Estimated Speeds VERY LOW!

[rbz5416]

Something doesn't seem right here. 20Mb is pretty much the top end of ADSL & I doubt you would have got that being a mile from the exchange. So it would seem likely that your were previously on FTTC. Have a look at a previous bill & see how the service is described on that.

It does seem a distinct possibility that the residential & business addresses are misidentified on the OR database.

Do the business & residential addresses have wholly separate entries on the RM database? If so are they equally separate & with exactly the same details on the OR database? Are then any other obsolete addresses listed listed when you use the BT availability checker?

[RedSquirrel]

It would seem I have scared everyone off by this point 😂

I managed to contact OpenReach and they have confirm we are on a exchange only line meaning fibre is not coming anytime soon, even though surrounding properties using the same duct from the exchange are currently getting fibre installed...don't quite understand that part. Can they not run more cables or is not quite as simple as that!

Anyway I have been suggested to either contact a thrid party to quote for fibre install (not even going to go there given some estimates I have seen online) or look into a 4G connection. 

Can anyone recommend a 4G supplier or hardware? I would seem there is two options to either go with a mainstream provider such as BT who recommend EE 4G Router or buy your own 4G router and provide a separate data plan with a provider of your choice...

[RedSquirrel]

@iniltous The current setup of the area is as follows:

The local exchange building is approximately 1.15 miles - this is based on the road to the exchange from my house, as I know for a fact this is the path the telecoms cables take to the exchange.

All houses including my neighbour are served by the same exchange building - we live in a rural location

Our house is probably up there with some of the oldest in the area, although there is a similar house approximately 200 metres away which is served by a cabinet going by the address checker.

Both our neighbours cabling and ours is served by a overhead line which comes from underground ducting at the road side, over the road to another pole on the neighbours property. It then splits in a connection box and goes to their house, the other split goes down the pole and into a duct which then travels to our property.

To confuse matters further we own a separate business right next to our house, from what I believe the broadband line is a 'temporary line' or 'site line', not sure the exact terms - basically it is not considered a residential line and the speeds are very low (10MB approx) - it would seem by the address checker this connection is also not served by a cabinet.

This business is also served from the pole that terminates into our neighbours house and down the SAME DUCT as our house. This makes me wonder if there has been a mixup with our house and the business line. 

[iniltous]

Is the scenario I stated a possibility ? , if it isn’t then it’s pretty moot , if it were a possibility the way ( in the past may not be as easy now ) would be to get just a phoneline ordered ( no broadband) the tech can change the serving DP on a PSTN line , they update the records to show the ‘new’ DP , then when broadband is ordered separately , the new DP being associated with the cabinet ( instead of E/O) allows FTTC to be ordered , however PSTN lines can’t be ordered anymore, so that may not be possible anyway .

If this scenario doesn’t apply , and you happen to be served from an E/O DP with no alternative, then being really close to the exchange could give 17Mb ish speeds ( theoretically 24Mb on an incredibly short line ) …do you know where your exchange is and how close it is to your address ?

Lastly, how close is the neighbour that can get FTTC , if they are served overhead and you can see the pole they are served from , and assuming you are also served from a pole , is it the same one ?

[RedSquirrel]

@iniltous Thanks for the detailed explanation, certainly learning a thing or two..

Is there a process to get our address matched to a better DP (if available)? I am assuming this will be via OpenReach?

What I dont understand is our connection before ceasing our line (only a few weeks ago!) was fine and certainly had speeds in excess of 3MB!!

[iniltous]

Although not common , there can be occasionally be a situation where a property can be served from 2 distribution points (  think two telegraphs  pole near by , either could service the address , one to the south side and one to the north side of the property ) , the DP ( distribution point ) on one pole is E/O ( exchange only ) this means cable comes direct from the exchange, not via a cabinet, so FTTC ( fibre to the cabinet ) obviously cannot be provided, there isn’t a cabinet involved , from that DP , the  ADSL figure is appropriate, if the second pole distribution point is via a cabinet then the VDSL/FTTC speed is appropriate…

As stated situations like that are pretty rare , especially in a residential setting,  it probably would be a vary large property to have two potential methods of service , and then one of them is E/O the other via a ‘cabinet ‘ .

Every  address on the copper network is associated with a DP , if this situation exists and your address is ‘designed’ to be served from the E/O DP then any order would automatically route to this lower speed option, even if the alternative DP will supply a superior FTTC speed , and unfortunately the engineer that turns up to provide service ( should one be sent ) cannot simply change the DP and use the better one ( from a speed point of view) as the broadband equipment is already allocated, they can’t simply get the ADSL port removed and a FTTC one allocated , it would need the address matching to the better DP and a new order raising .

Something to try , instead of using your postal address in the DSL checker , get your UPRN ( plenty of resources on line can get you this ) and use the UPRN , see if the checker return changes .

[RedSquirrel]

Sorry I misunderstood the part about cabinets!

Yes after checking again for my neighbour it states 'on Exchange name of town is served by Cabinet 1'

My address states only 'on Exchange name of town' 

Sorry completely missed this!

[Keith_Beddoe]

@RedSquirrel 

As has already been mentioned, you have missed the name of the exchange and the cabinet number from the top of your address and next door.

If there is just an exchange name, and no cabinet number for your address, then you are on an EO (exchange only) line, and only ADSL is available.

Its not unusual for some cable pairs come via a cabinet, and some direct from the exchange.

[RedSquirrel]

Yes it’s not there at all! I haven’t cropped that section it just doesn’t exist! 🙂

[rbz5416]

The exchange & cab info is after the address as below, but the entire VDSL section is missing for your address. Never seen that before if that's really what you're seeing?