UFB here I come!

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BlueShift

1692 posts

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#171702 28-Apr-2015 13:42

Had a call from the Spark callcentre on Sunday 19, kindly offering me the opportunity to get Ultrafast installed. So after I made sure it was actually someone from Spark calling, and not some devious scammer, I said "yup". They told me that someone from UFB would call me within 7-10 days. They also reminded me that Spark haven't managed to sort out a VOIP solution yet, so my phones will still run over the existing copper (which doesn't bother me, and makes life slightly easier with the monitored alarm we have).

Lo and behold, nine days later (today) a nice lady from UFB called up to book the first of the three visits it will take to get me all connected. So, on Monday lunchtime I will be meeting with a tech at my place to see what is what.

Are there any Hamiltonians here who have had the install already? I've seen a lot of comment on Chorus installs, but not so much about the Ultrafast folks hereabouts. I've seen the techs connecting up several other houses in my neighbourhood, and they don't seem to make a mess at the street end.
What's the timeliness of the techs like? If they tell me they'll be there at 12:30, does that mean 12:30? Or does it mean sometime an hour either side?

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1692 posts

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#1297746 4-May-2015 16:21

So far, so good.

UFB rep arrived very promptly, right on the dot of 12:30 as promised. He took a look around and asked where we wanted the ONT located. He wasn't very chatty about options or recommendations, but since I already knew pretty much where I wanted it, that was fine.

They will be thrusting a new conduit in for the fibre, and leaving the copper as is. I don't know if this is only because we're with Spark, who require the copper left there until they sort out a VOIP service, or if they do this regularly when it suits their purposes.

Anyway, there will be some workers arriving tomorrow morning to dig holes and thrust conduits and thread fibres ahead of the ONT installers who are booked for the end of next week.

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#1297782 4-May-2015 17:16

BlueShift: So far, so good.

UFB rep arrived very promptly, right on the dot of 12:30 as promised. He took a look around and asked where we wanted the ONT located. He wasn't very chatty about options or recommendations, but since I already knew pretty much where I wanted it, that was fine.

They will be thrusting a new conduit in for the fibre, and leaving the copper as is. I don't know if this is only because we're with Spark, who require the copper left there until they sort out a VOIP service, or if they do this regularly when it suits their purposes.

Anyway, there will be some workers arriving tomorrow morning to dig holes and thrust conduits and thread fibres ahead of the ONT installers who are booked for the end of next week.

Ultrafast Fibre Ltd won't touch your copper as they don't own it - it belongs to Chorus.

When Spark begin to offer voice services over fibre (and you choose to take it up), UFF will send a tech out to activate it, and patch the ONT into your internal house wiring which enables your existing jackpoints to work on VOIP. At this point the Chorus copper will be disconnected from the internal wiring at the ETP and it will effectively be redundant - but UFF will still not remove it.

[EDIT: removed acronyms]

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

BlueShift

1692 posts

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#1298144 5-May-2015 10:27

Wheelbarrow01:
Ultrafast Fibre Ltd won't touch your copper as they don't own it - it belongs to Chorus.

When Spark begin to offer voice services over fibre (and you choose to take it up), UFF will send a tech out to activate it, and patch the ONT into your internal house wiring which enables your existing jackpoints to work on VOIP. At this point the Chorus copper will be disconnected from the internal wiring at the ETP and it will effectively be redundant - but UFF will still not remove it.

[EDIT: removed acronyms]

Patching the existing phone lines into the ONT will be a mission, the spot where the ONT is being installed behind the TV is a loooong way from the nearest phone jack. The scoping tech didn't seem to have any interest in where the existing infrastructure is.

BlueShift

1692 posts

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#1298941 6-May-2015 11:54

The fibre-laying crew showed up as promised yesterday to dig the holes and run the fibre to the side of the house where the ONT will be.

They called me and asked if I minded them blowing the fibre in through the existing phone duct rather than thrusting a new duct as that would make their job easier. I was slightly surprised, as I'd asked the scoping tech and he said the thrusting would be easier, but I'm no expert. The phone duct joins the house at the exact diagonal opposite point of the house to where the ONT will be, so I suspect that making their job easier may well make the indoors installation chap's job a whole lot harder.
I guess we'll see on Friday next week.

BlueShift

1692 posts

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#1307053 18-May-2015 11:05

As I suspected, when the install guy turned up on Friday (early, after calling me to ask if early is OK) he took one look at where the fibre was poking out of the ground and said nope. So he was only there for ten minutes. I can't bring myself to be annoyed that I took the day off on annual leave though, I had plenty of other stuff to do, not least getting over a cold.

Lo and behold, bright and early on Monday morning, there are the Veloce hole-digging crew come to do the trench to the right spot.

There have been some communication hiccups, but I really can't complain about the time-frames. No months of waiting for me.

Behodar

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#1307063 18-May-2015 11:10

Wheelbarrow01: Ultrafast Fibre Ltd won't touch your copper as they don't own it - it belongs to Chorus.

Apparently they've been using copper as a draw wire in Tauranga, ripping it out as part of the process. When I first heard that, I thought that the person I was talking to was mistaken, but I've heard the same story from someone else too!

Wheelbarrow01

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Chorus

#1307072 18-May-2015 11:19

Behodar:
Wheelbarrow01: Ultrafast Fibre Ltd won't touch your copper as they don't own it - it belongs to Chorus.

Apparently they've been using copper as a draw wire in Tauranga, ripping it out as part of the process. When I first heard that, I thought that the person I was talking to was mistaken, but I've heard the same story from someone else too!

Hmmm, well that is an interesting development. From what you're saying I can conclude that either a) they have an agreement with Chorus that I am not aware of, or b) they are very very naughty.

I'll see what I can find out....

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

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BlueShift

1692 posts

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#1307075 18-May-2015 11:22

Just had a call from Transfield, booking the installer in for next week, so all going well, I'll be on fibre by the end of the month.

Its an interesting jumble of companies and contractors making all this happen though - My ISP is Spark, who get UFF to provide the fibre hookup, and they sub parts of it out to Veloce and Transfield. Although, I drive past the Transfield depot on the way to work, and the vans coming out of its driveway are labeled Transfield, Veloce, UFF, maybe Chorus, and probably some others... Happy families!

Behodar

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#1307079 18-May-2015 11:25

BlueShift: Its an interesting jumble of companies and contractors making all this happen though - My ISP is Spark, who get UFF to provide the fibre hookup, and they sub parts of it out to Veloce and Transfield. Although, I drive past the Transfield depot on the way to work, and the vans coming out of its driveway are labeled Transfield, Veloce, UFF, maybe Chorus, and probably some others... Happy families!

It must be a nightmare for the poor ISP when something goes wrong. Here in Whakatane we have the ISP, plus Chorus and Transfield, and there's a "Home Fibre Services" in the mix somewhere too!

BlueShift

1692 posts

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#1314130 29-May-2015 13:57

Again the Veloce contractor turned up exactly on time as promised, and right now is feeding fibre through my walls to the ONT point behind my TV.
Things seem to be tracking along nicely. Ultra Fast is ultra imminent!

shk292

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#1314148 29-May-2015 14:34

Good luck! My fibre was connected on Wednesday but so far Slingshot have been too incompetent to actually connect it to the internet

BarTender

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#1314186 29-May-2015 15:26

BlueShift: Again the Veloce contractor turned up exactly on time as promised, and right now is feeding fibre through my walls to the ONT point behind my TV.
Things seem to be tracking along nicely. Ultra Fast is ultra imminent!

Exciting times...

DarthKermit

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#1314203 29-May-2015 15:48

Once it's all installed and up and running, I'd be interested to hear what you're able to do with it that you perhaps couldn't with your previous interweb connection.

Whatifthespacekeyhadneverbeeninvented?

BlueShift

1692 posts

Uber Geek

#1314309 29-May-2015 19:34

After beavering away from 12:30 until 6:30 the connection isn't quite connected. Apparently there's some kind of glitch in the cable between my boundary and the cabinet, so they're send a tech back tomorrow to hunt it down.
Its taking time, but I still can't complain about the service level. After all, its a free connection!

BlueShift

1692 posts

Uber Geek

#1314896 30-May-2015 23:15

Techs came out this morning and blew a replacement fibre into the duct. It tests good, so the connection tech will be back sometime to complete the job.

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