Virgin Cable Installation

[aptsys]

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of re-wiring and refurbishing the house I've just bought. I need to install the coax for the cable TV and internet but having never had cable TV and broadband together, I'm unsure if separate cable runs are required from where the service enters the house to the modem and cable TV box, or whether they still install those TV boxes with the modem built in.

Could anyone shed some light?

Many thanks

 

[Adam_151]

Generally these days a separate cable modem and set top box is installed, but if you want them in the same place then one cable and a splitter can be used

Though ideally, I'd want the set top box near the biggest television and the cable modem in where ever was being used as a comms/server room, ie. under the stairs etc

Not sure what they will make of you installing the cables yourself, but I'm sure as long as you do it in a competant way it shouldn't be too much of an issue

 

[aptsys]

Not sure what they will make of you installing the cables yourself, but I'm sure as long as you do it in a competant way it shouldn't be too much of an issue

The problem being that we're not going to be living there for another few months so I don't want to be paying for internet/TV while not there, but need to get the cabling in before the plasterer does the walls. I wouldn't think they'd have any objections if I just lay RG6 and let them terminate the ends, but if they do I'll go elsewhere for my services. I can't be doing with cables clipped everywhere!

Thanks for your info

 

[JonB]

Are you already subscribing to Virgin. If not they would put the cables to wherever you want them.
By the way I have Virgin & am very happy with the whole system.
JonB

 

[Adam_151]

I'd make sure you put the cables in conduit inside the wall if I were you... just in case

Oh and there is a good forum on the interweb, cable forum or something (google for it) and it has an installations sub forum, there are a few in there who work for ntls installation department I think, who can perhaps give more exact guidence?

 

[plugwash]

I had a virgin cable install done not so long ago and they just use a passive splitter to split between the cable modem and the cable TV box.

I can't imagine they will have any problems connecting to your existing cable but if they do you can always just get them to install the cable box where the cable comes into the house and then connect your cable up after they are gone.

 

[aptsys]

Thanks for the replies. Useful info about the use of the passive splitters and cable forum

I'm not subscribed to Virgin yet, but I'm not living in the house while we do it up, which is why I'm wanting to install my own cables as we may not be moving in for another 2 or 3 months.

 

[Adam_151]

Just be aware that the 'points' they use are are not standard faceplates by far, they are they're own surface mount things that incorporate some kind of signal isolator (though our cable televsion stb is installed with the cable just comming straight out the wall, but then again, its a tempermental thing*, not sure theres any connection between the two!)


*Probably not related, everyone else I know who has cable tv has has had somewhat of a tempermental thing!

 

[aptsys]

There's a white ntl 'box' upstairs on the outside wall where their service enters the house, but nothing else. So the previous owners must have had ntl at some point. I was just going to run a pair of cables from there to a standard MK faceplate where the cable tv box and cable modem are going to go.

I made a point of checking that the MK faceplates I intend to use simply have an F coupler and nothing else, however it's not the end of the world if instead of this the cable just passes out of a cable outlet faceplate direct into the modem/tv box.

 

[JohnD]

the previous installation might have been just NTL phone, or NTL phone+Analogue TV.

I had old analogue TV and the cable used is a bit below standard for digital TV and Broadband. I have had my signal turned up and it has not gone wrong much after the first couple of months.

It does go wrong from time to time, phoning Virgin does no good and they charge you per minute to wait for their Indians to answer the phone and fail to help.

However if you write a complaint their complaints department will credit the call charges made for for ringing their (no) Help Desk.

BTW if you get a new cable laid, dig your own trench as their fitters are inclined to leave it on top of the garden, or bury it an inch, or glue it to the wall, so it is liable to damage.

 

[plugwash]

I suspect the isolation things serve two purposes

1: to preserve the equipotential zone without needing a main bond.
2: possiblly to give the network some protection against rouge equipment.

Afaict it shouldn't be a problem to extend after thier box though.

 

[sotal]

I recently had virgin installed.

I just had internet and TV, no phone line

They came, drilled a hole in the wall behind the telly, ran the cable outside to that point and in, they then put an ugly splitter on the wall, and two white fairly large surface mounted boxes which he called filters, one cable came out of each of those, one went to the digi box and one went to the modem.


All the crap they put in does look bad, I waited a couple of months then moved the telly and tidied it all up so it can't be seen. The modem would be in a daft place (next to the digi box) for most people but for me it plugs straight into the wireless router, and cables run up the old disused chimney to upstairs for the wired network.


The service from Virgin has been great - can't fault it, but the installation is messy

 

[RetiredCableGuy]

I worked for NTL for 6 years as an engineer, although I left 18 months ago I doubt much has changed.

The cable that enters your property from the duct in the street is called 'siamese' cable because it is two seperate cables stuck together. One is a coax for the TV & broadband and the other is a 2 or 3-pair telephone cable. This cable ususlly terminates in 'drop-box' fixed to the wall of your house. This box houses the connections to the cables that feed your equpment.

Broadband can be run off either the modem in the set-top-box (STB) or a Stand-Alone-Cable modem (SACM). Both the STB & SACM run off the coax feed which can be split for multiple devices using splitters. Although everytime the signal is split, it gets weaker in the same way it gets weaker the longer the cable run is from the green cabinet in the street. This can be compensated for by the installer moving your cable to a higher output tap. Each device should have an isolator in the line within 2m of it.

I would definitly recommend getting a SACM for your internet. I'm not sure what the virgin boxes are like, but the NTL STBs are bobbins. Also with a SACM you can easily get rid of the TV & keep broadband without any rewiring. If you run broadband off the STB you need CAT5 network cable running between the STB & your PC. This can be awkward if your TV is in the front living room & PC in in the back bedroom.

As for re-wiring your house, make sure you use the right kind of Coax. TV ariel cable from B&Q will not work properley. It should be 75 OHM RG59 or RG6 coax that is rated for digital frequencies up to 800MHz. You also need to use the correct type of 'F-connectors' to ensure good connectivity. Also critical is the signal strength, which the installer should measure with a signal meter & adjust with an attenuator behind the device if required. All this is to stop your TV pictures freezing & your 'return path' interactive connection from dropping out.

Hope this helps!

 

[sawtooth]

Sorry for interupting but that wiring sounds like what I've found outside my house. I've recently moved into a place and wanted to get broadband. Apparently Virgin could do me cable telephone but not broadband, I'd need to get a landline from BT.

So I've called BT to set it up and they said there was an existing line so it just needed turning back on. There's no master socket in the house though so I checked the wires outside and I've found a cable with the FM splitter thing on the end and another, 4 core wire which had been cut. I assumed this was the original BT cable but could it be something that Virgin have put in? I know you're not supposed to but I've tried plugging the wire into a master socket and nothing happens. Could there be another wire somewhere which is BT's?

 

[RetiredCableGuy]

sawtooth,

It sounds like your property IS servicable for cable if there is already a siamese cable there. This cable should come through the front garden from the duct in the street. The FM splitter means your house has previously had cable TV so there is no reason why you cant have TV and broadband. The Virgin phone cable will not work in a master socket as it will have been disconnected when the previous customer cancelled.

BT's wire will be overhead from a telegraph pole at the front or back on older houses, or underground to somewhere near your front door in a grey duct on newer houses. If there is no BT master socket it will have been removed at some point so they will charge you for a full install.

If you really want cable, just call virgin back & kick off until you get through to someone with a brain. Otherwise get the BT line put in and get sky and your broadband is free!