Link to B4RN highlight video page

Fibre to the home is by far the best long term and more reliable solution, not suffering from interference, and providing a symmetric upload and download service (i.e. the same speed both ways). This is particularly relevant for Ewhurst’s outliers, and anyone wanting a 1 Gbps really fast connection in the central area too. We could do this using the road bridges over the streams to avoid “hard-dig” road crossings. Most of our routes could follow footpaths, together with free wayleaves over soft-dig fields, making this a viable solution and avoiding many of the difficulties that have been observed in central Ewhurst recently.

The PC strongly objects to the siting of this new equipment cabinet. Whilst the PC stress the fact that they would not question the principle for such a cabinet, it is the exact location which is of concern.

This is a conservation area… The siting is totally unacceptable; outside Grade 2* Listed properties.

The photo-montage is highly misleading. … in reality the cabinet would be the full height of the yew hedge… Misinformation of fundamental data is a grave concern.

… poorly thought through proposals are unacceptable. The proposed siting is totally unsuitable.

Two residents have joined the Parish Council in supporting the urgent need to install a new cabinet in the general vicinity (to enable faster broadband connections in that end of the village and the hills to the north) but there has been no support for the precise location specified in the plans. Click here for comments on the original story, here for the latest updates and comments on this cabinet, and here to see all responses to the application and the detailed plans (then click the [Plans and Documents] button).

Diane James has been efficient in meeting her responsibilities as Waverley Borough Councillor for Ewhurst. Diane spoke to the cottage owner right away, and has advised on the correct procedure for objections. She is now actively following the matter up with the Waverley Planning Officer to minimise the chance that the plans somehow get approved without amendment of the cabinet’s location.

Informal feedback from BT has indicated that a more appropriate location is now being looked into by a senior project manager. The source also suggests that they plan to “blow” the fibre to cabinet 19 as soon as possible, and that this should not necessarily be delayed by the issues with cabinets 6 and 20. Work on cabinet 6 may still be waiting for approval from the local authority, following the query over a fee.

It seems that the work to replace the faulty 500 pair cable in Cranleigh Road has now been completed. We hope that this will improve the performance of some existing connections. If you have noticed a significant improvement in the last couple of weeks, please do get in touch. There was a brief interruption to some services around lunch time last Saturday, so this may have been when the lines were switched to the new cable.

The majority of objectors suggest that the additional cabinet should be placed alongside the existing one, but Mike Turner of ESHB suggests that their favoured position is just around the corner “adjacent to the parking area outside the Fire Shield offices, tucked in to the fence bordering the Bull’s garden where it would not obstruct any footpath” (see photo below, courtesy Walter Willcox). Ewhurst Parish Council met with some of the residents affected last night, and are now considering how to respond to the planning application.

So, if after FTTC activation your line shows an estimated speed of at least 15Mbps downstream for “WBC FTTC” on the BT Wholesale availability check, then you should compare the standard FTTC services on offer from various service providers (start with the link shown in our item on costs) and choose one appropriate to your requirements. Walter will help with this on request, and would certainly like to be involved in any early connections.

If your line apparently cannot achieve this speed, then it becomes more a case of finding an ISP willing to give it a try for you. We will publish a list of those to contact, but Walter suggests that anyone in this situation should contact him first.

Note that BT have highlighted the limited coverage of their FTTC deployment at the end of their recent press release.

Fresh hole just uphill from the car park entrance 27/04/2012

Cabinet 6: Located at the bottom of Bookhurst Hill near the triangle, serving Bookhurst Road up to Canfold cottages, Barhatch Lane up to and beyond Horseblock Hollow and part of The Warren, and some others. Click here for status and postcodes covered.

Cabinet 18: Located on The Green by Plough Lane, serving the southern part of The Green, Plough Lane, Lower Breache Road, Horsham Lane down as far as the car “breakers” yard and Somersbury Lane. Click here for status and postcodes covered.

Cabinet 19: Located near the top of Cranleigh Road, serving from here up, nearly half of The Street, Gadbridge Lane, Mapledrakes Road etc. Click here for status and postcodes covered.

Cabinet 20: Located near The Bulls Head, serving the northern end of the village, Wykehurst Lane, Ockley Road, Holmbury Road, parts of Holmbury Hill and Radnor Roads, Shere Road, Coneyhurst Lane out to High Canfold Farm, Ride Way, part of The Warren, Moon Hall Road and Peaslake Road up to the Duke of Kent School. Click here for status and postcodes covered.

Some properties are not connected to the closest cabinet. For best broadband performance, you should have the shortest possible length of twisted pair copper/aluminium cable in the circuit. It is advisable to check this before ordering an FTTC service. If unsure, please contact us and, if you have not already subscribed, click here to be added to our mailing list for news and updates.

Cabinet status pages (and others) may be bookmarked for future reference. Subscribing to updates by email should ensure that you are automatically notified of significant updates to the main text, but will not alert you to new comments on the page. You can subscribe to comment notifications using the RSS feed, but this either requires your web browser to automatically handle RSS (many do) or the use of a separate RSS reader. If there is demand, we can set up an email subscription service for comments.

Service area: Bookhurst Road up to Canfold cottages, Barhatch Lane up to and beyond Horseblock Hollow and part of The Warren, and some others.

Our research indicates that properties in the following post codes are probably connected to cabinet 6. Postcodes in bold type also appear to include properties serviced by another cabinet. We know that there may well be errors in the source data which we have not spotted, and we are aware of some exceptions. So if you are unsure, or if a postcode looks wrong to you, please contact us.

Service area: Southern part of The Green, Plough Lane, Lower Breache Road, Horsham Lane down as far as the car “breakers” yard and Somersbury Lane.

Our research indicates that properties in the following post codes are probably connected to cabinet 18. Postcodes in bold type also appear to include properties serviced by another cabinet. We know that there may well be errors in the source data which we have not spotted, and we are aware of some exceptions. So if you are unsure, or if a postcode looks wrong to you, please contact us.