Plusnet Full Fibre

[#1]

Hi all, FTTP ordered and all happy so far.
Just to clarify about the ONT and internal fibre run options, can anyone confirm that running the fibre into the property using/replacing the existing copper wire route isn't going to be an option for plusnet new installs?
A previous post mentioned that this was possible for BT/sky new installs. 🤞

[#2]

@Bradleydavid1 

A few years since I had mine done and things have changed a bit.The OR engineer on the day will discuss the installation with you. It can be a trade off between the desirable against the possible.

First thing is are you served by an o/h or u/g connection. With o/h they'll replace you current copper cable from the pole, probably with a fibre only one (a while back it was hybrid fibre / copper). If u/g they'll run a new cable without removing the old one.

They may or may not come in through the existing copper entry point. However, if desired, you might be able to get them to run the cable along the outside wall to enter elsewhere (but they won't go round corners).

Internally the ONT usually goes wher the cable comes in. I made a mistake of asking them to run the fibre round the skirting board to the back of the front room - didn't realise they would staple the fibre to the board.

Once the ONT is in it's up to you what you do. The router is connnected by Ethernet cable so you can put it anywhere you want to run cable.

Brian

[#3]

Thanks Brian,
My existing copper is an underground route popping up in my understairs cupboard in the middle of my house, which would be perfect if they could use this existing run route and put the fibre ONT and router in there like my current set-up 🤞

[#4]

@bmc 

Alternatively you may end up with separate copper and fibre cables as I have.  

Corners depend on the installer (mine was the original 2-stage install with the first stage being done by MJ Quinn), and mine certainly goes around an external corner before entering a conduit under the eaves which then runs through the loft etc. to my internal splice point*.

The second stage, which was done by Openreach, runs from the internal CSP, through another conduit I installed, to where I have the ONT mounted in an upstairs room.  Just under the ONT, concealed beneath the floorboards, I have approximately 25m of the internal fibre coiled up in case I decide the ONT would be better suited elsewhere.  The Openreach installer was happy to go along with that.

* downstairs in a meter cupboard.

Just pointing out that alternatives are possible. 

[#5]

@RobPN 

Agreed, possibilities exist. Did you prepare all your duct before the engineers turned up in the hope they were happy to use said duct? I seem to recall someone speaking about doing that years ago.

@Bradleydavid1 

In the first instance you would need to see if there's a duct OR can access to pull the cable through the existing copper cable route to your preferred location. If it is underground under you house then without a duct they are stuck.

Brian

[#6]

It is several years since my FTTP was installed the fibre cable runs from the external fibre JB on the side wall of my property and round the corner to the front wall where it comes through the wall to the ONT, so it is certainly looped round a 90 degree corner. 

[#7]

Been waiting for this for ages and now no choice other than to stay with a slow ADSL connection (due to the distance FTTC never offered enough of an improvement to bother), lose the email I've used for many, many years by going to somewhere else, or probably lose the phone number? All a great deal of hassle. I wouldn't use an ISP email these days but I've had it for a long, loing time. And changing the landline number would be a royal pain; there's little mobile reception in my house and in any case I've absolutely no desire to have a mobile anyway.

Looking like changing to BT and putting up with losing the email (no email-only accounts any more I see from this thread) might be the least painful choice if I want faster. In the long run decoupling the email from the ISP makes sense anyway.

[#8]

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@bmc wrote:

@RobPN 

Agreed, possibilities exist. Did you prepare all your duct before the engineers turned up in the hope they were happy to use said duct? I seem to recall someone speaking about doing that years ago.

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@bmc 

Yep, all ducting prepared in advance with a fair amount of confidence that it could be used after reading the official developer guidelines.  I stuck to the regulations and installed metallic conduit for the 'external' blown-fibre tubing to be extended indoors as the regs said only a maximum of 2 metres could be brought inside without doing that, although with hindsight the MJ Quinn installer may not have been bothered.

Knowing the job I faced getting the (flexible) metallic conduit in place, and me therefore putting it off, caused a full 2-year gap between FTTP becoming available at my DP in June 2013 and me actually ordering it. 

ISTR describing my conduit routing in detail somewhere, but I've just found my account of both stages of my install in the thread linked below.

https://community.plus.net/t5/Full-Fibre/First-or-second-visit-for-splice/m-p/1261166#M10537

[#9]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Mark63 wrote:

The problem of not being able to decouple your phone number from your broadband provision is not unique to PlusNet, it's with all ISPs that offer Openreach based FTTC/FTTP.

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Not "all ISPs" are incapable of going the extra mile to achieve the desired outcome ,  for example - A&A : Porting Landlines to VoIP 

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Indeed. I should have said 'Mass Market' rather than 'All'. Of course it's technically and logistically possible, and that's why ISPs such as A&A are so reassuringly expensive !

No mass market ISP is going to do it, unless Ofcom mandate it.  However, of course, if Ofcom were to mandate it the  mass market ISPs wouldn't have a viable business model.

So actually, if you want the feature, you need to pay a premium for it....  

[#10]

Problem is that the 'renumber and export'  process is not a very stable process and often goes wrong. A & A are in a position to monitor both sides of the order, since they are porting to their own voip. Trying to port to an external voip provider e.g sipgate is fraught with possibilities of going wrong...

[#11]

That infers a pragmatic solution ... if there is a necessity is control of both ends of the process to assure success, then put something in place to allow that to happen.  Alongside managing both ends of the broadband transfer from xDSL to FTTP, also provide the means to enable concurrent voice migration from PTSN to VoIP / SIP.

[#12]

Plusnet at one time offered a VOIP service/trial ( i know as i was signed up to it)

maybe getting that back up and running - or another such service would resolve a few things, although that depends upon how much of plusnet is still plusnet where plusnet can inovate/launh services on their own as  seperate company, and how much of plusnet is just seen as , or run as a budget no frills part of BT where everything has to decided by BT

[#13]

Simple answer to your implied question, @pint - Plusnet is a BT 'brand' - nothing else. All decisions are made at Head Office level.

[#14]

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@pint wrote:

Plusnet at one time offered a VOIP service/trial ( i know as i was signed up to it)

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Yes, I had Plusnet VoIP, with free calls, for a few years until they withdrew it.

I think that was on the BBYW (BroadBand Your Way) product.

The VoIP was actually provisioned by Gradwell, and whenever there was a technical problem Plusnet support basically ended up passing messages between me and Gradwell support.  I seem to remember that the VoIP section of the Plusnet Member Centre was in a completely different style to the rest of the Member Centre, and somewhat clunky to navigate.

[#15]

Checked my fttp upgrade options with phone contact centre. Bit disappointing to be honest, currently on Unlimited Fibre Extra for 22.49/month with steady download speed of 58MB. My fttp offer was £34/month for 145MB or £27/month for 74MB. Decided to stick with what I've got, unless fttp roughly matches current fttc prices then not many will switch.