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FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 21:51:20 GMT

Engineer came out and couldn't get the cable along the existing copper duct. Packed everything away and left.

I didn't want it going there anyway so this could be a bonus.

I want the ONT in my living room.

The progress on my order say that the external work has been done but nothing has been done.

What happens next?

Ideally, there's a large concrete BT junction just outside my house in the foot path. I'd like them to come from that across my garden and then into my living room. no walls, no trees, or bushes or anything difficult, just soft garden.

Is it possible they'd go this route now the cable can't be feed along the duct?

I'm worried that it says outside work has been carried out.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Starwire — Fri, 21 Aug 2020 05:56:28 GMT

It’s probably just a blocked duct.

Chances are if he didn’t mark it up for a dig it’ll go to a Civils Avoidance Team first to see if it can be unblocked by checking it what’s blocking it with a duct camera.

If it can’t I’d imagine they’ll just dig and clear the blockage in situ. Openreach are under a lot of pressure to bring FTTP in on a cost so I seriously doubt they’ll go to the expense of doing a dig and providing new duct.

The only way that’ll most likely happen is if it’s not ducted but direct in ground.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 08:59:20 GMT

He said it was blocked directly under my house so unlikely to dig there.

How can I find out if they're going to do a new dig?

Can I call openreach to find out their next plan of action?

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Starwire — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 11:28:30 GMT

Do you live in Northern Ireland? It’s quite rare duct comes up inside the house, except in NI where it’s the norm.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 12:03:04 GMT

Yes, I live in N.Ireland.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Starwire — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 18:30:26 GMT

Right OK. NI seems to have a different set of rules for some reason so I couldn’t really say what they’ll do.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Sun, 23 Aug 2020 18:35:39 GMT

I phoned the FTTP team and they said they'd pass on all the information, as it is logged as external work completed which isn't correct. Hopefully they get back to me soon with their plan of action.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Mon, 24 Aug 2020 16:42:43 GMT

Well BT got back to me and said that it's going ahead on the 4th September as planned. I tried to explain that the duct was blocked and the engineer couldn't get the cable along it. She said they'd spoken with openreach and the outside work was complete (nothings been done) and it will be installed as planned. I can already imagine what'll happen on the 4th, it's very unlikely I'll get it installed that day.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Pilot25dmc — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 08:01:20 GMT

Interesting....

I am in N.Ireland too and mine is due to be fitted this Friday.

My pipe is also blocked (in reality the builder has used too small a duct to connect to the bigger BT duct) just outside the property but the BT engineer who came out (2 of them actually) last week for a site inspection said that whoever came on Friday would lift one of the paving slabs beside my front door, find the duct (they used a device to track it) and then drill a hole in my wall and run the fibre cable.

Your post has me thinking that none of what the engineer said is actually going to happen and that the engineer will show up, see there is a blockage and then leave.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 08:07:59 GMT

This is what I'm expecting also. My blockage is directly under my master socket, so it's in my house(under the floor) as such so digging outside and trying to feed it in won't help.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Pilot25dmc — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 08:35:31 GMT

That must be why the engineer said last week that they would have to drill through the wall.

The BT ducting comes up to my front door at an angle and then goes off around the corner and under the foundations into the house.

Using their machine they traced the duct to a slab right beside my front door, so the slab will need to be lifted and a hole cut in the duct, this will then need to be redirected under the slab and up the wall slightly in through a new hole in the wall and then into the house.

I actually expected them to start to do this last week but they packed up and left. Then I got confirmation that the order was going ahead for this Friday.

I am actually going to laugh when a single engineer shows up on Friday with zero clue about what has to be done.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

glennbentley — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:10:04 GMT

I might be able to provide some guidance here, I am also an N.I. customer who had FTTP/H installed. My ducting was also blocked. What they do is find where they think the block is, in my case it was outside my house on a tarmac area. Basically they dug a hole into the tarmac (They then filled in the hole with a tub of instant tarmac, actually did a fairly neat job!) and broke the ducting just short of the blockage, they then ran the new cable to that point then as others have said, they have to drill a hole into your external wall to bring the cable in.

In my case the wall was on the opposite side of where my Hub sits, so they then had to staple the cable over my internal door frame to get it to the Hub.

This all happened on the day of install, so don't worry that your install won't happen. I had a team of 2 guys do the outside work and then another guy do the inside install, all in the same morning.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 09:49:18 GMT

Good to hear they'll carry out work on the day.

Still hope they run a new line across my garden though. With the blockage in the duct within my house and gas line right beside it, it's got to be the easiest option.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Pilot25dmc — Tue, 25 Aug 2020 11:06:09 GMT

Well, your experience has certainly made me feel better!!

Hopefully its fairly straightforward. I actually don’t mind them digging up a bit of tarmac if they have to.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Pilot25dmc — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 13:00:27 GMT

I have received another email from BT and a text message confirming my install tomorrow, so everything is still on schedule.

Just to be safe, I also contacted someone I know in Openreach NI to see if they could tell me anything.

Thankfully they were able to clarify a few things and I fully expect the install and the ground works to go ahead tomorrow.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Pilot25dmc — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 16:04:22 GMT

Mine was installed today as planned.

Thankfully it only need a small(ish) hole dug under a paving slab at my front door. About a foot down they found the duct running into my house with a phone cable coming out of it, a couple more scoops of a shovel and the found the end of the duct running down to the footpath.

Once they had that sorted the rest was a breeze and my new fibre cable was installed very quickly. Entire job took about 4 hours in total.

Wired I am getting 537Mb/s down and 53Mb/s up.

Wireless is between 150-300Mb/s down and 47Mb/s up depending on what room you in.

I am going to play about with the wireless channels tonight to see if I can boost it a bit.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 16:16:45 GMT

I'm glad all went smoothly for you. I take it you are on the 900mbps service?

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Pilot25dmc — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 17:12:51 GMT

Nope, I am on the 500Mb/s service.

Re: FTTP Survey said the cable can't be feed along existing duct, What next?

Wilted007 — Fri, 04 Sep 2020 10:03:18 GMT

Install went through this morning. I shouldn't have worried as it was a breeze for the guys. They detected the blockage, lifted a flag stone and there it was. I asked if it could be re-routed to my living room, they done exactly that by clipping it round my house base and everything was done within an hour and a half. Guy said was easiest install he's done.