Fibre Broadband

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As you may or may not be aware it is not possible to get Fibre Broadband in this area due to the number of direct to exchange lines.  I am currently in the early stages of discussions to find out about a project to bring Fibre to the Premises in the area.  There are two routes one with a company called Hyperoptic, the other via BT.  Depending on the level of uptake of the final product Hyperoptic may cover install cost however it means being tied into their service.  BT would require funding but the end user is then free to choose the service provider.

I need to have an idea on the level of interest at our development for Fibre Broadband as this is the key part.  I know this forum is seldom used but if you do have an interest in subscribing to a Fibre based internet service can you please let me know on this thread.
Thanks
Simon.

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Hi Simon,

Thank you very much for the initiative – I am interested, subject to cost.

We are down to around 0.5Mbit/s download speed (think: old dial-up connection speed) against a national average according to Ofcom of 14.7Mbit/s as of May 2013. In this day and age, that means less than full internet functionality.

As you rightly say, most numbers in our area are Exchange Only (EO) lines to the Bermondsey Exchange, which in short means we cannot expect fibre broadband (fibre to cabinet (FTTC) or fibre to home (FTTH)) at any time very soon.

I saw somewhere during my own recent research into all this that the New Caledonian Wharf had Hyperoptic installed earlier this year, but I remember thinking the installation and annual maintenance costs looked a bit steep.

However, I agree we need to explore all alternatives, as the best speed anyone of us can probably hope for in years to come is in the 2-3Mbit/s bracket – despite our local MP being on the case: http://www.se16.com/785-simon-hughes-writes-to-boris-about-slow-se16-broadband

Kind regards

Tom

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Hi Tom,

I would say there is something wrong with your line or equipment with those speeds.  My broadband zips along at between 3 and 4 meg.

Anyway I am exploring options with Hyperoptic and hopefully BT.

Bottom line will be how much business they pick up.

This forum get little use so I am going to get some posters up and perhaps a mailshot out to see if its going to be viable.

Thanks for your interest.

Simon.

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Hi Simon,

I saw your poster in our stairwell yesterday and have emailed my interest to fibre@rainbowquay.co.uk.

Several line checks have failed to identify any fault on our line; I have tried changing router, filters, tried the test socket, etc., etc., and spent oceans of time on the phone with customer service 'script-readers', but still to no avail.

I know you have always enjoyed impressive speeds for the area, but our own former top speed of 1.6-1.8 Meg started declining from July 2011 coinciding with our ISP (EE) apparently moving to a BT Wholesale based infrastructure.

Although it is obviously frustrating, I do take some comfort from the fact that a speed of 500Kbps (or less) at least is not uncommon in the area: http://www.broadband-notspot.org.uk/coverage-map.html#15,51.494784,-0.035018,all,500

Kind regards

Tom

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Hi Simon. Definitely interested here.

I have a real problem with mine. I just got 2.3 MB/s download which is pretty fast for me. It's generally 1.5-2 MB/s which is awful (although it's not that long ago on dial up that it was unthinkably fast !). Seems similar to Tom and I think it's slower in the evening.

My Netflix is generally ok but I cannot watch HD movies on Blinkbox due to the lack of download speed. Looking at recent speed tests in the area they seem to be in the 3-4 MB/s range. Someone recorded over 20 MB/s which is something I'm pretty jealous of !

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I find this thread on thinkbroadband extremely useful:

http://forums.thinkbroadband.com/notspot/3998475-rotherhithe-zone-2-london.html?fpart=all

as well as this interactive map:

http://maps.thinkbroadband.com/#!lat=51.49608142830186&lng=-0.03656346429443902&zoom=15&type=terrain

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hello Simon,
Thank you for looking in to this. I was something i brought up at an AGM many years ago.
I would be very interested in fibre broadband, subject to cost, of course.

Paul

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Hi Simon,

Thank you also for the initiative, I am interested, subject to cost.

With increase competition and better coverage, the costs of landline-rental plus ADSL broadband charge have come down almost half over the last few years. So adding more options is good.

I would also be interested in cable, such as Virgin Media, because for broadband only as a comparison, costs about the same as landline plus broadband, with 30Mbps and do not need landline.

Fibre broadband requires a landline, that makes the total monthly costs slightly more.

Frank

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For those who haven't seen my posters can you send an email to fibre@rainbowquay.co.uk and I will keep you updated as to progress.

Frank, In response to your observation about Virgin, unfortunately to bring fibre to premises via BT Openreach requires a significant capital outlay.  It does have the added advantage that the subscriber can then choose the end service provider.

I have only had 18 replies to the fibre email address and thus I think it would be a hard sell to have any capital outlay involved.  I am currently exploring options with Hyperoptic, if we get enough support they will cover the bulk of the costs.  It makes sense to them as they then have a tied in customer base for the long term.

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Hello,

I am not entirely up-to-date with the technology and did a brief research on the fibre vs traditional broadband and like to share this with the less technical savvy residents.

Traditional broadband
Landline broadband, delivers through the telephone network, BT Openreach owns the network but sell your connection to your ISP to provide the service, requires landline rental typically around £14.50/mth plus the broadband charge, availability depends on approximately to local telephone exchange, speed advertised upto 16Mbps depends on the quality of individual phone lines and varies according to distance from exchange.

Cable broadband, delivers through the Cable TV network, Virgin Media is the sole provider, does not require landline but the cheapest broadband only service costs about the same as landline broadband (landline rental + broadband), availability depends on Cable TV network coverage, speed advertised upto 120Mbps depends on your subscription and speed is very much guaranteed.

Fibre broadband
FTTC, 'fibre to the cabinet' located at nearby the premises from local exchange, or half-fat superfast because the final stretch is still cooper wire and delivers through the telephone network, no installation required, costs landline rental plus the broadband charge, speed advertised upto 38Mbps.

FTTP, 'fibre to the premises', or full-fat superfast because the fibre network runs into the building and delivers through ethernet within the building, requires installation of new faceplate at individual homes, does not require landline costs broadband charge only optional phone line (via fibre) can be added at extra cost but this phone line can not be used during power cut, speed advertised upto 330Mbps, possible 10+Gbps.

I read this thread and the poster again, realised the initiative is FTTP with either BT or Hyperoptic.

I believe the BT option is through their Fibre-On-Demand programme which extends the fibre from the FTTC to the premises and delivers the FTTP. User covers the installation costs but can choose the provider.

The Hyperoptic option is using their infrastructure and they cover the installation costs but has to use their service.

Clearly in the long run, end-user's freedom to choose their provider can ensure competitive package and pricing, I don't know well enough  of who provide FTTP and their pricing nor how competition will pan out in the future, but certainly QoS will increase, costs will decrease.

The key of Hyperoptic is option is what terms of the deal we can strike. If we can get their competitive pricing according to their website:
£40 setup fee, 12mth contract
20Mbps £12.50/mth
100Mbps £25.00/mth
1Gbps £50.00/mth
optional phone line with free evening and weekend calls £12.50/mth, add anytime plus £3.00, add international plus £5.00.

And reassurance of no price hike in the future.

Simon, I am sure you will attract a lot more interest if people like myself whom the sole purpose of their landline is for broadband, realised it only costs £40 + £12.50 x 12mths = £190/yr or £15.83/mth guaranty 20Mbps on FTTP with Hyperoptic as an example. I don't know the pricing of BT nor other providers.

I believe I am not alone, the costs of landline + broadband is much more than that with pitiful speed and it feels the landline is really unnecessary while for most the mobile call allowance is plentiful.

Frank

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Hi Frank,

Thank you for your very useful overview.

As we are all believed to be on Exchange Only lines, i.e. connected directly to the Bermondsey Exchange and not through a street cabinet, pending any future roll-out by BT Openreach of their so-called “network rearrangement” plan in our area, whereby a fibre-enabled cabinet would be installed between the exchange and the property, I think we can disregard any solution that involves a fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) solution, as far as I understand it.

Also, because of the (relatively long) distance between the property and the Bermondsey Exchange, advertised speeds for traditional broadband are very academic in most cases; e.g. we are achieving our current 0.5meg on an “up to 20meg” plan.

Kind regards

Tom

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Hi Simon,

I tired to write to fibre@rainbowquay.co.uk , but have received a delivery failure notice. This is the message:

'
Could not deliver message to the following recipient(s):

Failed Recipient: fibre@rainbowquay.co.uk
Reason: Remote host said: 550 “JunkMail rejected – outbound.mail1.hosting.m247.com
(mail.mail1.hosting.m247.com) [89.238.188.34]:63977 is in an RBL, see
Blocked – see http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml?89.238.188.34″

…
'

Could it possibly bounces some genuine interests?

Frank

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Hello Frank,

I am baffled as to why your email has been blocked.  For one our mail server doesn't use spamcop, second I have our spam filter set to off and finally the ip address you have provided is not associated with our domain.

I just pinged an email to that address from a hotmail account I seldom use and it arrived fine.  Can you try 'replying to' the email I sent to you from the address on Sunday evening?

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Hi Simon,

Received the letter from Hyperoptic earlier this week. Wonder do the people registered with you need to re-register our interests on Hyperoptic website? Many thanks.

Frank

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Yes please Frank, I do not wish to pass on contact details without prior permissions.

Thanks
Simon

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Hi Simon,

Received the letter from Hyperoptic earlier this week. Wonder do the people registered with you need to re-register our interests on Hyperoptic website? Many thanks.

Frank

I have not received any letter from Hyperoptic and was wondering if I need to take any action? I did register my interest on the Hyperoptic website on 11 Nov 2013. Could that be why I have not received their letter?

Tom

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Hi Tom,

Not sure about this, it could be that Hyperoptic just sent out generic letters advertising the service to a selection of addresses to try and drum up support.  I got a letter myself and I had already registered with them.  I am waiting on their business proposal at the moment and hope to be meeting with BT week after next.  I will update the group post these events.

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I understand the current position is that 16 people have registered interest and they require 20 before they will do anything. This is out of 144.
Chris

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Fibre Broadband update,

Contracts have been agreed, surveys done and some initial works carried out.  Hyperoptic has carried out the works between the East and West block to enable connection.  We are waiting on BT to bring the fibre to the premises and the internal works are due to start within the next 3/4 weeks.  If your interested in taking the service please register with Hyperoptic as they will carry out the wiring within the individual units for free whilst they are on site, a saving of £40 or so.  I think it makes sense to future proof yourself even if you don't subscribe right away.

Simon
6/97

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Hi Simon, Could you advise how I can ask Hyperoptic to wire into our flat while they are on-site? I have previous registered my interest but will not using their service right away. Many thanks. Frank

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Hi Frank, my understanding is that Hyperoptic will contact all those who have registered. 

Unfortunately I am having some delay with the freeholder sorting out the licensing process for the connection to the units.  This is due to start the week of 26th Aug, but may have to be pushed back.

ATB
Simon

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I registered our interest online with Hyperoptic on 11 November 2013, and the first and so far only thing I have heard back was a flyer dated 30 July 2014 received in the post on 12 August 2014 headed “Hurry, last chance…[etc.]“, which prompted me to 're-register' on their website.

I could be wrong, but I think we already have an installation hatch in place on the ground floor of our stairwell. If I am right, it is not very obtrusive nor particularly unsightly, and I am warming up to Hyperoptic again, as I think they could be our best shot at getting fast broadband this decade.

I recommend a browse-through the FAQs on the Hyperoptic website: https://hyperoptic.com/web/guest/faq

Tom
10, 2 RQ

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By way of update, there would now appear to be Hyperoptic installation hatches (if that is indeed what those new, greyish hatches are) on all floors in our stairwell.  Still not a personalised word from Hyperoptic, though, probably due to the licensing issues mentioned by Simon a couple of posts further down.

Tom
10, 2 RQ

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Hello,

I have recently seen news of a 4G wireless broadband operator called Relish. They opened in central London in June.

I contacted them and they do not yet provide in our area, but you can go on their site and on the page where you check coverage by postcode (https://www1.relish.net/athome#inyourarea), you can vote for SE16 7TQ. It may be worth everyone who is concerned about the broadband doing this so we may get more choice.

I contacted hyeroptic, but never heard back from them.

Regards,

Owen

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Hi Owen,

I am sure your registration with Hyperoptic will be held on their system.  They do not start processing individuals details until a development has been registered as live.  My understanding is that most of the work at RQ has been completed and the next stage of connection to individual units will start soon.  I am going to get a letter out this week to all leaseholders so they are aware of the service.  RQ is being flagged as live from Monday so I imagine Hyperoptic will also be in touch soon.

regards
Simon

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Hi Forum,

I've received an email from Hyperoptic yesterday asking me to choose a package as Rainbow Quay has now gone live. I registered my interest a few months ago and they're offering discounted packages fixed for 2 years. I for one am signing up. Has anyone else received an email from them in the last couple of days?. Thanks

Regards
Antony

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All those who pre-registered with Hyperoptic, should have been contacted.  Letters are all so going out this week.  Its important for tenants to understand that connection must be organised via the leaseholder or leaseholders agent as a licence for connection is required from the freeholder.

Thanks

Simon

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Has anyone got their Hyperoptic service up and running yet? I emailed Hyperoptic this week to ask for a status update and they told me that the service wouldn't be active until the end of November.

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I still haven't got my hyperoptic service. I rang them and they gave me some story about “problems at the exchange”. The estimate was mid-October for resolution. I see another poster is now estimating mid-November. Very disappointing. Any news on this would be welcome.

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I am sorry that this is taking so long.  I contacted the head of field sales at Hyperoptic and he told me that there was a delay due to Openreach not delivering on the fibre connection.  Originally Openreach had told Hyperoptic that the fibre would be in place for end of August.  Its been well documented in the national press that Openreach have been struggling to meet demand for fibre instal around the country with delivery dates extending between 70 and 90 days.  Apparently Hyperoptic are now expecting delivery at the end of November.

I am surprised that Hyperoptic are not being more proactive in informing the potential customer base of the problems, or cracking on with the faceplate installs. 

As soon as I have anything more concrete then I shall post an update.

Regards
Simon

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Hi,

Thanks for all your efforts in negotiating with the provider. Hyperoptic have contacted me about an installation for next week. At the AGM last night there was talk about needing a consent letter from the freeholder. My question: has the freeholder given consent universally to all the leaseholders or do we have to individually contact RMG? If it is the latter, there may be delays in providing such a letter.

Really I just want to know if I am okay to go ahead with the install next Tuesday.

Many thanks,

O.

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I think the freeholder has had enough time to sort this out and they have a list of those properties being connected.  My understanding is that the freeholder is in contact with Hyperoptic, and Hyperoptic is aware licence is required for connection.  I think you are fine to go ahead with the connection, I will however send an email to the freeholder to inform them that connections are starting.  Given the email chain I could produce I think it would be very embarrassing for them if there were to be any issue.

Regards
Simon

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My letter came through the post today. I noticed that they have begun the installation on other flats so I presume that there will be no delays. We initially expressed an interest before it was confirmed at the AGM that the plate can not be used for any other telephone/broadband provider. Our broad band connection is not to bad so we will be patient and wait for BT to either improve the broadband or to make the Fibre connection available. Southwark Council is also apply some pressure

Mary
98 Rope Street

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Hi Mary,

I have always managed on my 3.4meg broadband service.  I hope the council can get BT to do something about the service in the area.  I did read a press release awhile back that said Southwark council were working with the City of London to find a solution.  However I don't think people really understand the logistics of the operation. It requires every single telephone line in all of the Rotherhithe peninsular to be disconnected and then remapped to a new service.  I just can't see BT doing it, the cost / benefit just isn't there, especially as all that does is open the market to other providers. Another solution may be 4G wireless by somebody like Relish.

I had my Hyperoptic Face Plate fitted yesterday but I still have had no update on the service start date. 

Si.
6/97

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Here is an update on the Hyperoptic situation that I have managed to find out with help from both Greenland Passage Residents and the Dock Master.

We have had part of our fibre route installed over the dam on South Sea street.  This had been providing BT with a logistical challenge.  However it has become apparent that on another stretch of the run beyond South Sea Street there has been a tunnel collapse which unfortunately lies on private land.  It is likely that this will take some time to solve and thus our best estimate for a date of service is now Feb'15.

I cannot believe it has taken these clowns this long to find these problems, but I guess all we can do is be patient.

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Thank you for the update, Simon.

I have emailed Hyperoptic to ask if it is safe to switch off the HyperHub router pending the service going live, or whether there might be a technical reason why it should be left on.  I explained that my reason for asking is that some routers with other ISPs should be left on at all times, as the line may otherwise be treated as faulty and the connection suffer as a result.

I wanted to share the reply I have just received from a Customer Support Manager at Hyperoptic, who has advised that “Yes no problem to switch the router off for now and we will be contacting you the day the service goes live to switch back on.”

Tom
10, 2 RQ

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Has anybody had an update on the situation yet?

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The most recent conversation I had with the networks team was last Thursday and I was told the issue is collapsed ducting between Bergen Square and South Sea Street.  This means that the fibre cannot be run from the next nearest node.  The necessary works are awaiting clearance from Southwark Council.  Until all this is resolved we won't have any service.  It is a pretty poor state of affairs as BT should have discovered this months ago.

Sorry for the negative news.

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Please see the latest update from Hyperoptic.

First of all, please accept my apologies for the delay in getting you connected to Hyperoptic.

We had planned to have completed our installation by now, but we’ve been unable to bring our fibre to Rainbow Quay using the route we anticipated. After exhaustive investigation of other routes to the development, we can see no other way without civils works involving permits from Southwark Council. After the civils work are completed we will have a 2-3 weeks work to complete our fibre installation and testing, but we will do all we can to speed this through. 

Once the civils work is underway we’ll be in a better position to advise you of when service will go live. I’ll be in touch again next week with further updates.

I’m sorry this isn’t the news you were hoping for, but when delays like this occur I wanted to keep you as updated as possible. In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact Customer Support on 0333 332 1111 or by email to support@hyperoptic.com.

Thank you for your patience.

Jade Sandford
Head of National Marketing

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Further Update

Good afternoon,

Further to my email last week, I’d like to update you on the progress of our installation at Rainbow Quay.

I am pleased to confirm that the external works required to bring our fibre to your development are now underway. We will advise next week whether this has been completed successfully or not.

Once the external works have been completed, we have a further 2-3 weeks work to complete our fibre installation and testing.

We will be in touch again next week with another update. If you have any questions, please contact us on 0333 332 1111 or by email to support@hyperoptic.com

Thank you for your continued patience.

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Further Update

I’m pleased to say that some progress has been made while I’ve been away, in that the work to clear the blockages has started. Progress has been hampered by a third party blocking an access route, a parked car I believe, however I’m hopeful this will be resolved next week as Open Reach have issued a notice to complete for 6th Feb.

I’m hoping to have a positive update for residents w/c 9th Feb, but if I hear anything sooner I’ll be in touch.

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Any updates this week?

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The saga continues… >:(

British Telecom are proving themselves to be in the premier league of incompetent entities.  Apparently the fibre from RQ to Salter Road has been completed.  The engineers arrived this week to hook it up to the node on the junction of Salter Road Quebec Way and found that the works hadn't been done.  There is talk of another months wait for the ducting and boxes to be installed.

It is beyond me how Hyperoptic work with BT on this type of project. 

Should I hear any more then I shall update.
 

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I have come to the conclusion that the fibre project for Rainbow Quay is an exercise in the blind leading the blind.  Apparently Hyperoptic now run their business without the constraints of delivery dates.  This is far too burdensome.  It is now an open ended week by week, nearly finished, but not quite there update.  This is the latest excrement that has fallen in our direction:

This week’s report for Rainbow Quay is that Openreach have requested to come onto site next week. The cabling from the exchange is almost done, and next week the work begins to bring the fibre into the building. When the date has been confirmed with your building management I’ll let you know. 

The earliest I will have a date for service delivery is when our engineers start our soak testing. Our engineers are on standby to start when the fibre has been delivered and will do all they can to deliver as quickly as possible.

I’ll report progress as we get it.

Thanks

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Latest news is that I had BT on site yesterday and today and we now have a fibre connection to the exchange.  The finish line is in sight!

My understanding is that the next stage is connecting the Hyperoptic equipment to the circuit, which is then followed by a soak test to ensure stability.

We might just be live by Easter!  😮

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And drum roll……

Yes we are live.  Hope you all enjoy the new service!!

Thanks
Simon

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So here is a speed test result from the new Hyperoptic Circuit.

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I'm only (I say only) getting about 30-40mbps download and roughly the same upload.  It's still mega-fast but when you're signed up to 100mbps and only getting about a third of the speed it's a bit annoying.

What speeds are other people getting?

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There are so many variables with these types of things.  Where your doing your speedtest, what time of day it is, if your connected by ethernet or wireless.

Hyperoptic recommend using http://speedtest.hyperoptic.com/ 

If your connected by ethernet and your still getting less then 75% of the advertised speed then I would take it up with Hyperoptic.

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My warm thanks again to Simon for his tireless efforts in fronting this project and for helping us all (or rather, all subscribers) into the 21st century on internet connection speed! 🙂

Both on the speedtest recommended by Hyperoptic (http://speedtest.hyperoptic.com) and others, we are consistently getting just around the 20Mbps we have initially signed up for.

This is roughly ten times better than we have ever achieved – my only observation is that it does not seem quite ten times faster than before, but I suspect it does not work like that.

Part of the explanation might be that our upload speed is also just around the 1Mbps advertised for our package, as only the 100Mbps and 1Gb Hyperoptic packages are 'symmetrical'.

We connected our PC through a wireless USB adapter (http://www.netgear.co.uk/home/products/networking/wifi-adapters/a6210.aspx) which worked straight out of the box for us.

All speedtests were carried out wirelessly on our PC and at a fair distance to the Hyperoptic router which now adorns our hall.

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