09 May 2024 06:15 PM
FTTP is finally available to my street, I ordered the upgrade on Saturday
I have the install booked for 22nd May
Am I right in saying that openreach should attend before the 22nd to do the external work?
Do they just turn up? How do they know the best spot for the install, as they don't know what's on the other side of the wall?
I was told you don't need to be at home, how soon should they carry out the work after ordering?
09 May 2024 07:37 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
@Aleksandrorlov wrote:
Do they just turn up? How do they know the best spot for the install, as they don't know what's on the other side of the wall?
The external work locates the CSP closest to the street (duct delivery) or pole (overhead delivery) : the customer has little choice about that.
I was told you don't need to be at home, how soon should they carry out the work after ordering?
Anytime up to the activation date depending on local workforce and resource availability, plus any statutory notification requirements.
Putting the address into the BT Wholesale Availability Checker should indicate which provisioning type is applicable.
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome
It's the table and the two text lines below it which are most useful.
Remove any personal information (such as the address itself) if you post an image.
09 May 2024 07:37 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more@Aleksandrorlov If you fill out the form below and post a screenshot the community can help you understand what work will need to be done. You will need to hide the private information that is in the top-left corner before posting the screenshot.
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome
09 May 2024 08:32 PM
09 May 2024 08:40 PM
In our experience the initial activation date was irrelevant. It slipped by about 6 weeks as we only had VM wiring.
It became a 3-phase job for Openreach. Street works, then they had to get the 'civils' in to put the cable in under the front garden, and finally cable along the house and through the wall. It's a very small suburban space btw!
You probably need to be there for the last bit. The Openreach engineer asked me where the cables & pipes where in the wall. I didn't know. I said you're safe to go in above the VM socket. Then he used his detector to find a clear space in the nearest wall instead, started to drill, met resistance & stopped (later filled the hole with silicone, thank you). Eventually decided to use the same hole as the VM wiring!
Don't cancel the other people until the installation is well on the way. Good luck!
09 May 2024 08:49 PM
09 May 2024 08:51 PM
09 May 2024 09:35 PM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
'OH feed with no anticipated issues'
So the optical cable will come from a nearby telephone pole to the eaves of your property, then vertically downwards to just above ground level where the CSP (external box) will be located. From there you have some choice over cabling route of the optical pigtail to an entry point: that's likely to happen on the activation date because it requires access inside the premises and permission to drill.
09 May 2024 09:58 PM
So openreach won't drill any holes themselves? That will be done by sky on the go live day?
I assumed that the box on the outside wall houses the cable and it enters the house behind the box unseen or can the cable inside the box enter the house through a hole seperate to the outside grey box?
As how do they know they putting the box in the right location on the wall?
10 May 2024 08:04 AM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more@Aleksandrorlov a one step overhead install is normally just that and the whole job can be done by either a trained Sky engineer (they are authorised to climb Openreach poles etc), an Openreach engineer or a subcontractor depending on who gets assigned the job they may work alone or in pairs. While its possible one team will come a few days earlier to run the overhead cable from the pole and fit a CSP thst is by no means certain.
The external CSP box is usually installed near ground livel but does not have to close to where the ONT is required but normally would be on the same wall within 10m. The installation engineer agrees with the customer where the ONT will go as it needs power so it needs to be close to a mains supply.
The engineer will then drill a hole to the outside run the fibre pigtial through the wall and fit plastic filler pieces which both weather proofs and cosmetically makes the wall good on both sides. They then run the pigtail cable to the CSP pinning it to the external wall. The outer sheath of the pigtail is stripped of one of its jackets and a metre or so is wound onto the frame in the CSP the supply cable is similarly stripped and wound onto the frame. They then will join the two fibres using a fusion welding device.
11 May 2024 09:38 PM
Got a text message this afternoon to contact sky to reschedule my 22nd May activation date.
Apparently openreach came out today to survey the install, apparently the pole is overcrowded also access to the anchor point is hindered due to being on the corner or the house, making ladder awkward, the side of that part of the house at that point is also flat roof front to back.
The current copper cable is just under the eaves line right on the corner.
As such they saying a hoist will be required, I assume they need to remove the current copper cable in order to replace with the fibre cable? And hence solve part of the overcrowding on the pole
I couldn't understand why they needed to cancel my current install date,, by 1 day, apparently they can't just add the need for a hoist to the current order, you have to create a new order with the requirement for the hoist?
Not sure if that makes sense to anyone else?
12 May 2024 08:10 AM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more@Aleksandrorlov dont try to understand Openreach's scheduling but it probably means you need a team with the hoist rather than a guy with a ladder. The key phrase in the notes on the checker is "no antcipated issues" fortunately a local engineer came and had a look which technically is not part of the process which is where the engineer roles up on the day sees the job cant be done goes away and you have a couple of weeks delay.
There is no guarantee they will remove the copper line which theoretically should remain in place until the fibre install is complete. It is very unlikely, but if they take down the copper line before the fibre line is run, if there is an issue you are without broadband until it gets sorted. Some poor soles have been left without a servicecfor weeks. However thst is verry rare.
12 May 2024 08:19 AM - last edited: 12 May 2024 08:21 AM
Posted by a Superuser, not a Sky employee. Find out more
Generally speaking, removing copper isn't actually part of the current FTTP rollout, although I can see how it might be more relevant in this case to keep a particular pole under its assessed load-bearing capacity.
On the whole, working backwards from a property newly serviced by optical cable while not disrupting circuits still in use would take more time than the minute weight of metal in an individual pair is worth: this may happen at some point in the future.
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