BT Infinity & other fibre broadband in Stafford.

[proactive]

John, the most frustrating part of the project is that there is no information about coverage provided! I've spent a couple of hours searching but can't find much out at all.

That's what I thought having searched but found nothing. I'll keep my eyes peeled for the Openreach vans near me for some sign of hope.

 

[wizzard]

Saw them up on the Wolverhampton road the other day near the old garth site/Scholars Gate.

 

[My Name is URL]

So what will these changes mean in real terms and will it just be for BT BB customers or all providers using BT exchanges?

 

[Gramaisc]

So what will these changes mean in real terms and will it just be for BT BB customers or all providers using BT exchanges?

Great minds think alike. I meant to ask that, as a TalkTalk user.

 

[Jimbo]

So what will these changes mean in real terms and will it just be for BT BB customers or all providers using BT exchanges?

Great minds think alike. I meant to ask that, as a TalkTalk user.

At the moment the fibre network will only be open to BT Customers signed up for infinity. Sky (and I presume others) are negotiating for access, but with BT paying for installation of hardware it might be a while. That said, I'm jumping ship when Infinity lands, I'm sick of 1mb and want something more like the 20+ that'll give me!

 

[tek-monkey]

Had 50Mb for 2 years now, but agree if you're in a non-cable area your broadband probably sucks.

 

[gilesjuk]

Cable is one of the numerous reasons I bought a house in Stafford. Having been on the net since 1995 I feel BT have had more than enough money. It wasn't BT who introduced unlimited dialup, they weren't first with broadband and they aren't first with fibre.

Anyway, I noticed some digging on Knowle Road which is on behalf of BT, so it might be being introduced there? I notice that and other roads near it have all their phone and mains cables underground. Must be a pain when it comes to such works.

 

[WildwoodPaul]

Hi,

I haven't seen a thread for this, if there is one already running I apologise.

According to BT the Stafford exchange will be enabled for fibre to the cabinet broadband from March, from experience these things are running behind schedule. However I have seen a fibre cabinet pop up on Baswich Lane which I'm guessing is on the Milford exchange, which doesn't go live till June.

Anyone else seen a new cabinet pop up in the street, it will look something like the below link ...

http://www.trefor.net/2011/07/14/fttc-cabinet-update-new-photos/

Not as fast as Virgin, speeds currently of 40mb down and 10mb up. Quite a few ISP's are offering packages now, don't think you only have to purchase from BT which have branded it "BT Infinity".

Yours cabinet spotting,

Paul




Admin edit: Threads merged.

 

[tek-monkey]

Yup, seen in Holmcroft. Any idea why they are rolling out a network that is slower than Virgins? Seems a bit odd TBH!

 

[proactive]

There seems to be work going on by the Esso garage opposite Pennycroft flats and I spotted them down Silkmore lane the other week. Still waiting for them to get round my way, but not holding my breath.

 

[royster]

Seen BT down by the sundown drive / whittingham drive on western downs lifting manhole covers running cables. The cabs got put in just before xmas. One thing that did amuse me was that I saw them digging out the fresh concrete in front of the new cabinet after it had been nicely poured!

 

[WildwoodPaul]

They are about to start running trials of 80mb down and 20mb up, is that more than Virgin?

 

[tek-monkey]

Virgin currently offer 100Mb down, but only 15Mb up I believe.

 

[Kickstart]

Hi

I really hope we do get FTTC and finally a reasonable broadband connection.

I live in Derrington and we are on the main Stafford exchange (the old railway line is the border for the Seighford exchange, and if we were connected to that the speeds would be far greater), and although we are only about 3.5km from the exchange by line of sight it is over 5km by road and over 7km by the scenic route that the wires take. Best we can manage is a 1mb connection.

There was a couple of BT vans fiddling with a cabinet in the village a couple of days ago. Can always hope that they were doing something connecteed with FTTC.

All the best

Keith

 

[henryscat]

Anyone else seen a new cabinet pop up in the street, it will look something like the below link ...

Yours cabinet spotting,

Paul

Yep, one seems to have materialised near Burton Bank Lane on A449 Mosspit.

 

[Vex]

Cabinet Spotting

Looks to be a new cabinet and a big hole in the pavement on Lichfield road by the Sun.
As already mentioned there's a new cab and ongoing work by the Esso garage on Lammascote Road.
And there's pavement work but no new cabinet (yet) up on Weston Road.

 

[My Name is URL]

They are about to start running trials of 80mb down and 20mb up, is that more than Virgin?

Tit for tat it seems:

Virgin Media to Double Broadband Speeds

Combined with the current cashback deals for VM broadband, that could be one hell of a deal for cheap, fast internet.

 

[White Ranker]

New cabinet being installed right now opposite The Albion on Marston Road.

 

[tek-monkey]

So you sign up for 20Mb BB through Virgin, get £142 cashback and then they up you to 60Mb at some point over the next year? Sweet!

 

[WildwoodPaul]

Spoke to a guy nosing round by our cab yesterday, he was doing the survey for a FTTC cabinet. Told me our cab has 500 connections in it however the FTTC cabinet going in will only have 200. This sounds about right as everywhere else seems to have double size cabs and they are single door in Stafford. I'd like to guess this is because we already have fibre available here through Virgin so takeup wont be as great as say Cannock and Hednesford.

Seperately I had my weekly mail today from Virgin, I need to spend some time with the calculator to look at how much we pay for Sky, broadband (not through Sky) and Utility Warehouse for the phone to see if we can make savings.

Paul