What's this OpenReach equipment?

[#1]

It appeared on a pole a couple of days ago, about 100m from our house.  We had optical cable strung up about 3 years ago and had despaired of ever having it connected to anything! The optical cable was put up at the end of the SuperFast Cymru project, and not connected before the project ended. But this looks promising,,, maybe we will get FTTP before PlusNet offers it!

[#2]

I'm no expert, but that looks like FTTP equipment to me.

[#3]

I’m sure that @jab1 is correct but it looks a total eyesore to me.

Is this the best BT can do.

[#4]

This is exactly what FTTP looks like. We've 20 poles in our village and they all look like this.

[#5]

@gleneagles  I don't what you expect Openreach ( not BT) to do if the phone lines are supplied from poles. the FTTP connection equipment will have to go on those poles, if you are supplied from poles and FTTP was offered to you would you turn it down because you think it's an eyesore.🙄 

What about massive power transformers up on poles, they are really ugly.

[#6]

@gleneagles depends how high up the pole, I suppose.

[#7]

The kit is about 2-2.5 meters up the pole.  We've had one pole aroud here where the fibre tray (shown on 2nd picture) has actually been smashed off the pole from kids hitting it with a football.  It's only held on by a plastic bracket, bolted to the pole, and now it's swinging in the wind!

I do wonder longer term what the failure/vandalism rate is going to be.

For a really good video that shows it all off see https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2021/06/video-virtual-tour-of-fttp-broadband-with-bt-and-openr...

[#8]

@gandb1 

Can't tell you what the equipment is but it doesn't look like there's a Distribution Point on the pole yet. Here's a picture of one from an underground chamber.

Brian

[#9]

There's probably the connector block near the top of the pole.

[#10]

Thanks, everyone. It'll be great to get more than the 10 Mb/s we get on "unlimited fibre" FTTC, even if we leave PlusNet. It's always irked me that I'd be paying the same for 36 Mb/s. But I did choose to live in West Wales!

[#11]

---

@RealAleMadrid wrote:

@gleneagles  I don't what you expect Openreach ( not BT) to do if the phone lines are supplied from poles. the FTTP connection equipment will have to go on those poles, if you are supplied from poles and FTTP was offered to you would you turn it down because you think it's an eyesore.🙄 

What about massive power transformers up on poles, they are really ugly.

---

I would turn it down as I am quiet happy with FTTC which is fast enough for me and I guess FTTP is more expensive ?
I guess any external wiring is more open to faults due to the weather and other things compared to underground wiring which is not risk free but less vulnerable, how many years has underground phone cables been in use ?

Sure older properties do have poles but how hard is it to get cables underground these days, equipment exists that can tunnel under paths and roads, how much work has open reach done if any to get rid of poles?

I note virgin had no problem in laying cables fairly quickly.

[#12]

@gandb1 

Is there more equipment further up the pole as suggested by @RealAleMadrid  ?

If overhead is the same as underground then the fibre cable will run from an Internet Head End (about 400 odd in UK) to an aggregation node. It'll then be split down, possible into smaller aggregation nodes, before individual cables run to Distribution Nodes. DP's can be daisy chained up to a certain number of connections. The picture I posted showed an 8 port node.

The equipment in your picture could well be the o/h equivalent of an u/g aggregation node. 

Brian

[#13]

Yes, there is another box at the top of the pole, but too high for a photo

[#14]

@gleneagles 

There is no difficulty in getting cables underground - probably never has been. Apart from cost that is.

To put all new FTTP connections u/g would significantly increase the costs of providing FTTP while slowing down the install rate.

Brian

[#15]

@gandb1 

If it looks similar to the picture I posted then it's probably the DP (or Connector Box). They come it different sizes - 4, 8 & 12 port I believe.

If and when you order FTTP OR will replace your current phone line with a hybrid copper / fibre cable (though in due time I suspect it'll be fibre only). They plug the fibre cable into the DP.

You need to start keeping an eye on the following https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

If or when FTTP becomes available it'll show WBC FTTP in the left hand column. Note FTTP on Demand is an entirely different beast.

PlusNet are rumoured to launch an FTTP product in the autumn so you may not have to move unless you choose to do so.

Brian