Cityfibre and location of ONT

[DIYWell]

I'm planning to ditch VM's cable service and defect to Cityfibre as they've installed fibre to our street.

Has anyone had any experience of CF refusing to mount their ONT inside of the house rather than on the interior of the external wall the fibre comes in at? My plan is to have the ONT in a cupboard about 5m away from the wall.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

If it a simple "tack it along the skirting board scenario" then I can't see why they wouldn't do it. Could you ask them to leave the internal portion of the cable loose but long enough to reach the cupboard and you could fix it neatly to suit yourself.

 

[DIYWell]

If it a simple "tack it along the skirting board scenario" then I can't see why they wouldn't do it. Could you ask them to leave the internal portion of the cable loose but long enough to reach the cupboard and you could fix it neatly to suit yourself.

Plan would be to run it under the floor. I can easily prepare a route for that.

My assumption is they terminate the external armoured fibre optic to a box mounted outside by the entry point then connect a short patch fibre optic from the box to the ONT inside. I'm sort of thinking that if I install a 15m fibre they won't be too fussed where the ONT goes, and if they are, I'll just relocate it once they've gone.

 

[hllns]

Straight runs of surface mount trunking may be alright but I can see them having issues with something going underfloor due to the possibility of kinking or damage and ease of replacement. They'll also want to supply the pigtail, they're not likely to use something customer provided.

 

[DIYWell]

Straight runs of surface mount trunking may be alright but I can see them having issues with something going underfloor due to the possibility of kinking or damage and ease of replacement. They'll also want to supply the pigtail, they're not likely to use something customer provided.

Do you speak from experience?

Surface mount trunking is a non-starter since a straight run would only take it to the other side of the room.

 

[Diver Fred]

When I went over to fibre I wanted the ONT and router in the middle of the house. I prepared the 'path' for the fibre Including drilling through the wall and lifting the floor. The installers were very happy with what I'd done as it made their job easier.

But then I went to BT for service. Installation was by Openreach...

 

[Sureitsoff?]

they wont use a customer provided fibre patch lead but will probably use a customer provided conduit from outside to where you want the ONT simply leave a draw string in the the conduit then the cable can be pulled through. make the conduit run as straight as possible without any tight bends
the outside cable from pole or manhole is spliced to the internal cable in a box called a csp outside on the wall so if you can provide a conduit from where you want the CSP and the ONt to be they will probably use the conduit as it makes there job easier after all.

 

[DIYWell]

they wont use a customer provided fibre patch lead but will probably use a customer provided conduit from outside to where you want the ONT simply leave a draw string in the the conduit then the cable can be pulled through. make the conduit run as straight as possible without any tight bends
the outside cable from pole or manhole is spliced to the internal cable in a box called a csp outside on the wall so if you can provide a conduit from where you want the CSP and the ONt to be they will probably use the conduit as it makes there job easier after all.

Ok, reading up, and assuming CityFibre do the same as Openreach, it looks like they physically splice the fibre rather than use the CSP to hold a SC/APC coupler.

Now, conduit. We talking the corrugated flexi tube stuff electricians use, or the 20mm white tube telecoms use that I've seen in other countries? Or can that be skipped and the fibre threaded through holes drilled through floor joists?

 

[Sureitsoff?]

Trouble with trying to get a cable through drilled holes is, what if it catches on a joist and gets stuck? Have you got access to get to where it is stuck? With conduit, even the wrinkly stuff, it is smooth inside and easy to pull a cable through and easy to pull a replacement through should that be necessary for any reason.
I used the wrinkly stuff to get my fibre cable from soffit across the loft and down through the stud walls to a cupboard in the middle of the house where I wanted the ONT and router. From there I ran cat5 and cat 6 cables to sockets all around the house.
I am fussy and don't like seeing electrical "spaghetti" so try to make all my cabling as neat as possible.

 

[DIYWell]

Trouble with trying to get a cable through drilled holes is, what if it catches on a joist and gets stuck? Have you got access to get to where it is stuck?

Yep, the floorboard will be up so not an issue threading it through.

 

[DIYWell]

I used the wrinkly stuff to get my fibre cable from soffit across the loft and down through the stud walls to a cupboard in the middle of the house where I wanted the ONT and router.

Installers won't enter attics unless they're habitable spaces. They're all too scared of spiders I suppose.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

Yep, the floorboard will be up so not an issue threading it through.

so while the boards are up put in some conduit...

 

[DIYWell]

so while the boards are up put in some conduit...

There's already mains cables in the run so plenty of space for a fibre

 

[morqthana]

People should not be forced to have any visible cabling or accessories in their house if they don't want.

 

[Sally2000]

There's already mains cables in the run so plenty of space for a fibre

You can try it but they may not want to run the fibre in with a bunch of cables in case of mechanical damage. Is there room for the green tube that they use to protect the fibres outside?