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Author Topic: FTTP & Copper Phone Line  (Read 936 times)

rbz5416

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FTTP & Copper Phone Line
« on: March 14, 2021, 11:26:57 AM »

Trying to help a mate make sense of upgrading his weedy 4Mb ADSL service with Zen.

He's a long way from the cab with a predicted best of 12Mb on the BT Wholesale checker. But the page also includes the message "VDSL FTTC and SOGEA is currently not available on this cabinet due to following reasons:- This cabinet is temporarily unavailable for fibre orders due to engineering works." First question is anyone have any idea what this is likely to mean?

Secondly, no ISP other than BT will offer him FTTC speeds, & therefore prices. BT describe these as Full Fibre so I'm guessing it's the equivalent FTTC packages being offered over FTTP? This ties in with different guaranteed speeds being offered whereas an FTTC product would have a fixed max speed across the packages. Assuming this is correct it raises an issue with his analogue phone line. He has several extensions with analogue handsets & an alarm system with an analogue dialler he would like to retain. It's very unclear from my reading elsewhere whether this is likely to still be possible. Will he be forced to go to VOIP?

Lastly with them both working from home in critical roles, it's essential the service is stable. Would it be possible to retain the Zen ADSL service in parallel with a new BT FTTP service for a month or two to confirm stability of the new connection?

If it's relevant, the landline is currently provided by BT.

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Weaver

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Re: FTTP & Copper Phone Line
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2021, 11:36:02 AM »

> This cabinet is temporarily unavailable for fibre orders due to engineering works." First question is anyone have any idea what this is likely to mean?

No idea, I’m afraid.

> Will he be forced to go VOIP?

No, just keep the old copper line as well.

> Would it be possible to retain the Zen service in parallel

Indeed, just order FTTP (or failing that, if desperate, FTTC) as a second line.
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j0hn

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Re: FTTP & Copper Phone Line
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2021, 11:37:30 AM »

This cabinet is temporarily unavailable for fibre orders due to engineering works." First question is anyone have any idea what this is likely to mean?

Possibly full, requiring more capacity to be added.

Quote
Secondly, no ISP other than BT will offer him FTTC speeds, & therefore prices. BT describe these as Full Fibre so I'm guessing it's the equivalent FTTC packages being offered over FTTP? This ties in with different guaranteed speeds being offered whereas an FTTC product would have a fixed max speed across the packages.

Does the Wholesale checker show WBC FTTP as available to him?

Quote
Assuming this is correct it raises an issue with his analogue phone line. He has several extensions with analogue handsets & an alarm system with an analogue dialler he would like to retain. It's very unclear from my reading elsewhere whether this is likely to still be possible. Will he be forced to go to VOIP?

If it's FTTP then the BT system dictates if VOIP will be used for calls or if the copper line will be used.
If the BT order mentions Digital Voice, then it's VOIP only.

If the system says VOIP is available then that will be used.
It cannot be changed.

You really need to tell your friend to sort out their alarm.
PSTN will be switched off by 2025, earlier in some areas.

Some ISP's have already completely ditched PSTN for all new FTTC customers.

They are just delaying the inevitable.

Quote
Lastly with them both working from home in critical roles, it's essential the service is stable. Would it be possible to retain the Zen ADSL service in parallel with a new BT FTTP service for a month or two to confirm stability of the new connection?

Yes.
« Last Edit: March 14, 2021, 11:41:48 AM by j0hn »
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Talktalk FTTP 550/75 - Speedtest - BQM

j0hn

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Re: FTTP & Copper Phone Line
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2021, 11:41:17 AM »

> Will he be forced to go VOIP?

No, just keep the old copper line as well.

I believe the OP was asking about a bundled FTTP/voice package.

A BT customer doesn't get to choose how the voice element is delivered in such a scenario.

To keep the copper line with BT they may have to pay in addition to their broadband, rather than it being bundled.
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Talktalk FTTP 550/75 - Speedtest - BQM

rbz5416

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Re: FTTP & Copper Phone Line
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2021, 12:50:15 PM »

Thanks, this illustrates the difficulty I've found elsewhere with conflicting replies.

Yes, FTTP is available & it seems only BT offer FTTC equivalent packages, if indeed that is what's happening.

The notion that if VOIP is available then that's what you get does seem to be the case & the only way to find out is go through the order process.

The issue with going to VOIP is it's a semi-rural location with poor mobile coverage for a GSM dialler for the alarm. This also raises the issue of emergency phone access in the event of a power cut. There seems to be some reference to a small (60 min?) backup battery but I guess otherwise you have to buy a UPS. 

The hope is that by the time VOIP becomes standard, mobile coverage might have caught up. Although I still have no 3G coverage at home, never mind 4 or 5, so it may be a forlorn hope!
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Weaver

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Re: FTTP & Copper Phone Line
« Reply #5 on: March 14, 2021, 07:35:49 PM »

I would buy a real monster UPS, and the runtime should be decent.
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