Do I have to switch to full fibre?

QrizB

Will your current provider give you a new discounted deal?

squashed42

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007734#Comment_82007734

The issue is really that they haven't provided full fibre to my street. Just to a cabinet nearby so when their engineer visited, their proposal was to basically drill holes to attach cabling to neighbouring buildings to get it to the building directly opposite, then drape the cable across our street at height and have it enter though a wall there. I don't know how many people's consent would be required or if I can even find them all. It's central Edinburgh so we're a conservation zone and everything is listed so getting it done is unlikely straightforward. But OR say we have FF….

shiraz99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007673#Comment_82007673

That's pretty much the standard install for FTTP using the Openreach overhead network. In fact all full fibre installs will require new cable and a new bex (the ONT) installing on the inside within easy reach of a powerpoint. They can, if appropriate, bring the cable in via the existing copper entry point, but you still need an ONT installing on your wall.

shiraz99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82007752#Comment_82007752

How does your existing phone line enter the property?

iniltous

FYI , FTTP doesn’t come from a cabinet .

shiraz99

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82008987#Comment_82008987

Did anyone mention it did?

iniltous

yes someone did

‘The issue is really that they haven't provided full fibre to my street. Just to a cabinet nearby’

squashed42

Well they are proposing to link put a box on the outside of the property and run it to something nearby.… There are no fibre cables in my street, hence the plan to drape a cable over the street above vehicle height and run it around the building over the road. Maybe it's not a cabinet that that part reaches but fibre hasn't really been provided to my street is the point

JSmithy45AD

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82053601#Comment_82053601

I have the same set-up, the optical fibre cable for us comes from an overhead pole (they'll have multiple terminal boxes up there) to another nearer pole and then to the house to the outside CSU (customer consumer unit), this is then drilled through the wall to the internal ONT (optical network terminal) which converts the incoming optical signal to an electronic signal (hence the need for an electrical socket for power). The router or hub plugs into this via an ethernet cable.

This is full fibre to the premises (FTTP) and is most definitely not an inferior product. There actually is no such thing as "fibre to the street".

iniltous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82053601#Comment_82053601

How do you know there are no ‘fibre cables’ effectively in your street ?, if Openreach say FTTP is available, then there is fibre close enough to your property so it can be extended into your property otherwise it wouldn’t show as available would it ?

FTTP from Openreach is ‘fibre’ right upto the ONT , ( that’s the mains powered ‘box’ installed inside the property) the router is connected to the ONT

A typical overhead setup is an optical cable to the house from a a CBT (connectorised block terminal ) at the top of a pole , this CBT has an optical ‘tail’ (cable) to the optical splitter and that has an optical cable to the headend equipment (OLT) in the ‘exchange’ .The new optical cable from the CBT at the pole top is only fitted when an order is received , it is an optical cable (but doesn’t look much different to the existing copper cables ) and it’s ’ran’ to a newly fitted block called the CSP ( the external block on the house wall ) and from here another ‘internal’ optical cable that has a plug on it that connects to the ONT ,is ran into the property , so it’s full fibre all the way from the headend (OLT) to the ONT , the optical connection is OLT to splitter to CBT to CSP to ONT , that is clearly a full fibre system , no copper cable anywhere in that route , do you think if it’s overhead it can’t be fibre ?

FTTP can be overhead or underground and that is mainly dictated by the existing infrastructure , if poles already exist generally the same poles are used for FTTP , if the area already has copper pair underground service , FTTP is delivered underground, it’s not a complicated scenario.

What you call ‘draping a cable above vehicle height’ is a standard method of provision for millions, and perfectly capable of delivering FTTP , in that respect it’s no different to how copper pair service is provided.

If you can get FTTP and its overhead , does it matter if the pole it’s served from is in your street or an adjacent street , as long as there is a line of sight from the pole to your house then the cable can be put up , that’s exactly the same as the copper pair service, if there isn’t a direct line of sight and the optical cable has to be ‘bounced off’ another property ‘en route’ to your address and that other property has given permission to have ‘your’ cable on their property ….again all perfectly normal.

If you live in an MDU (multiple dwelling unit ) there are many ways service could be provided, in your city often the existing copper isn’t from a pole but an external wall block , so every units copper service originates from this single block on (for example) a gable end wall , so there are multiple cables surface wired (called COW , cable on wall ) one into each unit , if the building owner/freeholder/managing agent won’t allow a similar optical distribution then service from a pole may be the only option available, if a CBT can’t be put on the gable end in the same way as copper.