FTTP - repurpose master socket?

[Timply101]

Hi All, I'm a BT customer and I'm after a bit of advice prior to having FTTP installed early in the new year. 

My master socket is located in my hall next to the front door, usefully no where near a power outlet. My living room and home office is located on the 1st floor where the router is currently located. 

I'd prefer to have the new Fibre cable and modem located in the hall where the master socket located to keep things neat but wondered what my options could be to move the router upstairs so I can connect an ethernet switch etc. 

I wondered if I could repurpose the master socket as an ethernet socket having confirmed that the internal cabling is cat5e and configure extension sockets upstairs as ethernet sockets also?

Failing this I would either need to run new cat5e cable from the modem along skirting boards which I'd rather not do or keep the router in the hall and forego connecting devices using a cable. 

[imjolly]

If you are getting FTTP  then you can select a better location not necessarily near the existing master which is no longer used and see if the openreach installer is able to fit the fibre modem ONT where you prefer.  You then connect hub to the ONT.  Are you retaining ability to make landline calls and therefore changing to digital voice?

[Timply101]

Yes retaining voice calls. So will need to connect my home phone to the hub also. 

I have thought about moving the ONT upstairs to either the living room or home office but didn't particularly want to run long lengths of cable up the outside of the house, although just for aesthetic reasons. 

I've also heard that it depends on the installer also where some are less willing than others to install in a new location away from where the line currently enters the property. 

[licquorice]

If you have cat5e cabling, you can re-use it for whatever purpose you like.

You will need power sockets for ONT and router however.

[countrypaul]

Not sure if you are aware, but the cable from the ONT to the Router is just a normal ethernet cable, so if you are repurposing the cat5 from the master socket you could easily have the ONT near the front door and the Router elsewhere - subject to power provision. The ONT will need a power socket and the router will also need power.

[rbz5416]

Repurposing the master socket is possible but maybe impractical. Does an extension run directly from the master socket to where you want the router, or does it go via other extensions? Gigabit ethernet requires all eight wires in a cat5 cable to be connected. At best, an extension socket will have a maximum of six, likely only two or three. So at every extension between the master socket & the desired location, the extra connections will have to be made. The more of these there are, the more scope for signal degradation.

But the biggest issue, as has already been said, is that you say there's no power in the hall to supply the ONT anyway.

[pippincp]

As @licquorice  has stated the CAT 5e internal cable can be repurposed however the OP wants. The first thing would be to provide an ethernet socket to provide the connection for the ONT. Then you have to consider that copper telephont extentions only use  2 wires within the cable, daisy chained to provided extension sockets. There is no function within the Mater socket for 8 wires to be used.

Then the OP needs to ensure that his extension  socket where he needs the service in the next in line and again converterted to an ethernet socket using all 8 wires. Any and all sockets inbetween need to be converted to passthroughs with all 8 wires.

It can be done but IMHO it is easier just to have the ONT installed where it will be of most use.

[Timply101]

If I had to, I could get power to the master socket location by running a 2 gang extension lead and make it as neat as I can, tacking along the skirting board etc so that is less of an issue. 

The internal cable from the master socket to the next extension on the 1st floor has 4 twisted pairs of which only the blue and white and blue wires are currently used. This is probably where I would locate the hub so would be a straight uninterrupted run. 

[pippincp]

As I said (or tried to), you would have to disconnect the extention cable from the master socket and connect to an ethernet socket then convert the extention socket to an ethernet one..

[countrypaul]

If you only intend to have the ONT downstairs then rather than use a 2 way mains extension lead you might be able to use a 5.5mmx2.1mm 12v extension lead (as used for CCTV?) -depending on distance,  which might look a lot neater if you have to fasten it to the skirting.