Category: Toob

In September 2023, I noted that the Toob internet service was down. I first noted this at 08:40 in the morning.

I have used toob since May 2022 and this was the first daytime or evening outage I had noticed. There have been a couple of middle-of-the-night outages for a few minutes – probably routine maintenance.

I phoned Toob at 09:30 to see if there was an outage in the area. I was not at home at the time and was unable to check in detail. Toob said that other subscribers in the area were OK and that Toob was not aware of any issues. They noted they could not see light coming from the ONT on my premises.

I was puzzled as to what might have caused this. Could it be a power failure in my house? Will the food in my fridge and freezer be damaged? If I return home after dark, as was planned, will I be met with a dark house with no power and no dinner? I decided to return home to investigate in daylight hours.

On returning home I noted the power was still on. Upon investigation, I found the ONT had a red light on (Green – Red – Green). Red light means trouble. I called the Toob customer services number again at about 13:30. I re-powered the ONT and router, at his request, and he noted the problem had not changed. He dispatched an engineer to visit the same day.

At 15:00 the Toob engineers re-terminated a fibre cable in the termination box outside the house and my internet service was working again by 15:20.

What good service!

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October 24, 2023 – I noticed a brief outage at 03:00 – 03:02 – phoned Toob.
Is this the start of the outage as a few weeks ago?
Same symptoms – brief overnight outages.

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• February 2024 – I noticed 2 outages about a week apart. These were both due to equipment failure in a data centre. The system was out for several hours right across the toob network and affected most customers. As a result, toob has introduced Status Page on their network.

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• April 15 2024 – I noticed a severe throttling of the throughput to some websites on the evening of April 15, 2024. Notably, the websites hosted by Zen, but also others, including toob’s own website. The next morning throughput was so slow that it would not load.

However, Google seemed unaffected, perhaps a routing issue. Other ISPs indicated they had no issues. None on DownDetector. The problem persisted until 08:15 the next day (April 16) when all returned to normal.

DownDetector reported many users were having issues. It’s a pity toob’s customer service was closed; as soon as it opened, they became aware of the issue and all was resolved.

Toob’s status page was not updated until some time later, and any sign of the outage was removed from the status page by late afternoon.

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August 9, 2024 – Toob service went down just before 18:00 – the router light was red – the ONT had 3 green lights.

Downdetector reported issues.

Toob’s website and network status page were either not available or reporting issues.

Service was restored by 20:30
Reported in ISPReview

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October 25, 2024 – Experienced a brief (10-minute) outage. By the time I had noticed and investigated the service had returned to normal.
Toob emailed customers to advise them of the outage. How widespread? Exact duration? Cause? Not mentioned in the email

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October 28, 2024 – Experience a brief routing issue, some sites were accessible and some were not. I connected via a VPN and everything seemed OK. Unable to diagnose further.

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December 18, 2024 – Experienced a brief outage at 11:28-11:32. Asked toob cust service and no reason was found.

Location of Router and ONT

You need to plan where your Optical Network Termination (ONT) box and WiFi router are to be located. The ONT needs to located on an outside wall where the fibre-optic cable enters your house. These devices do not need to be co-located but need to be connected via ethernet. Each device requires mains power.

WiFi
If you are to rely on the toob router as your only point for WiFi access then the router location is key to good WiFi performance. There are guides for finding the optimal location for your WiFi router on the internet. The best place is probably not where you have your existing router; like in amongst the jumble of wires behind the TV.

Mesh WiFi
If you have a larger home, consider using a mesh WiFi system to deliver high-speed WiFi throughout your home. This might replace the toob WiFi service from the router.

Telephone
If you need to connect wired telephones to the router then this adds another factor to the decision about the location of the router.

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Performance

I left the service running for a day or so and started testing in earnest. I connected my existing mesh WiFi to the toob router and found I could get 100 Mbps or more throughout the house and into the garden. Upload and download speeds were similar with both speeds being slightly slower in the evening. In many rooms in my house, I can see speeds approaching 450Mbps, via mesh WiFi.

Ethernet attached devices are delivering 900Mbps+ upload and download. These speeds have remained consistant throughout the first year of operation (May 2022 – May 2023). Ping speeds are consistently <6ms.

I found that older PCs were not able to deliver the full gigabit speeds but were limited to <100 Mbps.

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Reliability

A network analysis tool has found that the reliability is high (99.99% and more) with only a couple of very brief interruptions in service.

There have been a few longer interruptions in service in the first year of operation. Two of these were pre-announced via email and one was an unplanned interruption.

• On the latter occasion, in April 2024, I contacted toob by email and they advised there was indeed an issue overnight (02:00-06:00).
• In August 2024 there was an interruption in service of 2.5 hours from 18:00.

Ping analysis has shown that there is no perceptible packet loss (failed pings) during normal operation.

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In late 2020 there was a big fanfare when toob announced it was to install gigabit internet connectivity in Camberley and Frimley.

Benefits of new technology internet services.

Who is toob?

Toob is a Portsmouth based ‘altnet’ company that is installing gigabit internet networks in Portsmouth, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford and Southampton. Locally toob is expanding its network to Blackwater and beyond.

Toob’s infrastructure build

In Sep 2020, toob sought planning permission to erect a cabin at Camberley Cricket Club to house the necessary infrastructure for a fibre-optic gigabit network hub. The company already operate a gigabit internet service in Southampton, offering speeds of up to 900Mbps (both download and upload speed).

By Apr 2021 the cabin had been installed and design and implementation works were in progress. Ducts were being surveyed and cleared in several areas of Camberley. Toob planned to use BT/Openreach ducts, where it could, and to deliver to houses using Openreach’s poles where this was the means of delivery of telephone service. This work and new duct laying work continued slowly and neat green roadside cabinets started to appear. It seemed that there was only a small workforce deployed on this phase of the project.

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By Feb 2022, some progress was being seen in Hillcrest Road. The route seemed to be along Crawley Ridge, Portsmouth Road, into Wellington Park. Work was in progress to connect the various telephone poles to the underground ducts. New sub-ducts were being installed, where necessary. Strange markings appeared on Openreach chambers. I suspect there may need to be a new duct laid in the lower parts of Hillcrest Road. There was a significant amount of new duct laid to the flats opposite Seymour Drive from Highbury Close. Work was also seen in neighbouring streets like Beaufront Road and Iberian Way.

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In Feb 2022, toob’s website announced that it was taking orders for some parts of Camberley, other parts were ‘in build’ while our area remained ‘in design’.

I wondered how long it might be until we were in the ‘taking orders’ category. A few months I expect. But I am sure it will be worth it.

March 14 2022 – I saw CBTs being installed on poles in Church Hill. CBTs have been spotted on poles in Hillcrest Road as well. Also work is starting north of the A30

Toob has connected users already – Surrey Live March 4

Users of the new toob internet service are generally very pleased with their offering.
Their installation experience was good, performance is as described and others report no interruptions in service. The WiFi is much superior to VM’s WiFi offering and one user reports he has been able to dispense with all WiFi repeaters in a larger house, and their toob WiFi reaches into their garden.

In early April 2022 – Toob started to dig in Hillcrest Road

Then I saw some fibre appear – so it looks like they have installed fibre to the pole. Have they installed it all the way up the road yet?

Next, they will install the pole connector block at the top of the poles and then the fibre to the houses can be installed.

April 25, 2022 – I hear that toob is asking Wellington Park residents if they wish to have toob internet installed. Installation happens after a few days.

toob installation – May 2022

April 29, 2022 – received notification that I could now order toob. I completed the order and scheduled the installation. Hopefully, it will happen in a couple of weeks. Now I need to plan the internal stuff – where to locate the NTE, the router and associated switches, and sort out the power sockets.

May 5, 2022 – toob phoned me to delay the installation as they were not ready. The connector blocks have been installed at the top of the poles in the last few days. I don’t yet have a new date for installation. Wellington Park residents are having toob installed this week and have reported no issues. These houses have underground delivery. Facebook link (Private Group)

May 9, 2022 – toob arranged a new date for installation

May 16, 2022 – Installation Day – toob arrive on-site and start the installation. A cable was run from the top of the pole in the street to my house and then 10m across the front of the house (out of sight) to an entry box on the outside wall. Then through the wall to the ONT.
Within an hour after arriving they were demonstrating the toob service was running 900Mbps+ (to the ONT). It’s a bit slower out of the router and (of course) WiFi does not deliver anywhere near 900Mbps; but 450Mbps was seen in the same room as the router.

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See my post on Toob Installation and Performance

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