This topic

Full fibre broadband

Camerashy — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 19:58:03 GMT

Hope someone can help me please

i I have just cancelled my full fibre broadband installation because the engineer told me the box from the overhead line can only be fitted at ground level which would mean the cable coming down the wall and then up again to first floor level ( I wanted the box under the eaves where it is at the moment then running along the gable wall into a first floor bedroom)

He also mentioned they would have to drill into the gable every 2mtrs to fix the ladder I can understand H&S requirements but surely not every 2mtrs??

None of this was mentioned in the small print, no pre installation inspection plus the road may need to be closed since it is a country lane

anyone else had a similar experience please

Re: Full fibre broadband

iniltous — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 21:45:30 GMT

Just for clarification, are BT your provider or you used someone else and don’t appreciate the difference between BT and Openreach ?

As far as your experience, all seems perfectly normal, a splice of two fibre cables needs to be done at the CSP (the box you refer to) , this is at a low level for safety and avoids using very expensive equipment (the fusion splicer) at the top of a ladder .
Ladder fixings are compulsory, if you expect a cable that presumably could be ran at a low level ( that would avoid many of these ladder fixings holes , that are filled afterwards anyway ) but it’s your preference for the cable on wall to be at height, then the ladder needs to be fixed in place to gain that height , fixtures every 2m seems about right.

Your contract is with the ISP , so why would you expect OR conditions to be quoted on that document , and a pre installation visit would clearly add costs and would be unnecessary in the vast majority of cases .
If traffic management is necessary, clearly that is a safety issue that can’t be minimised, although that’s normally noted at the network survey stage and mitigation put in place before the installation takes place .
If you had posted a question here about what to reasonably expect in advance , (as many others have done in the past ) you may have been made aware of what is and isn’t done , possibly avoiding wasting your own and Openreach’s time with an installation expectation that was never going to be achievable

Re: Full fibre broadband

chrisjp — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:04:20 GMT

"He also mentioned they would have to drill into the gable every 2mtrs to fix the ladder. I can understand H&S requirements but surely not every 2mtrs??"

Presumably, to drill these holes to fix the ladder, the operative will have to go up an unfixed ladder.
So why is going up an unfixed ladder to attach a fibre cable mounting considered unsafe, but going up an unfixed ladder to drill holes to fix the ladder considered safe?
Drilling holes at 2mtr centres, inserting wall plugs and screwing in ladder mountings will surely require more work at height than simply fixing a cable mounting and running the cable down the wall.

Re: Full fibre broadband

licquorice — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:25:24 GMT

The holes are at the bottom to prevent the ladder sliding out (think footing a ladder), not at the top.

Re: Full fibre broadband

iniltous — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:27:05 GMT

Ladder fixings are at waist height, and put in before the ladder is climbed, to stop the ladder moving away from the wall or moving sideways, you misunderstand how Tetra ladder saftey actually works .

Re: Full fibre broadband

WSH — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 22:31:06 GMT

@chrisjp Presumably you secure the ladder every 2m as you climb?

The same way a rock climber hammers pitons in and secures the rope to them as he climbs. (That takes me back to when I was young and daft...but that's another story for another time). 😂🤣😂🤣

Edit: Ah, seems I've already been proven wrong!

Re: Full fibre broadband

36ULW — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:58:27 GMT

Yes, the CSP can only go at ground level. As said they can’t operate a Fusion Splicer at height on a ladder.

Ref to the drilling holes every 2 metres. That seems a bit excessive. When moving a ladder along a wall to fix the cable along the eves the Tetra System can use a V system with the two straps they have. I can’t remember how long the straps are but it would exceed more than 2 metres.

Although personally if it was me I’d bring the cable down to ground level where it hits the eves, cleat it along the wall and then take it back up the wall when I get to the point it enters the house.

Also there is no Pre Installation Survey. Openreach do about 30,000+ FTTP Installs a week I think. It would by physically impossible to Survey every Installation prior to it being done.

Re: Full fibre broadband

chrisjp — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:26:07 GMT

"Also there is no Pre Installation Survey. Openreach do about 30,000+ FTTP Installs a week I think. It would by physically impossible to Survey every Installation prior to it being done."

If a pre-install survey took say an hour but that this time was recouped from the installation because the technician sent to do it was equipped with instructions, and everything he needed to do a quick installation, then there'd be no increase in the time needed for the 30,000 installations per week.
It would also eliminate the cases where either the technician finds the installation not possible, or the householder refuses it when presented with what needs to be done, so such pre-installation surveys may actually save overall installation times.

Re: Full fibre broadband

chrisjp — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:28:29 GMT

"Ladder fixings are at waist height, and put in before the ladder is climbed, to stop the ladder moving away from the wall or moving sideways, you misunderstand how Tetra ladder saftey actually works."
That sounds like 2 fixings max. So why then did the Openreach technician tell the OP that ladder fixings were required "every 2 metres"?

Re: Full fibre broadband

gg30340 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:30:36 GMT

@chrisjpwrote:
"Ladder fixings are at waist height, and put in before the ladder is climbed, to stop the ladder moving away from the wall or moving sideways, you misunderstand how Tetra ladder saftey actually works."
That sounds like 2 fixings max. So why then did the Openreach technician tell the OP that ladder fixings were required "every 2 metres"?

That will be because the OP said in his first post " I wanted the box under the eaves where it is at the moment then running along the gable wall into a first floor bedroom" which means the ladder will need to be moved along the distance that is required to clip it onto the eaves so that the fitter is not leaning out and possibly toppling off the ladder.

Re: Full fibre broadband

iniltous — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 13:02:05 GMT

@chrisjp

Your post showing one of my comments is something of a case of selected editing, my early post states ,

if you expect a cable that presumably could be ran at a low level ( that would avoid many of these ladder fixings holes , that are filled afterwards anyway ) but it’s your preference for the cable on wall to be at height, then the ladder needs to be fixed in place to gain that height , fixtures every 2m seems about right.

Re: Full fibre broadband

36ULW — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:46:21 GMT

Makes zero sense. Openreach would have to employ hundreds, if not at least a few thousand Surveyors.

It also means buying and maintaining a few thousand more vehicles for them to drive to said Surveys.

Plus the multitude of other costs that would come with employing that many people. Uniform, Training Costs, Pension, NI, etc.

It just wouldn’t work as you’d have to wait in for two appointments and it would increase the wholesale cost to the CP, which would ultimately mean it costs you more.

Re: Full fibre broadband

36ULW — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 16:52:10 GMT

Every 2m is excessive.

I know, I use Tetra all the time.

That isn’t me by the way, that’s from a Google search.