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New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

jtm151
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Hi,
I thought I would create this thread as a record of the problems I have had during my new fibre install.
So far it has been 5 days and I still have no internet connecton. However, alot has happened in those 5 days to try and get me online.
24/10 - BT engineer (maybe subcontracted) arrived at about 3:30pm to fix new fibre.
Took an hour or two to wire everything up my end (required a long lan wire to be run arround my flat) and do what he needed to do at the cabenet.
He told me this was his first fibre install and I also understand I was the 1st person to have fibre installed in the area! This is probably why I am getting these 'teething problems'.
The engineer did not know anything about the plusnet router. Infact he didnt even know he was doing a plusnet install until he saw the router! He did set the router up for me but we could not get a connection to the internet. After reading the little booklet that cme with the router I realised it says wait 15 minutes before opening internet brower. I let the engineer go thinking that it will all be working in 15 mins. About 45 mins pass and still nothing after router restart & reset. The error messege I am receiving on the router all through this is 'concentrator not reachable'. The broadbnd light on the router and the dsl light on openreach modem are both lit. However, whenever I try to connect using my plusnet user name and password the internet light will turn red for about  15 seconds before turning off again and returning the above message.
I ring plusnet who advise their faults team are closed and it will be rigistered and looked into the following day.
25/10 - I speak to plusnet about lunch time. They had looked into it and had referred it back to bt who will take 24-72 hours to look into it.
I call plusnet 4-5 times over next few hours to try and rush things through. I learn that I can not speak to BT/openreach directly but have to do so through plusnet.
I try to connect directly to openreach router using pppoe conneciton but get a error 651.
I did end up getting through to someone at plusnet who were able to get onto bt and 2nd engineer visit was arranged for the following day.
26/10 - Engineer arrived 8:15am. Nice and early... I was in hopeing he would have loads of time to get this sorted. Checks all internal wires and all checks out. He confirms my line is in sync. He shows me on his bt machine thing  80mbps down & 20mbps up. However, I still can not connect to internet. He goes and checks everything out at the cabenet and comes back an hour or so later with his supervisor/another advisor. He had been in contact with plus net and BT and everything checks out. He wanted to do a lift and swap on my line (swapping it to a different port in the cabenet i think) however, bt was getting an error and he was not able to do this for me. He says BT need to sort this out and may need to get another engineer out. He suggested this may be today. He leaves about 11-12am.
I get back on the phone to plusnet. Explained the situation and they updated their notes after reading the engineer notes and advise they need to wait for bt and this could be 24-72 hours.
I call back the engineer (i had his number from when he called me this morning).  He suggested plusnet would need to arrange the next engineer for me. He also told me bt was eagar to get this sorted urgently as I was 1st person on the new fibre connection in my area.
I ring plusnet again. Have to speak to a few different people before I get through to someone willing to ring bt for me. Usually they wait 24-72 hours for bt but since bt were working quickly plusnet needed to get hold of them asap. I was tld they will ring be back after they speak to bt.
Hours pass and I do eventually get a phone call back from plusnet. I am advised that they have spoke to BT and this sort of error could take up to a week to sort out.  They give me eta of 02/11 for bt!!!! I was not happy with this result. It was at about 5pm by this point and I thought too late for anything else to happen.
However, 10 minutes later I recevice a call from bt offering to get another engineer out on the same day. I accepted but they called back and said they could not do it and just missed the last engineer. They will get another engineer out for me tomorrow morning 8am. They confirm they fixed the problem preventing the engineer from doing a lift and swap earlier.
I call back plusnet, learn that they had diaried the case on to 30/10. Explained I have another engineer coming out on saturday.
27/10- Engineer arrives at about 8:15am. Today had got to be the day they get it fixed!!! 3 engineers in 4 days! The engineer checks wires again and all checks out ok. He confirms line is in sync. He completes lift and swap and comes back to my home. Still no connection! Engineer continues to do checks and from what I understand he is unable to get and PPP conection at my home or even at the cabenet. He also said that my router is 'knocking on plusnets door but not getting a reply'. However, I am not sure if this is a fair metaphore! He spends some time to someone on the phone who sends a form of the their 'model office' for them to look into. He suggested this this would be done today (saturday) or Monday. Engineer mentioned that there are 2 connections on fibre now. We dont know if the other connection worked!
I call plusnet a couple of times but learn that they can not chase bt to find out exactly what is happening. No one knows who the model office is. I was advised I will have to wait until Monday.
29/10 (my birthday!) - I call plusnet 11am. I speak to someone who spoke to the agent I spoke to on Saturday and I am advised this problem will not be looked into until tomorrow.
I call them again and press the matter explainging that I keep being advised that this matter will be looked at within different time scales. I am advised their fibre guy will look into this when he gets back from break and I should hopefully get a call back within an hour.
over 2 hours pass and I call them back. It is getting later and later and I was loosing hope of anything happening today. I am advised agent dealing will be told I chased.
I call them back after another hour. I manage to get through to the person currently dealing, John, who explains that he had been on the phone to bt for the past hour trying to get this sorted for me. It seemed like this guy was doing all he could do to help me Smiley   Unfortinatly, bt have advised him it could take another 48 hours to look into. I am told that the Model office is a bt team who deal with faults after the 1st line engineers have not been able to resolve the issue. It is apparently a good thing these guys are looking into it as it means the matter has been quickly escalated. This is a specialist team who deal with the more unusual problems. John advised that they (plusnet) need to call bt in 48 hours to get an update. I explain my frustration and advise I get all my TV through the internet. It is amazing how much you miss it when it is gone 😕  This is especially a prolem for me as I sell stuff on ebay can only currently access the internet on my mobile phone which does not get enough signal at home!!!  John explains that he is not in tomorrow but because this is such an unusual fault and he is also eagar to get this sorted out he will get a colligue to chase BT up for me tomorrow to see if anything has been/can be done.

To sum up my feeling of the situation so far:
Obviously disapointed that the fibre did not work as soon as we plugged it in. The fact that I was the first in the area to get fibre is probably the reason I have been having problems, however, it is a shame that it was not all tested properly before it went public. I did not sign up and pay money to be the ginni pig! I have spoke to many people at plusnet. Everyone I spoke to was polite and appologetic over the situation. However, I would have to ring back and talk to a few different people before I could perswade someone to chase bt for me. I wish I did not have to do this but if I had not I would not of had 3 engineers out in 4 days and have the matter already passed to this 'model office' team. I am pretty sure that I would of been lucky to of had 2 engineer visits if I had not been so proactive in my chasing! This does not seem to be plusnets fault but more a problem with communication between all parties involved. For example: I am unable to contact bt (they will not take calls from me and plusnet or engineers can not provide me with the details). I have to contact plusnet who contact bt on my behalf. Today I was onto plusnet, who was onto bt wholesale/openreach who in turn were onto their model office team!!! Not so bad on the phone but it seems that this whole process is usually done by some sort of ticket/e-mail system each with their own small backlogs.Again, this may not be so bad if the problem is fixed after one cycle of the process but if the problem is not fixed the process repeats!
I have been with plusnet for a couple of years now and have been happy with their service. I had little problems with my ADSL line and any problems I had were minor and resolved quickly. Fibre has been my only major issue but as previously mentioned this is probably more to do with being one of the 1st people in the area to receive fibre and probably some faulty equipment/software somewhere in the new setup.
If I had been offered to have my old ADSL2 line reconnected while they sort this problem out I would have been happier and more patient with the whole problem. I am surprised this was not offered by anyone. My connection was working until the moment the orignal engineer disconnected the wire from the cabinet from adsl2 to fibre. After it was established that there was a problem, could the wire not simply be reconnected to adsl until this problem is sorted out... maybe by one of the 3 engineers that came out?!? If the problem is not going to be able to be sorted out any time soon and the decison is made to put me back to adsl, presumably, it would now take another engineer visit to reconnect me to adsl and then yet another for fibre again once the problem finally gets sorted.
I will continue to use this forum as a place to document my experiances. I hope this will be sorted out shortly and I will be able to update that I am delighted with the super fast connection speeds!
p.s I am sorry for any spelling/grammor errors on this post. This is very difficult to complete with only a mobile phone connection!
34 REPLIES 34
Jaggies
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,700
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Fixes: 2
Registered: ‎29-06-2010

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

It looks a sorry tale...
May be worth trying the PPPoE direct connection to the modem following the lift and shift - if you still get error 651 I suspect it means your Plusnet account is not activated properly, and not an issue with the hardware or the installation. Your username should be <username>@plusdsl.net and the password is case sensitive.
I'm not sure if this will work, but it may also be worth trying the BT test username in your router - try bt_test@startup_domain with any password, and if that connects try bt_test_user@plusdsl.net also with any password.
Oh, and welcome to the forums...
Edit - typo
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Very sensible suggestion Jaggies. As I was reading through this sorry tale, two things in particular occurred to me.
1) The Openreach engineers said they couldn't establish a PPP session with Plusnet. As it hasn't been mentioned, has anyone at Plusnet checked that the account is set up correctly, this could be one reason there is no authentication. Seen too many issues raised on these boards where it's simply a configuration problem either at the exchange or Plusnet (not just fibre).
2) Far too many Plusnet staff have been involved with this when jtm151 has been phoning in.
- a) As this is Fibre it should be dealt with by a specialist team who have better knowledge of Fibre issues
- b) Irrespective of a) far too many CSC/Faults agents gave stock answers about timescales - not good enough.
- c) As this is a failed Fibre install it should be handled immediately by members of the team most experienced in Fibre, a customer should not be passed from pillar to post.
- d) As this is a failed Fibre install why can't the customer be quickly put back on the previous ADSL service until it's resolved. After all, it's a quick wiring change at the cab and then a remote software job is it not, by BT and Plusnet setting up correct account configuration?
As this is not the only case of failed Fibre install I have seen on these boards, I am frankly surprised that this sort of Upgrade issue wasn't addressed during the Fibre trials and temporarily switching back to the previous ADSL service to give a customer some Internet until the problem is resolved should be automatic. Plusnet need to have urgent discussions with BT and at a high enough level to get this sort of situation resolved and procedures put in place to ensure it happened automatically.
jtm151
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Quote from: Jaggies
It looks a sorry tale...
May be worth trying the PPPoE direct connection to the modem following the lift and shift - if you still get error 651 I suspect it means your Plusnet account is not activated properly, and not an issue with the hardware or the installation. Your username should be <username>@plusdsl.net and the password is case sensitive.
I'm not sure if this will work, but it may also be worth trying the BT test username in your router - try bt_test@startup_domain with any password, and if that connects try bt_test_user@plusdsl.net also with any password.
Oh, and welcome to the forums...
Edit - typo

Hi & thank you for the reply. I have tried what you suggested, however, I get the 651 error no matter what I do.  Sad
Parry88
Dabbler
Posts: 19
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Jtm
All of your diary is basically what I have apart from mine isn't a new fibre install as we already have fibre in our area of North Wales.
The 651 PPPoE was the same and I tried all the tests that plus net gave me none worked.
I found this regarding that error above but I haven't tried it yet:
http://technophilia.madharasan.com/610/how-to-how-to-fix-connecting-through-wan-miniport-pppoe-error
i have been one the phone to Plusnet three times and they sent me a text saying that they are now testing my broadband line and will be in touch when they have more info. I have raised two questions online too but haven't really got anywhere as of yet Sad
jtm151
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Quote from: Anotherone
Very sensible suggestion Jaggies. As I was reading through this sorry tale, two things in particular occurred to me.
1) The Openreach engineers said they couldn't establish a PPP session with Plusnet. As it hasn't been mentioned, has anyone at Plusnet checked that the account is set up correctly, this could be one reason there is no authentication. Seen too many issues raised on these boards where it's simply a configuration problem either at the exchange or Plusnet (not just fibre).
2) Far too many Plusnet staff have been involved with this when jtm151 has been phoning in.
- a) As this is Fibre it should be dealt with by a specialist team who have better knowledge of Fibre issues
- b) Irrespective of a) far too many CSC/Faults agents gave stock answers about timescales - not good enough.
- c) As this is a failed Fibre install it should be handled immediately by members of the team most experienced in Fibre, a customer should not be passed from pillar to post.
- d) As this is a failed Fibre install why can't the customer be quickly put back on the previous ADSL service until it's resolved. After all, it's a quick wiring change at the cab and then a remote software job is it not, by BT and Plusnet setting up correct account configuration?
As this is not the only case of failed Fibre install I have seen on these boards, I am frankly surprised that this sort of Upgrade issue wasn't addressed during the Fibre trials and temporarily switching back to the previous ADSL service to give a customer some Internet until the problem is resolved should be automatic. Plusnet need to have urgent discussions with BT and at a high enough level to get this sort of situation resolved and procedures put in place to ensure it happened automatically.

Thank you also for the reply.  Smiley
A quick update:
30/10 - Plusnet chased BT for me without me having to take any action this morning. They updated me by text basically informing me that they had been onto BT who in turn had advised them that there will not be an update until 3PM tomorrow. Plusnet have advised that they will chase BT again then.
My fault was initially mistakenly  raised as an intermittant connection fault on my ADSL line. It was not until I called back and discussed the matter further that it was realised that the fault is actually a new fibre conneciton fault... this was all last week within a couple of days of the initial problem. This being the case I thought maybe they forgot to check that things were set up their end. However, I called plusnet today and they advise they have deffinatly set everything up for me for the fibre package. I believe the engineer rung them and checked this also.
I have found on BT openreach service status site (http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/service_status#issue21988) that there is a problem with broadband in my area which they hope to have fixed by 6PM today:
We're really sorry but we've got a problem at the moment in the area, which means that some of our customers will be having trouble getting online. We're trying to fix the problem as quickly as we can. ETA 30/10/12 18:00

Fingers crossed BT will get this sorted for me today... if not today then tomorrow. If they still dont have it fixed by then I may consider cancelling the whole fibre order.
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
Thanks: 882
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Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

I'm sorry to hear about the issues you've been having here.
I'm going to keep an eye on the situation as it develops and step in if I need to, I'm confident my colleagues in faults are doing their best for you so far.
Adam.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

And what is Plusnet going to do about the points I've raised Adam?
adamwalker
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 16,871
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Registered: ‎27-04-2007

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Quote
1) The Openreach engineers said they couldn't establish a PPP session with Plusnet. As it hasn't been mentioned, has anyone at Plusnet checked that the account is set up correctly, this could be one reason there is no authentication. Seen too many issues raised on these boards where it's simply a configuration problem either at the exchange or Plusnet (not just fibre).

Yes, that's one of the very first things if not the first thing we check when an authentication fault is raised.
Quote
2) Far too many Plusnet staff have been involved with this when jtm151 has been phoning in.

Where as faults agents are encouraged to take ownership of complex or protracted faults where they can, it's not always possible so it is realistic that a number of agents may handle a fault. If that isn't working then perhaps we need to ensure agents are leaving adequate updates and information for the next person to pick up on. That's something I'll look at in more detail in relation to this case as soon as I can as I'd like to see if that has been happening.
Re switching back to an ADSL service there isn't a set process or path we can follow with our suppliers to do that but it is something we will always try and push for if there's any possibility in light of this type of issue.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Adam Walker
 Plusnet Help Team
jtm151
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Thanks again for the replies everyone. Thanks for keeping an eye on this for me Adam.
I still have no internet atm. Was watching a BT service staus update last night for for my area which they completed repairs at 8:16pm. However, this was their bussiness services status and probably nothing to do with me. I was just being hopeful! lol
Plusnet are meant to be ringing BT at 3PM (1 hour) to be getting an update. I was hopeing it would be working by the time of this update but it is looking more and more unlikly. Plusnet and I have been waiting for this model office team since saturday morning. I hope plusnet will be putting alot of pressure on their suppliers to get this sorted when they call them... if the update is that I am going to have to wait another 72 hours I am not going to be happy!
I will update after I hear from plusnet after they contact the supplier.
vultura
Rising Star
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Registered: ‎22-05-2011

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Welcome to the forums jtm151.
Thanks for posting up this thread and well done for putting up so much info with a mobile phone.
Just sorry its not worked out for you so far.  My connection seems to have issues, but at least it works.
Has anyone seen my signature, it's gone missing.
chrispurvey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 5,369
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Registered: ‎13-07-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

@jtm151
Jon who you have been speaking with is going to be in-touch, it will be after 3pm though as this is when he will be speaking with our suppliers to chase this up.
jtm151
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

Further update for today 31/10 -
Received a phone call about 4:15pm from Jon as promised. It seems Jon is doing what he can to help me as he told me he had spent the last hour on phone to thier suppliers.
Unfortunatly, bt have said that the problem has not been sorted and ask to wait another day. This is not satisfactory so I Jon asked the matter to be escalated to a team leader/manager at bt who will get back to him tonight who will get back to me again before 8pm.
6:30pm - Received call from Jon who has spent more time on phone to bt. I understand he now has details for team leader of whoever is dealing. Apparently the model office team is also/now called the triage team. The person at the suppliers end who was meant to be dealing was not in today. Furthermore, bt apparently wanted some tests done which I done with Jon on the phone. These tests were just the bt_test@startup_domain & bt_test_user@plusdsl.net tests. I have tried these several times already and always get the 651 error, including this time. I hoped that maybe someting had changed since yesterday! Anyhow, Jon will relay this back to bt, who will relay it back to their 2nd line support and the whole thing will be picked up again tomorrow.
I am told that plusnet will chase their suppliers again at 3pm tomorrow.
Having had time to think about the situation, I will probably call in before 3PM to try to get things looked into earlier. It seems that the earlier in the day we push the suppliers the better!
Anotherone
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

This really isn't good enough. Clearly the points like 2 d) and possibly c) that I raised in my reply #'5 are not being fed back to a senior enough level
Quote from: _Adam_Walker_
Re switching back to an ADSL service there isn't a set process or path we can follow with our suppliers to do that but it is something we will always try and push for if there's any possibility in light of this type of issue.

That's precisely my point, and there should be  Roll_eyes
jtm151
Dabbler
Posts: 22
Registered: ‎29-10-2012

Re: New Fibre Install problems/diary. No internet connection.

01/11 - I have spoke to Jon at plusnet a few times today. He has been onto bt for me for a lot of the day it seems!
Bt it seems have looked into this and my ticket has been update with following information:
OR have reported no trafic between router and modem, changed ethernet just in case, no difference. they also say they have achieved a successful PPP logon remotely with Bt test logins. waiting on confirmation as to how they did this without a TAM
starting to suspect faulty modem as error 651 is consistent with openreach notes:
Openreach can remotely connect to the modem inthe EU premises and we are seeing VERY VERY little traffic hitting the ethernet port on the modem from the EU's router. We also can't detect the EU's router which should be broadcasting.

BT is going to complete investigations tomorrow. I understand Jon is going to pick this up for me tomorrow morning also.
It MAYBE the openreach router that is the problem. It seems that bt can get on the router but for some reason my compuer/the technicolor router can not. Maybe some sort of problem with the lan connection within the router? However, the LAN1 does light up when cable is plugged in and does quickly flash off and on when I try to connect directly as if it is receiving data from my computer. Perhaps this data is not being sent on after the modem gets it.
The 651 error that I get when I try to connect directly does say something like 'the modem reports an error'.
I get the concentrator not reachable error on my router whether or not I have the WAN cabel connecting the modem to router. However, the broardband light on router does turn off when I disconnect this wire.
I guess that the 'very little traffic' bt talk about is me trying to connect every now and then. The tecnicolour router does not appear to keep trying to connect after the error. It only trys when I tell it too.
If i try the connection troubleshooter on router it shows no PPP could be established.
I understand from speaking to Jon that if bt checks come back clear tomorrow morning the next step may be another engineer to come and try another modem. I don't THINK any of the engineers i've had out tried to use a different modem. Although one did say he could not get a PPP connection on my line. BT apparently can now though?
Tomorrow is a friday so hopefully BT will sort things out their end in the morning and plusnet can get an engineer out in the afternoon if required. Otherwise i guess i'm going to have to wait another weekend  Sad
It is very hard for me to access my e-bay stuff atm. My mobile get really bad signal and I can't access e-bay through it at home. I have not renewed my listings because I have too many problems trying to follow them up without home internet.
I also run my own forum and although my mobile does access it everything is painfully slow.
My girlfriend has had the week off work and having no internet means no tv for us! We have had to talk to each other  Shocked  We have had engineer visits in this time and although it is a good thing work did not have to be rearranged arround the engineer visits, there are things we would have preferred to have been doing!
Fingers crossed for tomorrow (friday).