worldwidewebs Posted March 11, 2017 Author Share Posted March 11, 2017 Well I'm trying another approach now. I registered our house name a while back so it now appears on (most of) BT's systems. I called up the FTTP team on 0800 587 4787 and placed an order for a new connection, although I may have slightly over-stated how close we were to moving in... I was supposed to be getting a call from an (OR) engineer to book in a survey but after 4 days hadn't had one so I called back to be told that the 'install' is due in just over a week. Ok, "but what if it's not quite ready?", I asked. The essence of the reply was that they'd just assess the job and get the works booked in. Now I might have the same battle as before but I think it is now slightly different. Initially, when speaking with OR I was just looking for a new line, but now I'm actually looking for someone (BT) to provide a service and this subtle difference apparently makes a huge difference. I'll keep the thread updated on what actually happens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwidewebs Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 Progress!!! An Openreach surveyor came out this morning to check out the site. The long and short of it is that they can't go direct to the house above ground from the pole on the opposite side of the road as there are electrical cables in the way. As they can only go under, not over, these electric cables (apparently) and they would then be too low, then the only option is underground (result!). It might take 4-8 weeks to get connected but it looks like I've got what I wanted at zero cost - quite some difference to the £7k they originally wanted So the moral of the story appears to be don't go direct to OR but instead get your house address registered and then get an order in with BT for them to provide you with a line/service 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted March 23, 2017 Share Posted March 23, 2017 2 hours ago, worldwidewebs said: So the moral of the story appears to be don't go direct to OR but instead get your house address registered and then get an order in with BT for them to provide you with a line/service See my own phone connection thread. I managed to order a new phone line without having my address on the postcode database. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwidewebs Posted March 24, 2017 Author Share Posted March 24, 2017 7 hours ago, ProDave said: See my own phone connection thread. I managed to order a new phone line without having my address on the postcode database. I tried that a while back, but with no joy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stones Posted March 24, 2017 Share Posted March 24, 2017 8 hours ago, ProDave said: I managed to order a new phone line without having my address on the postcode database. Likewise, and that's been the case for the last 4 houses that I've built. It continues to surprise me just how much of a regional difference there seems to be in how OR deal with self builders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 I had a Vfast engineer install their service the day before yesterday. They were a pleasure to deal with compared to Openreach. Ten days from making the initial enquiry to having it installed. They let me fit the cable and were happy to work around what I wanted. Their service was 17Mbps compared to 1.5Mbps for BT and it's cheaper. I shall take great delight telling BT what to do with their old cable when we demolish the bungalow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 (edited) 12 minutes ago, PeterStarck said: I had a Vfast engineer install their service the day before yesterday. They were a pleasure to deal with compared to Openreach. Ten days from making the initial enquiry to having it installed. They let me fit the cable and were happy to work around what I wanted. Their service was 17Mbps compared to 1.5Mbps for BT and it's cheaper. I shall take great delight telling BT what to do with their old cable when we demolish the bungalow. On copper lines is that? I've 7.8Mbps down and 1.1Mbps up. You know where I am down in the valley. Good old BT here. Keep hoping they'll upgrade the lines. Edit: I see Vfast is wireless! Did you get that subsidised as <2Mbps? Edited April 22, 2017 by Onoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 Tell me more about this Vfast thing. Is it available everywhere? i.e in the Highlands? After the pain I have had with OR in the last 4 weeks I would love to tell them where to shove their useless antique copper cable with junctions sitting in pools of water...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 11 minutes ago, ProDave said: Tell me more about this Vfast thing. Is it available everywhere? i.e in the Highlands? After the pain I have had with OR in the last 4 weeks I would love to tell them where to shove their useless antique copper cable with junctions sitting in pools of water...... Are you sure we don't share a line? Everytime we get heavy rain we get broadband degradation. I'll hear my boy screaming "Cover me I've got lag!!!" The BT box is on the T junction next to the big soakaway. When it can't cope... http://www.vfast.co.uk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Onoff said: Are you sure we don't share a line? Everytime we get heavy rain we get broadband degradation. I'll hear my boy screaming "Cover me I've got lag!!!" The BT box is on the T junction next to the big soakaway. When it can't cope... http://www.vfast.co.uk There are two junction boxes that our line passes through down our road. Both are cast iron boxes set into the ground next to the road. Both were full of rainwater with the cable junctions under water. Let's hope the tunction boxes are truly waterproof as in submirsible? Vfast does not cover our area, but that sounds exactly like the system the Community council are looking at getting installed up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 18 minutes ago, ProDave said: There are two junction boxes that our line passes through down our road. Both are cast iron boxes set into the ground next to the road. Both were full of rainwater with the cable junctions under water. Let's hope the tunction boxes are truly waterproof as in submirsible? Vfast does not cover our area, but that sounds exactly like the system the Community council are looking at getting installed up here. Oddly enough when I went on the VFast site I got a pop up from Kent County Council.....must be some affiliation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 6 hours ago, Onoff said: On copper lines is that? I've 7.8Mbps down and 1.1Mbps up. You know where I am down in the valley. Good old BT here. Keep hoping they'll upgrade the lines. Edit: I see Vfast is wireless! Did you get that subsidised as <2Mbps? Yeah it's copper down here. I didn't get any subsidy, didn't know you could. I'm just pleased to be rid of BT/Openreach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 6 hours ago, ProDave said: Tell me more about this Vfast thing. Is it available everywhere? i.e in the Highlands? After the pain I have had with OR in the last 4 weeks I would love to tell them where to shove their useless antique copper cable with junctions sitting in pools of water...... I've got a small, 250mm x 100mm receiver on my TV aerial mast that picks up a signal from a repeater on the local church which is about 3/4 mile away. It just needs a clear line of sight between the two. Whenever it rained and a strong wind was from the wrong direction water got into the BT junction box on the pole and the line packed up. I'm really looking forward to telling BT what to do with their line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stones Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 (edited) @PeterStarck Do you mind telling us the costs involved - connection, equipment and monthly ongoing? Edited April 22, 2017 by Stones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 On 23/03/2017 at 14:09, worldwidewebs said: Progress!!! An Openreach surveyor came out this morning to check out the site. The long and short of it is that they can't go direct to the house above ground from the pole on the opposite side of the road as there are electrical cables in the way. As they can only go under, not over, these electric cables (apparently) and they would then be too low, then the only option is underground (result!). It might take 4-8 weeks to get connected but it looks like I've got what I wanted at zero cost - quite some difference to the £7k they originally wanted So the moral of the story appears to be don't go direct to OR but instead get your house address registered and then get an order in with BT for them to provide you with a line/service Great news ! Now give some thought as to where you want your master socket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 31 minutes ago, PeterStarck said: Yeah it's copper down here. I didn't get any subsidy, didn't know you could. I'm just pleased to be rid of BT/Openreach. KCC thing: http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/broadband/better-broadband-scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 1 minute ago, Stones said: Do you mind telling us the costs involved - connection, equipment and monthly ongoing? There are different broadband packages varying between £14.50 and £36.99 per month and VoIP packages of £5.99 or £8.99 plus a set up charge. http://www.vfast.co.uk/packages/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gone West Posted April 22, 2017 Share Posted April 22, 2017 2 minutes ago, Onoff said: KCC thing: http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/broadband/better-broadband-scheme Don't think I would qualify:- You must meet this criteria before applying for this scheme: The property can not receive other alternative, affordable broadband services of at least 2Mbps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliG Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 OK, I have read this whole thread and still can't figure out if I contact BT/SKY or Openreach. We knocked down a house to build ours which was previously connected to a pole. So theoretically I could just go to BT /SKY and ask for a connection as the address is in the database. But I would like to put a pole in the garden and duct the cable from there to the house rather than attach straight from the house to the pole over the road which is what they originally had, I guess this has to be done via Openreach. Am I mad or is there nowhere on the Openreach website to request a single house connection, all I can bring up are forms for multi unit developers. The builder was telling me about getting gas, water and electricity connected today. I asked about phone and he said he thought I was doing that, I have not idea why. SWMBO will not be happy if I cannot get us connected up in the 29 days we now have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 You use the developer form and just put a single unit. I got a letter within a day or so and then rang the surveyor and he came out and agreed what I needed to do. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 Will you have to dig up the road for other reasons? If so might be worth running a duct all the way to the original pole? We applied for a connection then without telling anyone we just ran our wire to the bottom of the pole. Left enough wire coiled up at the bottom to reach the top and a few meters spare. When the engineer turned up to connect us he found he has a slightly simpler job than he was expecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 13 hours ago, AliG said: SWMBO will not be happy if I cannot get us connected up in the 29 days we now have. Well you might get lucky. I think we got the paperwork in two months before completion and were in 4 weeks before we finally got a working phone line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwidewebs Posted November 10, 2017 Author Share Posted November 10, 2017 Just call BT directly and say you want to a phone line with them. If there is a line they will get it activated, if there isn't they will take steps to get one installed. Ignore the developer form stuff - in your case at least, you don't need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliG Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 I might try that, I tried calling, but Openreach seem to have made it almost impossible to speak to anyone. The website is very unfriendly to navigate and when you call up it goes through a series of things you should try on the web and then hangs up on you rather than giving you the any other option that most companies have. The street has Virgin so I am also going to try them as that is underground and may be simpler to reconnect. Really I would use Sky as my provider, but I am not sure if they are as good at organising a new connection as BT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted November 10, 2017 Share Posted November 10, 2017 TBH if Virgin is available I would go that route as they have some silly offers on fibre at the moment and you can get upwards of 200mb speed easily. They will dig the trench etc and duct to the house but beware as they don’t like going down more than 6” from experience ...!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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