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Laying own cable query

hexdex

Casual Member
OK, so we're moving to a remote property which is set back from the road by 50 metres or so. The farmer has laid his own fibre along the road to the cabinet, but not to our house. So I'm just after some advice for how we go about connecting our own cable to connect down to the road. Assuming we do all the ground works, I presume we would then need to arrange for Openreach to come along and make the connection. Is that reasonable, or is it more tricky than that?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.
 
OK, so we're moving to a remote property which is set back from the road by 50 metres or so. The farmer has laid his own fibre along the road to the cabinet, but not to our house. So I'm just after some advice for how we go about connecting our own cable to connect down to the road. Assuming we do all the ground works, I presume we would then need to arrange for Openreach to come along and make the connection. Is that reasonable, or is it more tricky than that?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.
They won’t splice into your supplied / laid cabling. They will however use any ducting and chambers as long as it meets their specification.

Have you looked at the most recent Developer Guides from Openreach as it’s all spelled out there?

 
No, you can't do that, period.

The fibre network (FTTP) doesn't go via cabinets. It goes via fibre aggregation nodes. The cabinet will be a "leaf" on this network, i.e. there will be a fibre cable from the cabinet to the nearest fibre aggregation node, but you cannot spur another fibre connection off the cabinet. So whatever the farmer may or may not have laid, it's not what you think it is. It might even be a business leased line, which is completely separate from the FTTP network.

If you're only 50 metres from the cabinet, then presumably you are getting the full 80/20 FTTC already? So you're looking to go Ultrafast?

What does the BT Wholesale Broadband Checker say when you check the farmer's address? Look for either "WBC FTTP" (which means they do have FTTP) or "FTTP on Demand" (which means they *don't* have FTTP)

The main option available to you is to order "FTTP on demand" via a business ISP. The cost of this will depend very much on where the fibre aggregation node and/or splitter is. If it happens to be within 500m of your property (which could be true if the farmer does have FTTP), then new trial pricing means you may pay £1625+VAT to £2650+VAT installation. If that doesn't apply, then under the normal pricing expect to pay £8000+VAT or more. They *might* be able to use the farmer's existing trenching for part of the route if it's suitable, and that may reduce the cost a little, but don't hold your breath.

Just to find out whether this works or not will cost you £250+VAT up-front (non-refundable). It'll take a month or two for the survey and then you'll get final confirmed pricing, which has to be paid in full within 30 days. It could then take from a few months to a year or more to install. Plus you'll have to pay a higher monthly fee for the first year of service.

The other option, if there are multiple properties near you that want to club together, is an Openreach Community Fibre Partnership (CFP). This has no up-front fee, but can take 6 months or more just to get the survey done.
 
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Indeed. The impression is that the OP is wanting an FTTP connection, presumably like the farmer's "fibre" although there is a risk this connection could be a private leased circuit rather than FTTP, probably unlikely but possible.

The "...fibre along the road to the cabinet" is probably a misunderstanding / red herring as you say.

If the "road" is a private road or lane or driveway or access of some description, presumably the OP has access rights or can prove that they do not require a wayleave (important even if this is implied by the farmer who presumably has ownership of said road).

As you say a view on the Wholesale checker for both properties would clarify matters.

If both premises are the same postcode/address effectively then that's likely to be more positive - if say the farmer had ordered an FTTPoD service (or even a native service) - then with some luck there could be a spare CBT port that the OP could utilise.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Things are never as straight forward as you think I expect that. I guess I come at this with limited knowledge. All I know is that when the farmer laid the cable, some houses had feeds from the cable he laid but not ours. So in my mind it's just a case of adding ours. I know I shouldn't use logic with these things! We move there is two weeks, so will know more then.

I will follow your links and info though so much appreciated.

It's just frustrating as we use Starlink at our current remote house and it's amazing. Sadly they don't have coverage at the new house which is just 10 miles away. We do get 15 - 22Mbps though as FTTC so it will do for now, just not the 250Mbps we are used to with Starlink!
 
Thanks for the info guys. Things are never as straight forward as you think I expect that. I guess I come at this with limited knowledge. All I know is that when the farmer laid the cable, some houses had feeds from the cable he laid but not ours. So in my mind it's just a case of adding ours. I know I shouldn't use logic with these things! We move there is two weeks, so will know more then.

I will follow your links and info though so much appreciated.

It's just frustrating as we use Starlink at our current remote house and it's amazing. Sadly they don't have coverage at the new house which is just 10 miles away. We do get 15 - 22Mbps though as FTTC so it will do for now, just not the 250Mbps we are used to with Starlink!
Try to get in touch with Starlink, perhaps there's something to be solved there.
 
There is a geo-restriction on the Star link dish so once away from the normal install address it stops working. They were planning to drop this late 2021 so as Lucian suggests get in contact with them and see what they can do.
 
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There is a geo-restriction on the Star link dish so once away from the normal install address it stops working. They were planning to drop this late 2021 so as Lucian suggests get in contact with them and see what they can do.
It sounds a bit unreasonable not to allow rare adjustments in case of house moves.
 
It sounds a bit unreasonable not to allow rare adjustments in case of house moves.
Seems it was set up that way so in the beta stage they could ensure the few satellites they had in orbit could not be overwhelmed by people moving the dishes and ending up being concentrated in some spots and the service being interrupted. The end 2021 date for dropping the geo restriction is due to the extra launches allowing for the enough capacity to cope with random concentrations. Imagine a load of Starlink dishes ending up at a concert such as Glastonbury.
 
Thanks for the info guys. Things are never as straight forward as you think I expect that. I guess I come at this with limited knowledge. All I know is that when the farmer laid the cable, some houses had feeds from the cable he laid but not ours. So in my mind it's just a case of adding ours. I know I shouldn't use logic with these things! We move there is two weeks, so will know more then.

I will follow your links and info though so much appreciated.

It's just frustrating as we use Starlink at our current remote house and it's amazing. Sadly they don't have coverage at the new house which is just 10 miles away. We do get 15 - 22Mbps though as FTTC so it will do for now, just not the 250Mbps we are used to with Starlink!
Not too sure these links were explicit in candlerb’s post above, but I would check the output of these before looking into FTTPoD stuff..

BT Wholesale checker:

Openreach checker:
 
With regards to Starlink, it's a no go from them. I've tried mild emotional blackmail, bit nothing so far. The gear was £500 so it's a bit of a nasty one to swallow for 6 months use as well as the £89pm. They do say it should be available in June next year. With a HUGE 'ish' attached. Here is a screenshot of the info from BT wholesale. I'm sure it will make sense to you guys.

Thanks for all your continued advice though. Much appreciated.
 

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…another famous Musk-ism

"I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens."

He’s true to his word! 🤣
 
Here is a screenshot of the info from BT wholesale. I'm sure it will make sense to you guys.
Is that for your property, or the farmer's?

In short, it says FTTP service is *not* available at that address.

The VDSL (FTTC) speeds suggest a distance of about 1.4km from the cabinet - chart here. Or at least, that's the rough length of the cable; it may take a roundabout route to get there.

If you see a "cabinet" 50m away then perhaps you can post a photo of it. It may not be anything to do with telecoms; or it might be a Secondary Connection Point (just somewhere that copper cables are joined).

EDIT: sorry I see you said originally that your property is 50m set back from the road, not 50m from the cabinet.
 
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All I know is that when the farmer laid the cable, some houses had feeds from the cable he laid but not ours
Can you check those houses on the same wholesale checker you used before, and see if they show WBC FTTP available?

If they do, there are a couple of options.

1. If you are served from the same pole or underground chamber as those houses, you might have been missed from the database by accident. There is an Openreach enquiry form here where you can report "I cannot get fibre but my neighbours can"

2. If the response from that is negative, but there's definitely FTTP to the nearby properties, then the FTTPoD route with the new trial pricing may make sense.

This only works if FTTP is important enough to you that you'd be happy to pay 2 or 3 grand to get it. You must also be prepared to gamble £300 up-front just to find out if the reduced pricing is available to you.
 
It could also be the old chestnut of ‘yeah got fibre broadband’ in reality translates to ‘yeah I’ve got FTTC (but it’s sold as fibre)’

Very much looks this way so far, until one of the neighbours address checker results shows FTTP availability…

Could be an FTTPoD job in reality.
 
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Thanks for all your continued help. And for being nice to such a novice which doesn't happen many places these days!

I will have to wait a couple of weeks before we get the keys and can engage the farmer in a detailed conversation. I do know that he laid the cable himself and had to dig a trench along the base of his field for about 1/2 mile next to the road. He owns around a thousand acres round there and has a number of properties that all wanted fibre. I will return and hand over as much info as I can get in the slight hope I can get something done.

Anyone want to buy a lovely shiny dishy mc flatface for Starlink? :p
 
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