This topic

Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 01:15:15 GMT

Well, after a truly horrific time a few years back as a BT customer, mostly caused by foreign call centre staff, I left and joined Virgin Media and took the XXL package.

They were approx. 97.4278% as awful as BT before them.. so once my contract ended I swapped to Sky.

Sky were OK, but the download speed was pretty pants, at around 19meg.

My brother told me one day he had swapped to BT... oh boy did I laugh... I told him to learn 16 languages, and hold on for the ride of his life!

Oh no, he said, BT now have their call centres back in Blighty, and they seem to be doing ok.

So off I went for a little research.. and yes, it seemed he was right.

Well anyway 6 months ago I came back to BT.

I am currently on the Fibre 1 package, and receive 39down/6up the best I've had through this old copper, and not a single drop in connection in all that time.

My bills have been correct, my connection is rock solid, I am very surprised.. and pleased. BT are doing well.

One morning I stepped out into the sunshine to be greeted by several telecom contractor vans blocking my driveway... What are you doing, I asked?

Installing full fibre they said!!

I got all excited, but a bit downhearted as I thought it would be a year before it was up and running.

2 weeks later I thought I'd see via the dsl checker.. and it said FTTP Available!!!!

Anyway... Tuesday I am having my Fibre 1 upgraded to Full Fibre 900.

Wish me luck!

Re: Fingers crossed!

SuperFlyGuy — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 12:33:54 GMT

We upgraded to full fibre 900 in October last year. Our previous FTTC speeds were 31down/10up.

Full fibre is a revelation. The upload speed is more useful to me at the moment, working from home (110Mbps) but it's nice to be able to download a 50-60 GB game from Steam in around 15 minutes!

My main PC is wired into the hub and I get 900down/110up all day long. Bear in mind wireless speeds will vary, wildly and the Smart Hub 2 isn't wifi 6 compatible. On my iPhone XS, I can get anywhere between 250-450Mbps down.

I hope your installation goes smoothly and to plan!

Re: Fingers crossed!

matekaneve — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 16:33:56 GMT

That's really good news and hopefully everything will go a planned. May I ask if you managed to upgrade online or over the phone? Somebody mentioned on this forum before that Openreach have suspended all installations until 1st March due to covid. The reason I'm asking because in our street full fibre went live a week ago and I immediately tried to upgrade but the option is not popping up. I could place a brand new order, but the upgrade option is not available for me...

Re: Fingers crossed!

imjolly — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 16:36:21 GMT

Try phoning the FTTP team 08005874787

Re: Fingers crossed!

pippincp — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 17:29:46 GMT

@matekanevewrote:
That's really good news and hopefully everything will go a planned. May I ask if you managed to upgrade online or over the phone? Somebody mentioned on this forum before that Openreach have suspended all installations until 1st March due to covid. The reason I'm asking because in our street full fibre went live a week ago and I immediately tried to upgrade but the option is not popping up. I could place a brand new order, but the upgrade option is not available for me...

Do you mean this?

Re: Fingers crossed!

matekaneve — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 17:36:07 GMT

Well somebody mentioned installation is suspended until 1st March, I've never seen this message before. However I managed to talk to another fttp advisor and now it seems like I will be able to place an order for the 900Mb service and book in for the first available installation. Through my original/existing account they could not upgrade, so the fttp team (Mark from Dundee) is setting up a new account for me with the new service and will book me in for the first available installation date. I already got a confirmation e-mail that states once my FTTP service is live, my current g.fast service will be cancelled. So fingers crossed it will all go through! 🙂

Re: Fingers crossed!

busterboy1 — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 23:52:35 GMT

@matekaneve

Somebody mentioned on this forum before that Openreach have suspended all installations until 1st March due to covid.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yes I heard the very same but having said that we have had 4 installations done this very week in our rural village in North Yorkshire. Strange.!!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

@TorquayMarc

You will find the 900Mbps full fibre is amazing as much as night & day.

I went from this......😝

To this in 2 hours.😎

Re: Fingers crossed!

SuperFlyGuy — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 11:35:53 GMT

I rang the FTTP team, rather than trying to upgrade online. I had a load of questions that I wanted to ask and to be fair, the guy I spoke to, reassured me and was able to answer most of them. He was also able to give me a slight discount on the online price so I was happy.

Re: Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 21:13:37 GMT

Thanks for all the replies, sorry for the lack of response from me, work is a stern mistress at the moment.

I made the order over the phone, after starting the order online on the 27th December.

Today... I recieved 2 contradictory text messages. 1 from BT and 1 from Open Reach, within 20 minutes of each other.

I'll copy and paste below:

OPEN REACH

Hi it's Openreach on behalf of BT. We are coming to install your full fibre broadband at *** 6NY on 26 Jan between 1PM-6PM. We have important info on what to expect on the day. Have a look at our checklist: www.openreach.co.uk/fibreinstall

Please reply CONFIRM if everything is okay or reply MORE if you have other questions.

Hello from BT. With the national lockdown in affect due to COVID-19, we won't be able to complete the work required in your home in the timescale we previously agreed.

Don't worry, if you have an existing service it will continue to work until your new one is connected. Openreach will be in touch within 48 hours to let you know what happens next.

Sorry, we know that this is disappointing for you but we are working hard to make sure you are connected as quickly as possible once restrictions are lifted. Thank you.

This afternoon I had a text saying my equipment has been posted, and my order tracker still says the engineer will arrive on Tuesday between 1 and 6.

So......

Re: Fingers crossed!

busterboy1 — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 21:19:45 GMT

As it's Openreach that does the install and not BT I would stay positive for the 26th January mate.

Plus you have notification the Hub has been shipped so it's looking good.

Re: Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 21:25:01 GMT

Yes that's what I was thinking. I've booked the day off work anyway, and can't go anywhere, so I'll just patiently.. or not.. wait!

Re: Fingers crossed!

garybs29 — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 22:01:45 GMT

I'd read the info here on engineer visits - https://www.bt.com/help/broadband/getting-set-up/coronavirus-delivery-installations-and-repairs

It may well only be external work that is possible just now

Re: Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 22:20:54 GMT

I've seen that. It says the installation may go ahead if the work indoors is limited.

All I need is about 3 metres of cable and the box fitting.

Im down for a 1 stage install.

So fingers crossed.

Re: Fingers crossed!

pippincp — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 22:25:04 GMT

@TorquayMarc When did you place the order for FTTP?

Re: Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Thu, 21 Jan 2021 22:29:35 GMT

27th December

Re: Fingers crossed!

pippincp — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 09:47:52 GMT

Then the install will go ahead. It is only new orders from 6th Jan that are delayed until March.

Re: Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 10:05:43 GMT

A lovely text from BT this morning.

Hello, BT here. Your engineer will be with you on 26 Jan 2021, arriving 1pm - 6pm. So please remember to be home to let them in. If you can't, you can change your appointment at bt.com/ordertracking/?order_id************** or by calling 0800 587 4787.
If you already have broadband, there might be a short break in service while we connect you to Full Fibre. But don't worry, we'll get you back online as quickly as we can. You can find out more about what will happen during your appointment at bt.com/fullfibre-nextsteps

Re: Fingers crossed!

busterboy1 — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 10:08:32 GMT

@TorquayMarc

Winner winner chicken dinner. 😃

Re: Fingers crossed!

matekaneve — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 10:12:01 GMT

I'm so jealous! 🙃 After I talked to the fttp team (Mark) and was promised I was going to get a phone call from the sales team to sort out my account, I was let down and the phone call never happened. I decided to wait until march and hopefully installations will resume and I will be able to upgrade without all the fuss and workarounds... Please keep us updated how the installation is going and maybe take a few photos as well. 😛

Re: Fingers crossed!

TorquayMarc — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 14:51:15 GMT

My SmartHub2 just arrived... smartly the same as the one it's replacing except 1 of ethernet ports is marked as a WAN.

I plugged it in, and changed all the settings over etc now its up and running and awaiting fibre.

Will the modem automatically disable then one the WAN is plugged in and phone line is unplugged?