NTL Telephone Lines - (Where does the copper pair terminate)

[dannyboi2003]

Hi Guys,

Out of curiosity can anyone explain how NTL's telephone lines work as i know NTL dont have exchanges like BT but have head ends/nodes with the network comprised of fibre optic cables up to the large 3-door cabs near your house. I know that the coax services like TV and Broadband are supplied up to the cabs by fibre and then converted over to coax, does the same apply to the copper pair telephone lines as in the line is supplied as fibe up to the big cab where it then gets converted to copper pair. Or does the copper pair run all the way back to the head end/node ad then terminate onto the network.

I'm just curious as i work in IT and look after our internal telephone systems, i have a good idea how BT's network set up is but are not so clear on the NTL side of things even though i have NTL at home myself - lol!

If anyone can let me know then that would be great.

Cheers Guys
Dan

[bob_builder]

Yes, fibre to street cabinet. Wire from there to house.

[dannyboi2003]

Hi Bob,


Thanx for the reply, I thought that was the case but wanted someone "in the know" to confirm that.

Cheers
Dan

[injuneer]

Ntl does still have exchanges (digital switches) , about 100 across the country. Usually located at the head end. The only difference, as you rightly observed, is the method of distribution to the customer. In BT the voice analogue/digital conversion is done at the switch site but in Ntl it's done at the street cabinet and then multiplexed onto a fibre.

[dannyboi2003]

Hi injuneer,



Thanx for your reply to my post, i'm much clearer on how things work on NTL's network now and in comparison to BT its certainly much more advanced.



I have 2meg BB from NTL and would also sign up for the TV as well but I donââ‚Âà ‚¬ÃƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚¢t want the telephone line, as I have no need for it. I have had the BB for about 5 years now and signed up originally to their 64k service (wow that takes me back) and I can honestly say that I have never had any problem with my BB connection and after reading some of the many posts on here I guess Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m in the minority. I have a Terayon cable modem that was supplied by NTL, was this the original cable modem they supplied and is it any good? cos I think it looks a lot better than some of the tiny naff things they give you these days.



When I had the house cabled when I signed up it was done by guys actually employed by NTL and not contractors so they were very accommodating and installed the cabling exactly how I wanted it. Put the outdoor grey box in the passage as I didnâ₠¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢t want it on the front of the house and ran the cables up through the ceiling and under the floorboards to my bedroom, thy were quick, tidy and very polite. The tea and coffee's I offered them even before they set foot inside the house must have done the trick - lol!



Anyway, sorry bout that, I was only going to do a quick reply.



Thanx again and take care.

Dan

[spike7451]

It's Fibre up to the Mux/DA where the telco is split off into the mux,thru the 30 channel line cards & then into the E sidesIt's then physically jumper wired up to the D sides which are the numbered Krone strips in the cabs,then onto the Drop cables to the house.(E & D sides are in the side hatch of the Mux & the cross connector lad runs a wire from his given E side to the given D side,from there go the distibution cables to the cabs)
The CATV runs from the DA (Distrubution Amp,next to the mux)where it is changed into copper.From there it goes into a DP cab.Amplified to the tap banks & sent off to the E cabs (smaller street cabs)
In each cab there are various ratings of tap banks.Each rating is the degree of atteniution of that port (ie,if you have a 12 & a 24 DBmv tap & the house is 120 meters away,you would connect the cable to the 15,not the 24 which has higher attenuation)
Each Mux/Dp is called a 'node' & there are up to 8 nodes in a ring.The 'power' runs in both directions so if there is a break,loss of service should be minimal.All the nodes run back to the 'headend' or 'hubsite'.
Forgive me if bits of this are'nt to accurate,the course was a long,long time ago.
Spike

[simbr]

Originally Posted by dannyboi2003

I can honestly say that I have never had any problem with my BB connection and after reading some of the many posts on here I guess Iâ₠¬ÃƒÆ’¢â€žÂ¢m in the minority.

Well, the problem there is.. noone ever comes here just to say it *does* work :P

Originally Posted by simbr

Well, the problem there is.. noone ever comes here just to say it *does* work :P

Exactly, this is after all a place where people with problems come.