If your "full fibre" broadband in Leicester is dropping out, running slower than promised, or an engineer has left wiring half-finished, the fault usually sits in the fibre run itself rather than your router. This guide explains what fibre testing actually checks, what it costs locally, and how to tell whether you need it.
CityFibre and Openreach have both been laying full fibre across Leicester for several years now, reaching estates in Oadby, Wigston, Birstall and Syston as well as older terraced streets around Clarendon Park and Highfields. New infrastructure doesn't mean a trouble-free install though. The most common issues we're called out for are a fibre tail pulled too tightly around a skirting board, a connector that wasn't cleaned properly before it was plugged in, or an ONT (the small box the fibre plugs into) mounted somewhere with a poor signal reading from the start.
Older housing stock causes its own headaches. Solid walls and shared chimney breasts in Victorian terraces mean the internal cable run from the external box to the router often has to take a longer, more awkward route, with extra bends that stress the fibre more than it should be.
A genuine fibre test isn't just restarting your router. An engineer uses an optical power meter to read the signal level arriving at your ONT, and compares it against the expected range for your network (GPON systems like Openreach's typically expect a receive power between about -8dBm and -27dBm). A reading outside that band points to a fault somewhere between the street cabinet and your wall.
For a more detailed diagnosis, or to certify cabling after a new install or extension, an OTDR (optical time-domain reflectometer) sends a light pulse down the fibre and maps back any point of loss, whether that's a dirty connector, a tight bend, or a bad splice. This is the same test used to sign off structured cabling in offices and warehouses, scaled down for a single domestic run.
A straightforward diagnostic visit for a Leicester home, covering the drive out from Ilkeston along the A6 or M1, a power meter reading and a visual check of the cabling, typically runs somewhere in the £85 to £150 range depending on access and how much of the route needs tracing. If an OTDR trace and written certification are needed, for example after a new extension or a rewire, that tends to sit between £150 and £350, mainly driven by how many internal runs there are to test.
Most domestic jobs are done within a couple of hours. If the fault turns out to be inside the network provider's own infrastructure rather than your internal wiring, that's reported back so you can raise it with Openreach, CityFibre or your ISP rather than paying for work on their equipment.
If your speed test results are consistently well below what you're paying for, if the connection drops at certain times of day, or if you're planning an extension or loft conversion that will need the fibre run extended or re-routed, it's worth getting it tested properly rather than guessing. It's also sensible after any building work where a cable may have been disturbed, even if the fault doesn't show up straight away.
Intermittent faults are often the ones worth testing for, since a marginal signal reading or a stressed bend in the cable can cause occasional dropouts long before it fails completely. Catching it early usually means a simple fix rather than a full re-run later.
We can test right up to and including the ONT in your home, but the street cabinet and the network itself belong to the relevant provider and any fault there has to be reported to them. Our test will tell you clearly which side of that boundary the problem sits on.
A basic diagnostic visit with a power meter reading generally takes under two hours including travel. A full OTDR trace and certification for a newly installed run takes a bit longer, usually half a day, depending on how many cable runs are involved.
Tell us about your project, send any drawings or schedules, and we'll come back the same day with a clear, itemised quote.
