Moving Virgin cable modem

[shagster]

I would like to move my cable modem to another part of the house. There is plenty of slack on the cable from the road and they never buried it when they initially connected me, so I thought this won't be too difficult. The only problem is that the cable between the junction box outside and the attenuator block inside won't pull through the hole they drilled in my wall. The connectors are too large, so I have to find another one.

So can anyone tell me where I can get male-to-male coax cable with similar specification connectors on each end? I'd prefer not to buy the gear to make up my own cable, and ideally I'd like it to look/act identical to the Virgin one, which has metal (not plastic) barrel, but it's not like any of the ones I've seen on Ebay.

Thanks for any help.
S.

 

[dmiller]

The only real way if your not happy to make your own cables is call virgin media and get them to move the modem. I think its about £99 unless you can talk them into doing it for free.

The attenuator should unscrew from the modem and the connectors though - its a separate item.

What ever you do you need to make sure that the isolator (the bit in the white box on the inside of your wall) is still in place as its a vital safety feature.

If you do want to search on ebay the cable VM use is quad shielded RG6 coax - not honeycomb or satellite cable.

David.

 

[shagster]

The only real way if your not happy to make your own cables is call virgin media and get them to move the modem. I think its about £99 unless you can talk them into doing it for free.

Ouch. Had a feeling it'd be like that.

The attenuator should unscrew from the modem and the connectors though - its a separate item.

Yes, no problem getting that out.

What ever you do you need to make sure that the isolator (the bit in the white box on the inside of your wall) is still in place as its a vital safety feature.

I have no white box on the inside of the wall, the cable comes from the road, into a plastic enclosure on the outside wall, into a female-female coupler, then male connector through the wall, into the attenuator which is just loose on the floor (silver coloured potted box), the other side goes into the cable modem. Is this isolator something new? Can it be bought separately?

If you do want to search on ebay the cable VM use is quad shielded RG6 coax - not honeycomb or satellite cable.

OK, will have a look. Any idea where I can get the connectors if I want to make up the cable myself? I can post a pic if needed.

thanks,
S.

 

[dmiller]

You isolator and housing should look like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIGITAL-C...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item417329816a

Virgin uses these kind of connectors:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-X-PPC-...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item4173428f72

You need this tool to put them on:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-COMPR...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item3ccbac086a

This to prep the cable:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Speedy-Co...rkingTools_Accessories_SM&hash=item27cd445540

You also need the cable etc.

(none of the ebay links are mine - just the first ones on ebay).

If you dont use the correct cables/connectors and dont make them correctly then you will degrade your broadband and may cause noise in the area affecting your neighbours. If this happens VM may well disconnect you until they can put your cabling right - they will probably charge for this.

Give them a call and see if they will move it free or perhaps half price? You never know if you dont ask!

David.

 

[shagster]

Thanks for that David. I have the isolator, I just thought that was the attenuator, seems I have no attenuator. I made some enquiries about getting the cable professionally made which has got to be less than even half the price of a move, surely? But yes, as you say I can always ask.

 

[Sam Gangee]

1. As the system is rented from Virgin it's their property and it will almost certainly be a breach of their T&Cs if you mess with the incoming cable.

2. If you lengthen the cable to the modem, the attenuation may need to be reduced in order to get the correct signal level. That could be difficult if you have no attenuator and suggests you are at the end of the line where the signal is already weak.

3. You can use an ordinary extension lead with twist-on 'F' plugs. No special tools required.
See http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/WF100_cable.htm#twiston

 

[mattylad]

If you go down your local market you are bound to find a stall where they have the satellite connectors & cable. It will also have loads of mains adapters & remote controls on etc.

 

[shagster]

Just wanted to report back how I got on...

Virgin uses these kind of connectors:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-X-PPC-...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item4173428f72

These connectors are not the same. Very similar, but not the same.

<edit> I should clarify this. I only just noticed the auction picture shows three connectors:
On the left seems to be PPC EX6 09
In the middle the one I received, PPC EX6 12
The one Virgin installed was PPC EX6 08

You need this tool to put them on:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-COMPR...?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Other&hash=item3ccbac086a

The compression tool is quite crap. It actually doesn't go far enough in pushing the connector in. I was able to partially compress the connector, but then had to wedge two screws either side of the barrel to finish the job. It looks like it's not suitable for the connectors, or maybe I got a bad one. I suppose the one thing the compression tool did do was to provide me with something of the correct shape to push inside the screw-on-part of the connector, something I couldn't do with just a clamp.

This to prep the cable:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Speedy-Co...rkingTools_Accessories_SM&hash=item27cd445540

Also crap. As supplied it wasn't correctly adjusted for the cable. When I adjusted it it has two screws buried in plastic to stop them turning, and adjustment just pushed them out of the plastic and then the adjustment mechanism stopped working and the stripper was ruined. I used a stanley knife in the end.

You also need the cable etc.

Fortunately I was able to just use the Virgin one, which already had a connector at one end since I'd pulled it out of the wall.

If you dont use the correct cables/connectors and dont make them correctly then you will degrade your broadband and may cause noise in the area affecting your neighbours. If this happens VM may well disconnect you until they can put your cabling right - they will probably charge for this.

I think this is a bit of scare-mongering. They are still a glorified form of F-type, and this stuff is all of very low quality or they'd use decent crimp connectors. You'd have to be pretty dumb to screw it up. So long as you have something like that compression tool and a few connectors to practise with it's no big deal.

Anyhow, no hard feelings Dave, I guess you don't have any of these tools, or else you were luckier than me and yours were OK but I felt I should post this in case someone else thinks these tools solve the problem.

cheers,
S.