This topic

cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 06:02:10 GMT

would like ppls opinion on this fact... a open reach engineer has told me on a call out.. that i have aluminium cable and not copper to my street cabinet.. but yet twitter bt staff has told me no its copper... who would know best is my question... because i think its a disgrace that i have aluminium cable instead of copper..for which i believe is contributing to my bandwidth/speed and lag problems

Re: cable to my cabinet

pompey1898 — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 08:19:25 GMT

If it is a disgrace then there are many other disgraces around.

Re: cable to my cabinet

Keith_Beddoe — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 08:32:44 GMT

Aluminium was used extensively in the 1970s due to the high price of copper at that time. It has no effect on normal phone connections, which is what most people used at that time.

It has a slightly greater loss at broadband frequencies, which caused a slight drop in connection speed, but, in the absence of any other faults, would not affect latency.

Openreach are not going to dig up all the aluminium cables and replace them with copper. Optical fibre is the future.

If you are a BT Broadband customer, and have issues with your connection, then you need to specify what type of connection you have, normal ADSL broadband, or Fibre to the cabinet FTTC.

You may be able to get some help on this forum.

Re: cable to my cabinet

pompey1898 — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 11:05:55 GMT

Hi@Keith_Beddoe ,

I guessed you would come along with a full and meaningful reply, thanks

Re: cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 14:03:40 GMT

im on vdsl... open reach says my line can handle upto 80mbs.. and im only getting 40mbs... along with lag in games.. buffering on youtube vids regular.... and the question was not regarding phone use... only fibre broadband... and its the cable going to my street cabinet that is the problem.. not the cable to to my home that is causing the speed issues...and also its my block of flats that is the only ones that has cable running under ground..all other property on my street are overhead connection.. but bk to the problem... i know that the aluminium cable to my street cabinet will be the factor of my problem.... but yes i know that fibre optic is the future.. but its a matter as when my street will get it... till then its not good practice to lie to a customer and say its copper.. when its not..nor is it right to con all the customers who thought they would get a decent speed that there line could handle.. a never know that they was being duped by the use still of aluminium cable and not copper for which all those customers yrs ago could of had a decent connection and speed that they pay good money for

Re: cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 14:05:45 GMT

i agree mate... TALKTALK is one of them...and italk

Re: cable to my cabinet

imjolly — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 14:07:10 GMT

@MARKYMARK2020

to get some help from forum can you post some information

can you post the stats from your router (if hub enter 192.168.1.254 in your browser) and if HH5 then go to troubleshooting then helpdesk and if HH6/SH2 then advanced settings then technical log information .

Have you tried the quiet line test? - dial 17070 option 2 - should hear nothing - best done with a corded phone. if cordless phone you may hear a 'dull hum' which is normal

enter your phone number and post results remember to delete number https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

Someone may then be able to offer help/assistance/suggestions to your problem

Re: cable to my cabinet

Starwire — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 18:52:32 GMT

Just count yourself lucky it isn’t Paper Insulated Lead Cable.

Re: cable to my cabinet

WSH — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 19:39:40 GMT

The OP asked for opinions and to be fair to them, I would say it was highly unlikely that copper was a lie, as such. The problem is that a lot of sloppy phraseology exists in domestic IT. “Ethernet cable” is a favourite of mine…no such beast. Ethernet is a transmission standard and can be passed over several different cable types.

In this case “copper” would have meant wired as opposed to fibre optic. I suspect that BT staff would not be in a position to know if it was copper or aluminium. Probably only OR would know that.

@starwire…jeez, does paper insulated lead actually exist or were you joking? I would expect two tin cans and a length of string to work better than that.

Re: cable to my cabinet

licquorice — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 21:00:11 GMT

@WSH wrote:

@starwire…jeez, does paper insulated lead actually exist or were you joking?

I very much suspect it does still exist.

Re: cable to my cabinet

Gary_C — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 23:10:49 GMT

I think its work remembering that

1 - people on here are largely not BT employees
2 - the infrastructure was never installed to handle the sort of frequencies that are used, its a minor miracle that it works at all
3 - the records of cables put down over the years (especially before modern databases) are sketchy at best. Its not surprising that someone in a call centre isn't aware that your cable is Alu and aggressive language doesn't help anyone 🙂

Alu is worse than copper, but not by much ( 0.0282(Ω x mm2)/m to 0.017241 (Ω x mm2)/m) but joints can corrode and give rise to problems (we use a lot of alu cables at work)
Post your hub stats, and the BT broadband checker and lets see what you should get and see if its a problem that can be improved upon. BTW is their any noise on your phone line ?, are you gaming using wifi or ethernet ?

Re: cable to my cabinet

Gary_C — Sat, 26 Jun 2021 23:18:25 GMT

@WSH

There very much was a cable called ethernet as when it was launched, there was nothing else. It was a coax cable with active taps at the standing wave points down the cable, with terminators to prevent reflections at each end and used CSMA/CD as a fundamental control due to the single medium by which the data flowed. We still have some thick ethernet with MAU's at work for the reactor control computer comms 🙂 and I have some thin ethernet cable at home connecting a couple of Microvax 3300's

Certainly, the twisted pair cable we call 'ethernet cable' today, isn't.

Re: cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 06:59:30 GMT

Re: cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 07:00:35 GMT

I JUST POSTED MY HUB STATS ..AS I DONT TRUST THE BT CHECKER...

Re: cable to my cabinet

Starwire — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 07:46:20 GMT

Most of the older E-Side Network is still Paper Insulated. It’s fine if it’s kept dry, which is why they pressurise the cable.

There are still parts of the D-Side Network that have it as well though, usually it’s in remote areas where it’s all buried direct in ground.

Re: cable to my cabinet

imjolly — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 08:47:02 GMT

your stats show you have a 40/8mb connection speed with and max attainable of 41/8 and noise margin about normal 6db

without dslchecker info you are getting as good as your line can handle

Re: cable to my cabinet

Gary_C — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 17:46:08 GMT

@MARKYMARK2020

Can you just ease up, and stop shouting, we are not BT employees and just trying to help.

The BT checker will show us what is expected for your line, especially the handback threshold and can advise you if there is any likelihood of improvement.

Re: cable to my cabinet

pippincp — Sun, 27 Jun 2021 19:32:26 GMT

There are a few ex Openreach/BT employees on here and at least one current one who can advise if only the OP answers the questions he's asked.

It is up to him if he wants an answer.

Re: cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 10:29:04 GMT

IM NOT SHOUTING... IM STIPULATING... YOUR NOT IN FRONT OF ME.. SO I CANT SHOUT AT YOU

Re: cable to my cabinet

MARKYMARK2020 — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 10:31:38 GMT

AND THE BT CHECKER JUST LIES... CAUSE OPEN REACH SAYS UP TO 80MBS.. BT ONLY SAYS 29 TO 36...