[Gllug] Broadband with PlusNet

[Chris Bell]

On Tue 08 Apr, Dylan wrote:
> 
> On Tuesday 08 April 2003 15:09, Tethys wrote:
> > Dylan writes:
> > >We had much trouble when my boyfriend needed an ISDN2 line for work.
> > >They put the ISDN on over the same wires as the ADSL and royally
> > >hosed the connection.
> >
> > Ouch! My ADSL uses the 2 unused wires from my ISDN line. I hadn't
> > really thought about the risk of them reusing the same wires and
> > screwing up both services...
> 
   BT normally install a minimum 2-pair buried local end cable as the cost
of adding the normally unused pair is negligble, but the pairs should not
interfere with each other as long as all wires are correctly connected. As
soon as they reach the local main feed they will join many other pairs back
to the exchange.
   In my area, there are inspection covers every few metres along the
pavement where all pairs are jointed on to the next length of multi-pair,
and each pair goes via many crimped joints. The water table is very high, so
the cables have often been under water, and it is surprising that they work
at all. BT have been busy replacing old cable, much of it aluminium, so my
local pair is now fairly new right back to the exchange, a distance of just
over a mile. All the crimped joints have been remade a few times because
someone further down the road had problems.

> I think it comes down to how savvy the installer is. The veteran BT bloke who 
> put in the ISDN didn't seem to know ADSL existed. When questioned about it he 
> said "Yeah, but it's just an ordinary modem, eh. What's this splitter for?" 
> Gives you confidence...
> 
   A BT engineer working on local telephones complained to me that he could
not drag any information about ADSL from BT. He had been issued with a
laptop already set up for his own use as well as BT work, but when he tried
to connect it to the internet it just kept asking whether he really wanted
to do that.

   A pair may be deemed unsuitable for ADSL if it is currently used for
ISDN, even if the ISDN connection is to be removed and replaced by a
standard analogue connection plus the ADSL connection. It seems that BT are
almost totally incapable of doing an upgrade or change of use without the
pair being grabbed for another user.

-- 
Chris Bell


-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at linux.co.uk
http://list.ftech.net/mailman/listinfo/gllug