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Need help with new line please

gruf
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Registered: ‎28-02-2019

Need help with new line please

old building recently converted to four flats.
The (fibre) cabinet is literally 20 metres away, there is even a BT duct running right past the building.

Need line/broadband for [Removed].
Unable to get Plusnet to process this for some reason and escalation seemingly impossible these days.

Royal Maill issued new postcode [Removed] and all flats correctly show on RM's site.

dslchecker.bt.com shows all four flats with a valid UPRN circuit number, and what appears to be a common feed number to all the flats.
further checking the UPRN shows availability:Capture2.JPG

Come on Plusnet - have used you guys for years - I know you can sort this for me please.

(actually my daughter - who has a disability and needs this connectivity to be able to work from home on occasion, not having the line is starting to cause her issues with her work)

 

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Post released from Spam Filter.

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Personal information removed from a public forum (to an area that staff can see).

22 REPLIES 22
Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

Hi there.

I've checked the postcode on DSL Checker and there aren't any records showing up. Doing an address check on DSL Checker is showing only one address which actually has records and that matches up to what our signup journey says.

Ultimately when we place an order we're relying on the line records to reflect accordingly. It looks like the rest of the addresses are what's known as silver key which means they're not fully established into the Openreach systems/network.

Normally what we'd do is sign up an account adding a new address into the signup journey on our site, then add a new address into the phone line ordering system, then order broadband once the line is installed and we have a phone number.

However, it doesn't look like adding an address on our website is working on this occasion as I'm getting something along the lines of "Unfortunately broadband hasn't reached your area yet".

I've sent a request off to the ORDI(OpenReach Data Integrity) robot to try to generate an address key and build it into the system. I should receive a reply back next week and I'll let you know when I have an update.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
gruf
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Registered: ‎28-02-2019

Re: Need help with new line please

thanks - this is exactly what I was looking for.

I do think it is weird that dslchecker.bt.com shows valid UPRNs though (albeit with no line active other than for flat 3) yet plusnet cant seem to place an order.

Clearly the records are inconsistent somewhere, and sounds like the ORDI request is what's needed.

Appreciate the help, hope next week brings some better news.

 

Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

Thanks for getting back to me.

Unfortunately the ORDI request didn't go anywhere. 20 minutes after I raised it I received a reply back advising: "The address or address key is not part of openreach systems, please place an order using a silver or bronze key"

While we should be able to do this via our suppliers ordering system, unfortunately our signup journey isn't recognising the address when manually adding it so we're unable to create an account to place the order against.

I've e-mailed the Openreach network addressing team to see if there's any way an address key can be generated before placing the order however I suspect that the answer will be no but I'll let you know as soon as I know more.

Apart from that and I discussed this with a colleague on Friday, the only other things we thought of to try was raising a TAGs query with our suppliers (which is another form of a records investigation) however they're asking us for detail like the telephone number of the line or the address key which we don't have.

Ultimately it may be that we're simply unable to supply a service at that address, and if that's the case the only other thing I could suggest is to signup with another provider then at some point down the line to request that the phone line and broadband service is transferred to us which should be then possible as the line would be active.

We'll see what network addressing comes back with though and we'll go from there.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
gruf
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Re: Need help with new line please

I'm really confused by this.

when I go on to dslchecker.bt.com with this postcode all four flats are listed.

each flat has a UPRN so Openreach clearly do know about these addresses.

Only Flat 3 has a live connection to date as that was moved into some time ago, however it is not possible to contact the owner to find out how they arranged it.

From the UPRN it should be a straightforward matter for Openreach to assess what is required for a new line installation. (I actually suspect there is a cable already in the building, but only flat 3 is connected to it).

These flats are in the centre of town, there is a Fibre street cabinet within 20 yards, and an Openreach duct literally running in the path past the door. So for the system to say it is not available in this area is patently wrong. Again the dslchecker.bt.com shows a full speed fibre connection in this locality.

It just all smacks of a database error somewhere probably resulting from the newly applied postcode that is simple to fix once found.
I just hope you can find a way to resolve this for me please, surely there must be an escalation that allows you to talk to the appropriate provider to fix this sort of thing when the system goes wrong?
Thanks for your help.



 

Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

From the UPRN it should be a straightforward matter for Openreach to assess what is required for a new line installation. (I actually suspect there is a cable already in the building, but only flat 3 is connected to it).

Openreach have given us a solution for them to assess what is needed to install a new line at the address, by placing an order using a silver or bronze key which should certainly be possible, but the issue is that our system doesn't recognise the address for us to be able to create an account and place the silver/bronze key order.

 

It just all smacks of a database error somewhere probably resulting from the newly applied postcode that is simple to fix once found.
I just hope you can find a way to resolve this for me please, surely there must be an escalation that allows you to talk to the appropriate provider to fix this sort of thing when the system goes wrong?

As far as I'm aware it's the network addressing team that we'd escalate an ORDI request to if the robotic system fails. I've not yet received a reply back from this team, but from experience we normally get a reply within around 3-5 working days.

It's possible that they'll simply come back to us saying what the ORDI robot has advised as from the Openreach point of view that would likely be a solution, but in order to do this we need to create an account however our system isn't recognising the manually added address for us to be able to make the account (We can't place an order without an account).

A workaround may be to signup at your existing address (Assuming you've not moved in yet) which will get the account created, and then request a house move to your new address. That way we'll have an account to place the order.

In the meantime while we wait for a reply from the network addressing team, can you confirm that the address is definitely served by the Openreach copper infrastructure? It's possible that we're barking up the wrong tree and either the property developers have agreed for a 3rd party supplier to provide broadband or it's a fibre to the premises only site.

Having said that the records on DSL Checker you've posted above for the general locality does indicate that the copper infrastructure is available but it may be worth double checking with the developers if you can.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
gruf
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Re: Need help with new line please

apparently I am not allowed to post the actual numbers from dslchecker.bt.com or I get caught in the spam filters.

However if you use the address checker and jsut enter the postcode on that site it shows the four flats, sharing what looks like a common number for the block, each flat in turn with a separate UPRN. Flat 3 is listed as having an active line EM, A15 ...679 which I take to be an Openreach copper line. (Again this is one  building that has been recently converted to flats, 
Interesting to note on the same site is that if you do a postcode checker search this fails, even though it has just found it correctly in the address checker. This however may be what you are seeing.

If you then take the UPRN listed on the address search and enter this in the UPRN search - again the expected information is shown as posted originally.

Don't know if this can be  a clue for you as to how to sort it, but just seems to be a broken database entry somewhere.

One question might be - are you able to just enter the UPRN and order from that?

I really appreciate the support to try to resolve this.thankyou

Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

One question might be - are you able to just enter the UPRN and order from that?

Unfortunately this wouldn't really help because the issue isn't that we can't place an order at the address. When we signup an account, we'd do it in the exact same way as you would do online at www.plus.net

Creating the account at an existing address then requesting a house move is one solution/workaround, but I understand this may not be possible so I'm trying to see if we can find someone within Openreach who can update the records without us needing to place an order with them. 

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
gruf
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Re: Need help with new line please

Aha - I understand.

Let's hope they come through with success in updating the records then.

If this fails - I could possibly move one of my backup office lines to this address, and then replace it in future if you think this could be a way around the problem.

Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

Around half an hour ago I received a reply back from our suppliers advising that they've updated the records and we should see a gold address key within the next 36-48 hours. I'll let you know once this has completed. Fingers crossed it works!

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

I'm just posting an update to say that the address isn't showing as a gold key yet, so I've given the appropriate people in Openreach a nudge. I'll let you know when I know more.

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
gruf
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Re: Need help with new line please

appreciate the update - thanks

Gandalf
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Re: Need help with new line please

No problem Smiley

From 31st October 2022, I no longer have a regular presence here as I’ve moved on to a new role.
Anoush Mortazavi
Plusnet
gruf
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Re: Need help with new line please

seems that was a premature "no problem" ! (but thanks anyway)

install date set to 19th

Openreach no showed - absoutely typical.

(wife was house-sitting and lost an entire day's money as she is zero hours contract)
thanks very much BTOpenreach - disgusting how we get fined if we are not at the premises but BTOpenreach can do what the heck they like with impunity</s>

daughter calls up Plusnet to find out what is happening and gets a "very unpleasant" contact in Plusnet support who claimed emails were sent at 8:30am that morning (which were never recieved - and anyway that is useless when people have already left for work) and who then sent another which funnily enough was received immediately stating an engineer has been re-arranged for 27th. No opportunity to review if this is a convenient date or not, which it isn't but we daren't cancel or re-arrange of course.

Just thought I relay this as a bit of real world feedback, and such a shame after that fantastic work done to even get the address to gold status so a line could even be installed.

 

 

OllieC
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Re: Need help with new line please

Hi @gruf

 

Thank you for your feedback.

 

Can you please PM the account username of which you are referring to as we'd really like to look into this?

 

Kind Regards