New fibre optic connection

UncleBob · May 26, 2011, 19:44:33

Hi,

As my current broadband connection offers a fairly pedestrian 2MB I have given in to temptation and ordered a fibre optic installation with a possible speed of up to 30MB

The BT engineer is coming tomorrow morning to do whatever it is that he needs to do but I still haven't received the router that I ordered from Idnet. Am I going to be left with no service at all tomorrow after the engineer's visit or will I be able to continue to use the 'old' service? (Forgive my ignorance

)

.Griff. · May 26, 2011, 19:47:08

The "old service" will be disconnected by the Openreach engineer shortly before he arrives at your home as the data aspect of the line is moved across to the VDSL2 DSLAM.

Depending on what router you currently have you "may" be able to use it before the new one arrives from Idnet.

UncleBob · May 26, 2011, 19:52:24

Quote from: .Griff. on May 26, 2011, 19:47:08
The "old service" will be disconnected by the Openreach engineer shortly before he arrives at your home as the data aspect of the line is moved across to the VDSL2 DSLAM.

Depending on what router you currently have you "may" be able to use it before the new one arrives from Idnet.

Sigh. Why do these things never run smoothly? I even sent a reminder email to Idnet at the beginning of the week.

Anyway, thanks for the information. I currently have a Linksys WAG160N (which I believe is a combined modem and router).

.Griff. · May 26, 2011, 19:57:21

Quote from: UncleBob on May 26, 2011, 19:52:24
Sigh. Why do these things never run smoothly? I even sent a reminder email to Idnet at the beginning of the week.

Anyway, thanks for the information. I currently have a Linksys WAG160N (which I believe is a combined modem and router).

Unfortunately that router won't work as it doesn't have the necessary WAN input from the OR (Huawei) VDSL2 moden (supplied by the OR engineer)

Not wanting to add to the misery but I'm not sure what the engineer will do if there's no router for him to complete the job. Obviously part of his task is to exchange the NTE5/filtered faceplate, "setup" the VDSL2 modem, and setup the router before checking the connection is fully working.

Ironically he'll have some routers on his van but I can almost certainly guarantee these are all BT Homehubs which aren't compatible with your new Idnet connection.

Without the router he can't do that so I'm not sure what he'll do.

Glenn · May 26, 2011, 20:05:33

Not ideal, but you can make a direct connection to the modem http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,1904.msg610432.html#msg610432

.Griff. · May 26, 2011, 20:06:29

Quote from: Glenn on May 26, 2011, 20:05:33
Not ideal, but you can make a direct connection to the modem http://www.idnetters.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,1904.msg610432.html#msg610432

Good idea Glenn..

Bill · May 26, 2011, 20:37:42

Quote from: .Griff. on May 26, 2011, 19:57:21Obviously part of his task is to exchange the NTE5/filtered faceplate, "setup" the VDSL2 modem, and setup the router before checking the connection is fully working.

Ermm... not as far as I'm aware.

He may do it if he's feeling helpful but it's not part of his job. If the DSL light comes on on the modem, that's him finished.

UncleBob · May 26, 2011, 20:52:50

Thanks for the further feedback. Hope the postie arrives before the engineer

.Griff. · May 26, 2011, 21:03:11

Quote from: Bill on May 26, 2011, 20:37:42
Ermm... not as far as I'm aware.

He may do it if he's feeling helpful but it's not part of his job. If the DSL light comes on on the modem, that's him finished.

They are instructed to check it's working and demonstrate it working to the customer. (At least the two OR friends of mine tell me so)

That's not to say all OR engineers bother. In my case the OR engineer wouldn't touch the router as it wasn't a BT retail install but did insist on checking everything was working before he left.

pctech · May 26, 2011, 21:08:22

Best advice is that is so often repeated round these parts, ply them with tea/soffee and biscuits.

zappaDPJ · May 26, 2011, 21:50:25

As far as I recall, my engineer changed the faceplate, stuck his testing equipment in it and told me my connection was connecting at full tilt i.e. 40 Mb/s. I don't recall him plugging the modem in let alone the router.

Glenn · May 26, 2011, 21:55:01

That's all the install chap did for mine, the chap that replaced the modem tested the router too.

.Griff. · May 26, 2011, 22:18:15

I must have got someone who had some pride in his job then.

He was here for at least 45 minutes making sure everything was up and running properly and that I was completely happy before he left.

Edit - I see you're both in and/or close to London. Perhaps they're overstretched down there and as a result they just don't care as much?!?

Bill · May 26, 2011, 22:44:06

Mine only checked as far as the DSL light coming on... but something just struck me.

He may have taken one look at the 27" iMac with two monitors, the router I had at the time (Apple Airport Extreme), and decided that discretion was the better part of valour

pctech · May 26, 2011, 22:51:39

I wouldn't touch a Mac either

Joking aside it is my intent to do the Apple technician training at some point in the not too distant future.

UncleBob · May 27, 2011, 13:33:44

A quick update ...

My router has arrived today - but not until after the BT engineer had finished doing his installation. So, although I'm normally very happy with Idnet I think that's a black mark for them - why on earth not just send the router straight away rather than cutting it this fine?

On the plus side, the Openreach engineer was fantastic. He 'phoned 5 minutes before doing the offsite switch-over to let me know that there would be an interruption to service and that I should back-up anything that I was working on. He fitted the new faceplate and modem AND fixed the 'poor job' that ADT had done when fitting an alarm system with remote monitoring AND fixed an upstairs 'phone extension that they had messed-up (he also suggested that the poor job may have contributed to the poor speeds I was receiving previously). He was a very pleasant chap and very helpful. I'm suitably impressed

The engineer's test kit suggested a download speed of 38.1M and an upload of 10M. Subsequent tests that I've run come in somewhat slower than that but I'll see how things go over the next week or so. It certainly beats 2M!

Rik · May 27, 2011, 16:23:29

Check the postmark, it might be Royal Mail who were slow off the mark. Now, stop making me jealous.

UncleBob · May 27, 2011, 17:37:50

Quote from: Rik on May 27, 2011, 16:23:29
Check the postmark, it might be Royal Mail who were slow off the mark. Now, stop making me jealous.

Posted as early as ... yesterday.

Still, its working now so I'll stop whining and get on with enjoying it.

Rik · May 27, 2011, 17:39:25

Let us know how it goes.