure would cause more than the loss of a channel on a line card.

BT probably designed their FTTC to compete with Virgin Media's superior coaxial cable and fibre urban solution.
The minuscule threat of Vtesse Network's grant-approved solution for Ewhurst that caused BT's dirty tricks debacle is an entirely different rural situation.
There is likely to be a higher risk of lightening strikes on long rural unscreened overhead lines and the speed improvements on ageing noisy lines will be much less.
Furthermore a minimum requirement of a 24 hour battery backup to cater for rural power outages is essential.
(Note that with increasing use of battery powered tablets and laptops it is not unreasonable for an end user to install their own modem & router battery supply to allow uninterrupted internet access.)

As BT are about a year late we are yet so observe any operational FTTC services.

Our avid readers can be confidently assured that we will report on the situation as it develops.

Kind regards,
Walter

[kitz]

>> It's something to do with the uniform, all neatly pressed and freshly starched.

lol there was me thinking it consisted of a yellow jacket

>> It's like a pheromone: hard for them to resist

naw doesnt do it for me Im afraid    I'd be more interested in picking his brain than about his clothes.

[renluop]

so they would stay forever

Clarification please! Is that "stay" as in "remain" or staying power"?

[asbokid]

Back then Viagra was just a twinkle in the eye of Professor Pfizer!  Dahl's film is called The Landlady, one of his best. The landlady poisoned and mummified all her male guests. She wasn't bad as such - she just couldn't bear to watch them leave, so she made sure they stayed.  Warning to all openreach engineers: drink only from your own Thermos flasks!

cheers, a