Broadband for Milton Keynes

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Thursday 16th October 

Alternate Venue

Crosskeys, WoolstoneTonight: the Crosskeys, Woolstone: The Swan is being refurbished.

 
 

My Inbox

There is something strange going on, as one of my lines that was good for 512k ADSL last week is now too far away as well!

My 12 year old son helpfully suggested that this might be due to plate tectonics, and strangely this was more acceptable to me than the BT explanation of 'cooler weather' causing unfavourable line conditions!

You have to laugh!

Dale

[Geraint: Perhaps we are on a fault line? Nick - Can you let Serena know that she can now officially use Continental Drift as an excuse?]
 
Whilst I have been an avid reader, I have had nothing positive to contribute.  I have remained quiet but reassured that there are others suffering the same plight. 

With the announcement of database changes I strode forth again (BT, Demon, Virgin, yes probably all bad choices from the start!).. initially to be accepted with open arms but ultimately to be cast aside with another "the line length/loss is out of limit" message.

At the point of giving up, I noticed that Zen seemed to be providing so many of this group with such good service, so I gave them a go.. order was accepted, activation date given and then activation 5 days later.. I AM ON BROADBAND!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to you all, it has been re-assuring to share (albeit silently) the grief and see the glimmers of light, as the successes started rolling in. 

Hopefully this will in turn re-assure someone else.

Chris (at the V10 end of Kilwinning Drive in Monkston)
 
This is to let you know that I am now on Broadband!  The new distance standards seem to just get me in range.

As a matter of interest, only one of my two phone lines came up amber on the  initial tests.  The other came up red!  But the next tests were OK and I am now with Plusnet, who seem to be very helpful.  Their included modem did not work, nor did the one I bought from PC World, but the third try from Maplins, a Sitecom, worked first hit!

As luck would have it, the day after I signed up for Plusnet, I received the papers from MK Council for the NTL Wireless trial!

Many thanks for all you are doing for broadband in MK.

Michael, High Street, Great Linford
 

Just a quick note to thank you for your updates. I have now been contacted by MK council and a test site is on its way anytime now, I am breathless.

I will contact you soon to help with leaflets, I feel I should do my bit to help.

Marcus, Walnut Tree
 
Thanks for these updates. They are appreciated.

I have been in contact with Serena about the extended coverage but it seems that where I live on Great Holm still cannot be reached by the 6km broadband. I can walk to the station, have a 2 minute drive to CMK, but still too rural for broadband!

I got a call from NTL yesterday indicating that I will get into their pilot. I'll see how that goes.

Keep this forum going.

Regards,

Ray, Great Holm
 

As of the 6th October I am on BT Broadband and enjoying ten times the speed of my old dial up connection.

Thanks for your help and I wish you every success in your continuing struggle against the bureaucratic monster that BT is.

Regards

Keith, Monkston
 
Thanks for your updates. I also read the other mails on the email list. I applied to BT again for my residence in Bolbeck Park and I am still outside the new 6km range.

I am still wondering if BT could supply me with a new exchange line re-parented on a different exchange.

I have asked BT but they do not want to know.

Regards
Frank

[I've forwarded your email to Serena at BT]
 
I'm now on Broadband!

There is a saying: if at first you don't succeed with BT just keep trying.

When the new limits came into force on the 24/09/03 I applied for broadband and, surprise surprise, I was turned down.
So plan B:

Get an engineer out to your house and say that you have a fault on your line and, if he is a nice man, ask him to change the pair from your house to the exchange.

Well after almost trying everything must give it a go!

So I complained to OFTEL. They contacted BT complaints and then their chief BT engineer got involved. They suggested I reapply for broad band.

Guess what? My order was accepted and I had broadband on the 15/10/03.

It just goes to show the higher up you complain BT has to listen!

I hope this is of some use to the other members

...got connected no problem! The speed is very good so far .

Andy, Heelands
 
I'm just marvelling at BT:

As you may know, I originally had my first line enabled for ADSL through BT Broadband. I then cancelled it because the service was very poor. I then enabled my second line through Eclipse.

Putting my first line into the BT checker now reveals

For Telephone Number 0190820XXXX on Exchange BRADWELL ABBEY

Your exchange has broadband ADSL. However, the length of the telephone line between you and the exchange is too long for broadband ADSL.

With a code of RRER (They haven't managed to remove the order from the system, hence the R at the end).

My second line reveals:

Your exchange has broadband ADSL. Although the length of the telephone line between you and the exchange is quite long, you may be able to receive broadband ADSL.

Our initial test on your line suggests that you may be able to have a broadband ADSL service that provides up to 2Mbps download speed.

With a code of AGEA (A at the end because it has ADSL on)

I suspect if I try to order ADSL on my first line again it will fail, even though it successfully worked before. The point of this rant is of course to ask the question "If I cancel ADSL to migrate to another provider, what guarantees are there that the order will proceed considering it has miraculously become out of range?"

Regards

Geraint

[What guarantees are there that the order will proceed...none! We are just debugging their flaky databases.

The BT line checker still uses apocryphal data. (That's being polite!)

Not as pretty as the Irish link I found yesterday...

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm]
 
Thanks for the update. The Loughton coverage map is very useful but also very annoying as I'm in a red patch (Bignell Croft).
 
What's the chances of the new proposed 6km limit making this any better?
 
I've found out that the USA implemented repeaters for ADSL giving them a range of 15Km from Exchanges. Would it be feasible for BT to install repeaters within some MK areas like Loughton to get better ADSL coverage?
 
Regards,
Rob
[I've forwarded your email to Serena at BT]
 
Just moved into a new house in Middleton (Clare Croft), been in touch with BT to enquire about a broadband connection and can't believe the infrastructure in MK is one step up from a piece of string and 2 bean cans!!!!

I work from home a couple of days a week and broadband is a must due to file sizes etc. Not quite sure what my next step should be but registering with your cause will hopefully do no harm.

The excuse given by BT was that the distance from the Bradwell Abbey exchange is to great, more than 6km, is this correct and does the 6km refer to the length of cable or as the crow flies ?

Regards,

Simon

[The 6km is an approximate limit. The actual limit is a line loss of 60dB, which is close to a length of 6km.
I've forwarded your email to Serena at BT.
There are people in nearby Worrelle Avenue that do have Broadband. You are very close to the limit.]
 

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