ECI Cabinets

[#1]

They might not be changing anything.  They could easily have been monitoring what equipment people have been using and deemed that now enough people are on newer hardware/firmware to be able to cope with the outliers.  Or at least, this trial is to try and confirm that as the case.

[#2]

@chrislacey, ISP's aren't offering 10-30 lines each, you're reading between the lines. What we won't be doing though, is running this as an open trial. There isn't a team, nor the capacity to faciliate it, and I don't think it's a good fit for this type of activity anyway.

I simply noted the interest and pulled a favour, because in low numbers, I think some open discussion here could be of benefit

[#3]

Understood Bob, and again it is much appreciated, so thank you again for what you did 😀

Im sure everyone will report back how it performs and I hope its an improvement like it seems to be for Huawei users and here to stay. It will be years before i can expect FTTP where I live

Cheers

Chris

[#4]

Thank you @bobpullen for what you are doing.
I was just wondering if our lines are accepted for the trial, Will we be notified or will it just happen one day?
Cheers.

[#5]

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@Bp1000 wrote:

Anyhow, the speed loss is classic cross talk. This trial will most likely give you 10-15Mbps back.

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Yes, I'm very well aware of precisely why my speeds have dropped. After all, one of the strings to my bow is that I'm an electronic engineer.

The problem lies squarely with the flawed VDSL technology and the way the phone lines are packed together in a great 4/5" wide bundle under the street inviting crosstalk. That being said, since Christmas with all of the storms we've been having, my attenuation figures have spiked (downstream has gone from 6db to 17db, upstream from 17db to 21db) and interleaving has been applied to my line - not to mention an IP profile of 47Mbps! ☹️

Seems pointless complaining to PlusNet since the BT/Openreach line test says my line is operating within acceptable limits...which it clearly isn't.

But regardless I honestly don’t think you’d notice that much difference in a blind test. 50Mbps to 300Mbps or even 150 you would.

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With respect, you have no idea how I use my broadband. I'm paying for the fastest package because I need it.

The initial drop from 75Mbs to 65Mbps after 7 or 8 months was EXTREMELY noticeable. So much so that I queried it with PN, who did nothing more than remove the speed estimate of 70-75Mbps from my account profile. A year or so later my speed dropped again to a barely tolerable mid 50s, where it stayed for the last few years until just recently.

I've been very happy with PlusNet, I've been a customer since they took over FreeNetName/Madasafish, but I'm not prepared to put up with the foibles of FTTC any longer. When I signed up I was expecting speeds to drop some as more people took up FTTC, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to lose fully 1/3rd of my sync speed.

From what I've read elsewhere, it appears that even Openreach are in the process of giving up on FTTC and refocusing their attention on FTTP...about time too.

[#6]

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@bmc wrote:

Much more likely is the time and (especially) cost or re-writing back office systems to cope with FTTP and then training staff up in their use.

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Considering that PlusNet ran an FTTP trial which ended in 2018, and those people who were on the trial are still getting FTTP, then it's pretty much a given that their core systems must already be able to handle it.

Most likely the "front of house" systems used by customer services would need updating, but surely that would be the case whenever packages are added/changed?

[#7]

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@chrislacey wrote:

Id like to know what Openreach are changing compared to the previous trial around 2yrs ago, after reading around it seems like it was mostly successful apart from some people using older equipment or modem firmware at home.

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For some time now it has been mandatory that all VDSL modems/routers have to conform to the BT SIN 498 specification, either from new or by way of software updates.

Since Openreach can remotely interrogate every device connected to the network to check compliance I'd guess they've decided that enough units now conform to the standard that it's worth trying again?

[#8]

@Ensor 

I agree yes that makes sense, cant see too many people still using old kit. I saw an article about them removing firmware updates for some modems quite a while ago so lets hope it works this time for all, and we get rid of the ups and downs caused by DLM and interleaving.

[#9]

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@Kossack2003 wrote:
Thank you @bobpullen for what you are doing.
I was just wondering if our lines are accepted for the trial, Will we be notified or will it just happen one day?

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It will 'just happen', but I'll try my best to swing by if/when I have confirmation.

[#10]

is there a list of accounts that have been forwarded from this thread, or will it be randomly selected numbers? only asking because i was one of the early ones to respond in the thread

[#11]

Thanks Bob

Looking forward to see if my application was excepted.

[#12]

@Ensor

Sounds like you’ll never be happy. Your case is not unique.

If you notice it that much get FTTP. Problem solved. Stable and fast.

[#13]

@Ensor 

I know only two things about the PlusNet FTTP Trial (which I'm on).

One is very few staff know anything about FTTP services and would need to be trained up in the new systems.

More to the point is the FTTP service is not integrated into PlusNet back office systems. For example, even I wanted it, I can't get PlusNet TV because the system check for the service requires a phone line that can be checked to confirm the line has the necessary speeds to support the service - I don't have a phone line!!!

I would imagine the back office system needs to be re-written to support the service. If I understood a previous comment on another thread I can't even change from my current 40/10 to 80/20.

Once again, if I understood a news article correctly it was speculating that one reason the delay in launching Sky FTTP is due to a system integration problem (something to do with phone lines if I recall).

Brian

[#14]

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@Bp1000 wrote:

Sounds like you’ll never be happy. Your case is not unique.

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Leaving aside any other considerations, if you were paying for the top tier service, but getting the sort of speeds you'd get on the standard service, would you be happy?

Though the line length is somewhat longer, I'm no more than 100m physically from the street cabinet. Stable speeds in the high 60s should be achievable - and indeed were 5 years ago.

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If you notice it that much get FTTP. Problem solved. Stable and fast.

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The wheels, as they say, are already in motion...

[#15]

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@bmc wrote:

More to the point is the FTTP service is not integrated into PlusNet back office systems...

Fair enough, you have direct knowledge of this so I'll take your word for it.

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Once again, if I understood a news article correctly it was speculating that one reason the delay in launching Sky FTTP is due to a system integration problem (something to do with phone lines if I recall).

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Ah, the one I read was suggesting that the delays to Sky's rollout was that they've been having issues getting their VOIP systems running properly. The implication being they'll be offering/bundling a VOIP service so that their customers can dispense with their phone line.

Having past experience of Sky's "services" and lies, I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole the length of the universe...or Talk Talk after the problems my ex had with them.