Fibre here before - but not now?

[#1]

My question is, how can the previous occupants of my house have had Fibre and I can't?

If I'm on the waiting list, how do I know how long I'm going to have to wait? Are Openreach not obliged to be transparent about this, and if not why not, when connectivity is so essential now?

And if Plusnet can't deliver me Fibre, can another provider - i.e. do different providers have different punching weights? (My tenants were here a year and did have Fibre, they were with TalkTalk).

And finally, if I can't get Fibre, what more can be done to optimise a poor ADSL connection?

Here's the background:

I have recently moved back into my house having been away for a year. In the intervening period I had tenants in the house.

I was previously with BT and had Broadband but not Fibre as I was told it was not available in my area.

My tenants were on TalkTalk.

I am an Illustrator and have to transfer big files. My daughter is doing A Levels and although back in lessons is still using the internet heavily for school, plus there's a lot of streaming going on in the house. We also have a lodger who works from home. Before moving back in I'd checked with Openreach who said Fibre wasn't available and put me on an email list to keep me updated.

I have just signed up with Plusnet for Broadband Unlimited and have been struggling, firstly because it took a month to install, which was due to something connected with releasing the line from the tenants' supplier, I understand. I took out temporary unlimited data on my (Giffgaff thus Vodaphone) mobile, which was expensive. 

When the line was made live, and the box arrived it didn't work and after a few days of backwards and forwards on the phone an engineer came out. He called me from outside to tell me he'd fixed it. He told me the house had been connected to Fibre but that in order for my Broadband to work he had disconnected me. I was very surprised - and gutted. He said "I don't know but there is definitely Fibre in this cabinet." He gave me the impression it could be reserved for someone else.

However I am still vey unhappy because the speeds (download around 8mbps, upload 0.5) are so inadequate now, seemingly worse than when we lived here before with just Broadband. We can't watch iplayer, and I am struggling to transfer files. There are constant dropouts. Plusnet are running a line stabiliser to cope with the drop-outs.

Enquiries reveal I'm "on the waiting list" (see attachment) and I'm told by Plusnet this could mean 2-3 months' wait. Which would be do-able, eg with upping our mobile data use temporarily - if it's true. I'm just not sure whether to look at a solution like Gigacube (and to exit the Plusnet contact).

Thank you for your help.

Moderators Note: Personal information attachment removed. 

[#2]

Simple answer to your initial query - there are only so many Fibre 'ports' in a cabinet, once they are all allocated, until either another subscriber, with connection to any ISP using the BT network leaves, or BT upgrade your cabinet, you are stuck.

As to how long you have to wait - how long is a piece of string? The cabinet will not be upgraded until there is sufficient extra demand and BT get round to installing extra capacity, which is at their discretion. As above, irrespective of ISP - no available ports, no Fibre connection.

Can you post the results of the 'helpdesk' tab from your router - under the 'Troubleshooting' tab on the router homepage. Your observed D/S speed on that report says you are getting the best possible with an ADSL connection, but the U/S looks dire (and suspicious.

The 'available' connection may be either allocated to someone, but not yet connected, or could have very recently become available - BT record systems are notoriously slow to update - or it could be an engineer not knowing the full story.

[#3]

Thank you John for your information. I was just disconnected so I guess there is a port available ... 

When you say "the 'available' connection may be either allocated to someone, but not yet connected, or could have very recently become available - BT record systems are notoriously slow to update - or it could be an engineer not knowing the full story", does you mean there is nothing I can do? Would you advise me to contact Openreach? 

If not, what would you advise me to do? I've established my neighbours are on Fibre as well as my previous tenant, it just seems very frustrating that I cannot get Fibre and seemingly everyone else can!

With thanks again

Sarah

[#4]

These things happen.

In answer to your first question - to be honest, I can't think of anything you can do - BT/Openreach will not communicate directly with end users, only via your ISP.

The only thing I can safely advise you to do, is keep the ADSL connection you have and hope that a port becomes available, or they increase capacity in your cabinet sooner rather than later. You are on the 'waiting list', apparently.

I kind of share your frustration - I'm planning to move ISPs in the near future, and hoping to switch from ADSL to FTTC at the same time, but my cab is also now showing 'waiting list' for Fibre - it wasn't about 3 weeks back when I last checked!😩

Fibre availability depends on available ports - if there aren't any, you can't get it.

I will post later with regards to your current speed problem - but have something else to do first.

[#5]

Thank you John! I just looked at the BT Broadband checker and it says "available", not "waiting list" now, so I am going to ask Plusnet for an upgrade to Fibre immediately (unless this is a bad plan!) - Sarah.

[#6]

Actually - a good plan - if you can get it.

[#7]

Great! Thanks for you help John, .... crossed fingers!

[#8]

@sjf1965 Getting back to your current speed problem - as I asked in my initial reply: 'Can you post the results of the 'helpdesk' tab from your router - under the 'Troubleshooting' tab on the router homepage. Your observed D/S speed on that report says you are getting the best possible with an ADSL connection, but the U/S looks dire (and suspicious)

If you can do the above, we may be able to improve your current speeds a little until the Fibre  swap happens (hopefully).

Any queries, don't hesitate to ask - I'm not as grumpy as I seem.😉

[#9]

@sjf1965 -Sarah, in addition to the above post, it would be a good idea to carry out a 'Quiet Line Test' - dial 17070 from a (preferably corded) phone and select option 2 - the only thing you should hear is the 'Quiet Line Test' message at regular intervals - any other noise - squeaks, clicks, static - then report a phone fault. Without a clean voice circuit, your broadband - ADSL or Fibre - will be impacted.

[#10]

Thank you John, I’m still not sure exactly what I should post where, apologies. Will definitely do the quiet line test, -S

[#11]

OK - hopefully a picture will paint a thousand words. 😁

If you log into your router, you should end up with a page which looks like:-

If you click on the 'Troublshooting tab - top right - it should open a page with a heading which reads (in part) something like 'the agent may ask you for this information' - I'm paraphrasing, because I don't have that router - but it should give you a page with a load of figures, on about 24? lines. That is what I need to see, but please edit out any personally identifiable details like your username, the router serial number and suchlike.

If I can see that, it will give me an idea what may be causing your slow speeds, compared to those shown on the first screenshot you posted - now deleted, but I have saved a copy.😉

[#12]

Great thank you

[#13]

Here you go.

Quiet line test next ....

Thanks John

[#14]

Quiet line test seems fine, no squeaks or clicks, just that low hiss that sounds like the inside of a seashell, -S

[#15]

Should really be 100% silent - was this using a corded phone?