Any tips for speeding up fibre install?

Forums › New Zealand Broadband › Any tips for speeding up fibre install?

rattewisday

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#302735 15-Dec-2022 22:07

Hey all,

I'm moving into a new place in a week or so and noticed it doesn't have fibre installed yet. I filed an order (via Chorus direct) a couple of weeks ago and had an appointment scheduled for just before Christmas, however it's been moved around a bunch of times since then (with poor communication) and now the install is at the end of Jan (a month and a half away!). I spoke to Chorus and they advised that there isn't any availability sooner at the moment, but to call back every day to check for a better appointment as availability changes day-to-day. A few questions:

1) Is this really the recommended way to get a decent appointment slot? Any other tips to get the ball rolling sooner?

2) Would cancelling the install via Chorus and instead going via an ISP yield a better result?

3) Do many ISPs offer temporary ASDL/VDSL connections while waiting for a fibre install? I haven't found much info about this online. All of the ISPs I've looked at only offer fibre when I enter the address (which makes sense, but isn't very helpful if I'll be without internet for over a month).

Appreciate any thoughts! Thanks

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#3010555 15-Dec-2022 22:25

(1) there may be cancellations but remember it's coming up to the Christmas break, and a lot of techs are probably away on holiday

(2) nope, you'll go to the very back of the queue and start all over again

(3) any provider that offers a DSL connection should be able to help - from experience that's the first thing I ever organise when moving house, in the event that the fibre install doesn't go ahead on the day for whatever reason. Pretty sure Spark/Skinny/Bigpipe do DSL connections; does the property have a telephone jackpoint?

boosacnoodle

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#3010558 15-Dec-2022 22:28

If you cancel your order right now, you’ll go right to the back of the queue. The delay isn’t with your ISP - it’s with Chorus.

rattewisday

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#3010559 15-Dec-2022 22:37

I guess that’s part of what I’m trying to understand - does a “queue” actually exist? It seems like appointments won’t be moved up if sooner ones become available. Instead they’ll be provided to whoever happens to enter the back of the queue soon after the appointment becomes available.

phrozenpenguin

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#3010561 15-Dec-2022 22:57

Rather than the hassle of ADSL/VDSL (assuming you had that option) why not use 4G or 5G? Can be pretty affordable and assuming you have signal, faster than ADSL/VDSL.

quickymart

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#3010608 16-Dec-2022 09:02

rattewisday: I guess that’s part of what I’m trying to understand - does a “queue” actually exist? It seems like appointments won’t be moved up if sooner ones become available. Instead they’ll be provided to whoever happens to enter the back of the queue soon after the appointment becomes available.

Yes, there is a queue. If you want to see about changing your appointment keep in contact with Chorus and they can let you know if any cancellations come up - although you might be stretching it a bit to get something in before Christmas at this stage...however, you never know.

nztim

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#3010851 16-Dec-2022 14:46

rattewisday:

3) Do many ISPs offer temporary ASDL/VDSL connections while waiting for a fibre install? I haven't found much info about this online. All of the ISPs I've looked at only offer fibre when I enter the address (which makes sense, but isn't very helpful if I'll be without internet for over a month).

Appreciate any thoughts! Thanks

From the 1st of January 2023 in Sepcified fibre areas (SFAs) there is no more copper installs in those areas

The only exception (and both conditions must be met)

1. There is in in-flight fiber insulation order and there are significant delays

2. Copper withdrawal has not commenced in your area

a lot of RSPs have also taken the approach that if the address an SFA they won't offer copper (ahead of the chorus position)

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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rattewisday

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#3010854 16-Dec-2022 14:54

nztim:

rattewisday:

3) Do many ISPs offer temporary ASDL/VDSL connections while waiting for a fibre install? I haven't found much info about this online. All of the ISPs I've looked at only offer fibre when I enter the address (which makes sense, but isn't very helpful if I'll be without internet for over a month).

Appreciate any thoughts! Thanks

From the 1st of January 2023 in Sepcified fibre areas (SFAs) there is no more copper installs in those areas

The only exception (and both conditions must be met)

1. There is in in-flight fiber insulation order and there are significant delays

2. Copper withdrawal has not commenced in your area

a lot of RSPs have also taken the approach that if the address an SFA they won't offer copper (ahead of the chorus position)

Thanks, that's really helpful context. I figured something like this must be going on but hadn't seen anything concrete before now. Sounds like I'll keep pushing on Chorus, and explore fixed wireless as a backup.

Jase2985

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#3010921 16-Dec-2022 15:59

why did you file an order direct with chorus? why not through an ISP?

rattewisday

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#3010924 16-Dec-2022 16:00

I wasn't sure which RSP I wanted to go with yet and wanted to get the ball rolling. Do you think it would have made a difference, out of curiosity?

Jase2985

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#3010939 16-Dec-2022 16:55

maybe, maybe not.

its a bad time of the year to get anything done

raytaylor

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#3010966 16-Dec-2022 18:31

If an appointment slot becomes avaliable, whoever next schedules a fiber install will be able to take it. That person could be working inside chorus or at an RSP.

So you would indeed need to call chorus and ask them to check each day to see if an earlier slot has opened up and they can then move your appointment to that slot.

Sometimes the installers themselves will jump ahead and do things early if they get some spare time - like they finish a job early on a monday afternoon and so they might think "Oh i can go get started on that wednesday job since I am just around the corner"

But there doesnt seem to be much organisation within chorus for appointment / customer liaisons as the installers are all subcontractors and chorus wouldnt have much granular control over how they operate.

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everettpsycho

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#3010974 16-Dec-2022 18:52

I'm not sure how chorus works exactly but most utilities have a Christmas work freeze to avoid the risk of disrupting their existing infrastructure for the customers already connected up while the staff are stood down for the break. It's a good two week period where nothing gets done and then slowly Tampa w back up as the field crews return to work throughout January.

You might get lucky with a cancellation but knowing how little gets done over Christmas I'd think any cancellations this late would likely be from choruses end not the customers.

danfaulknor

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#3012051 19-Dec-2022 15:36

nztim:

rattewisday:

3) Do many ISPs offer temporary ASDL/VDSL connections while waiting for a fibre install? I haven't found much info about this online. All of the ISPs I've looked at only offer fibre when I enter the address (which makes sense, but isn't very helpful if I'll be without internet for over a month).

Appreciate any thoughts! Thanks

From the 1st of January 2023 in Sepcified fibre areas (SFAs) there is no more copper installs in those areas

The only exception (and both conditions must be met)

1. There is in in-flight fiber insulation order and there are significant delays

2. Copper withdrawal has not commenced in your area

a lot of RSPs have also taken the approach that if the address an SFA they won't offer copper (ahead of the chorus position)

This is on hold now - https://sp.chorus.co.nz/product-update/we-are-delaying-our-stop-sell-copper-services-sfas

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atomeara

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#3012568 20-Dec-2022 19:53

danfaulknor:

nztim:

From the 1st of January 2023 in Sepcified fibre areas (SFAs) there is no more copper installs in those areas

The only exception (and both conditions must be met)

1. There is in in-flight fiber insulation order and there are significant delays

2. Copper withdrawal has not commenced in your area

a lot of RSPs have also taken the approach that if the address an SFA they won't offer copper (ahead of the chorus position)

This is on hold now - https://sp.chorus.co.nz/product-update/we-are-delaying-our-stop-sell-copper-services-sfas

The big machine (Chorus) hadn't done its homework on a number of edge cases, Auckland Airport and Ports of Auckland to name a couple, I suspect there are a bunch of complex sites with consent and build issues, I am unsure how well there exception process had been defined but I suspect they were about to make a major headache for themselves.

Given there 320 techs short and some of regional median cycle times for installs are now sitting a 157 days they might want to wait until there house is more in order.

rattewisday

205 posts

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#3014012 26-Dec-2022 14:56

As a few folks mentioned it turns out calling up regularly can indeed secure you an earlier appointment, BUT it seems there are systematic issues (something about syncing of appointments between Chorus and their service provider -- at least in Auckland) which results in Chorus giving out appointments that don't actually exist.

Twice now I've supposedly had an appointment secured on a particular date but then it turns out it's out of sync with the service provider and they actually have a different date scheduled. I spoke to a helpful gentleman at Chorus who confirmed these are known issues and said that basically there's nothing they can do about it. So now after two supposed December appointments I'm back at an install at the end of Jan... maybe :-/ Very unimpressed.

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