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Author Topic: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP  (Read 4806 times)

g3uiss

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #15 on: January 14, 2022, 07:02:29 PM »

Better support, less risk of congestion, the ability to change backhaul, the ability to upgrade/downgrade package (every month if you wanted) without having to renew contract.

They are also 1 of the very few ISP's that provides a solution that allows you to migrate your PSTN number to VOIP without it ceasing the broadband connection.
They are 1 of very few providers that can give multiple IPV4 addresses if that's a requirement.
They are 1 of a few who offering line bonding.

It's above what I would pay for my broadband but they certainly have plenty to offer.

FTTP isn't magic. It does go wrong. I've had 2 outages on my PON in the last year which was more downtime than the last 3-4 years combined on FTTC.

What are the issue that bring a PON down ?
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Cerebus FTTP 500/70 Draytec 2927 VOXI 4G fallback.

Alex Atkin UK

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #16 on: January 14, 2022, 09:05:52 PM »

What are the issue that bring a PON down ?

Firmware updates, general maintenance or someone sticking a backhoe through it.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2022, 09:29:38 PM by Alex Atkin UK »
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Broadband: Zen Full Fibre 900 + Three 5G Routers: pfSense (Intel N100) + Huawei CPE Pro 2 H122-373 WiFi: Zyxel NWA210AX
Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, Netgear MS510TXPP, Netgear GS110EMX My Broadband History & Ping Monitors

GigabitEthernet

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #17 on: January 14, 2022, 09:47:11 PM »

Firmware updates, general maintenance or someone sticking a backhoe through it.

How is AAISP going to help with that? They will be calling out the same Openreach engineer to fix it
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GigabitEthernet

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #18 on: January 14, 2022, 09:47:37 PM »

BT, you get a UK-based support team, no they're not fantastic but I no longer feel like I wouldn't be with BT on that basis
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Alex Atkin UK

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #19 on: January 14, 2022, 09:55:20 PM »

For me the rule of thumb is an ISP with:

1) A static public IP
2) They meddle with my traffic as a little as possible.

Once Zen gets large enough to be subject to the court orders blocking sites, I will seriously reconsider my position.  Its not even that I visit those sites (and if I did there are VPNs), its the principle of the thing and the potential for the blocks to be implemented badly as Plusnet have done in the past as I recall.

Plusnet were my first ISP and I only left when they started badly implementing traffic limiters that caused my Usenet usage at the time to be throttled 24/7, when it was only supposed to throttle after a certain amount of traffic per month.

Its kinda ironic however that moving back to them for my second line caused the drop wire damage to be discovered and ultimately fix my Zen line, which I wasn't aware was faulty.
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Chrysalis

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #20 on: January 14, 2022, 10:36:00 PM »

What are AAISP going to be able to fix on FTTP faster than BT or Sky?

I simply don't see the advantage they offer - and their prices are ludicrous.

I actually pay AAISP similar to what I was paying sky before I moved to them.  Their prices have actually got closer over time, because almost every year the big boys are doing inflation busting rises whilst AAISP dont,  they charge line rate much closer to cost and every customer on AAISP pays the same instead of me subsidising those on retention deals.
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Derpy

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #21 on: January 15, 2022, 12:04:55 AM »

I do absolutely love the idea of AA as they have a stellar reputation for knowing their stuff, I just dont know how I would cope with even the 8TB limit, in December on my < 25MB connection my pc alone transferred over 700gb (Glasswire ftw!) and that excludes all the other devices in the house so I fear we would easily hit the 8TB cap, its a pity as their monthly isnt to bad.

BT, you get a UK-based support team, no they're not fantastic but I no longer feel like I wouldn't be with BT on that basis

So you have had no major speed issues with BT on FTTP?
I am between Zen and BT mostly, Zen had an old age rep for good support and service but BT has the mass to have backhaul although I am in a remote area of Scotland so it may not matter.

Thanks again
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Alex Atkin UK

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #22 on: January 15, 2022, 10:25:18 AM »

I'm a very very heavy downloader but I think even I would struggle to hit 8TB over VDSL.  Now G.fast or FTTP is a different matter, though I'm more likely to increase my uploading which is not capped by AA AFAIK.

Still though, I wouldn't feel comfortable with my only ISP having a cap.  Right now I do load balance with AAISP over L2TP, but bulk downloads go over Three 5G.  I'm lucky to have that option though.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2022, 10:28:30 AM by Alex Atkin UK »
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Reformed

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #23 on: January 15, 2022, 02:43:46 PM »

Insane amounts of usage aside A&A are a niche ISP and that niche shrinks considerably with the advent of FTTP.

Quality monitoring is less relevant, the finer degree of support not an issue - you're either getting light at the correct level or not, you're either provisioned correctly or not.

If you want what they offer use them.

If you are someone wanting to download and upload as much of the content on the Internet as possible they likely don't want your custom.  ;)

Weaver

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #24 on: January 16, 2022, 01:37:40 AM »

Quote from: Reformed linked=topic=26696.msg447626#msg447626 date=1642257826
If you are someone wanting to download and upload as much of the content on the Internet as possible they likely don't want your custom.  ;)

Indeed. They offer so many additional features that I can’t list them all, but I’ll try. Have a poke around their website, https://aa.net.uk, or talk to them via phone/email/IRC.
  • Bonding of multiple lines for n x speed and high reliability. I have three lines bonded together in both directions.
  • Free IPv4 blocks as big as you want.
  • Failover to 4G.
  • Constant quality monitoring.
  • The ability to see and manage your traffic, latency, packet loss if any on their control.aa.net.uk server.
  • Setup of your own domain names reregistered annually with no risk of failure due to credit card stupidity, which happened to me and a domain name of mine (“tlachd.com”) was grabbed by squatters/profiteers.
  • I can show you my control server account with logs if that’s of interest.
  • Notification by email and SMS (and supposedly by twitter- doesn’t work for me though) if your internet connection drops.
  • VOIP with flexible redirects to other phone numbers.
  • Serious email.
  • No censorship of your web browsing - big important point.
  • Their business internet access services have no usage limits.
  • They understand gaming.
  • Optional traffic priority within both BT’s network and AA’s network (£10+vat? per line per month) which I have been using.
  • Very fast network.
  • Serious tech support with expert staff who understand geeks such as us and normal people too.
  • Choice of BT or TalkTalk or both carrier connections.
  • Support forever for their Firebrick router free, a superb piece of kit
  • Serious wifi optionally - which I am going to go for, as my WAPs are ancient
  • Happy users - see https://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/top10.php
I use pretty much all the features they have.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2022, 08:18:32 AM by Weaver »
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Derpy

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #25 on: January 16, 2022, 02:44:19 AM »

Indeed. They offer so many additional features that I can’t list them all, but I’ll try. Have a poke around their website, https://aa.net.uk, or talk to them via phone/email/IRC.
  • Bonding of multiple lines for n x speed and high reliability. I have three lines bonded together in both directions.
  • Free IPv4 blocks as big as you want.
  • Failover to 4G.
  • Constant quality monitoring.
  • The ability to see and manage your data own world on their control.aa.net.uk server.
  • Setup of your own domain names reregistered annually with no risk of failure due to credit card stupidity, which happened to me and a domain name of mine (“tlachd.com”) was grabbed by squatters/profiteers.
  • I can show you my control server account with logs if that’s of interest.
  • Notification by email and SMS (and supposedly by twitter- doesn’t work for me though) if your internet connection drops.
  • VOIP with flexible redirects to other phone numbers.
  • Serious email.
  • No censorship of your web browsing - big important point.
  • Their business internet access services have no usage limits.
  • They understand gaming.
  • Optional traffic priority with BT’s network and AA’s network (£10+vat? per line per month) which I have been using.
  • Very fast network.
  • Serious tech support with expert staff who understand geeks such as us and normal people too. Choice of BT or TalkTalk or both carrier connections.
  • Support forever for their Firebrick router free, a superb piece of kit
  • Serious wifi optionally - which I am going to go for, as my WAPs are ancient
  • Happy users - see https://www.ispreview.co.uk/review/top10.php
I use pretty much all the features they have.

Can you possibly show some of the VOIP control panel stuff?
I am considering them strongly for the interim at least.
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Chrysalis

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #26 on: January 18, 2022, 02:17:04 AM »

I actually think the day will come when AAISP is notably cheaper than the big boys, it feels inevitable, annual 5%+ increases.  The only recent packaging changes I have seen announced on AAISP is quota increases.

It will get to the point where you paying extra for peace of mind of unlimited and maybe also for the convenience of bundled in services.
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adrianw

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #27 on: January 18, 2022, 03:51:57 AM »

Can you possibly show some of the VOIP control panel stuff?
I am considering them strongly for the interim at least.

A&A VOIP support pages https://support.aa.net.uk/Category:VoIP
These were sufficient for this complete VOIP novice to get a N300IP base station going via a pfSense firewall, with NAT.
If you buy the base station from them they configure it for you.
They do hammer the point that VOIP might not work with NAT, but it worked for me.

My starting point was A&A FTTC with Pulse8 for the phone. The number porting was painless.

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Weaver

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #28 on: January 18, 2022, 04:09:12 AM »

I haven’t been able to get my N300 system working, need to get AA to help me debug the handsets some time. But in addition I’m not at all sure that VoIP will work with three or four bonded lines that have unequal speeds. But I’ve been too lazy to sort it out given that the VoIP system works superbly on redirect to my wife’s mobile phone.
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adrianw

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Re: Openreach FTTP ISP & VOIP
« Reply #29 on: January 18, 2022, 04:52:07 AM »

The handsets surely need little in the way of configuration?
The base station needs a bit, especially to revert the hand set displays to a plain clock.
I thought that your bonded system hid the underlying connections to present a seamless single connection.
On the other hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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