Openreach Fibre Checker says house is able to connect to network but engineers unable to connect

[LiamT]

Hello everyone, 

We moved into a new-build Persimmon property five years ago and had to sign up for their FibreNest service. We have twice (first time about two years ago and again this week) tried to switch to another provider utilising the Openreach network. The Openreach 'Fibre Checker' service has our property listed as being able to access their full fibre service up to 1,600MB download speeds, yet both times the engineers have told us that our house cannot be connected. 

I have seen that there is no way of contacting Openreach directly and I'm trying to understand whether I need to give up trying to switch from FibreNest (and continue paying over general marketing pricing), or whether there is a 'workaround' that an engineer needs to follow to get us connected to their cabinet. 

Has anyone had a similar experience? And does anyone have any advice? 

Thanks in advance, 

Liam

[36ULW]

Probs just a post code mismatch or something because Persimmon lock other Network Providers out of their Housing Estates.

The only Openreach presence there will be a Private Ethernet Circuit to a small building somewhere, most likely as you come into the Estate.

In order to get Openreach Cable to your house they’d have to either dig several streets up or even put poles up to get the cable to your house as they can’t use Persimmon Duct.

[iniltous]

There was Persimmon estate that was locked into using Persimmon own in house FTTP provider Fibrenest , ( as stated Persimmon often lock out other providers during construction and even if the roads and footpaths are adopted by the council it’s an uneconomic proposition for OR or anyone else to go back years later and start digging up the paths etc . )  , but one part of this Persimmon estate had existing older properties on the opposite side of the main road , and arguably at a push the poles feeding the older non Persimmon houses could be used for some of the new Persimmon houses , but it would be overhead wires , not great in a brand new underground estate, however this was an addressing error , the addresses should not have shown any availability from Openreach.

If your address is incorrectly showing Openreach availablity when it doesn’t have it , an order may be taken , because the ISP doesn’t known better , but as you have found , the order gets cancelled by Openreach once they realise the error , obviously OR  should change the incorrect data but apparently they haven’t done so.


https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2025/01/new-kent-uk-homeowners-criticise-persimmon-over-fttp-b...

[LiamT]

Thanks for the response, both of you, but this isn’t a postcode issue as all of the houses around us have access to the OpenReach network. It looks as though they’ve either missed us off entirely, or the engineers are missing something when they turn up. 

[iniltous]

If these Persimmon homes had access to Openreach FTTP , then why did the OR techs that turn up say that they couldn’t do anything …it’s not a postcode issue , it’s Persimmon not allowing BT onto the building site during the construction, forcing occupants to use the developers in house FTTP , or not have landline type broadband.

5 years old puts the construction in the period where developers like Persimmon were providing there own networks and Openreach when they were allowed onto ‘new sites’ were pre fitting FTTP before the occupant moved in , so if a 5 year old property on a major development constructed by a ‘national’ house builder hasn’t got OR FTTP already in place ( so the ONT not already fitted ) then the developer didn’t ‘invite’ Openreach onto the site , and before the roads and footpaths are adopted by the council then they are private property and the developer is perfectly at liberty to keep Openreach out of the site ….if any of your near neighbours have OR installed you could ask how they managed it , otherwise it’s typical of Persimmon homes 

A simple way to tell , take a walk around your development looking at the footpaths , apart from the beginning of main entrance into the site , are there any footway jointboxes with Openreach lids /covers on them , if the only box lids are ‘Fibrenest’ ones , and there are no Openreach ones ( they are visually identical apart from the lids )  , then that’s pretty conclusive proof that no OR network exists for the reasons already stated 

[36ULW]

They haven’t always locked Openreach out. 

They only started doing their own Network a while back.

Its possible the houses that can get Openreach were part of earlier Phases of the Estate Build and yours was when they decided to build their own Fibre Network and lock others out.

What’s your post code. I have access to an ordinance map that shows network equipment. I can tell if Openreach have presence there.