Kitz ADSL Broadband Information
adsl spacer  
Support this site
Home Broadband ISPs Tech Routers Wiki Forum
 
     
   Compare ISP   Rate your ISP
   Glossary   Glossary
 
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5

Author Topic: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)  (Read 12108 times)

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282

EDIT: Linked to PDF file of the scan of the generic letter hand delivered recently by Lightning Fibre. I would've attached it but it's too large to attach :D.

PDF Link: http://fr89.uk/files/lightningfibre.pdf

---

This thread will serve as a diary for my experience in hopefully signing up to Lightning Fibre soon. I will update it every so often when I have something significant to mention. Some people on here might be curious about Lightning Fibre or just generally my overall experience. I already have FTTP, albeit via Openreach and I paid for this to be installed around 2-3 years ago I believe. I know I'm out of contract again, on native FTTP, so I know I'm definitely over two years of having the service. I got a reasonably low-end quote at the time, certainly compared to the average quotes I've seen people mention on some forums more recently.

Briefly, Lightning Fibre are a local altnet ISP which are rolling out gigabit symmetrical FTTP across where I live and a few nearby cities/towns. The ONT's they install are capable of 10Gbps, but for now they are rolling out up to 1Gbps with a future aspiration of offering more than that. They tend to dig their own trenches and build their own cabinets. They don't appear to share much of Openreach's infrastructure from what I understand, although I believe they will use Openreach's pole across the road to deliver FTTP to me.

Another nice thing about their service is that, according to their website, the first month is free (for home users only). This is to allow time to cease the previous connection, effectively avoiding paying for two ISP's in the same month.

More information can be found on their website at https://www.lightningfibre.co.uk/

I intend to go for the home 1,000 megabit package on the longest contract term offered (free installation).

On another note, Cityfibre are also busy rolling out their FTTP network here too. Plenty of roadworks going on thanks to all this :P.



25/05/2021 - 1pm:
Approximately 1-2 weeks ago I received a hand delivered letter from Lightning Fibre that stated they were about to do some necessary roadworks/streetworks to lay the fibre. The whole process is usually finished in a month or two and if I have any questions to phone or email them.

Well, I emailed them some months before I had this recent letter and they took approximately one working day to reply to my question regarding availibility of an IPv4 /29 block. Unfortunately they "done" (yes, that was a typo in their email I guess) offer this yet but the network director is currently looking into it. They also stated they would get back to me with a further update before the original ETA of me being able to signup. Originally the ETA for my street to be live was between December 2020 and June 2021, clearly it's going to likely be much sooner than that.

I've since emailed them again, twice, but sadly nearly two weeks have passed by without any response at all. This doesn't inspire me with much confidence on what my experience with customer service might be like if I was to become their customer. I could phone them but it's not an urgent matter, especially as I'm looking at possibly around two months before I can consider signing up.

I know I initially had a problem emailing them. The mailshot email that I had from their community engagement person said to reply with some information like my current ISP and/or questions. I did reply, but I later found out that they apparently never received my reply. I'm hoping this is just another situation where, for some reason, their email system is silently not allowing my messages to be received. If that's the case then I don't know why, my server isn't blacklisted, has a valid RDNS/PTR, a valid SPF and has DKIM configured. No other email address I've sent to so far has had such a problem.

In the meantime I've managed to workaround the additional IPv4 addresses problem by using AAISP's L2TP business service, which provides me with the number of additional IPv4 addresses that I need (a /29). Unfortunately the service is capped to 100Mbps but it's better than potentially having no additional IPv4 addresses at all. I don't generally use it for my NAT traffic, especially due to the speed cap considering that my current FTTP connection is on something like 1000/115.

AAISP have been super helpful (Andrew on their IRC), as usual, with assisting me to configure my Firebrick to accommodate the additional IPv4 addresses without my NAT traffic also going through the L2TP. The only time the NAT traffic will go through the L2TP is if my PPPoE connection to Cerberus Networks (my current ISP) is down, in which case it will go through the USB mobile dongle that's connected to the Voxi network.

I'll also scan in the letter I received, the one I mentioned earlier in this post, later today and attach it for those curious.



26/05/2021 10am:
I've had a reply on my other email, after trying to email them from my gmail instead. Long story short, they say they won't know for at least a few more months as to whether they can offer additional IPv4 addresses to customers. They will update me as soon as they have more details. On another note, it appears as if the reply was written in a little bit of a hurry. Some shorthand usage and typos were present, e.g. 'tho' instead of 'though', but as long as the service itself is good and if and when a repair needs doing it'll get done then that's what I'm mainly interested in! :)

I probably won't be able to provide any further updates for the next few weeks now (or perhaps 2-3 months), as I need to wait until the necessary works are done so that I can begin to signup. They also mentioned in the reply that it could easily be until August before I can signup.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2021, 10:04:04 AM by Ixel »
Logged

meritez

  • Content Team
  • Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 1623
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2021, 03:03:42 PM »

Quote
Lightning Fibre is a brand new broadband network for East Sussex
We are a cutting edge, community minded full fibre network operator and ISP based in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Unlike a ‘fibre’ network, which may include old copper wire, we’re undertaking a major infrastructure upgrade in Eastbourne, Hastings, Hailsham and Heathfield to lay a brand new ‘full fibre’ broadband network that will eventually reach almost every home and business in these towns.

I'm curious, but I doubt they'll build to Junction 15 of the M1
Logged

kjw

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 64
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2021, 03:49:53 PM »

Who would have thought Hastings/Eastbourne would eventually have access to 3 fibre networks! Crazy :)

What makes you want to leave your OR FTTP behind?
Logged
ZEN 900/100 via pfSense | Unifi AC-HD WiFi
Speed Test | BQM Graph

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2021, 04:05:24 PM »

Who would have thought Hastings/Eastbourne would eventually have access to 3 fibre networks! Crazy :)

What makes you want to leave your OR FTTP behind?

Indeed.

Higher monthly cost and a lack of symmetrical speed, those are mainly the reasons for considering moving. While I don't have the exact price to hand, I'm paying Cerberus somewhere near £150 per month for Cerberus FTTP Ultra2 with a block of IPv4 /29. Even with just AAISP's L2TP service providing the /29 and Lightning Fibre's top home plan on a long contract, it's considerably less cost per month and for a symmetrical gigabit speed too. Even allowing for upkeep of a 4G backup connection, it's still cheaper than sticking with Openreach's FTTP.
« Last Edit: May 25, 2021, 04:07:37 PM by Ixel »
Logged

kjw

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 64
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2021, 05:18:14 PM »

Ouch! Is that an FTTPoD line or are they really that expensive?!

Obviously the symmetrical part has OR beat, but someone like Zen could probably supply a block of IPS on the 1000/110 package for a lot less.

I wonder how many of these ALT's will still be around when the dust settles, new ones are popping up every day and at some point all that investment will need paying back :)
Logged
ZEN 900/100 via pfSense | Unifi AC-HD WiFi
Speed Test | BQM Graph

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2021, 05:24:39 PM »

Ouch! Is that an FTTPoD line or are they really that expensive?!

Obviously the symmetrical part has OR beat, but someone like Zen could probably supply a block of IPS on the 1000/110 package for a lot less.

I wonder how many of these ALT's will still be around when the dust settles, new ones are popping up every day and at some point all that investment will need paying back :)

It was an FTTPoD line, this is native FTTP now and yes going through Cerberus (they go via BT Wholesale, which as I understand it isn't cheap) and paying a small fee per month for the extra IPv4 addresses does work out to near that per month. I used to be with Zen a long time ago but due to some bad experiences (around single threaded download speed issues) I now avoid them. I had to leave them a negative Trustpilot review at the time, which got someone's attention and they released me from my contract early as well as refunding me, after which I updated the review to mention this. So while I didn't leave Zen on a bad note, I'm hesitant to consider them again.

Regarding the alts, indeed, who knows how many will survive in the long term.
Logged

grahamb

  • Reg Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 105
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2021, 08:15:55 PM »

@Ixel

Having seen your post in the News Articles section, and reading through this thread, are you located around the Latimer Rd area? I've only just decided to register an interest and I'm wondering where Lightning Fibre have planted/are going to plant their little grey cabinet and when exactly the service will be going live. They were digging up the pavement and putting down cable outside the terrace where my flat is located  two or three months ago, as you probably already know.  :)
Logged

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #7 on: September 06, 2021, 10:05:29 AM »

@Ixel

Having seen your post in the News Articles section, and reading through this thread, are you located around the Latimer Rd area? I've only just decided to register an interest and I'm wondering where Lightning Fibre have planted/are going to plant their little grey cabinet and when exactly the service will be going live. They were digging up the pavement and putting down cable outside the terrace where my flat is located  two or three months ago, as you probably already know.  :)

No but it's only a few streets, it's nearby. I can't be certain but I presume the vicinity might be connected to a cabinet in Firle Road or just off of it. I haven't seen it for myself as I don't go that way, but someone I know recently told me something about a cabinet around there, unless they were just joking with me :D. I had a letter through the letterbox a while back, so I'm hoping for more news soon. I'm keeping a close eye on the roadworks via one.network. I recently saw two guys from Lightning Fibre around the back, looking at the pole and the various manhole covers for Openreach infrastructure, presumably assessing/surveying. A family member about 5 minutes down the road (on foot) is booked in this week to have theirs installed, after being phoned late Friday evening that it's now ready and would they like to place an order.

I'm also curious to find out, eventually, how the connection is authenticated. I'm hoping they don't use PPPoE, and looking at their gigabit speed test on YouTube I would say they probably don't (doesn't look like there's overheads for it). I'm also waiting to hear back regarding customers having an option of purchasing a block of IP addresses instead of just a single static IP. However I won't need multiple IP addresses from them now as I've got a block via OVH using a GRE tunnel and routing them to my local network, albeit at least the downstream is rate limited to around 250Mbps before the latency can rise up to +100ms, so I've capped it to 200Mbps downstream. I'm not sure if upstream will be similar until I have Lightning Fibre's gigabit service here. Either way that's still ample speed for the server stuff.

Also 'little cabinet' might be wrong ;). Have you seen the one in Old Town near the Co-op at Albert Parade?
« Last Edit: September 06, 2021, 10:35:09 AM by Ixel »
Logged

grahamb

  • Reg Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 105
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #8 on: September 06, 2021, 06:53:54 PM »

I've not been around the Albert Parade area for a few years now (since having to have my car scrapped) and no good reason to get on a bus/walk there, although my interest has now been piqued. I was just going by the size of the cabinets I have seen dotted around in, for example, Enys Rd and elsewhere.  :)

Also, I read through your second paragraph and the more words I read, the less I understood...  ;)
Logged

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #9 on: September 06, 2021, 07:00:53 PM »

I've not been around the Albert Parade area for a few years now (since having to have my car scrapped) and no good reason to get on a bus/walk there, although my interest has now been piqued. I was just going by the size of the cabinets I have seen dotted around in, for example, Enys Rd and elsewhere.  :)

Also, I read through your second paragraph and the more words I read, the less I understood...  ;)

I guess the cabinet size may vary depending on location and number of premises to connect, but there's photos of the one at Albert Parade at https://twitter.com/LightningFibre/status/1410331687356088331. As for the second paragraph, sorry I may have gone a bit technical I guess :). I haven't been to Old Town area for a while now myself, bus fares are high for single trips and I don't drive either. Mostly working from home so I don't really have a need to travel far on a regular basis thankfully. If I do need to go somewhere that's not within walking distance I'd rather just get a taxi these days.
« Last Edit: September 06, 2021, 07:03:17 PM by Ixel »
Logged

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #10 on: October 23, 2021, 09:46:36 AM »

Another update, not majorly significant but one I'll share anyway.

I had a letter through the letterbox yesterday, virtually identical to the one I had before (which I'm now starting to wonder if I should've had in the first place). However, the major difference this time is that they've been previously working on the other half of the longish road I'm on. Now there's roadworks planned by Lightning Fibre virtually at the telegraph pole I'm connected to. I believe I possibly received the first letter in error due to longish the road and the funny route it takes. Once again the letter says I should be able to connect to Lightning Fibre within a month from now (or something to that effect), which would co-incide with the planned roadworks here and a few weeks leeway after the planned finish date.

Exciting times ahead perhaps, maybe I'll be able to signup and go live before Christmas :fingers: :yay:.

I've not had a follow up regarding the request for multiple IP addresses, but I suspect that might not be possible at this time. When I look at how many they appear to have on their ASN, which I assume includes allocations for customer connections, it's unlikely to be adequate for those who would need or want multiple IP addresses at the moment (512 + 512 + 32,768 + 2,048).
« Last Edit: October 23, 2021, 11:03:17 AM by Ixel »
Logged

burakkucat

  • Respected
  • Senior Kitizen
  • *
  • Posts: 38300
  • Over the Rainbow Bridge
    • The ELRepo Project
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #11 on: October 23, 2021, 03:07:45 PM »

Exciting times ahead perhaps, maybe I'll be able to signup and go live before Christmas :fingers: :yay:.

Ah, but before which Christmas?  :D
Logged
:cat:  100% Linux and, previously, Unix. Co-founder of the ELRepo Project.

Please consider making a donation to support the running of this site.

Ixel

  • Kitizen
  • ****
  • Posts: 1282
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #12 on: October 23, 2021, 08:19:37 PM »

Ah, but before which Christmas?  :D

I hope this Christmas. :fingers:
Logged

SaltyWagyu

  • Just arrived
  • *
  • Posts: 6
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #13 on: June 02, 2022, 07:37:43 PM »

What router do Lightning Fibre provide? Is it possible to set it up as modem-only mode (or bridge, in other words) so that I can use my existing Asus RT-AX86U router with it?
Logged

tubaman

  • Senior Kitizen
  • ******
  • Posts: 12514
Re: Diary of My Experiences with Lightning Fibre (FTTP local ISP)
« Reply #14 on: June 03, 2022, 08:35:07 AM »

What router do Lightning Fibre provide? Is it possible to set it up as modem-only mode (or bridge, in other words) so that I can use my existing Asus RT-AX86U router with it?
Their website support page suggests it's a dual band Zyxel device, but it doesn't mention the model.
"Check the LEDs on the Zyxel Router (the freestanding box). The “Power”, “Globe”, “2.4G” and “5G” LEDs should be green..."

If you wanted to use your own router you'd ideally connect it directly to the ONT and not use their one at all. However, Zyxel routers can be locked to the ISP's settings so if you really need to use your own I'd contact them and ask before committing to anything.
Logged
BT FTTC 55/10 Huawei Cab - Zyxel VMG8924-B10A
Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 5
 

anything