o2 broadband, did your scottish exchange go live 31/1/09 ?

WhoKilledBambi?

If you try entering your exchange details here http://www.samknows.com/broadband/search.php and the 21CN WBC status: is enabled then you will get adsl2+ via BT Wholesale. Any ISP that supplies broadband via BT's network can then provide potentially faster speeds irrespective of LLU.
In my case I can now get 5500 kbps instead of 4500 kbps with a downstream attenuation of 52-55 dB.
My router, 2wire hg2700 automatically connects at the best mode which for me is adsl2, adsl2+ seems slower for some reason.

andywill

Thanks for the reply!
I am on the Aberdeen, Kingswells exchange and according to SamKnows.com the 21 CN WBC Status is unavailable - so probably no joy there. The LLU status is - RFS date set : 30/06/2009 which has obviously come and gone. Not sure exactly what difference this will make? Guess I will just have to wait and see.
Might swap the O2 Thomson router out for a different one just to see if that will make any difference. Thanks again.

steven_cardwell

andywill wrote: »

Thanks for the reply!
I am on the Aberdeen, Kingswells exchange and according to SamKnows.com the 21 CN WBC Status is unavailable - so probably no joy there. The LLU status is - RFS date set : 30/06/2009 which has obviously come and gone. Not sure exactly what difference this will make? Guess I will just have to wait and see.
Might swap the O2 Thomson router out for a different one just to see if that will make any difference. Thanks again.

Same information here for St Andrews.

Might give O2 a phone and see if there is any more information available, especially as i recently bought a 3 pay and go phone, due to the fact the freebies with a £10 top up last 90 days, which is ideal for a myself as i don't use my mobile too much, and was hoping the LLU would actually happen this time, as although it would now mean i would pay £12.50 rather than the £7.50 since i changed mobile networks, it was still going to be £5 cheaper than what i've been paying since October last year.

However if O2 don't get their finger out and get the exchange unbundled, then £22.50 is sounding just as expensive as BT, and come October, i might have to start looking at other suppliers and what their prices are.

steven_cardwell

Just off the phone to O2, but the usual, no one can answer the simple question of, "has my exchanged been unbundled".

I don't know how other ISP's work with notifications, but if the exchange has been unbundled, it would be nice, to get an email/text stating that it has, and to await further information over migrating to the LLU service, it is the 'kept in the dark' that i don't like.

andywill

Thanks for the update Steven. Guess I'll have to check when I get home tonight. Is there any way we will know if it has (is there anything we can check from a user end)?

steven_cardwell

andywill wrote: »

Thanks for the update Steven. Guess I'll have to check when I get home tonight. Is there any way we will know if it has (is there anything we can check from a user end)?

That is the annoying thing, and what i was trying to emphasis to O2 Customer Services, that i wasn't looking for to be changed to LLU overnight, as that was the sort of answers i was getting back.

All i wanted to know, was that the exchange had finally been unbundled, that as a customer, i would then know that i would be getting moved onto the LLU sooner rather than later.

What i don't like, especially since the LLU dates have changed from October 2008 to now, is the lack of information from O2/BE, AFAIK there is no O2/BE page that gives you status reports on what exchanges are due to be unbundled and if the work has been carried out, etc etc

All the answer i got from O2 was, "IF the exchange is now LLU, i will get a text/email notifying of the changeover", if i took that answer, i would be still standing in the same spot for the last 8 months staring at my mobile waiting for the unbundling text message!

Not everyone knows about sites such as Sam Knows, so rely on what they get told by O2 directly, and in my case, it was O2 themselves that told me at sign up at the end of September last year, that i would only be on Access till the end of October, i know that there can be delays, but 8 months going on 9, and considering it is a 12 month contract, i am nearly going from what was meant to be weeks on Access before moving to LLU, to at this rate my contract will be finished before i see LLU broadband from O2!

wheels5894

New member, also in St Andrews and thinking about changing to O2. I spoke to O2 at the weekend and was told they did not know when the LLU service would be available though I suppose the Call Centre isn't told everything.

How is the 'Access' package working out? It is about what I have from Entanet but quite a bit cheaper.

wheels5894

Signed up with O2 and waiting to go live on 29th July. Hope the LLU starts soon as faster and cheaper broadband would be rather good!

steven_cardwell

wheels5894 wrote: »

New member, also in St Andrews and thinking about changing to O2. I spoke to O2 at the weekend and was told they did not know when the LLU service would be available though I suppose the Call Centre isn't told everything.

How is the 'Access' package working out? It is about what I have from Entanet but quite a bit cheaper.

Sorry, for the late reply, but just noticed that the thread had replies.

There was some speed issues earlier in the year, that seems to have been ironed out.



Customer Services has been good, was with Primus previously that ended up with an Indian Call Centre that was a nightmare, so it is good to hear a UK voice, plus they are manned 24/7.

I sent an email to them, after changing my mobile, so all my text messages, such as bill is ready, goes to my 3 mobile number, and i have changed the O2 number for getting the broadband discount, to a friends number, so i can continue, getting the £5 off every month, if O2 had LLU the exchange, then i wouldn't have minded paying £12.50, but paying the full price of £22.50 does seem steep, so after asking a friend if it was ok to use his O2 number, i can continue to get charged £17.50, as he tops his phone up ever month.

When i questioned O2 about LLU in the email i sent about changing mobile information, the answer i got back was this.

"I'm afraid we don't have any clearer timescales at the moment regarding the date your exchange will be upgraded. Once we have more information we will provide this to a number of sites such as www.samknows.com."

To be honest, i use "Sam Knows" and this is where most of the information for the LLU dates have come from, apart from the original date of October 09, that came from O2 Sales, when i signed up, the one thing that i really want to know, and no one at O2 seems to be prepared to give an answer, is why so many dates, and why so many delays, the last date of June, on another forum, the mod had asked someone called Matthew Pease at BE/O2 , and the work was supposed to be all green for go, but even after all that, another date for LLU has been and gone, and no one at O2 can tell us why.

The main advantages of using O2, are the free 24/7 Cusomer Services/Helpdesk and Unlimited broadband.

I average speeds of between 2meg and 3.5meg, with an average of aroung 2.3meg, but i am at the East Sands end of the town, so a little bit away from the exchange at Largo Road, but most of these "sign up" line checkers that ISPs have on their websites, state that i should receive a service of no more than 1.5meg, and even though O2 Access is a BT Wholesale product, i am getting faster speeds than what Primus were delivering, and they were also a BT reseller.

Price is £17.50 if you have a O2 Mobile (Contract, Pay & Go requires a £10 top up every 3 months) otherwise it is £22.50.

Hope that helps you.

wheels5894

Hi there Steven and thanks for the reply. There us a small hiatus with O2 broadband - I got a text today to say they were out of routers? I doubt it will be much of a dely though as my live day is Wednesday, 29th July.

I am over in Canongate area and have been getting over 7Mb connections though this has dropped to around 6Mb recently. I guess I must be more in straight line to the exchange, along Viaduct Walk.

I am only to be paying the lower rate for access too as I am already an O2 monthly pay customer (for nearly 10 years!) and it is a lot cheaper than my old broadband. Well I'll see what happens on Wednesday and report back.