20 March 2019
News
Jun
28
Newsletter, Live Connections, Routers, Administration, The Hub
EXCITING NEWS
We are now able to announce that we have LIVE CONNECTIONS to our Hub and have a small number of residents connected to 1 Gb internet.
We were unable to make this announcement before now as we had a Welsh Assembly Government visit planned for 25th June to see the progress being made and the news was embargoed until after the visit.
You can see the official press release here https://gov.wales/newsroom/science-and-technology/2018/180625-Pioneering-project-delivers-Ultrafast-broadband-for-Welsh-rural-community/?lang=en
Julie James AM, Leader of the House and Chief Whip came along with our local AM Jane Bryant. Peter Williams, Glen Preece, Al Khan from The Welsh Government Broadband Team also called in to check on progress. They were all very impressed with the work that has been completed so far and regard us as a fantastic example of what a community can achieve when it puts its mind to it.
We are the first rural community built 1Gbps / 1000Mbps Fibre to the Property network in Wales. And I am assured that we lead the field in
- Affordability
- Equal download and upload speeds
- Bringing the community together in both digital and analogue environment
- Learning new skills
- We are on a par with the B4RN project in England
- And whilst 1000Mbps is very very fast, the local network could be upgraded in the future to handle speeds of more than 100Gbs or 100,000Mbps
This is incredibly exciting and an amazing feeling to have reached a milestone in our project but the work is far from complete, so now we carry on. We plan to hold a big party towards the end of the project for everyone to come together and celebrate the success of Michaelston y Fedw Internet CIC.
As a result of The Welsh Government visit we have had visits from Wales Online and the BBC, and press releases have also been picked up by a variety of publications. I will endeavour to pass the links on so you can read them for yourselves. These are just some of them, and they are added to on a daily basis on the progress page of our website.
Our project is world news !
The following are just some of the links to web pages about our project :~
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/8097-welsh-community-forms-cic-and-has-started-to-deliver-fttp
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/village-slow-broadband-installed-fibre-14832714
https://themanpost.com/welsh-village-of-michaelston-y-fedw-install-own-superfast-broadband/
http://expressdigest.com/welsh-village-of-michaelston-y-fedw-install-own-superfast-broadband/
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/villagers-fed-up-with-slow-internet-take-matters-into-their-own-hands
We have also been interviewed for BBC Wales, 5 Live , Canada Broadcasting Corporation …… the list goes on………….. All in all a very surreal week, but now we must get on with the important task of getting everyone connected as quickly as we can.
Barry Dixon very kindly videoed the Radio 5 interview and downloaded the live recording to put them together and they can also be seen on the Progress Page of the website.
Now onto the continued updates and progress reports:~
Grant Updates
Phil Middleton has now completed the Welcome Pack and administrative paperwork required to complete the business end of the Internet Service. In the early stages of completed connections his wife Ruth will accompany him on the initial visits to go through all the paperwork with you and then she will continue along with another volunteer.
Please have your Elective Claim Form at the ready, but don’t worry if you are unable to find it as we have some spare copies.
We are in the early stages of connections and there is still some refining and configuration to do in The Hub so there may be one or two short disruptions to the service. Because of this, monthly payments will be set to begin on 1st August 2019 (first 12 months free for current subscribers) which reflects any disruptions that may occur in the next few weeks.
Any new subscribers to Michaelston-y-Fedw Internet CIC internet service may still qualify for grants and may incur additional costs for installation and connection. New subscribers will also be charged £30 per month from the date of connection.
Construction and Progress
Construction has slowed over the past 10 days due to the focus on getting the server and router in the Hub up and running to enable connections however we should have 34 residents connected within the next week or so.
Trenching and Ducting
The trenching and laying of ducts will continue following the road and river crossings which are planned to take place soon.
Fibre Blowing and Splicing
We have sourced the equipment which will enable us to blow the 24 and 72 fibre that we need to get to various chambers that are now installed at Haygrove, and near to Cefn Mably Farm Park.
Router installations
To date Jim Dunk and Glyn Williams have installed 53 Routers ~ I am following close behind to splice “pigtail” leads where fibre has been blown to the property.
Please get your spades out and dig the trench in your gardens so that ducts can be laid, fibres blown, routers installed etc etc and you can then be connected.
Slab Laying
Jim, Glyn and Richard Raybould have done a marvellous job of laying slabs around The Hub. They look great and will certainly help keep muddy feet out of The Hub.
IT for The Hub
Mark Sainsbury and Duncan Law spent a great deal of time working in The Hub, configuring the software. Lawrence Russell spent hours on the phone to Genexis in Amsterdam to finally get the issues resolved. We are now, thanks to these guys who spent many hours after work well into the evening, able to provision routers. Your time and hard work is much appreciated. Thank you
The visit on Monday by The Welsh Assembly Government could not have gone ahead if you had not been successful with your efforts.
Cefn Mably Park
Dave Schofield met with a group of residents at Cefn Mably Park to discuss the planning of pulling ducts through their current chambers ready for blowing fibre. Phil Grant has gathered an eager and willing group of volunteers who along with additional volunteers will start this on Saturday 21st July. Any additional volunteers who want to roll their sleeves up and help please come along, we are meeting at 10.00 A.M.
When the ducting has been pulled through to each property subscribing, routers can be installed, fibres blown and pigtails spliced ready for connection once the 72 fibre has been bought up from the chamber at Daintree House.
Technical information
I have been asked to put some technical information into the newsletter to manage your expectations with regard to our 1Gbps internet.
Your speed will vary according to both your equipment and connection.
You will get maximum speed when connected directly with a Cat 5,6 or 7 lead and your laptop or PC has a 1Gb network card.
Mobile devices such as iPad’s, Tab’s and phones are more likely to get 300Mbs via Wi-Fi, maybe more at close range, but this of course depends on the network cards in those devices.
Speed is also dependent upon the thickness of walls in your property, the location of your router, whether you have fluorescent lighting etc. Many things can affect the speed of Wi-Fi.
This is not just applicable to our router, this applies to all Wi-Fi routers.
AOB
Harvest Festival
Dave Schofield has received an invitation from Jan Sainsbury and Jen Richardson, the Wardens of St Michael’s Church to acknowledge our efforts by including MyFi with the Harvest Thanksgiving Service in Church on October 7th. The Bishop will be attending, and the community is invited to the Church at 11.15 to join together and give thanks. It will be as user friendly as possible and will be followed by a simple Harvest lunch in the village hall afterwards. If anyone is interested they would be pleased to have numbers beforehand to be able to cater appropriately.
The date of the next meeting is Thursday 12th July 2018 at 7.30 P.M.
Everyone is welcome to attend, to hear further progress and to ask questions.