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Thread: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    We are in a nasty situation with out broadband. Long story short we joined Vodafone 3 months ago and since then have had severely unreliable speeds & a constant line drop out/restarting to the tune of several times a day, each time 10-15mins long.

    After 30 odd phone calls back & forth, they have confirmed their equipment is in the exchange is over capacity and they are unable to rectify it. Three engineer vists without solution had me prepared for this. They do believe moving to a different provider will fix everything & have paid me every penny i have paid them back + some.

    However - My neighbours have the same issue - their line drops several times a day as well. The local yocal Facebook group for our area shows they are not alone. The fact w ehave several 100 houses in various phases of completion & move ins has me suspecting the exchange has me upgraded/expanded & bodged badly.


    My concern is.... this isn't going away. And with me enjoying games & us a big streaming family, loosing the internet several times a day is very annoying. It has caused me no end of stress over a bank transfer going through as the internet drops, as well as dropping out of long-session games/film nights.


    How do I go about trying to pressure the situation. Can I go direct to BT Openreach? ofcom? My MP? Any thoughts?

    Cheers guys

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Have you got any availability for using Gigaclear, Hyperoptic or Virgin?

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Did you have problems with your previous ISP?

    Looks like the simplest route is just go back (or go to someone else with a better reputation than Voda)

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Quote Originally Posted by Andehh View Post
    We are in a nasty situation with out broadband. Long story short we joined Vodafone 3 months ago and since then have had severely unreliable speeds & a constant line drop out/restarting to the tune of several times a day, each time 10-15mins long.
    Who were you with previously, was it any better and can you go back? Non-BT backed lines as Blaineoliver mentioned would bypass the bottleneck if they are available.

    Check to see who has equipment at the exchange https://availability.samknows.com/broadband/ and see who the other options are. One of the issues with Openreach is that you cannot really talk to them, they are a B2B supplier, when I had half a dozen engineers out to 'fix' my line I always had to go through EE (still waiting for a call back from them to check everything is OK, been 3 months...) so you can't go to them for technical information which would be useful. So you may just have to phone each supplier, try and talk to someone technically competent and try and get an honest response about capacity on the exchange.

    How's your 4G signal in the house? If it's good then you could get a dongle for streaming and a less good but potentially more reliable landline connection for gaming?

    Curve ball, but if there's a supplier in your area there is money available for someone to dig up your road and fit non-BT FTP: https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/ and https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.u...nts/suppliers/. If you're neighbours are equally unhappy and you can put in some legwork to get people on board then the result could be actually superfast broadband.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Quote Originally Posted by jimbouk View Post
    Who were you with previously, was it any better and can you go back? Non-BT backed lines as Blaineoliver mentioned would bypass the bottleneck if they are available.

    Check to see who has equipment at the exchange https://availability.samknows.com/broadband/ and see who the other options are. One of the issues with Openreach is that you cannot really talk to them, they are a B2B supplier, when I had half a dozen engineers out to 'fix' my line I always had to go through EE (still waiting for a call back from them to check everything is OK, been 3 months...) so you can't go to them for technical information which would be useful. So you may just have to phone each supplier, try and talk to someone technically competent and try and get an honest response about capacity on the exchange.

    How's your 4G signal in the house? If it's good then you could get a dongle for streaming and a less good but potentially more reliable landline connection for gaming?

    Curve ball, but if there's a supplier in your area there is money available for someone to dig up your road and fit non-BT FTP: https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/ and https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.u...nts/suppliers/. If you're neighbours are equally unhappy and you can put in some legwork to get people on board then the result could be actually superfast broadband.
    Problem with the voucher scheme is that at least 50% of the voucher balance must come from businesses wanting connections.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Quote Originally Posted by spacein_vader View Post
    Problem with the voucher scheme is that at least 50% of the voucher balance must come from businesses wanting connections.
    Didn't know that, no wonder the uptake rate has been so low! If you're a business you can't wait months for someone to install broadband, and if you're renting a property then it might not even be possible to get it installed if it's disruptive. Way to rule out most of the population who might want this.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Reason I mentioned gigaclear as they are an oxford company and provide fibre to villages in oxfordshire. If you PM me your postcode I will happily look see who else can provide to you.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    they have confirmed their equipment is in the exchange is over capacity and they are unable to rectify it.
    The big question is the exchange as a whole over capacity? or is just the Vodafone equipment over capacity?

    It could just be vodafone not purchasing enough capacity at the exchange/over selling for the capacity they have.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Are you on an ADSL or VDSL service? It matters quite a lot when considering possible faults and whether switching provider would help.

    Either way, one thing to try with any phone line based broadband (because the connectors are poorly suited to broadband) is to switch the modem off first (so it doesn't see the fiddling as line noise) then repeatedly remove/insert any connectors between your modem and the master socket, including the faceplate. Some of the connectors have a tendency to build up some corrosion over time and introduce line noise which can cause drops and sync speed reductions, particularly if the connectors get knocked occasionally.

    If you have a landine, pick it up and listen while you're doing this and for any cables also carrying voice you'll likely hear scratching - do it enough and it should fade.
    Last edited by watercooled; 01-04-2018 at 02:04 PM.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Internet is worth more than the stress of no internet.

    Leave the ISP, even if you have to pay to leave, and fight to get it back later when you are with a proper provider. Even if it costs you , say....£250 AND you never get it back....what's the worst that can happen? You lose £250 and have a proper internet connection .. that's the worst....

    Life's too short to have crap internet.

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    If it's something up with the physical line though, the problem will carry to the next ISP, unless that happens to be e.g. Virgin Media.

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Welp, to come back to this!

    Director's office got back to me, after some lengthy -but restrained- chats they agreed to release me from my contract, refund every penny I have spent with them for the last few months, and give me £40 credit for the hassle (I am with Vodafone for my mobile, so the £115 credit will more or less mean free mobile sub for the next 6+ months).

    I was with BT broadband before without issues, but unfortunately am unable to go back now as their site simply doesnt allow me to select Fibre. I imagine because they are ''full'' at the local exchange. Neighbours had to wait a few months for Fibre when they first moved in due to insufficient sockets in the exchange. BT are also bloody expensive compared to the competition it seems!

    There are no gigaclear, etc etc offerings in the area unfortunately. My exchange only supports BT, Vodafone & Sky by the looks of it.

    I have instead gone with NOW TV/ Sky for my up to 38mb/s Fibre, unlimited for £20/month - starting next week. Fingers crossed this improves things, because otherwise I am out of luck. ...


    Quote Originally Posted by Pob255 View Post
    The big question is the exchange as a whole over capacity? or is just the Vodafone equipment over capacity?

    It could just be vodafone not purchasing enough capacity at the exchange/over selling for the capacity they have.
    THIS is my big worry! We have several hundred news houses going up just north of us (couple 100m away) and I know our exchange has been full/nearly full with neighbours having to wait for a free slot to come up before they have been able to sign up with the likes of BT Fibre Broadband.

    My worry is that with these new houses, the exchange has been fiddled with & damaged, has been maxed out with capacity, or is being extended further again reducing bandwidth for the people on it (i am guessing here..)


    Quote Originally Posted by watercooled View Post
    If it's something up with the physical line though, the problem will carry to the next ISP, unless that happens to be e.g. Virgin Media.


    BT engineers replaced my socket, and ran 2 new wires from cabinet back to the socket so effectively the line has been 100% checked. I am hoping that with being moved off the Vodafone equipment in the exchange (which they confirmed was at/over capacity) it sorts things out!

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    I would also make sure you do lots of testing in the 14 days after install as you will be in your cooling off period.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    With fibre (FTTC) - you're on Openreach's equipment regardless of which ISP you go with (unlike ADSL where LLU meant you were physically connected to another port in the exchange), from your phone socket to the DSLAM in the street cabinet, then over Openreach's Ethernet fibre back to the exchange (and not always your nearest exchange especially if it's a smaller one). Only once it's terminated at the exchange does Openreach hand over a line to a backhaul provider of which there are only a few e.g. BT Wholesale, Vodafone, Sky and Talktalk, all area dependant. Vodafone don't make any physical 'connection' to your phone line if you're indeed on FTTC, and actual connection drops (modem resync, etc) are unusual for the reasons they have given you. Modem stats e.g. sync speed, etc, would have been useful to see.

    If BT refuse to take an order for FTTC it is usually due to the cabinet, not the exchange, being full and this will affect every single FTTC ISP using OR's equipment, including BT, Vodafone, Sky (NowTV), etc. In your case, hopefully their records are just outdated.

    FWIW, AAISP have a policy of getting Openreach to fix faulty lines where other ISPs have failed (and there's usually an awful game of Chinese whispers between Openreach and the ISP's customer services to the point they'll feed you all sorts of nonsensical rubbish). Also, OR might have installed a new drop wire (from pole DP to your house) but you can be fairly sure that without major ground work they have not provided a new copper pair back to even the cabinet, though they might have swapped you to different (and possibly also affected) pairs along the route. What sort of distance is there between you and the cabinet? Usually, everything from the pole back to the cabinet is bundled underground.

    Edit: Link to AAISP's page talking about getting lines fixed: https://www.aaisp.net.uk/broadband-trial.html

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    Formerly known as Andehh Andeh13's Avatar
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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    Due to being in a new estate, everything is underground. Not a telegraph pole in sight!

    I looked at AAISP's, but with out usage (very high) we'd be looking at £55/month for a comparable package to the £20 I was with Vodafone and the £20 I am on with NOW TV.

    Another local yocal was on Facebook last night complaining her WIFi keeps dropping out and what she can do. I have responded so many times to others telling them to contact their ISP i have given up.


    & yes BT engineer took another twisted pair from my box back to the cabinet, not a new line itself. He did say there were noticeable improvements on his system so was confident this would fix it - alas not.

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    Re: Nasty Broadband Predicament - Unreliability with Openreach??

    any idea how good the EE signal is near you?

    If it's a good 4g, then maybe, short term, consider a Virgin Mobile Sim only deal

    On some packages they're doing 3x Data.

    So the £15 per month *gig / month sim gives you calls you will never use, text you will never use.... but 24gig of data per month.

    I have got one similar and my mobile is regularly on 15Mb/s download.

    Some routers hold a sim card.

    (tell your Local Yocal that wifi has nothing to do with Internet speed connection. They are different. If she's lost Wifi she might still have broadband and if she's lost broadband she might still be perfectly well connected to her wifi router but have no web)

    Quote Originally Posted by Advice Trinity by Knoxville
    "The second you aren't paying attention to the tool you're using, it will take your fingers from you. It does not know sympathy." |
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