Going fibre broadband & moving master socket.

[CluelessDIYer1]

Few images for you first...

Layout of house...


Master socket...


We've had the house 12 months now & the phone line has been disconnected all that time. We're looking at being set to move in in January.

We're wanting to go for fibre broadband. The master socket is located where the red X is in the living room & i'd like it where the green X is in the hall.


1. Is this likely to be ok? I've read about (BT Openreach?) refusing to move master sockets, but that if you're having fibre installed then they're more likely to do it.

2. What does moving the master socket entail? Would a new wire have to come from the mast to the house & drill in to the house from the outside? (& make a mess of the wall we just painted )

3. While i'm at it, we've decided we'd go with Sky for fibre. I know they provide their own router/hub. I also imagine it's perfectly fine to use your own router. Thing is, can it be any modem/router or does it have to be specifically one for wireless (do they even exist)?

As you'll see, when the guys were in doing the living room, they broke the wires that fed to the existing master socket.

Without going in to detail (have done that in the plastering forum), the vast majority of the living room will actually need doing again, including where the master socket currently is due to whatever that stuff is growing there - mould/damp?

 

[AlanE]

3. While i'm at it, we've decided we'd go with Sky for fibre. I know they provide their own router/hub. I also imagine it's perfectly fine to use your own router. Thing is, can it be any modem/router or does it have to be specifically one for wireless (do they even exist)?

Don't sweat on that one. Supplied router may well have connection details preloaded and you may not get the information from Sky!

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Oops I meant specifically one for fibre not for wireless. D'oh. Or do wireless ones cover fibre perfectly fine?

I know Sky will provide one but I've read about many people having gripes with it & how it's very poor compared to others.

 

[cajar]

if you're having a new line installed you can just tell the openreach guy where you want the socket to go, he has to put it where you ask.

drilling out and covering the hole with the socket would be the neatest job, but I guess he would prefer to run the cable inside the house anyway if that's what you want.

you need a vdsl modem, standard ones are adsl and not suitable. login details are preloaded like the other guy said, although I think you can get the information if you want to use your own. the new sky "fibre" modems seem to perform quite well though, including wireless strength.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

In that case i have never seen a fibre modem/router. I was looking on eBuyer & they all say ADSL that i was looking at.

I'm wanting to run the PC on a wired connection. My plan is to drill through the floor/ceiling & run a cable to the socket in the hall. That would enable the PC room to be wired.

I was thinking of a double cat5e socket mounted to the skirting.

Q1: Would 2 cables from the router be required for this or could you have a double socket with just 1 cable from the router?

Then i would run a cable from this socket to the PC ..... wired connection sorted.

The idea would be to have a cable running from the other socket to a wireless access point on the desk which would enable a good signal for the master bedroom instead of just hoping that the signal from the router in the hall would be strong enough.

Q2: Would that setup work? I don't mean would it give great signal, but would it work in that - would the PC then be wired & the access point act as a signal booster/range extender for the upstairs?


Q3: When installing a new line/master socket, how much of a mess do these guys make when drilling in to the house?

 

[cajar]

you can run 2 cat 5 sockets off one cable as they don't use all 8 wires but it restricts the speed you can run on it, better to run 2.

yes the wireless access point will work.

they drill from the house out, hole is about 8-10mm inside and normally covered with the socket anyway. sometimes the brick will blow out outside and leave a larger exit hole but that's just luck. they should seal it outside with silicon.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Marvellous - our outside is dashed so watch big chunks come off

I've since learned 1 cable to 1 socket box & then connecting a switch to this which can feed both the PC & a wireless AP would work just fine.

Easy when (someone else) knows how

 

[cajar]

it will work with a switch, some access points may have a built in switch. if not I would run 2 cables just to avoid having another device using the leccy

 

[steve1976]

Few images for you first...

Layout of house...


Master socket...


We've had the house 12 months now & the phone line has been disconnected all that time. We're looking at being set to move in in January.

We're wanting to go for fibre broadband. The master socket is located where the red X is in the living room & i'd like it where the green X is in the hall.


1. Is this likely to be ok? I've read about (BT Openreach?) refusing to move master sockets, but that if you're having fibre installed then they're more likely to do it.

2. What does moving the master socket entail? Would a new wire have to come from the mast to the house & drill in to the house from the outside? (& make a mess of the wall we just painted )

3. While i'm at it, we've decided we'd go with Sky for fibre. I know they provide their own router/hub. I also imagine it's perfectly fine to use your own router. Thing is, can it be any modem/router or does it have to be specifically one for wireless (do they even exist)?

As you'll see, when the guys were in doing the living room, they broke the wires that fed to the existing master socket.

Without going in to detail (have done that in the plastering forum), the vast majority of the living room will actually need doing again, including where the master socket currently is due to whatever that stuff is growing there - mould/damp?

You can fit a bt80 junction box where the existing socket is and run a new cable to where you want the master socket to be sited. the colours on the master socket will be orange and white they connect to the 2 screw terminals on the socket marked A and B[/quote]

 

[Bodgeitandleggit]

Take the socket off and leave it... when you order the line they will test it and if all is testing fine you probably wont get a openreach engineer visit... when he comes just tell him you moved in and it was like that he will the put it where you require it

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Wont they have it on record there's been no phone connected for over a year & want to know why, or are they not that inquisitive?

As for the socket in the living room - we don't want it there really. That wall is suffering from damp & we want that sorting. We wonder if water is coming in along the cable. I'm not convinced but i can't think of anywhere else the damp is getting in. Damp aside, we still don't need a socket there. We'll have a cordless phone which will sit in the living room.


Question:

There is a socket in the hall right now. There's also a phone extension in the master bedroom & PC room. Looking at it i see cabling running from the socket in the hall & i guess it runs up the stairs, to the PC room & then to the master bedroom.

Or something to that effect.

Could they install a master socket in place of the hall socket & then connect the other wiring to it, therefore enabling a phone connection in the PC room & master bedroom? (So they don't actually have to install extensions, just connect up the existing).

Would that work?

 

[cajar]

they could, but won't. you'll need to connect your extension wiring yourself after they installed the new socket.

 

[Bodgeitandleggit]

here is a tip... drill the hole where you want the cable bringing into then run internal cable from you extension to where you have drill the hole and when the openreach engineer turns up a nice cup of tea and some chocolate biscuits will probably do the trick... don't forget to leave that socket off and play dumb... saying it was like that when you moved in .. they have a record that you have had a line but not where about.

forget about the old extension wiring and get some cat5/6 and run that in

 

[bernardgreen]

forget about the old extension wiring and get some cat5/6 and run that in

The ADSL signal is designed to make the best use of low twist telephone cable CW1308, If you use CAT 5 or 6 cable to take the ADSL signal to the router / modem then the much higher twist will reduce the quality of the ADSL signals to and from the router / modem.

 

[CluelessDIYer1]

Seems a bit computer says no to me. If the wiring currently exists then why not just connect the new master socket to the existing extensions. All this 'not in my job description' nonsense, especially it it's something real quick & easy to do.

Will see if the person who comes out is hopefully not a jobsworth.