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[tiffy]

My sister has just had a FTTC/FTTP upgrade with BT, got a good deal on a 300/50 service retaining the land line.
The install was carried out by OR contractors, KN Circet in our area (N.I.), overhead feed from a pole at the end of her front garden fence.
The original copper drop cable takes the normal route from pole to front door and service ends up at the master socket at the back of the hall way, not sure how it actually gets there, likely through the loft.

The fibre installation tech opted for the easiest solution for him, new fibre drop cable to gable wall, drilled through and stuck the ONT there.
Of course he then decided that the router would go beside the ONT, normal procedure I would think, connected by a short ethernet cable.
The problem being, it's a very long bungalow with the ONT/router sighted at the (wrong) end of the dwelling in a spare bedroom, the household like most today rely completely on Wi-Fi coverage which due to the current router location is useless.
The installation took place just over a week ago.

Her original FTTP service router situated in the hall way at the master socket provided full coverage to all areas without any issues.
She did complain to BT advising that the system was virtually unusable and certainly well below the performance of her previous FTTC service, they offered to supply a second Wi-Fi repeater (not sure what BT call these) and arranged a OR engineers visit.

The OR engineer duly attended and agreed that the installation was terrible, however, he verified the available speeds at the ONT/Router, paired the 2 Wi-Fi boosters and was on his way!

So, the current situation is, the Wi-Fi boosters connect when reasonably close to the router (blue LED) but drop out (red LED) when situated where they would need to be for reasonable Wi-Fi coverage!
I'am of the opinion that the installation/service is currently not fit for purpose, anyone agree?

She has been in further contact with BT, local help desk, not India, but no further solutions are currently being offered, there has even been the suggestion by one help desk operator that a further engineers visit would attract a charge!

I feel quite bad about the situation as I badgered her to upgrade from a reasonably fast FTTC service which worked without issues.
So, what's the best way forward? 

[Alex Atkin UK]

Tricky one, if she had brought this up during installation they should have been able to put the ONT wherever she wanted within reason, but its also understandable that she might not know this would be a problem at the time.  If she did raise this and they ignored her or told her it would be fine, then perhaps she has a case.

At this point ideally you'd run an ethernet cable from the ONT to a better location but I can't imagine BT would be willing to do that, their responsibility ends at the ONT.  So I'm not really sure there is any way forward with this, unless they guarantee good WiFi performance which few ISPs are brave enough to do as its kinda unrealistic.

[burakkucat]

I'am of the opinion that the installation/service is currently not fit for purpose, anyone agree?

Yes, agreed. At present the installation is not fit for purpose.

She has been in further contact with BT, local help desk, not India, but no further solutions are currently being offered, there has even been the suggestion by one help desk operator that a further engineers visit would attract a charge!

A written complaint, with full details, not forgetting to include the above "veiled threat" to apply a charge made by the BT operative.

---

<Now with a change of hat.> How easy/difficult would it be to run a length of Ethernet cable from the ONT to a more appropriate location for the router/WAP? (I'm thinking about running it through the roof space.)

[mofa2020]

Can Powerline adapter has a place in this situation? and since it is FTTP there nothing to make interference with   

[stevebrass]

Another option would be to run ethernet cable from to the ONT to a more conveniently placed router.

Is it a large bungalow - any really thick internal walls?

But really - complain to BT. If nothing else the wifi discs should work. The tech should not have left the premises with discs not working effectively. I think there is a FTTP phone number? Perhaps some other poster here can recall it.

[d2d4j]

Hi

I would consider the quickest and less stressful option would be to use a PoE wi-fi AP and position roughly middle of bungalow in the roof area.

This then would leave the ONT/router as is with a single network cable running into roof area from the bedroom.

The PoE are not expensive as they once were and been in central position loft area, should give same or greater wi-fi coverage as was experienced with the FTTC router, but been out of sight.

It is just an idea though as I suspect OR would not move the ONT.

Many thanks

John

[tiffy]

Thanks to all for the for the responses and suggestions.

Unfortunately my sister was not present during the original installation, her husband was there, he is a very quiet and certainly non-tech person who just agreed with the installers decision to site the ONT at the easiest location for him, would definately not have been the case if my sister had been present.

After further consultation with BT most of yesterday when she eventually requested that the previous FTTC service was reinstated on the grounds that the FTTP service as provided was not currently fit for purpose, had a call back last night at 9:00 pm from BT stating that an OR engineer would attend next friday (FOC) and move the router to a more suitable location.
Will have to wait and see how this is achieved and if the attending OR engineer is actually willing to run an ethernet cable from the ONT to the original router location in the hall, I know entrance/working in the roof space is a no no for them.

My sister lives some 70 miles from my location so I can't easily visit to assess the situation for myself.
While I appreciate that my brother-in-law agreed to the ONT location, surely the original installer should have known that the location chosen would cause issues with Wi-Fi coverage especially as he had no intention of extending the router from the ONT to a more practical location.
I'am sure with the vast majority of installations the customers are non-tech and very much rely on the tech ability/advice of the installer to provide a fit for purpose system.

It has occured to me that the installer supplied router Wi-Fi might be faulty, was surprised that this was actually changed out as a replacement router & Wi-Fi booster was supplied by BT less than a year ago on last contract renewal, not sure if the old router was left or removed by the installer.
Again, I'am not in a position to easily check this, hopefully the attending OR engineer will.

My sister is a medical director of one of the main N.I. health trusts, not working from home as such but very reliant on her BB at home during the limited time she gets to spend there, with the ongoing NHS hospital situation she certainly could do without the additional hassle involved with this. 

[tiffy]

@d2d4j:

I would consider the quickest and less stressful option would be to use a PoE wi-fi AP and position roughly middle of bungalow in the roof area.

Yes, certainly an option in the longer term when BT/OR's best efforts have been exhausted.
I assume the BT router would not directly support PoE and some form of power adaptor would have to be interposed to power the Wi-Fi AP?

[stevebrass]

Depending on the house its possible the OR tech could cable around the house and move the ONT and router to a better location. Anyway - hope things work out okay.

[tiffy]

Depending on the house its possible the OR tech could cable around the house and move the ONT and router to a better location. Anyway - hope things work out okay.

Don't think that moving the ONT would ever be considered by OR, as suggested by most of the forum patrons the best solution would be to extend the router to a more suitable location, will have to wait and see if OR will do that on the currently planned engineers visit next week.

[tiffy]

@b*cat:

<Now with a change of hat.> How easy/difficult would it be to run a length of Ethernet cable from the ONT to a more appropriate location for the router/WAP? (I'm thinking about running it through the roof space.)

Being a bungalow with roof space access, messy but not that difficult, will certainly go down that route if I have to.
However, why should BT/OR/their sub-contractors be let off the hook for an obviously shoddy installation?

[burakkucat]

I see the failing as, quite clearly, being in the Openreach domain. The appointed sub-contractor took an easy option rather than consider the situation as then currently existing with the FTTC service.

BT (residential), as the service provider to the end user, only has the responsibility with that which exists "downstream" of the Ethernet port on the ONT. As such BT (residential), the ISP/CP, have fulfilled their commitments and should "push back" the failings of the Openreach sub-contractor to Openreach, for the latter to rectify.

Are Openreach aware of the dissatisfaction with the installation? Have BT (residential) "pushed back" to Openreach?

What could Openreach do? One possibility would be to fit a CSP (either internal or external), an extra length of fibre cable (either internal or external) and re-site the ONT.

My plan of action would be to carefully document the situation and send it to Clive Selley (clive.selley@openreach.co.uk) for review.

[tiffy]

@b*cat:
Many thanks for your further input.

Are Openreach aware of the dissatisfaction with the installation? Have BT (residential) "pushed back" to Openreach?

I certainly would assume so (via BT) but as there is no way to directly contact OR (other than e-mailing the boss) as far as I'am aware can only assume this to be the case.
My sister has certainly expressed her dissatisfaction firmly but politely (she's that sort of person) by the only means available, the BT help line.
As stated earlier, she has even requested that the old FTTC system is reinstated, this appeared to prompt the offer yesterday of a further (FOC) OR engineers visit.
I current have no idea if the old copper drop cable from the adjacent dist. pole has been removed as not in a position to visit the location at present.

What could Openreach do? One possibility would be to fit a CSP (either internal or external), an extra length of fibre cable (either internal or external) and re-site the ONT.

To be honest, have no expectation that this would happen, much more likely to extend the ethernet connection from ONT to enable the router to be sited in a more sensible location with respect to Wi-Fi coverage, would be quite happy with that option.
The physical location of the ONT is not actually an issue as such, it's the fact that the router has currently to be sited adjacent to the ONT which is causing the Wi-Fi issues, that of course is assuming that the installer supplied router does not have faulty Wi-Fi.!

My plan of action would be to carefully document the situation and send it to Clive Selley (clive.selley@openreach.co.uk) for review.

Yes, certainly an option if a mutually satisfactory result is not obtained in a reasonable time scale, have advised my sister to methodically record and document all contacts for future reference. 

[d2d4j]

Hi Tiffy

Yes, as this would be only a single PoE AP, you would buy the PoE adaptor that plugs into a mains socket and feeds the PoE AP using the same network cable.

The BT hub is not PoE as far as I know

Good luck though, as it sounds as if progress is been made

Many thanks

John

[stevebrass]

Don't think that moving the ONT would ever be considered by OR, as suggested by most of the forum patrons the best solution would be to extend the router to a more suitable location, will have to wait and see if OR will do that on the currently planned engineers visit next week.

Moving the ONT is not a difficult job as such. It would just need a new joint making. I don't know the layout of the property, but fitting ethernet cable internally probably will not look pretty. So ethernet cable could be run on the outside wall or move the ONT and run fibre optic cable on the outside wall. Anyway - good luck.