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[dsubixe]

Hi all!

Openreach started working in the cabinets surrounding my home, and wouldn't you know it, our rock solid (Router has been on and connected for 2 months solid) broadband and phone connection has conked out, complete with zero dial tone, in the space of time I was at work. All underground cables are through ducting (know this because I had to have the phone line installed when we moved in).

I approached an engineer at one of the cabinets (the one closest to my property) who said they are "replacing the old cables with new, pointing to the incoming cables coming out of the ground" - the cabinet had what I can only describe as a monster of a patch panel in it, no electronics. He said if we had been disconnected, we'd have been reconnected in a couple of minutes maximum. "Could you check for me please mate?" - "No, you need to ask your ISP" - "You definitely sure this maintenance work wouldn't have disconnected us and someone has accidentally left us disconnected" - "No mate, you need to ask your ISP".

I've looked up the FTTC cabinet that supposedly supplies my property, and it would appear it is not the cabinet the chap I was talking to was working in, but it is one that I've seen them at this week.

Has anyone else had issues after OR maintenance work, only to find a line has been reconnected poorly in the cabinet? Just irks me that it went from rock solid to zero without even the hint of a worsening cable joint or loose wire (like crackling on the phone line for instance).

We have arranged an engineer but with us both at work all the hours the appointments are available for until Friday next week, and unable to take a day off, the mobile data is going to take a hammering!

[tubaman]

Does sound like it has been accidentally disconnected during the cabinet maintenance. As you say, those cabinets are a complete rats nest of wires so it's hardly surprising that this can happen.

[Alex Atkin UK]

I had this happen years ago when they were re-jointing the cables to the cabinet and mine snapped while they were still working on the others.  I ran down to the cabinet to check and the engineer fixed it on the spot, noting that it had corroded so much if it broke again they would have to find a different pair.

Its unfortunate you got an engineer unwilling to sort it out without ISP intervention, but it sounds like it wasn't obvious your line could be impacted by the work that day whereas in my case they knew exactly where to look as I went down within a few minutes of it going dead.

[dsubixe]

Yeah it's a shame I wasn't home when it happened (although who knows if i'd have caught them at the cabinet). Will have to see what the engineer says when they visit! My ISP has said there will be some element of compensation, although not what that compensation will be.

[dsubixe]

An update (hopefully the last one needed!). The engineer visited, we had a chat about the coincidence of the green cabinet work and my internet just dying without any hiccups or any warning.

After attaching his fancy bit of kit to measure where the line was disconnected, finding it was several hundred metres away, and then leaving (presumably a tone generator) something attached to my phone line, he disappeared off up the road.

He came back 45 minutes later looking rather hot and flustered, line now working flawlessly when tested. Something about part of the line was left disconnected, and the bit that was connected was the wrong way round. It was in the same cabinet as the engineer was working in that I had spoken to before.

At least the net is back on now, 19gb/20gb used on my mobile data with 2 weeks to go... whoops!