Making the service more reliable

As users will know, we've had some glitches thanks to the unhappy arrangements at our network hub in Leintwardine. We're taking urgent steps to put those right and this includes arranging for Central Networks to install our own, separate, metered electricity supply. It's another cost we'd not bargained for - there seem to be quite a few of them - but once it's done we'll have removed one big chunk of uncertainty and unreliability. We're hopeful this will be completed before 1st May.

Ofcom

We're just finalising our OfCom registration: a few points to resolve, but all fairly straightforward. Contact David or Judith if you'd like the details.

Company Secretary

We've now completed the legal formalities, so Judith Phillips is now company secretary for good and proper.

Our first glitch

Having completed all the complicated stuff it was inevitable, really, that something fiddly should trip us up: we thought at first that some of the customer data on the network management device was input incorrectly - or a line of software code had got garbled - but we now think it was simply that the customer units on some of the houses hadn't quite digested the software update they were all given earlier in the week. The customer units were (remotely) given a second dose, and now all seem to be working. A big thank-you to Rob, who lost his Bank Holiday Friday morning whilst putting our network to rights.

Success!

6.25 pm, and the service is working. And I'm getting a nice strong signal and excellent bandwidth.

Drama on Day One....

This isn't the place - and I'm absolutely not in the mood - to go into the details, but if you bump into me (or into Brian in the pub) don't forget to ask about today's drama. A story you would not believe. Honestly. Fraught isn't the word.

Suffice it to say that QiComm and our ADSL provider both did us proud and share no part in the blame for the astronomic rise in stress levels. The network control equipment and router turned up wonderfully early at 9.30 am - although for reasons known only to the parcels delivery service it was addressed to Lingen Methodist Chapel. Certainly not QiComm's fault - we think someone at the parcels firm with a postcode database and not much common sense was responsible. Fortunately I was looking out of the window and we intercepted the parcel. As for the ADSL connections we needed, the service went live at about 2pm, with users gradually added to the network from late afternoon onwards. To find out exactly why it was as late as it was, you'll need to catch me or Brian, or perhaps Steve or Monica, all of whom have the full story....

....and now we wait

The service is now down. We're awaiting the delivery this morning of the two pieces of hardware - a router and a network manager - that connected into the system at our Leintwardine hub. Once they're here our engineer, Rob, will perform his magic tricks. Then we wait for our ADSL connections to go live. That could be in a few minutes, a few hours, or not until 10pm-ish tonight. Anxiety levels are high... fingers crossed.