Is your broadband ok?

Wed 7 Dec 2016, 15:57

Good idea, Katie, thank you.
An engineer has just fixed the broadband without simultaneously knocking out the landline! When the Stockholm Syndrome has worn off, I'll get in touch with Ofcom.

Tue 6 Dec 2016, 16:01

James, you should complain to Ofcom.

Tue 6 Dec 2016, 15:40

Call me unreasonable but I would definitely like to criticise OpenReach/BT.
Like everyone in the northern quarter we had no broadband for two weeks - seems standard from what everyone has said.
We had no landline for the whole of November as a result of the crash. I think this is below par.
As soon as an engineer fixed the landline a week ago, which was something to do with the connections between the broadband and landline wiring in one of the boxes, the broadband disappeared immediately. There seems to me a direct relationship between the landline reappearing and the broadband suffering a second death, yet I am stuck in a weird limbo of call centre workers offering me a new hub and insisting that I leave the dead broadband plugged into a test socket which means that the landline doesn't work again.
This Kafkaseque situation is compounded by the fact they won't give us any money off our November bill because we did not report within two days a fault that several hundred people had clearly already reported and that they can verify by our lack of phone/internet usage.
I guess with a monopoly like theirs, there is little incentive for OpenReach/BT to try harder. Or am I being too cynical?

Mon 5 Dec 2016, 21:21

It's taken the same amount of time to repair a water leak in Dyers Hill as to repair a complex piece of electrical and fibre optic technology. ......mmmmmm, dial 1 for !

Mon 5 Dec 2016, 20:47

Good idea, seems everything can be put on council Tax!!

Mon 5 Dec 2016, 10:38

Geoff I certainly was not criticising OpenReach/BT, their response seemed to be excellent, sometimes 4 vehicles and 6 people on the job as well as changing batteries at midnight. It seems that it was Southern Electric which was so slow. I am also drawing attention to the fact that the overall cost of the accident in physical damage to vehicles, the Broadband box, the wall, the repair and inconvenience it would seem that investment in more than 'a bit of paint' is justified. May be we could add it to the Council Tax by loan!

Sun 4 Dec 2016, 20:37 (last edited on Sun 4 Dec 2016, 20:39)

I wonder if you can claim off the drivers insurance if so hope he has a good company!

Sun 4 Dec 2016, 17:06

Geoff, do appreciate alll you say. Wasn't really the time it was taking more the complete lack of info given out & the completely disjointed timelines. Next battle will probably be when the bill comes in.

Sun 4 Dec 2016, 11:40 (last edited on Sun 4 Dec 2016, 11:42)

Trouble is the public do not know how complicated it can be restoring a cabinet that has been demolished especialy fibre optics, the old wire ones take some time, its not a matter of pull that plug out and put a new one in, all optics have to be identified correctly, then there was the delay on getting electric re connected, not a BT job.
Ex BT cable and jointing engineer.

Sat 3 Dec 2016, 18:11

I started this strand so I will complete it. Its done,finished,electricity connected. I looked into the hole and was shown the connection and watched them fill the hole in. Only took 4 weeks.

Sun 27 Nov 2016, 13:52

I happened to be walking past the cabinet last night at 24:00 when a BT chap was replacing the batteries again. He said they expect SSE to reconnect the mains power on Tuesday. He showed me the interior of the cabinet and where the power cable is currently terminated, about 2' to the left of the cabinet. He said it will take them about 30 mins to do it. Thus what BT told me on the phone, on Thursday, must relate to the times when the batteries are replaced.

Sat 26 Nov 2016, 16:17 (last edited on Sat 26 Nov 2016, 16:18)

This all just highlights how crazy & poor our communications system is - & I am not just talking about Charlbury. I have lost count of the deadlines BT have given us that have come & gone. Let's face it if BT can't give us a straight answer, if you are with another Provider, I wouldn't waste the phone call.

Sadly, life & work have intervened between me & a call to Ofcom. I will endeavour to call them next week. I will also be calling, as someone suggested, The Oxford Mail, there is a lot to be said for the power of the press.
One other point to consider is the cost - to BT that is! I will certainly be chasing up some sort of reduction from my bill & ensuing ones until this is fixed!

Fri 25 Nov 2016, 08:47

I was told by John Lewis that the problem was an outtage caused by the car crashing into the cabinet recently., and that BT were working on it, which may cause an intermittent service

Thu 24 Nov 2016, 12:10

I spoke to BT this morning, their system as seen by the person I was speaking to, does not contain all the information. However I was told that it is due to be completely fixed by 17:42 tomorrow (Friday 25th that is). They could tell me that a component was being replaced, but knew nothing of a mains power connection problem.

Wed 23 Nov 2016, 15:55

Lucy, we are next door to you and are fine, apart from the intermittent battery change. So I would chase up BT or your internet provider.

Wed 23 Nov 2016, 10:19

Just had a call from Plusnet who have been advised that BT are waiting for a component part that was damaged in the accident and they have been unable to get hold of one. They are also unable to give us a date either! So looks like we may be in for a 3 month wait too!!

Tue 22 Nov 2016, 21:17 (last edited on Tue 22 Nov 2016, 21:18)

I had a chat to the man changing the battery today and he told me he was on a very similar job in Gloucestershire a few months back where he was changing the battery several times a day for, wait for it ... 3 months! Apparently the eventual cost of that incident to the driver's insurers was a whopping £73,000, partly due to the ongoing battery-swapping. Madness.

Tue 22 Nov 2016, 16:52

Maybe let the Oxford Mail know? That should help to focus Southern Electric's minds a little...

Tue 22 Nov 2016, 15:48

I called Plusnet yesterday and was on hold for around 20 minutes before I spoke to someone who had to put me on hold for several minutes and consult someone else, as he didn't know how to deal with this situation. He came back and advised me that I should…

Long post - click to read full text

Tue 22 Nov 2016, 11:40

As I understood things from the Open Reach chap earlier today, they are still waiting for Southern Electric & don't expect it to be quick. One chap with no broadband at all was at the box with the Open Reach man, & was clearly hoping that his line could be fixed from there. I am on the 6 hr battery cycle. My landline is fine. I am with BT.

Tue 22 Nov 2016, 10:11

Thanks Deborah, that's kind of you.
We still have no internet, we're in Wychwood Close.

Tue 22 Nov 2016, 06:56

I am planning to call Ofcom today. Will keep everyone posted as to their response to this unacceptable situation!

Mon 21 Nov 2016, 10:26

Our phone is now ok but was originally off two weeks ago. However we still get the intermittent loss of broadband about every six hours.

Mon 21 Nov 2016, 08:34

Yes

Mon 21 Nov 2016, 08:25

Is anyone's internet still down this morning?

Sun 20 Nov 2016, 20:44

We have the same random dropouts for battery changes and broadband works 95% of the time. But our landline hasn't worked for two weeks. Is it just us or is everyone else's landline off in the affected area?

Sun 20 Nov 2016, 17:39

Thanks Janet, I have gleaned more from this forum than in all of my phone calls to BT. My last call to them, half an hour ago I was told it would definitely be fixed by 6pm tonight. Although I live in hope, not holding my breath.
Sadly working full time, I stand little hope of running into 'battery man'.

Sun 20 Nov 2016, 15:01

Leah and Deborah, I spoke to the guy from Open Reach the other day who was replacing the batteries. He seemed to think everything was fixed apart from waiting for SSE to come and re-connect mains electricity(they have told him they will do it this week). He said Batteries are replaced 3 times a day which seems to be 11pm and then once in the morning (9 or 10 am) and once in the afternoon (3 or 4 pm). Others will know better than me when the connection is lost due to battery changes. If you still don't have a service, and happen to see the guy who changes the batteries you could ask him why you are still not getting connected.

Sun 20 Nov 2016, 11:57 (last edited on Sun 20 Nov 2016, 11:58)

Now two weeks with either no broadband or intermittent service! Each time I call the 0800800150 number there is the usual recorded message stating 'They know there is a major fault & each time you get quoted a different time frame for it to be fixed! I personally, have had enough & am complaining to Ofcom. Also refusing to pay my bill until the fault is fixed & the requisite amount of money deducted from my bill. Suggest others affected do the same!

Fri 18 Nov 2016, 08:08

Mine has been off for over two weeks, they promised it would be back yesterday, logging on somewhere else, I have had aan email from BT to say my payments are to be doubled! !

Fri 18 Nov 2016, 01:16

This is completely rediculous!! Nearly a week & a half now . I know that at least we have some broadband but getting so fed up with it dropping at crucial times! When I called yesterday, was told things would be up & running by 6pm today. Not holding my breath!!

Thu 17 Nov 2016, 12:51

Yes, per Jim Holah's explanation below the cabinet is still awaiting connection to the mains so the drop-outs represent the time it takes to swap out the batteries for fresh ones, every six hours or so. They do seem to have gotten much quicker at the changeover.

Thu 17 Nov 2016, 11:01

Same here.

Thu 17 Nov 2016, 10:46

Same here, 10min dropout several times a day.

Thu 17 Nov 2016, 10:45

Morning all. Are you guys still seeing the connection drop for about 25 minutes every day?
It dropped last night at about 11pm and dropped again this morning at about 9:45am.
Are they still waiting to be hooked up to the main power supply?

Fri 11 Nov 2016, 12:47

The update today from the engineer on site is that all of the BT work is complete & they are now awaiting the reinstatement of the power supply as, at present, every 6 hours a set of replacement batteries is inserted into the box to provide a temporary supply.

Fri 11 Nov 2016, 11:45

Back again! How long will this last?

Fri 11 Nov 2016, 11:43

And broadband is back again. Finger's crossed.

Fri 11 Nov 2016, 11:33

Yup. Down again. According to John Dora's weather site service went off 9:19:53. It could be a deliberate outage as part of continuing repair work, but it is worrying if the engineers are not on site as Susie reported.

Fri 11 Nov 2016, 10:49

No broadband again this morning I think it went off about 9.30am. Have been down to the box where they were working and there is no one there!

Fri 11 Nov 2016, 09:51

Our Broadband is still out!
Called BT last night & tore a strip off them. Mysteriously, shortly afterwards our Broadband started working, followed shortly afterwards by a call from them to check if it was up and running.
We then had a glorious period of about 18hrs of service (7pm -9am) after which we are back to that damn red light and BT telling us that our service won't be up and running until 10am tomorrow morning!!!

My question are we seriously the only ones experiencing these issues?!

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 20:39

Tested my speed got 66.04 Mbps download and 18.40 Mbps upload

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 15:06

In the meantime does anyone have a pair of Carrier pidgeons?!

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 15:00

Great! Thanks for that Mike!!
We are right at the top, so maybe we are last to be done!
I despair!!

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 14:55

I also live in Ticknell Piece, we had broadband back yesterday (Wednesday) at about 3.00. So not sure what is going on.....

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 14:32

Still no broadband here up Ticknell Piece and just phoned BT to be told that it will be at least another 26hrs!!!!

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 07:25

It came back on 30 mins after writing my last comment I expect it's going to take a few days for things to settle down

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 07:06

It's ok here in Wychwood Close

Thu 10 Nov 2016, 06:15

Internet down again this morning

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 18:39

All fixed! Spoke with the fitters earlier and they're confirmed most would be working today or tomorrow.

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 16:51

All up and running. Spoke to the engineers just now and they have put 100 lines up out of 140. Rest will be up and running by lunchtime tomorrow!

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 16:38

We are back on as well

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 16:24

Still no internet up Ticknell Piece :-(

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 15:54

We are back on too

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 15:48

Broadband back here as well, though the signal seems a bit degraded and not entirely stable. It may be an interim fix.

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 15:37

I just rebooted my router and I'm now back online. Some routers might just need a reboot to kick them back into life.

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 11:55

Daniela: free homemade cakes and cappuccinos? Sounds amazing! Is there a limit per person or can I just sit there all morning and gorge myself? ;-)

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 10:56

Free WIFI, homemade cakes and cappuccions at The Font Cafe at St. Mary's Church on Thursdays from 10am til noon.

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 10:50

Come and enjoy a coffee and free WiFi at the Deli !

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 10:20

On a positive note, I noticed this morning that the Green Box was new, however still taped off. Wonder how long it will take them to wire up all the cables?

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 08:27

Our phone which was OK until yesterday is now completely dead, broadband has been out consistently since late pm sunday. I assume that the phone has been disabled as part of replacing cables and green roadside cabinet.

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 08:22

My Broadband and phone line went down on Sunday. When I called BT Sunday evening, I was told it would be up and running by 4pm on Monday. Sadly, some stupid motorist put paid to that.

Will be contacting BT to find out about reduction in bill covering this period of outage.

On the bright side, at least my young adults are discovering books again!

Wed 9 Nov 2016, 07:34

We lost our Internet Sunday phone line was ok up to yesterday but now nothing must be where they are repairing the damage told it should be all working again Thursday just a matter of waiting and seeing.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 22:59

John, it may depend on your provider. We are with Zen and lost only HS broadband. Telephone is fine. I understand some people with a BT package have lost both broadband and telephone. Interestingly your handy weather site is still up, but marking the date and time of the accident by indicating the last data received.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 22:25

I'm just home after a couple of days away to find our land line phone doesn't work, nor does the broadband. Anyone else without phone ring tone?

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 14:57

I live on The Green and strangely, and thankfully, our connection was restored a couple of hours ago.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 14:47

I was told today at the earliest next Tuesday

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 13:41

You can always use the Library too. Open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Late night Wednesday.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 13:19

Bum! Thanks for the update James

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 12:56

Comrades of the northern quarter - abandon hope. I just spoke to the engineers who are winching the old box and its foundations out of the ground. They've discovered that crash severed the cables coming into the box from the underworld and they said it'll be 2-3 days until the box is up and running again. Wish I was kidding but that's what they said. Perhaps we an organise a hot tea rota for them to help them fix it quicker. The Deli has broadband for those who are desperate …

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 12:29

Hopeful sign? My modem's lights are now indicating that we have a DSL signal but not yet connecting through to my ISP. Until a little while ago both of the relevant lights were off.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 11:18

Tuesday nearly noon still no internet. Drove past the crossroad and saw engineers still working on the box with cables dangling out. Doesn't seem like it will be fixed soon.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 10:57

Tuesday early morning, still no broadband but phone OK, connected to the cabinet at the Enstone Road crossroads.

Tue 8 Nov 2016, 08:12

None since Thursday or phone

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 19:24

I just spoke to one of the Openreach engineers on my way home. He said it's "sorted" so we'll hopefully be back online very shortly

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 16:32 (last edited on Mon 7 Nov 2016, 19:58)

I was told by John Lewis it was priorty.I have had no broadband since yesterday. We are having to wait for BT yet again.

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 15:24

I have just passed by and there is an Open Reach van there now so hopefully all will be well soon.

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 13:53

I spoke to BT who said it would be working within 24 hours but I doubt it.

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 13:52

Yes ours was lost last night as well - also in The Green. Just looked on BT Openreach website and it is not listed as a major incident so can't get any information on when it will be fixed. Or does this mean it is fixed already? (Can't check as I am at work.)

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 13:09

I did hear there was an accident at Enstone Cross Roads yesterday about 7pm. 5 vehicles were involved one went into wall, so that does sound most likely answer as I am other end of town and everything is fine.

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 13:05

It's effected Ticknell piece no idea when it will be fixed I know openreach was there last night

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 12:10

We've not had internet access since last night around 5pm. Still no broadband at home and no 3G too it seems. Does anyone know when it'll be fixed? We're at The Green. Wonder if it affects all of Charlbury?

Mon 7 Nov 2016, 11:44

FYI The broadband cabinet at the Enstone crossroads has bee knocked over by a vehicle. No idea of what the internal damage may be. Openreach has already roped the area off.