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mtq1000


Posts: 596
Joined: Oct 2008
Last Visited: 18:19
15th Apr 2021
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Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 13.32hrs on Sat 2 Nov 13
Fibre is often carried either as a wrap on the transmission tower earth wire (the top one) or is integral to the earth OPGW type conductor or in some cases is actually carried in the phase conductors.

The primary function of the fibre is protection purposes but there are spare bundles used for commercial purposes too.
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
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Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 13.40hrs on Mon 4 Nov 13
After a walk up from the base with bits of networking kit and laptop, we are back online up on Meall a' Bhuiridh. The old phone line up the hill which took ADSL to the top of the Access Chair had developed a(nother) line fault!

New switch has replaced the DSL modem and we're reversed the network to what was intended with the cams and weather station data now sent down through the fibre link to ADSL connections at the base.

It's been a lovely day so far here, sunny and almost calm on the walk up. Hopefully it will hold as forecast for a nice walk down!


ESD1711


Posts: 185
Joined: Nov 2011
Last Visited: 06:17
13th Feb 2019
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 13.56hrs on Thu 7 Nov 13
The vast majority of this thread has sailed right over my head - but would jut like to applaud the efforts involved in getting the cam's up, running and online.

Sterling effort smiling smiley
veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 17.57hrs on Fri 8 Nov 13
Payback for FTTC or even ADSL 2+ would be way too long for a commercial provider to consider given that there are just 25 lines on the Kingshouse exchange. How many of these lines have an active ADSL subscription? 50%?

BDUK could assist (despite the very poor way in which it has been run), but this would require the likes of the local council to apply for funding.

Some years ago, I worked on the outskirts of Stirling where we suffered 1Mbit sync speeds on ADSLMax. <1M down, <256K up - with 20 software engineers on the end of it! This was back in 2005 I guess.

Being the resident nerd, I signed us up with a company called hi-velocity (www.hi-velocity.net) - who appear to no longer be in business! They offered a true bonded solution where IP packets were split at both ends (via MLPPP), send over 4 ADSL lines and recombined. After overheads it gave about 3.5x the speed of a single line. Unlike 'poor mans bonding' it worked in both directions. It cost around £90/month.

We ran a Cisco 2811 with 4x ADSL WIC's

Eclipse are still offering Bonded ADSL - but its not cheap. With the Kingshouse exchange, there could be back-haul issues on bonded lines also leading to a lower than expected speed.

In other news, the camera I mentioned back in the summer pointed at Ben More near Crianlarich should be operational by the end of Nov. Some of the kit is already installed (for the WiFi link), the rest should go in in a couple of weeks time. I'll pass Alan the links to the images for use in WH.

Nigel




alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
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Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 19.06hrs on Fri 8 Nov 13
FTTC wouldn't work for most properties served by the Kingshouse exchange due to long distances between many of the properties - it serves right down Glen Etive too. FTTC very rapidly loses its benefits over ADSL 2+ when you get to over 400m of DSL over the copper wire from the cabinet to the property. FTTP would be much more practical and beneficial.

I think Three is missing a trick here to have a business broadband package tailored to suit use as a principle or sole broadband source, where mobile broadband gets speed significantly above the ADSL line.

I can get 6-8mbit at Glencoe on Three, the ADSL lines struggle to return >250kbs at best on a speed check despite syncing at 576kbs - I thus wouldn't expect bonding to increase the maximum speed, which is why we're trying load balancing to achive optimum use of what is available and may use the load balancer to send some of the load over Three (will see how it goes).

The Rannoch Moor mast is in the programme to be upgraded to DC-HSDPA (which can achieve 22mbit in Inverness and Fort William), but Three can't or wont say when! Need to get beyond the overseas call centres to someone in the know about what backhaul Three have, because it sure as hell isn't the same as the BT exchange!
Hipennine


Posts: 1061
Joined: Dec 2005
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 09.03hrs on Sat 9 Nov 13
Alan, three have a customer services office in Glasgow who are very helpful and seem to have authority to get things done. Demand the number from the overseas call centre (I've lost it).
benim83n


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2012
Last Visited: 12:13
17th Jul 2017
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 20.05hrs on Sat 9 Nov 13
I maybe be barking up the wrng tree here but what about satalite internet? (tooway)They offer up to 20mbps
Ive just been setting it up for our house as the wired internet is awful.
alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
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Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 22.34hrs on Sat 9 Nov 13
benim83n Wrote:
I maybe be barking up the wrng tree here but what about satalite internet? (tooway)They offer up to 20mbps
Ive just been setting it up for our house as the wired internet is awful.


Tooway's domestic offerings from what I've looked at look fairly reasonable, but business ones are either much more restricted or cost a fortune. There is also specifically with Glencoe the problem that there is not the required radio frequency line of sight to the satellites from the base buildings, which means it would not be a simple or cheap install!
veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 15.22hrs on Sun 10 Nov 13
Hi

Can't imagine the dish lasting very long if its strapped to the summit hut to get that satellite view!!

Another issue with FTTC is that the FTTC kit cannot currently be installed within the exchange building. Any line that runs straight to the exchange rather than through a street-side cabinet cannot currently get FTTC.This makes it less than useful in rural area's where most lines are connected directly to the exchange.

As to the speed/distance degradation, we are 1KM line of sight from our cabinet, and likely a bit more in terms of cable length. We get 37Mbits down, and 7Mbits up. So even at 1KM, FTTC is still significantly quicker than ADSL2+ which tops out at 24Mbit/1Mbit (or 16/3Mbit up on Annexe M). We got 4Mbits/1Mbit on ADSL2+ (total 5KM to exchange) so its a significant upgrade.

ADSL2+ will outperform FTTC over copper line lengths exceeding about 1.5KM. For many customers, the ability to have ADSL2+ kit in the street-side cabinet rather that FTTC kit would prove beneficial.

The pilot 4G project that EE have been running in Threlkeld in the lakes is interesting. This gave customers 20-odd Mbits. The speed of the Scottish 4G rollout from EE leaves alot to be desired. Cities like Dundee, Perth, Inverness go begging while far smaller locations in England already have it. This is largely due to a lack of presence from Virgin who have supplied much of the backhaul for 4G masts in England. Aberdeen should be turned on before the end of 2013 apparently.

Best interim solution is to make friends with the Kingshouse, and do a deal, getting a Sat broadband system offering 18Mbits down, 6Mbits up installed at the KH, then beam this over the road with a couple of grid antenna's, and share the cost of the connection with the Kingshouse. The 18 month contract could be a pain in the neck if something better comes along though. Still not cheap though!

Nigel
glenogle


Posts: 486
Joined: Feb 2008
Last Visited: 23:25
1st Jun 2018
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 18.55hrs on Sun 10 Nov 13
When you say not cheap, what kind of money you talking?
veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 23.21hrs on Sun 10 Nov 13
£280/month + VAT for a business package with a 100GB/month data transfer limit. And that's got a 2 year contract. Compared to a leased line I suppose its not bad, but compared to FTTC monthly costs...!

There are a number of providers now: astra2connect, ipcopter, Hertzinger and a load of resellers. Not all providers cover Scotland.

Nigel
jabuzzard


Posts: 885
Joined: Jan 2010
Last Visited: 11:02
16th Apr 2021
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 10.23hrs on Mon 11 Nov 13
alan Wrote:
The Rannoch Moor mast is in the programme to be upgraded to DC-HSDPA (which can achieve 22mbit in Inverness and Fort William), but Three can't or wont say when! Need to get beyond the overseas call centres to someone in the know about what backhaul Three have, because it sure as hell isn't the same as the BT exchange!


Backhaul for mobile phone mast has traditionally been a microwave link back to another mobile phone mast which then forwards it up the chain till eventually you get to a mast that has a fibre connection. You will usually see white circular things on the masts. Random Google search, first page I picked that shows what I mean.

[www2.redbridge.gov.uk]

The vertical white things are the transmitters that actually communicate with the phones. The large white circular thing is the uplink. The uplink is actually a dish, it looks flat because there is a cover over the top to stop dirt getting into the feed horn.

This works for two reasons, firstly traditionally mobile phones did not carry much data, and secondly the masts tend to be in high spots to give good coverage so they have good line of sight. With 4G and even some of the busier 3G masts the microwave backhaul is insufficient and fibre is required. A carrier grade microwave link is only good for a couple of Gbps at best which is an order of magnitude below a single fibre link, and typically fibre is laid in a bundle with more than one pair.

Life is harder for telephone exchanges because they tend not to have dirty great masts out the top and thus don't have good line of sight. Besides which microwave links don't have good bandwidth so the majority of telephone exchanges are now backhauled with fibre which of course is as I said before good for anything from 10Mbps to 100Gbps over the same single mode fibre depending what optics you put either end.

I am not sure where the Kingshouse exchange actually is however the Openreach where and when site at least has it down as under evaluation which is an improvement over a couple of weeks ago.

[www.superfast-openreach.co.uk]

The nearest exchange which is definitely getting upgraded is Ballachulish, though I notice that it has a microwave dish on the outside on Google Streetview, though that is four and half years old.

[goo.gl]

That said one of the things that the superfast broadband have been trumpeting is how much fibre is going to be laid in the Highlands, and my guess is a significant proportion will be to get fibre backhaul to the exchanges.

My guess is that Kingshouse is currently backhauled over an E1 link which is why you apparently cannot get the full throughput of the ADSL link speed.

The issue with exchange only lines is really stupid because there is no technical reason why they cannot put the VDSL2 DSLAM in the exchange, other than they have not been "qualified" to do so!!!

David Goldsmith


Posts: 1283
Joined: Feb 2003
Last Visited: 08:28
6th Nov 2018
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 23.59hrs on Wed 13 Nov 13
Some big-budget ($20,000 per camera) news about webcams from Aspen ...

[www.denverpost.com]
veletron


Posts: 447
Joined: Feb 2006
Last Visited: 14:46
1st Apr 2021
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 11.28hrs on Sat 16 Nov 13
SamKnows would appear to suggest that the KH exchange is somewhere around here: [goo.gl]

Perhaps the wee square building?
Dunc


Posts: 330
Joined: Nov 2004
Last Visited: 09:47
18th Mar 2021
Re: Webcams
Date Posted: 10.37hrs on Mon 18 Nov 13

Just noticed a new panoramic webcam location for the Lecht - it's up at the top of the Buzzard. Also, Winterhighlands link to Lecht webcam takes you to Nevis!Very confusing for the uninitiated. With the Lecht it almost seems a bit hit and miss when following links as to whether you'll end up with the Buzzard view, the 'old' view (down at the day lodge) or Nevis.

Dunc
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