Digital line switchover still under attack.

EXCLUSIVE: Pensioners and vulnerable customers are STILL in the dark
over digital landline switchover - as telecoms bosses are warned there
is no protection in place for customers being switched to broadband that
they won't know how to use

"JMB99" <mb@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:uvm7r9$11g16$1@dont-email.me...
> Digital line switchover still under attack.
>
> EXCLUSIVE: Pensioners and vulnerable customers are STILL in the dark over
> digital landline switchover - as telecoms bosses are warned there is no
> protection in place for customers being switched to broadband that they
> won't know how to use

I am pretty clued-up about technology. I know about networking, routers,
etc. And I know in principle about VOIP, and that you either need
VOIP-capable phones (connected to the router by Ethernet or wifi) or else
VOIP-to-DECT and then using existing DECT handsets as we do at present. But
even I don't know how VOIP and the associated equipment will be rolled out
to people, whether the customer needs to do anything special to keep their
existing number from analogue days, how/if calls will be charged, where in
my house the equivalent of the master socket will be located.

Our house has an overhead line from a pole which goes to a point on the
eaves of the bungalow part of our house which is inaccessible by simple
ladder because it will need crawl-boards to extend up a sloping roof to a
section where there is a low wall where the roof changes from one level to
another.

There appears to be a GPO rectangular lozenge box (yes, the wiring is *that*
old!) which joins the drop cable to the cable that feeds the rest of the
house by unknown wiring buried in the walls. All I know is that there are
two BT sockets, possibly star-connected rather than daisy-chained from
master socket to slave socket. We get 30U/10D Mbps VDSL at present, so the
wiring is evidently pretty good.

I've no idea where BTOR will site the termination of the fibre - if we
choose to upgrade from copper to fibre, if we even get a choice. If they
take the fibre to near one of the existing sockets, the problem will be
getting mains to the point - it may need carpets to be lifted so a channel
can be cut in the concrete floor to run a spur from the nearest existing
ring-main socket. If they instead run the fibre to the other socket then the
problem is running Ethernet cable from there to the router and all its
Ethernet cables in the living room, because in between is a hard-wood floor
so no carpet for Cat 5 to be tucked down the edge by the skirting board. Cat
5 could easily be run in roof spaces. but then there is the problem of
running it invisibly up a wall from dining room to loft and then down from
the loft to living room.

It would be nice if the fibre terminated close to the router, then I could
power the fibre modem, the router and the VOIP-to-DECT interface from the
*same* UPS to provide resilience to power cuts - and we occasionally get a
lot of 1-second cuts when overhanging trees (or "naughty" cattle in farmers
fields - we've had both excuses from Northern Powergrid) cause brief
interruptions to high-voltage feed to the village, and an alternative feed
switches in. A 1-second power cut is just long enough to make everything
reboot, and then is it a major hassle to get our mesh network nodes to
connect to each other, usually involving turning nodes on in turn rather
than simultaneously as would happen after a power cut. It's rare to get long
power cuts, but a sequence of 1-second cuts repeatedly for a few hours is
not unknown.

The ideal solution would be to keep copper VDSL internet and simply change
from analogue voice to VOIP with a VOIP-DECT converter plugged into the
router. But I wonder how long it will be before local copper is ripped out
and FTTP is forced on people - that will be the real problem for people if
the new fibre termination point is not near an existing analogue socket.

NY wrote:

> I've no idea where BTOR will site the termination of the fibre - if we
> choose to upgrade from copper to fibre, if we even get a choice.

I think they'll install it to any suitable location, not adjacent to the
copper, but unless you pay for the "deluxe" install they will only use a
limited amount of cabling indoors.

On 24/04/2024 12:37, NY wrote:
> I've no idea where BTOR will site the termination of the fibre - if we
> choose to upgrade from copper to fibre,

What fibre? If you have your broadband from BT Retail, I believe they
will replace the hub with one that supports Digital Voice, using the
same xDSL line, but possibly converting from ADSL to VDSL.

Where things get complicated is when your broadband and phone provider
are different. I'm hoping fibre will be available before the move is
forced, because, strangely, my provider's pricing for ADSL delivery
(FTTC) is more than that for fibre (FTTP), but fibre is not yet
available, for my address. There is also a charge for the VDSL router
unless one takes a certain minimum contract. The risk is that fibre
becomes available before the minimum contract is up, meaning one is
stuck at the higher rental, or have to take an up front hit.

If they are the same, but not BT Retail, you will need to ask them.

You seem to already be FTTC, so you will probably get a new
hub/modem-router/router with built in Digital Voice, or an ATA to plug
into your existing router.