So near, yet so far ... house move going wrong

[#1]

Hi,
I'd like some help from the DCT checking over this issue...
We've recently moved house, and have a home-move in progress for our phone line & fibre service. However, things aren't going entirely to plan ... And I can see that solving the problems is going to be a multi-step process ... taking more time than we would like. If we can do something to get the steps going in parallel, it would help.
Openreach have been out for one appointment, and spent over 4 hours on it - with a second bloke here for a while. The next appointment is due to take place tomorrow.
Problem 1
The Openreach database had our new address (not a new property though) as a 'silver key' without details of service. Once a survey took place, the BTW checker told us we were served by cab 21, which is 10 metres away. The checker still reports this.
However, the result of the first appointment is that the existing wiring goes back to a DP on a different cab - number 20, which is around 100 metres away.
Something needs changing in the back-end systems somewhere, and a fibre order obviously cannot progress until the right cabinet (and fibre twin) is assigned.
Problem 2
There is a fault in the cable from the outside junction box back to cab 20.
As I understand it, the next appointment is to fix this part. Certainly there is confusion over whether we are needed for the appointment or not.
Problem 3
There is a fault in the cable from the junction box into the house, seemingly caused by/during installation of some double-glazing and a porch sometime in the past.
The same installation makes it tricky to route a replacement cable into the house, ruling out many options and use of ladders. One of the most likely options requires the engineer to be on a flat roof, which in turn requires a multi-skilled engineer. The fact that we're on the main road into an Openreach training centre helps motivate the engineers to be seen to be doing the job by the . Rightly so, from a health & safety perspective, but it adds to the complexity here!
Can I get the order checked to see if things are progressing as effectively as possible? I'm happy that the support team is dealing with things in the standard way, but I am concerned at the fact that the checker hasn't yet been updated after the first appointment, and that we will be in for some delay to the order.
Luckily we have some leave of mobile coverage from EE, but this seems to be variable congestion-wise, and isn't exactly cheap...

[#2]

That sounds like quite a few issues and a fair bit of work for Openreach! I hope you get things done swiftly.

[#3]

I'm certainly getting my money's worth with the work on this job ... after all those past installations that take less than 30 mins.
No sign of an engineer as yet, at least not at the house. I could just throw a line down to the cab, and save all this palaver...

[#4]

No sign of an engineer yesterday - at least not at the house. And no change to the checker. Ho hum...

[#5]

Quote from: WWWombat

... I could just throw a line down to the cab, and save all this palaver...

That PCP certainly looks to be in a vulnerable position (being placed on the outer edge of the pavement, on a corner and junction)!
I wonder how many times it's been hit by vehicles?  If not yet, it looks like the scene of a crash waiting to happen.

[#6]

Quote from: WWWombat

No sign of an engineer as yet, at least not at the house. I could just throw a line down to the cab, and save all this palaver...

Just ask them to put the modem and router in the cab and you'll connect to it using wireless!

[#7]

Quote from: RobPN

That PCP certainly looks to be in a vulnerable position (being placed on the outer edge of the pavement, on a corner and junction)! I wonder how many times it's been hit by vehicles?  If not yet, it looks like the scene of a crash waiting to happen.

I haven't seen any damage to it in the last 3 years. With luck, the fence would catch the worst ... Or, with less luck, perhaps steer a collision straight into the cab.
It does make me feel better that my real cab is tucked nicely off the main road. There's got to be a silver lining somewhere

[#8]

I would have expected a reply from PlusNet DCT about this because Openreach are probably doing nothing and need to be chased. The fact that there are multiple problems is not encouraging.

[#9]

Things are broadly progressing as I expected ... which is badly.
It looks like there was no work done on Wednesday - or if there was, it failed to generate any notes. It certainly didn't get anyone's attention here - which would be needed to get access to part of the route the cable follows.
Today's progress is that an engineer will attend on Tuesday, and will aim to complete the installation. However, the checker still reports the wrong cabinet ... so even with the best will in the world, the engineer won't be able to complete things. I'll ask about putting the router in the cabinet, though
My wife took the call from Plusnet this morning with the update, but forgot to chase this aspect. I've called CS to chase, which means the ticket will get kicked over to the supplier team ... and I hope they can figure out what I need them to do.
Kudos for getting calls back from CS though - that part is working well.

[#10]

No updates to the cabinet data in the checker, and no updates to the ticket from the supplier team. 
If it stays like that for the next 3 hours, the pre-provisioning work done within Openreach overnight is going to reserve a port in the wrong fibre cabinet, again. 

[#11]

Hi,
Sorry to see the problems you've had. I've asked a manager of our provisioning team to get one of his agents to get an update / take personal ownership for you. I hope you'll have new information this afternoon.
Tony

[#12]

Thanks Tony.
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what is being written in the ticket, but I don't see how the information there can be consistent.
In the ticket, I'm being told that the engineer will update the cabinet routing information as part of the fault fix, and that he'll complete work internally.
However, I'm not sure how he can complete work internally without running his JDSU to get sync with the fibre cabinet, and checking performance & error behaviour. Yet, from the last engineer, that will be impossible because the fibre port will be allocated according to the cabinet routing information that exists tonight ... so will be in the wrong cabinet.
Who knows - perhaps one of his multiple skills is to get the port reallocated on the fly. That wasn't a thing the last engineer could do though.
I'll see tomorrow!

[#13]

A no-show, and another week to wait. 
So that's two full days of waiting in, in case an engineer turns up, because a time couldn't be given to either appointment

[#14]

One positive out of the chat to customer services yesterday - the CS agent agreed that the fibre installation can't happen in the next appointment, which will be telephone only, and that it will require a subsequent visit to get broadband working.
It doesn't help us get service faster (although the second appointment will get expedited) , but it is good to see someone finally on the same page. It helps me feel like I haven't been talking to a brick wall these last 2 weeks!
Our backup solution is using a mobile 4G WiFi device, with an external antenna stuck on the outside of the window. Speeds are about 10x higher with that antenna - I think there is some sort of coating on the windows that degrades the signal (3 bars inside, 5 bars outside).
I'm onto my second PAYG SIM from EE, with a 6GB allowance. However, EE seems to have stopped counting, as, after 9 days, we've used 11.5GB of that allowance, and still have 6 GB left.

[#15]

One lesson I understand well is that, if you depend on your broadband, then you had better have a backup solution in case things go wrong. Don't rely on speedy fixes from your ISP (or their suppliers).
I *thought* we had that covered - with a 4G wifi modem, plus 2 SIMS for EE and 1 SIM for Three (who have only just activated a 4G transmitter here). However, it turns out that the 4G transport just isn't reliable enough, even with 5-bar coverage from an outdoor antenna; sometimes the downstream speeds die, sometimes the upstream speeds become unbearable - and unstable for carrying VoIP. Sometimes the transmitter dies entirely, and we drop back to 3G - which does nothing for keeping a VPN going.
On top of this, the 2.4GHz WiFi environment is pants around here (I count 19 other SSIDs from the sofa, with others available in the dining room) , so we've switched to 5GHz (the 4G modem only supports one or the other) but that limits the clients we can use, and the distance.
It looks like my backup plans have been beaten. Time for a rethink...
To make things better, inside the house, at least, I'm going to flash our TP-Link WDR3600 router with a version of Open-WRT, so it can host the 4G modem on USB, and allow simultaneous access from wired, 2.4GHz and 5GHz WiFi. It will also let me use power line adapters to extend the range. For non-techie, non-Linux users, the Billion 8800AXL modem/router looks like a good choice for this. It would be timely, as a router that supports VDSL2, except it isn't quite available yet.
However, the real thing we've decided is that we can't rely on anything wireless/mobile as the backup plan. I'll have to sleep on it, but the only realistic alternative I can see is to have a Virgin connection ... and that to be an effective backup, it has to be active ahead of time. An order may need to be placed tomorrow... but it's an expensive, long term commitment.
If anyone has alternatives I should consider, throw them in now!
Lesson 1: Have a backup plan.
Lesson 2: Make sure it works!