Fibre woes

[#1]

By virtue of living close to my exchange I have previously enjoyed reliable about max rate plusnet ASDL. Nevertheless I was temped to up-grade to fibre a week ago and was advised that I could expect 40 Mbps. I now have some comments & queries and would appreciate some quality responses.
Plusnet organised a different fibre connection appointment with me than it apparently did with the openreach installation engineer, and I was promptly unexpectedly yanked out of work to attend to the installation. 'Not a good start.
Previously I operated a reliable & secure wired lan with modem (and thence router and computers) connected to the master socket via an extension cable. Since plusnet advertises fibre installation as including a new extension from the master socket of up to 30 m (which in my case that would be simply laying any new cable on skirting board) I expected not to have to change the network. However, the installation engineer said that he hadn't been provided the necessary extension kit (is there in fact such a thing?) and instead attempted and failed to use the existing extension wiring instead. He added the I-plate to my existing master socket line box and transposed the extension twin wires from the numbered pins on the old half-height faceplate to the A & B crimps on the on the I-plate. At the computers, etc., end of the old extension he installed a new NTE5 line box with a second I-plate. When the new modem & obligatory new router were connected to this there was no signal (although the telephone did at least work here). At this point the engineer said that extensions weren't compatible with fibre installations anyway and promptly connected the modem at the original master socket. I was then left to bridge the gap to the router & computers with a spare long ethernet cable laid across carpets and which the family has been instructed to not trip over. So, was the engineer correct in saying that extensions are to be avoided, and that plusnet over-promised one, or am I due a proper extension for plusnet to organise? (An alternative is to move the new wireless-capable router to the master socket too but then I need to buy several wireless adapters for PPC Macs.)
My new connection speed was 37 Mbps initially but has subsequently fluctuated and net fallen. The MyBroadbandSpeed indicator now often shows speeds no faster than ASDL. I see in these forums that other new fibre users are complaining of a similar decline. Is this poor quality to be expected (in which case I'm disappointed and wish that I hadn't switched)? (Curiously the Member Centre is reporting my Estimated Line Speed to be 8 Mb and the Current Line Speed to be 37 Mb.)
Thanks in advance for comments.

[#2]

Quote

So, was the engineer correct in saying that extensions are to be avoided, and that plusnet over-promised one, or am I due a proper extension for plusnet to organise? (An alternative is to move the new wireless-capable router to the master socket too but then I need to buy several wireless adapters for PPC Macs.)

The standard fibre installation options include the use of a data extension cable up to 30m long. I have not heard of anyone who has actually seen one, but it is part of the offering.
It is also possible for BT Openreach to convert an extension that is directly wired to the master socket into a new master socket for fibre. This incorporates the pre-existing extension wiring and it is possible that the wiring is not good enough for fibre to work over it. This may be what has happened in your case.
All of this is up to BT Openreach; Plusnet's responsibility starts after the fibre modem. Of course your beef has to be with Plusnet as they are your supplier, but they have been let down by BT Openreach who have not delivered what Plusnet and you are supposed to be able to expect.
I think you should be able to stick with an all-wired solution. Wires win over wireless for everything except convenience.

You could consider buying or making your own data extension cable. It is just a length of telephone cable with an RJ11 plug on each end. For use with fibre I'd recommend twisted-pair cable. These can be bought ready made in various lengths (e.g. http://www.adslnation.com/phpapps/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=116). Or you can make one.

[#3]

Hi toodeep,
I'm sorry to hear about the experience you've had here. The extension kit as AxeMurderer mentions is part of the offering and as such I'll make sure we can sort that our for you, I'm just sorry that will mean a further engineer visit for you. With that in mind can you update ticket 44046941 letting us know what your availability is like over say the next two weeks for that?
With regards to speeds 40mb is the maximum speed the fibre technology we provide is capable of and as such no one would receive that precise speed.

Quote

My new connection speed was 37 Mbps initially but has subsequently fluctuated and net fallen

37mb is more realistic and is in fact a really good speed for FTTC, what has it fallen to?

[#4]

Thanks both.
The average of my download speed measurements is ~20 Mb but  the speed much varies within a day from ~33 Mb to ~6 Mb, with ~10 Mb being a too common measurement.
I'll endeavour to arrange an engineer return visit. In the meantime I'd appreciate clarification of the expected extension topology: will voice & data be split at the master socket and each carried on separate extensions (with voice on the existing unshielded not-twisted wire-pair) to more or less the same place, or will both be carried on the new extension and voice and data separated in the line box at the far end of the extension, in which case is the master socket I-plate redundant?

[#5]

Morning,
The extension should take the form of a dual socket with connections for both phone and broadband.

[#6]

Are you sure that is right Adam? I'd expected a data extension kit to be just for the data side. Unless the arranged return visit is actually to move the new master.

[#7]

I didn't feel any uncertainty when I posted that but I can double check.

[#8]

I'm not able to provide a 100% answer just yet on this. The reason is that the data extension kit is to move the modem connection point closer to where the customer requires it. In theory this may work for voice too but we need to put this to the test.
Bear with me and I'll come back after we've dug deeper...

[#9]

Adam,
Please have a look at ticket 44046941. Your colleagues are now insisting that the engineer tried to install the extension kit after all and that consequently I won't be receiving another visit. To recap, the engineer first insisted that he couldn't install the extension kit because he hadn't been provided one to install. He then improvised by attempting to employ the existing extension, but this failed. Finally he temporarily connected a reel of his twin-core unshielded flat untwisted phone cable to the master socket, which also failed, to demonstrate to me that extensions were per se incompatible with the new connection in any case. Does this constitute the 30 m extension that plusnet is offering with their fibre installation? Is plusnet really offering said extension or is the advertising false and the fibre modem must always be connected at the master socket? Has any other customer had the extension installed? Is plusnet giving me the run-around?
Regards
PS any comment on the speed variability?

[#10]

@Adam
It will be interesting to know the answer. I've yet to hear of anyone who has actually had a data extension kit, so to some extent it is guesswork what it actually is.
@toodeep
There is something fishy about what your engineer did/said. I would have expected connection via his reel of twin-core to have worked (so long as it was shorter than 30m), though perhaps not very well. Extensions are not utterly incompatible with fibre, though the setup is different. I'm posting via what used to be an extension (and a home made "data extension kit ") but is now the master socket.
Plusnet are supposed to be able to offer installation including a data extension kit, as are all fibre providers including BT themselves. It is true that the fibre modem must be connected to the master socket, but where the master socket is and how long the wire is connecting them are not utterly fixed. I think Plusnet are perfectly entitled to offer and advertise as they do.

[#11]

@AxeMurderer
No problem, I'll keep you informed. A member of staff is having one installed at some point this week and has kindly agreed to do a few tests for me so I'll let everyone know what their findings are.
Adam

[#12]

Just to update you on this. A staff member here has just had their fibre product installed and it would seem that the engineers are quite flexible as to how you want your internal wiring configured.
For example this engineer in particular moved the master socket closer to where the modem needs to be and then ran two voice only extensions off that again to where to the customer/staff member wanted them.

[#13]

So still no sighting of a data extension kit in the wild then.
So where does this leave toodeep? My BT engineer was also pretty flexible in how he set things up. But it looks like toodeep's was not, or there is something particularly nasty about the setup in toodeep's house.

[#14]

This interests me too. I'm having FTTC installed soon and our house has a non-standard 'star-wired' setup that probably still negatively affects my DSL speed, even though it's been better since I had my ring wire disconnected. I don't have a proper master socket and for optimum performance I reckon new wiring needs to be run from the junction box in our loft. I've added this info to the installation ticket, but whether Plusnet can alert the engineer beforehand is uncertain.
I hope toodeep gets a better setup after the next engineer's visit, and I hope I get someone who is more flexible and better equipped than the first engineer that toodeep had.
Graham

[#15]

Quote

but whether Plusnet can alert the engineer beforehand is uncertain.

Not any more I'll see to that.