Virgin TV Cable Wall Socket

[mishel02]

I am having my lounge plastered in 2 weeks and wanted to know if its possible to have a socket with wall plate installed on the wall to hide the cable from my virgin supply. At the moment it runs round the skirting boards and up a hole the installer cut in my carpet and looks awful

Is this the type of socket I need and how easy is it to fit please

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Satin-Chrom...8765&sr=1-33&keywords=sky+socket+plate+chrome

 

[winston1]

Absolutely not. Virgin cables must only be provided by isolated sockets provided by Virgin Media. This is to prevent dangerous voltages in your home due to different earth potentials between the headend and your home. It also protects the network from 240 volts being fed to it by faulty TVs in your home.

 

[mishel02]

ok thanks, is there anyway I can stop the cable coming up through my carpet as im having wood floors fitted instead. Its a tight fit too (not enough wire) as its pulled very taught into the back of the box

 

[winston1]

Probably best to call VM to reroute it. Can a hole be drilled through the wall from outside?

 

[DaveHerns]

Is this another example of a shoddy and slapdash Virgin installation?

 

[chivers67]

The cable should come from one of the above somehow. As previously mention if the cable was run outside it could be terminated neater, do you live in a terrace house or similar? There's normally a way of running cables neater and tidier when not under pressure to "get jobs" installed in the day. Without a bit more info it's hard to work out it's something you could do yourself. Normally the cables have screw thread crimped on connectors so isn't always easy to take these off and re-terminate.

 

[Lucid]

Normally the cables have screw thread crimped on connectors so isn't always easy to take these off and re-terminate.

(BiB) That's the understatement of the week Properly fitted crimps should be impossible to remove without damaging the end of the cable. The solution is to cut them off and then re-terminate. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that Virgin uses compression connectors and they're absolutely impossible to remove if fitted right. In either situation you should use an F-type back-to-back (barrel) connector to join on an extension cable if that's what is needed.

A second "incidental"; all the gear (cable, plugs, receiver boxes) belongs to Virgin. Messing about with any of it is technically an infringement of their Terms and Conditions. VM will send out gear to existing wired houses for customers to install their own but the cable is pre-terminated with the plugs at both ends and it is said to be tested before despatch. I don't know if the testing bit is pukka, but that's certainly what I have heard from several sources.

The reason VM (or any cable company for that matter) is fussy about the connection cables is that the client's home is directly connected back to the VM distribution hub. This isn't the case with an aerial or satellite dish. So in VM's case it is said that the load from each customer connection has to be balanced somewhere in their network. Changing or extending the wiring without VM's knowledge runs a risk of upsetting things for those also connected to the same local exchange I guess.

 

[chivers67]

Yeah it can put noise on the network and create issues particularly the upstream Broadband path asfaik

 

[mishel02]

Thanks everyone, Im not going to touch it