Should I Join?

[keymaster]

Hi Guys
I have been lurking on here for many a year, I always quite liked IDNET but never became a customer, not sure why.
My issue is that my cabinet is almost a mile away and all the lines in our village are "impacted" and despite BT website offering 17 meg with a guaranteed minimum of 10 meg on FTTC this is dreamworld. I used to get between 13-14 meg for a year or two but recently it's been a fraction of that. when I shop around for ISPs I put my details in and at the end of the process it says - Sorry we cannot help you, I assume this is because:
1) drags down their average download speed?
2) Open reach call outs are frequent.

When I get OR out to my line (7 times so far this year and not once found to be my issue) they reset the DLM and I get about 11meg download until the next heavy rain then my DLM profile goes down to around 3meg and I need to call my ISP to get them out as Pulse8 say they cannot reset DLM remotely they need OR tech to come out and do it.
   I recently mentioned to my ISP that on BT.com it offers me a minimum of 10meg and he suggested that I sign up with them then! The situation means that people don't want my business and because the service we get in our village is so bad we have to either put up with it or be a pest to our supplier.
  I may sound like somebody thats hard to please but we pay £100 a month for internet in my house and get 3 meg most of the time, I am the local Parish councillor and my neighbours all feel the same.
   I am wondering if IDNET would be a good option for me and what they could do to help me.
Many thanks for reading all this.
K
P.S. to be clear I currently have 2 lines one with BTwholesale and other with talktalk business through Pulse8

[Simon]

Welcome to the forum. 

IDNet still use BT lines, but maybe it would be worth having a phone chat with them to see what options may be available?  One of the reasons people on here like them, is because they are easy to contact, and friendly to talk to on the phone.

0800 331 7000

[keymaster]

Hi
Thank you, I am sure I will, the  thing is I feel like a bit of a leper as I know my custom is not something most people want, but  27 houses here and all but 3 have internet and all in same boat, I wish I could find a solution for all not just me.
thanks again
K

[Simon]

I'm not the best person to ask about this stuff, but at the end of the day, although IDNet will endeavour to help as much as possible, I believe they are still reliant on BT's hardware (cabinets, lines, etc) to provide their services.  What you may achieve by coming to IDNet is better value for the service you can get.  I certainly can't see a service on their website for which you would pay £100 per month. 

I just wonder if Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) might be an option?  Obviously, there would be installation charges, but that seems to be £42 per month, as far as I can see from: https://www.idnet.net/data_products/super-fast-broadband.php

I certainly think it would be worth a phone call to discuss your options. 

[keymaster]

Hi
Thank you again, I have a £60 line with AAISP and a £40 with Pulse8 = £100, this was because in my previous job I could work from home rather than the 120 miles round trip to the office if I could upload my work (plans) as I worked from home - I could not as internet was so slow on their VPN so I took another line (AAISP) as business use only. I still ended up having to drive to the office most days. This whole situation is driving me crazy - the woman from Better Broadband For Norfolk said she would get it resolved but she gave up and said the only thing I could do is keep complaining to ISP.
Openreach was at my neighbours today for nearly 2 hours, the same issue. I just need to stay with ISPs that are strong and support me with OR.
Thanks again.
K

[Adrian]

Have you asked AAISP to investigate this for you? They are usually very good when it comes to beating Open  Reach's head against a brick wall.

[keymaster]

Hi
Thank you for the reply, The AAISP line is running ok at 10+ meg due to their constant pressure on OR but that one is £60 a month. My other line is currently running at 4meg due to massive DLM profile drop (7th time in 3 months). I really don't have the budget to push total internet monthly bill to £120.
Thanks, guys
Key

[Technical Ben]

Hi
Thank you, I am sure I will, the  thing is I feel like a bit of a leper as I know my custom is not something most people want, but  27 houses here and all but 3 have internet and all in same boat, I wish I could find a solution for all not just me.
thanks again
K

If only someone would setup a wifi or something (at the ISP level). A mile ain't too far for competition... but it's getting all the customers.

[keymaster]

Hi
Thanks for the reply, I am sure most would support anything I could do to help the village. BBFN are saying they are rolling out FTTP in the nearby town this September and my cabinet is on outside edge of that town. As I am almost a mile further out the talk is that OR may give us some sort of mini cabinet in our village.
  In reality, they have been promising us jam tomorrow for as long as I can remember so not holding my breath.
thanks
K

[robinc]

AA and iDnet are (IMVHO) probably the best ISPs in the country. However, the root cause is as you know, OR who are not prepared to do the right thing which is to replace cr*p cabling and/or look into the cabling issues they have.

If there are a number of home owners with the same issue then you could collectively grab your local MP by the scruff of the neck and raise it with him/her. Rural broadband/government speed promises etc etc..... There's no point in trying to go through a number of different IPS, however good they are, when the infrastructure is rubbish. Collective action through Ofcom is one choice - good luck with that - political pressure is another.

Don't know what the mobile signal is like in your area, but maybe a collective 4G system may be an option?

[Technical Ben]

Is mobile an option (for the business side anyhow)? It can have great upload speed depending on where the mast is (I've no idea on distance vs speed though).

[nowster]

EE are currently offering 100GB for £45 per month with a 4G router included. That'll be behind Carrier Grade NAT, so unsuitable for running servers on.

[Tacitus]

AA and iDnet are (IMVHO) probably the best ISPs in the country.

It appears that a lot of people agree with you. 

https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/8086-aaisp-idnet-and-hyperoptic-top-the-customer-service-battle-for-in-may-2018

[keymaster]

Hi Guys
Thank you all for your feedback. I understand all that you say and I know that changing/blaming ISP is not the solution but desperation and frustration means sometimes only option to try and get somewhere. I am currently trying the tactic of getting OR out constantly to reset my DLM as its now back down at 3 meg again, but I fear this tactic is also having a counter effect as I notice ISPS inc BT are dropping their estimated expectations for this area. maximum has dropped from 17meg to 12 meg and minimum guaranteed has dropped from 1o meg to 4meg. When FTTC first started I had constant and stable 14-15meg!
   Thank you for suggesting the mobile network option, unfortunately we have that same issue with them, none of the providers offer a signal here :-(
I did try our local MP some time ago but got an email back about expectations in rural locations or similar, maybe time I tried again - but it is Norman Lamb! so I cannot see much happening there.
K

[Simon]

Perhaps your best solution is to move!   

[nowster]

The likelihood is that as take up of FTTC connections in your area has risen, so has the crosstalk in the cabling.

[Technical Ben]

Perhaps your best solution is to move!   

Compared to BT charges? It's often cheaper! 

[robinc]

How far is the cab from the exchange???

Or, how about satellite broadband?

[keymaster]

Hi
Thank you for the reply. I am almost a mile from the cabinet which is 1400 metres from exchange according to Sam Knows- satellite broadband may be the option.
Many thanks
K

[nowster]

What's the 4G signal like round your place?

[keymaster]

Hi
Thank you for the reply, abysmal is the short answer. for the same reason as the internet - 27 houses in a little valley in rural location.
thanks
K

[robinc]

Based on what you've said so far it seem to me that the only solution has to be collective.

What you need to establish is the fibre speed at the cab - which should be pretty darn good over 1400 metres. If that is good then it's got to be the last mile, which could well be over very ancient copper, or even aluminium.

27 houses are unlikely to creative crosstalk at a level that would cause the sort of degradation you're seeing - this sounds like just plain bad/noisy lines which is why the DLM keeps dropping off to compensate.

TBH it sounds like any solution will require collective action, some communities have had fibre laid privately and that may be the answer - if you're in a valley there may be topographical limits to satellite possibly...

[keymaster]

Hi Robinc
You have it exactly right and this is what I am currently looking at. As the local Parish councillor, I have a little influence. The representative from Better Broadband for Norfolk has gone from being quite supportive of our issue to being unresponsive ( I believe because OR have told her nothing can be done).
  I will keep my fingers crossed for some more developments from OR, I am currently awaiting an appointment for them to come out and reset my DLM again as I have a profile under 3meg.
thanks
K

[robinc]

In the meantime, this may help...

Like you, after a long period of around 12Mb on ADSL+ my speeds dropped. DLM re-sets etc etc, OR engineers - "nothing wrong here guv" and out the door like a greased whippet...

One day I was lucky enough to get a good engineer who started with the external connection on the pole in the garden and worked back to the cab.

The outside connection was corroded, 2 of the junction boxes under the pavements were full of water and he found that we're on the end of a 50 meter length of unducted aluminium laid in the late '60s.

Fixing all these resulted in a line that was no longer suffering from constant DLM downshifts 'cos of noise. They also made some change at the exchange but didn't specify. So, it may be worth a try if they haven't already done this.

If you switch your router off overnight then I understand the dleay while it is 'missing' should forcec a DLM reset automatically - that may be a load of hogwash, but my be worth a try. I know that the general wisdom is 'leave it on for the line to settle' but if it's constantly dropping speed anyway - where's the harm?

Have you considered contacting the local news TV channel? You know, the "meanwhile residents of [insert hamlet name] are being locked out of on-line facilites such as banking and tax returns etc etc due to poor and failing internet connections and no mobile signal. Despite being asked for assistance, Rural Broadband for Norfolk do not seem interested in helping" and so on.....

A bit of air time may help jog them into action - how about crowd funding to get a line laid???

[keymaster]

Hi
thanks RobinC, again you are 100% correct - I think these are the routes I will be taking.
Best wishes
K