Broadband for Milton Keynes
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Loughton Upgrade
March 23rd 2006 - BT Statement
The work is complete. We receive the following statement from BT:
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BT Update on Loughton & Monkston - March 2006 The Loughton and Monkston work is complete, all systems are updated and many of you are now placing broadband orders. The Loughton work has involved laying new cable and the Monkston work has involved pulling in copper wires to replace the TPON lines which are unable to provide broadband. Both of these efforts mean everyone in Loughton and Monkston should be able to receive broadband. If you live in Monkston you may receive the message below when you
place your broadband order: Don't worry, this message does not mean that you cannot receive broadband. The BT number checker may return this message because it is not updated when new copper lines are installed into a TPON street cabinet. The change will occur when you place your order and your line is moved from fibre to copper. Broadband bandwidths available for individual lines will vary due to the distance back to the exchange and the physics of individual lines. However, BT continues to trial and roll out faster bandwidths year on year and the bandwidths available today may be increased in the future. Again, thank you for bearing with us. |
January 30th 2006 - BT Statement
We receive a statement from BT:
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January Update for Monkston & Loughton from BT
The BT field work for Monkston and Loughton was completed a few weeks ago as many of you will have witnessed. This work is followed by systems updating to ensure you can place broadband orders. We've identified some anomalies and are currently checking the systems for accuracy. We aim to report back shortly. Thank you for you perseverance. |
January 17th 2006
Problems in Hillcrest Close? David writes:
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Since upgrading to 1meg last December no issues until this weekend, now
service is dropped daily and speeds are dropping at different times of
the day. NDO ISP passed back to BT on Sunday but still awaiting
feedback. Has anyone else in Hillcrest Close, off London Road, reported problems? David [Update 25/1/06: A swarm of BT wagons were seen converging on Hillcrest Close. David and neighbours are now connected.] |
January 16th 2006
Two more residents get broadband!
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Dear Nick, I am happy to inform you that at last, after so many problems with the broadband we have managed to have a very good connection with AOL Silver Broadband. The speed that BT Broadband recommended was 512kpbs. I hope that we
will progress in the future to 1 or 2 Mbps. I would like to thank you personally for your great efforts to
achieve this in Loughton and in particular with our own problem with BT
broadband. Yours, ALINA |
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Over the years (!!!) I have documented the saga concerning my
embarrassingly long wait for broadband.
This is the culmination of a wait of
My upgraded FreeServe/Wanadoo dialup account, after a minor side-saga with Wanadoo, is now live and kicking. Hooray! Thanks, all, especially Nick and co at BB4MK, and also Haley and co at BT, for bearing with me and all the others throughout. Marc |
January 6th 2006
No news of progress. I'm assured by BT that we'll hear something soon!
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Just wanted you to know that I
have successfully ordered and received Broadband. I live in London Road,
Loughton, and they converted my ISDN line to Broadband finally today.
It's been a long saga, but it looks like I am running at 1Mbps, so I am
very happy. Thank you for all your help in getting Milton Keynes onto Broadband. Regards Paul |
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You've done a great job and
eventually I have got broadband in an old part of Loughton - not far
from the Talbot so I have no excuses for not getting down to The Talbot
- perhaps next time. Signed up for AOL Silver plus and also upgraded (held my breathe) to XP. Everything working smoothly. It is really a different experience with broadband - actually bother to use it in the evening. Why has it taken so long?!! |
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Following the notices regarding
Broadband now being available to residents of Bradwell road, we checked
our line on Tiscali's site and found we could have 1Mb broadband, so we
applied and were told everything was fine we connected the router and
hey presto nothing happened. BT sent an engineer who came along and told us we are too far away from the exchange but we may get a 1/2MB connection but this is not guaranteed. Is it likely that they will be able to supply broadband to all the residents of Loughton and in particular the far end of Bradwell Road sometime soon, or are we being forgotten by BT? Regards Andy, Bradwell Road |
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Finally we have had broadband
working for the last week or so, but the service is very intermittent. I have reported the problem to BT three times and they now assure me they are looking into it. I don't know if it's coincidental but it appears to less reliable after it rains? Best regards Keith, Leys Road |
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After your bulk emailing - (i.e.
Loughton is up and going) - I requested my ISP to check if there was any
difference on my line.
They said:
Regards |
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I still can't get any
sense from BT to try and get faster than 512 speed. They still say I am
too far away etc. Thanks again for your assistance and have a nice Xmas. Kind regards, Fred |
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What are our chances of
establishing fully which areas of Loughton still have problems? Do BT
know? I think we've still got an application 'in the works', but being
on one of Loughton's oldest lanes, I wouldn't be surprised if that
fails. Though I would be disappointed. Tom |
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I can't help feeling that the
problems BT are having isn't just a database problem: BT haven't got the
performance improvement they were expecting. I hope I'm wrong :( Bob |
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Now the boxes are complete, I
though this would increase my down stream have had no effect to date
except I now experience some line drops average 2/3 per day. Cheers William |
BT's Statement: Bad News - 5th December 2005
I've published BT's statement.
I have not emailed everyone in Loughton saying that there's a problem - that would lead to confusion.
but I really don't want to stop people applying for broadband if there's a chance that they will be successful.
I email BT - here's my response:
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Hi Bradley I really don't want to make a general announcement to the group. If I did, it would cause delay and confusion to members of the group that could actually be successful in getting Broadband. (Residents in London Road and streets leading from the south end of London Road have successfully made connections over the last week.) I don't want to say "Whoa Stop! Please wait to the end of the year." This could potentially prevent residents getting broadband before Christmas. Can BT be more specific? Is it an admin problem? Is it a cabling problem? Are some streets OK whilst others not? Is it a specific cabinet problem? (If so, can we deduce the area affected?) Please provide some more details. Nick |
BT's Statement: Bad News - 1st December 2005
I have bad news from BT - there is a delay in getting Loughton sorted.
BT have asked me to publish the following:
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BT Update on Loughton The Loughton timeline has slipped. We anticipate a full and final completion of all work associated with Loughton by the end of this year. Once we're able to confirm this, we will provide an update on this site. In the meantime, this delay means that some customers in Loughton will not be able to place orders for broadband until our new anticipated end of year completion. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you for your patience and perseverance. |
I'd encourage you to go ahead with your application - you've nothing to loose, and everything to gain!
Gremlins - 28th November 2005
Following the recent announcement some residents are now happily connected.
Unfortunately, others have complained saying that the BT web checker has still not been updated and they still can't apply for broadband.
After speaking with BT, it appears that their automated updating system was not working correctly. The work is now underway and should be completed before the end of the week.
We'll be notified on completion. An announcement will appear on this page.
Reaction - 25th November 2005
BT have fixed Loughton's Broadband issues, but there are some administrative difficulties. Residents have attempted to apply for broadband, but most have been unable to get a satisfactory answer from the web based line checkers. BT have fixed the lines, but ISPs don't know that they have.
Here are some residents' reactions to the the recent BT announcement...
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I have successfully upgraded to
1MB. Thanks for all your help in improving Loughton's service.
[Thanks. It's a team effort.] |
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After constantly being told
that, following a testing by BT engineers, even though that was in Dec
2004, we couldn't have Broadband. I made some more enquiries and was eventually given an e-mail address to check availability which is broadband.availability@bt.com. (If you use it, include your home postcode and telephone number.) The reply was that we could now have it and the order has been placed. With luck we should get it Monday!! Best regards and thanks for all your help. Keith [Thanks for the information.] |
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I placed an order for broadband
this week and have just been told by Bulldog that my line will not
support their service. They said that they had checked with the official BT listing and my line could not support a 2meg broadband connexion.
[Try another ISP?] |
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Thanks for the info, however I
have just checked my number on the BT site and it is still saying I
can't get broadband! What do you suggest?
[Persevere! Or is it BT's Gremlin?] |
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I have just checked BT availability again and BT still say that I am
unable to receive broadband (as before). [Keep trying!
Or is it BT's Gremlin?] |
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This morning I still got the
message: "Sorry, we cannot offer you broadband at this time, Thank you for your
interest in AOL Broadband. [The website checker doesn't yet reflect the recent work BT have carried out.] |
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Unfortunately whilst I now have
Broadband I am limited to 512. 1 and 2 meg are just not on offer to me
as they still say I am too far away from Bradwell Abbey.
Do you think I shall ever get the increased speeds? [Yes, 1Mbps should be
possible, may be 2Mbps.] |
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I was part of the trial in
Loughton so have had broadband for a while. I'm wondering - shouldn't
the speeds now improve?
I'm connecting at 576kbps, but paying for a much faster service! Is this is as good as it gets? If so I may change to a cheaper tariff. [You should be able to get
1Mbps automatically. I haven't heard of anyone getting 2Mbps near where you
live.] |
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How does this affect those of us
with a successful extended reach connection? Has our connection been
changed too?
[Probably, Yes.] Is there any way I can find out? [Make an application for a faster
connection.] |
BT's Statement - 23rd November 2005
Here's a welcome update from BT:
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BT Update on Loughton 23/11/05 Again apologies for the late update. There has been a slight delay to our Loughton schedule because of emergency work demands caused by inclement weather. However, we can now report that the work associated with both of the street cabinets in Loughton is complete. The first cabinet was completed in early October and the second late last week. All of the associated administrative work is also now complete and Loughton customers who hitherto could not get broadband can now place orders. Again, thank you for your patience. |
Get ordering!
Silence - November 14th 2005
A fortnight since the end of October. And, guess what? No news from BT.
Rob writes:
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14/11/05 11:46
A slightly different story from
me in Loughton. Since Saturday AM, my router/modem has been able to connect on average only once an hour or so, and then only for a few minutes at a time (during which it performs fast/faultlessly) before dropping again. I've tried every which way (checking for dodgy filters, switching off firewalls etc.) but all to no avail. Conscious of work that BT have been doing in the Loughton area in recent months, I'm wondering if any elements of this work might have negatively affected existing broadband customers (my neighbour, who has enjoyed a similar service for 3yrs reports no problems.). Is there a contact a BT that I could use to check out what the situation is, or any other help that you can suggest? Rob |
Rob reports that everything is now (23/11/05) back to normal following a complaint through to his ISP.
November 4th 2005
The end of October has passed: it's November, and no news from BT.
October 2005
William writes:
 26/10/2005
11:37Thought you might like to see this. The engineer was working on
changing the lines over today (photos taken at 11:20.)
Regards, |
Councillor Dransfield writes:
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14/10/05 I was successfully upgraded to 1Mb yesterday - I think that my line is still marginally below the standard required for 2MB. I'm delighted with what you and the group have achieved. Do you know yet whether all the Loughton 'not' and 'red' spots have been resolved? Regards, Andy Cllr Andy Dransfield, London Road, Loughton |
Several Loughton residents now have Broadband. But not all! Many residents
have written on the same theme.
Here's a typical email:
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12/10/05 After checking with BT broadband the reply I have received is: "For Telephone Number 01908666xyz on Exchange BRADWELL ABBEY. Your exchange has ADSL broadband. However, despite an engineer's visit to your premises it has been proved not possible for your telephone line to support broadband service. Please accept our apologies. We are continuing to look for alternative technology solutions and this site will be updated with developments as they happen ". What would you advice me to do next? Yours sincerely, Alina, Bradwell Road, Loughton |
The emails are forwarded to BT. I'm asked to publish the following message:
"BT say they are on schedule for an end of October completion of their work to the network in Loughton and will confirm the date customers can begin to place orders shortly. And of course they thank Loughton residents for their patience."
BT's Statement
We receive the following from BT:
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BT Update on Loughton 3/10/05 Our work to improve the network serving Loughton is on schedule for an October completion pending no unexpected issue arising. Trenching, ducting and cable laying is now complete and engineers are currently verifying the circuits and changing them over to the new cable. This step in the process will take approximately two weeks as individual customer lines are moved from the old cable on to the new inside the two new street cabinets. At the exchange end, a similar process will be underway, and both of these activities must be coordinated and done when the line is not in use to ensure no break in service to the customer. Loughton customers who wish to order broadband should be able to place orders in the normal way from the end of October. The new cable will meet customer bandwidth needs for today and tomorrow. Thank you for your interest and patience. |
September 2005
Some residents are getting connected...
| Deputy Bob writes: 25/09/2005 14:51 Almost exactly 12 months after NTL pulled the plug of their highly
reliable Wireless Trial, I now again have a reliable Internet connection.
From my logs it would appear that BT connected the new lines last Friday
morning and I have had a trouble free connection ever since. |
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30/09/2005 19:38 I
checked as you advised - interestingly yesterday I had 60 dB and today
53dB. In any case it seems my provider will not accept a speed upgrade
request until the checker is updated. I will keep checking !! |
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28/09/2005 20:51 |
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27/09/2005 20:58 I have not noticed any difference. William, Hutchings Close |
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27/09/2005 00:16 Ever since Bob announced that the changeover was going to start, I've been checking my router every day. As soon as I get swapped, I'll email you with the before/after line details.
As I'm on 63db at the moment, I'm not holding out much hope of 2meg, but
1meg would be excellent! |
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26/09/2005 21:30 No change for me. I'm on 1Mbps (57dB) but I was hoping I could go to 2Mbps Gary, Cottage Common |
August 2005
| BT appear to be progressing well.
They've installed a shiny new PCP in Paynes Drive...
... and were seen running in cables along Watling Street on the 10th, and jointing on the H7 V4 roundabout on the 12th.
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June 2005
| Bob, our man in the wilds of Loughton, writes: "New BT ducting is being installed alongside Chaffron Way (H7) in
Leadenhall (between Grafton Way and Saxon Street). BT's comment: "Planned work to improve the network in Milton Keynes now means that all customers in Loughton should be able to receive broadband by the autumn of 2005. The duct and cable laying is scheduled for completion in October 2005, subject to permission from Milton Keynes Council and no unexpected issues arising while the work is being carried out. The work should ensure that 512kbps broadband is available to everyone on the estate with the expectation that most will be able to receive higher speeds." Some Evidence...
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