British Telecom was split into BT (the part that signs you up for phone lines, Internet etc) and Openreach (the part that actually makes sure the network works etc), allegedly because this way Openreach is more likely to provide the same level of service to BT and also to other ISPs which are using BT's network to provide their t'Internets.
I suppose I should provide a little more detail.
The installer actually turned up for the first appointment, late, and used the fact that the ISP provided router wasn't there to not do the install, which was a load of bollocks.
I booked another install for yesterday. They didn't turn up because they had changed it to today without telling anyone.
They didn't turn up today because they changed the install date to tomorrow without telling anyone. Which is fucking useless since I wont be in the house.
So instead of 57mb fibre i'm getting 6mb adsl, since I don't want to waste any more time on these fucks.
They are the bastards you have to deal with if you want to get an internet connection in the UK. Either directly or because the other ISPs have to use them as a supplier. Unless you get cable. The cable supplier is shit as well.
I see, thanks for the info! I take it this is one of those things that sounds good but the results are different. Unless we just like to tell them Fuck You!
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I ranted at Sky for BT Openreach not turning up last September but it wasn't really their fault.
Openreach engineer failed to turn up, I spoke to Sky (though they did tell quite a few lies about a new engineer being booked in for the next day) and got put to the bottom of their list and was told it was a 6 week wait (I'm sure there's a thread on here about it!) I eventually spoke to some Sky management and the Openreach engineer turned up a few days later.
It seems they don't tell anyone when they're not attending an appointment. If they decide they can't do it that day they just don't turn up and keep quiet. Fuckers.
Anyway, it sounds like it's similar to here but they do show up. They just say it will be between 7am and 5pm and make you waste a whole day waiting for them.
The big isp's here have pretty much all gone to using sub-contractors to do the install. The DSL companies send you the modem in the mail and they don't even need to come to the house. There is something then enable on your line from the headend that makes it work.
I think I've just given you a great business idea! If BT is so shit your new company can be just mediocre and people would love you!
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I'm sure that's what used to happen here in terms of it being remotely activated.
I remember at my uni house there was a phone line installed, just not active. I called BT to activate it, once it was done about 48 hours later I then signed up to some ADSL with an ISP and all that didn't require any engineer visits to the property.
At my flat a BT Openreach engineer had to turn up (after not turning up the first time) to fiddle with the cabinet on the street to activate the phoneline.
That still happens in a lot of houses, it's all down to whether the line had recently been active and whether it's still usable. If the line has never been used, then you'd obviously need an engineer to attend.
No they shouldn't, but who knows.. maybe they re-use ports if they're inactive, or the line might've been damaged since? I'm pretty sure they can test the line remotely and if it doesn't look to be the right length then they have it checked.
As for FTTC, that does need an engineer install - definitely first time it's done at a property anyway.
Two weeks agoish we started having daily disconnects at one of our remote locations. Nothing had changed. Then the modem died and I replaced it, but the drops kept happening. So they came Tuesday and wiggled some wires and said they think it's fixed. Wednesday it dropped again (actually, in 40 minutes it had disconnected/reconnected almost 500 times) so they came back out. Turns out the lines are buried and they are going to have to dig up an area where a splitter is installed. Depending on the location and type of split it will take 2-6 weeks for the repairs to begin. So this is going to be fun, when we lose connection they can't do any type of work because everything, even the equipment requires connection to the main office. /fuckme!
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Ah, s'a bit like our setup - DCs at remote sites and local dictation servers, so they can work a bit if the circuits between go down, but everything else is hosted at the main office. It gets too damned expensive to go down alternative resilient routes.