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Switching cabinets

JK
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-10-2015

Switching cabinets

Wasn't sure whether to post this in the home phone section, but I decided to go for this one instead.
I'm in a terrace of five houses. All the other houses have superfast fibre up to 35MBPs, because they're connected via a pole to a cabinet 600m away.
I, however, am connected via the same pole to a cabinet 1.6km away. The best speed I can get is around 8MBPs.
This was confirmed by an Openreach engineer yesterday. He said he could switch me over to the closer cabinet, but that he'd need permission from Plusnet first.
Plusnet have said "if it was possible to move you to a different cabinet, he would have done". This is simply not true.
So how can I get Plusnet to understand what needs to be done?
Does anyone else have experience with this sort of issue?
Thanks.
36 REPLIES 36
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
Thanks: 1,506
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Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Switching cabinets

It can be done yes but it is very, very, very expensive.
It's not something we'd cover and you'd have to fund it yourself I'm afraid.
You could fill out a form using the link below for a quote however your likely to be looking at costs into the thousands of pounds range.
https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/submitFeedback.do?contactReason=remove_relocate_external_netwo...
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Switching cabinets

I'm not sure why you think it would be prohibitively expensive when others connected to the same pole are connected to the nearer cab. If there are spare pairs on the cable from the pole to the cab it might not cost much at all.
I would suggest
Quote from: Matthew
It can be done yes but it is can be very, very, very expensive.

would have been a more appropriate response.
Edit: Looking at the form you've linked, none of the options for "Network equipment to be removed or relocated" are appropriate to this case.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Switching cabinets

@JK
What was the speed estimate you were given before upgrading to fibre?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
JK
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-10-2015

Re: Switching cabinets

Quote from: Matthew
It can be done yes but it is very, very, very expensive.
It's not something we'd cover and you'd have to fund it yourself I'm afraid.
You could fill out a form using the link below for a quote however your likely to be looking at costs into the thousands of pounds range.
https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/submitFeedback.do?contactReason=remove_relocate_external_netwo...

But why should it be very expensive?
I was connected by Plusnet when I moved to this property. Connected to the wrong cabinet. My next-door-neighbour has just been upgraded by Plusnet to superfast fibre. To all intents and purposes, we are the same, and yet his Quality of Service is vastly superior to mine.
JK
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-10-2015

Re: Switching cabinets

Quote from: spoon
@JK
What was the speed estimate you were given before upgrading to fibre?

I've always had fibre at this address. I can't remember the original speeds I was quoted originally, but the figures given are around 16MBPs on FTTC. This degrades to around 8MBPs by the time it gets to me. Upload is dreadful, at around 0.25MBPs. As one of my hobbies is photography, this is pretty bloody awful.
Also, I have been paying for superfast fibre ever since. I've recently been told I should step down to a cheaper pricing model. Personally, I think Plusnet have a duty of care to provide the best service possible, and clearly as they can do it for my neighbour there's no good reason why they can't offer me the same.
JK
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-10-2015

Re: Switching cabinets

Quote from: Matthew
It can be done yes but it is very, very, very expensive.
It's not something we'd cover and you'd have to fund it yourself I'm afraid.
You could fill out a form using the link below for a quote however your likely to be looking at costs into the thousands of pounds range.
https://www.openreach.co.uk/orpg/home/submitFeedback.do?contactReason=remove_relocate_external_netwo...

Furthermore, that form is useless. There is no option for selecting moving between cabinets.
MatthewWheeler
Plusnet Help Team
Plusnet Help Team
Posts: 8,896
Thanks: 1,506
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Registered: ‎01-01-2012

Re: Switching cabinets

@JK
Most likely your neighbour has always been on a different cabinet. We wouldn't have moved them across to a different one.
There really isn't anything we can do unfortunately. The routing is down to Openreach and we can't request that you be moved to a different cabinet or pole for free.
If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Matthew Wheeler
 Plusnet Help Team
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
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Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Switching cabinets

I see two possibilities
Plusnet ask Openreach for a quote for moving the line to a different cab
Plusnet ask Openreach for the cost of a new line to the premises but from the nearby cab
JK
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-10-2015

Re: Switching cabinets

Quote from: Matthew
@JK
Most likely your neighbour has always been on a different cabinet. We wouldn't have moved them across to a different one.
There really isn't anything we can do unfortunately. The routing is down to Openreach and we can't request that you be moved to a different cabinet or pole for free.

Actually, I think there is. As a domestic customer, I cannot get Openreach to talk directly to me. They insist everything must go through you. So far, the support team servicing my ticket are completely disinterested in getting the information from Openreach. As I said, they said the engineer would have moved me if he could, implying no extra price would've been required, The truth is that he said he couldn't move my connection without ISP authorisation.
Oldjim makes a suggestion that the BT Openreach engineer did: that I have another line installed to the correct cabinet. How much does Plusnet charge for a new phoneline? Frankly, I'd be willing to pay for a new line just to get this sorted out.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Switching cabinets

How much data do you typically use per month?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
JK
Newbie
Posts: 6
Registered: ‎16-10-2015

Re: Switching cabinets

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.
Not a massive amount, but I do sometimes get poor streaming speeds when watching YouTube or Netflix.
The biggest problem for me is the upload speed; I'm a photographer, and if I need to get (say) 8GB of photos to someone it's actually quicker to buy a USB stick, save the photos to it, and then post them!
So far, Plusnet support are letting me down very badly. They keep saying it may cost of a lot of money to get my line rerouted, but refuse to actually ask Openreach for a quote. They're also ignoring my requests to quote for a new landline.
I think I might as well give up and go to another ISP. I came to Plusnet because I'd heard good things about the customer service. Shame that hasn't turned out to be correct 😕
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Switching cabinets

The reason I asked about how much you used is if the download is under 100GB per month you should look at AAISP. It would be worth ring them about http://aaisp.net.uk/broadband-trial.html
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Switching cabinets

Asking for a new line, providing it was guaranteed that it would come from the closer Cab, might be the cheaper option.
I cannot see why Plusnet can't ask Openreach for a quote for an engineer to climb the pole and reconnection your drop-wire to a spare pair in the cable to the other Cab.
If Plusnet don't want to co-operate with either of these options, as spoon whittler has suggested, try the competition Roll_eyes
AndyH
Grafter
Posts: 6,824
Thanks: 1
Registered: ‎27-10-2012

Re: Switching cabinets

Quote from: Anotherone
Asking for a new line, providing it was guaranteed that it would come from the closer Cab, might be the cheaper option.

It's not possible to do this - the ordering systems don't allow it.