We have recently experienced two more Practices moving to fibre and/or changing broadband supplier without letting Support know the exact dates beforehand. If you are connecting branch surgeries live over broadband to your main server, this will result in a complete loss of service unless this is managed correctly. Do not let any third party phone or utility provider persuade you differently. Following is our standard position and procedure covering these processes.
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Moving to fibre or changing broadband suppliers ? (UPDATED – Feb 2016)
Posted on 13. Apr, 2015 by Teleos Systems in News
Moving to fibre
As the likes of BT Openreach and Eircom continue to roll out fibre broadband across the UK and Ireland, you may be contacted by your own Internet Service Provider (ISP) to encourage you to take the service. This is absolutely fine and we would encourage you to do so but please be aware of what the change means.
All fibre contracts last for a minimum of 12 months – unlike the Zen ADSL service in the UK which is just a one month contract. This is because the Wholesaler engineers need to visit your site to switch the local cabinet connections onto the fibre platform. They MAY also supply, fit and maintain a VDSL fibre modem as part of the contract. In the UK, BT Openreach have started supplying a combined VDSL modem and router (v5) which is incompatible with other routers as it has no ‘pass-through’ mode and is of no use for interconnecting Teleos sites.
If you currently have a Netgear DG834 wired or wireless router then this will also need to be changed and we recommend the Draytek 2860n ADSL/VDSL modem VPN router which supports ALL types of broadband including a mobile network dongle that can be set to act as a fallover backup if the land-line connection fails. These routers are available from Teleos for £265 + VAT pre-programmed. Should you wish to purchase your own unit, there is a £25 setup charge. THIS ROUTER IS NOW MANDATORY FOR ALL LIVE INTER-SITE CONNECTIONS RUNNING TELEOS.
Clients who have already upgraded to the Draytek 2830n ADSL VPN router MAY now need Draytek’s own Vigor 130 VDSL modem in order to move to fibre in the UK if Openreach do not install one of their own VDSL modems. We are advised that all UK Broadband Providers (such as Zen, BT Business Broadband or PlusNet – for example) are unable to specify whether Openreach’s VDSL modem will be supplied with any upgrade order or not ! Even Openreach engineers themselves will not know until they leave for the job on the day whether they will have a VDSL modem to fit or not.
The situation with providers in the Republic of Ireland is equally unclear – please email installations@teleosvet.co.uk to establish the current position.
Openreach’s sign-off position in the UK is solely to test for a fibre sync signal on the phone socket at the customer’s site – they are not required to test internet connectivity in any way and most will decline to even plug a customer’s router in ! The stupidity of this approach has been demonstrated on at least two occasions that we are aware of where the engineer connected the wrong pair of wires in the cabinet !! The sync signal was fine but it belonged to someone else’s connection so the credentials in the Practice router were never going to work. In this event, a ‘fault’ has to be raised which will likely delay implementation by at least a further 24 hours.
Please advise our Support Desk in plenty of time if you are intending to change to fibre – there is nothing we can do on the day to help – and, once the change to the cabling has been made by the Wholesaler, any other remedial work required will cost you extra !
Changing broadband suppliers
We have also experienced a number of Practices (who, in many cases, rely on broadband to connect their surgeries together) changing their broadband supplier without prior reference to our Support Desk.
Whilst Teleos do not specify a mandatory broadband supplier, if circumstances necessitate change, the new provider should always be of a reputable and reliable nature and not simply the cheapest available offering – all suppliers are not alike ! The quality of your broadband service not only affects your inter-site communications but also our Support Desk’s ability to support you. The most common cause of this situation arising is where third-party commodity broking companies offer attractive-looking combined deals on phones, broadband and energy.
It is usually a relatively straightforward process to re-program your router with a new broadband provider’s account but, in line with the terms of the Teleos Software Support Agreement (TSSA), under no circumstances should the existing router be replaced or re-programmed without our prior knowledge and agreement. This is not intended to be restrictive but it is to protect the integrity of your service and our ability to support you.
As reprogramming a router does not fall within the remit of the TSSA, we do reserve the right to make an additional charge for doing this and – without prior notice – we will always exercise this option.
Your co-operation is appreciated.
Teleos Systems Support (first posted : Mon 14th April 2014 @ 18:55)