Fibre Broadband: Location of Modem

[Scoozi]

Another question.  Perhaps I'm overthinking.  Having ordered BT Fibre broadband, I received an automated voicemail saying, among other things, that the engineer will drill a small hole on both the inside and outside of my wall, which is fair enough. However, I assume the engineer can do more than that.  Currently, the telephone/broadband cable comes into a small lobby and then there is about 270cms of cable along the skirting board which goes through another small hole in a wall to the master socket in the lounge.  This is where I would like my fibre modem to be as it would be next to four power sockets.  I only discovered on this forum that you need to have a power socket next to the modem (BT didn't tell me this). I have no power sockets whatsoever in the small lobby. Could someone advise please, if I have a say over where I would like the modem to be located.

Many thanks.

[iniltous]

The ONT needs power so will be installed near an outlet , provided you don’t have unreasonable demands the ONT ( the thing the router connects to ) can be where you want it , it doesn’t need to be sited where the copper pair master socket is , but if the cable enters at the front , they won’t cable internally to the rear if it’s too far or too time consuming, but in most cases it’s not an issue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDl0-KkPy8

[Scoozi]

From where the cable should be entering the house to the entry point to the lounge is about 4 feet (in old money).  Surely the Openreach engineer can accommodate that.

I've now received an email from Openreach, saying I need to have a double socket. BT never told me this. Their poor communications with customers is appalling.

[iniltous]

The specification ( what OR agree as a standard install with the ISP ) as far as I know is 10m of ‘internal’ cabling once the cable enters from outside ( so no issue with what you want ) , the double power outlet is if you want the router placed near the ONT ( so one outlet for the router one outlet for the ONT ) an extension cable or similar will do if it’s a single socket that your router is connected to and you want it to remain there , or you can run your own Ethernet cable from the ONT and have the ONT near a different socket , in a different location if you don’t want the router near the ONT ….if the ONT is mains powered and the router is mains powered, why wouldn’t you think two outlets are needed , if you already have a router ( from a copper pair service ) then it’s only  the power outlet for the ONT that’s ‘new’ .

[Scoozi]

Thank you for explaining.  Why can't Openreach explain these things in their emails?  It would only take a few more sentences to make them clearer.  No wonder Customer Services help lines everywhere are inundated with phone calls and have long wait times.  Perhaps if organisations (not just telecomms) explained things properly to their end users, they would reduce the number of calls they get.  We are not all mind readers (lol).

[iniltous]

You haven’t said what Openreach told you , but I doubt they said the ONT needs to be in the same location as the master socket unless that’s what the customer wants , they do say the ONT needs a power outlet, often the easiest way to get the fibre cable into the property is alongside where the copper cable enters , and as the master socket is often provided immediately where the copper cable enters , it can be  the case that the ONT is installed in the same general area ( that is is desirable, but only if power is available and if the customer wants the ONT near the master socket ) 

[Scoozi]

This was the main part of the email from Openreach:

Key things to know:

1. On the day, before we start the work, we'll agree with you how to get a new line into your premises. A decision maker aged 18+ will need to be present throughout the appointment as we may need to ask questions on the day.
2. We'll drill a small hole through the wall to connect the Fibre cable, we may also need to drill a couple of extra holes to safely attach our ladder, but don't worry we'll restore these before we finish. If you don't own the property, you'll need to ensure you have the owner or landlord's permission for this work.
3. To help us work safely on the day, please move any furniture from the area and ensure pets are kept away until the installation is complete (even if they're friendly).
4. In most cases your engineer will have your service up and running within 3 hours of their arrival. If they arrive towards the end of the appointment slot, you'll need to be there until the work has been completed.

We're taking extra steps to protect vulnerable households who use personal health devices (known as telecare) as these may not be compatible with the digital landline service on your new service. If you think you may have a health device connected to your current landline, firstly contact your broadband provider to tell them, and then contact your health device provider to let them know you are being moved to a digital voice service and request a replacement device if one is required. Find out more here Protecting customers during the migration to digital landlines - Ofcom

Most of it is pretty clear.  They also sent a link to the video you gave me, in which I found out that you need a double socket.  In my opinion, BT should be providing more information to their customers about what is involved.  I am assuming I'll have to re-connect all my devices to the new router, but they didn't mention it. I'm not sure if I'll need an additional powerline adaptor - no mention of that either.  Also, at the end of my phone call with BT, had I not asked if I would be transferring to DV, I would not have known until the order confirmation email arrived.  Surely, it would be easy enough to give their customers, who haven't had fibre broadband before, a list of what you need to think about before you place the order or am I being too naive? 😉

[iniltous]

Obviously it’s subjective , you don’t think enough information is provided, personally I think it’s more than adequate, IMHO the ‘only’ negative is that it isn’t made clear that the installer won’t spend hours on end on a standard installation, but that’s to a certain extent is the ISPs  responsibility, as there is a standard and premium installation service available, so they should ask if they want to pay extra for the premium install but as the standard installation is ‘free’ , I doubt there will be many takers.

https://d2haref.openreach.co.uk/cpportal/products/fibre-broadband/installation-options

Considering you seem ( imho ) overly concerned about the installation, there is plenty of information available online, even if you consider what your ISP has provided insufficient 

[Scoozi]

I wasn't made aware of the premium installation.

We'll have to agree to disagree about the information provided by the ISP.  No disrespect, but as you are an expert in this field, I realise that you might find it difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone who knows very little.  As an elderly layperson, I know how to connect/use a phone and configure devices to my broadband system.  I know more than many of my peers.  However, as a paying BT user, I believe I should have been given more details about the connection of both fibre broadband and Digital Voice to my home.  Perhaps I was unlucky with regards to the call handler who took my order, but I don't think I should have been left to spend (waste?) hours and hours researching into fibre broadband and digital voice to make sure there were no nasty surprises for me on installation day. After all, ultimately who would be left with a mess to sort out if things were to go wrong?

Thank you for your help! I have gleaned a lot of information from you, I hasten to add.

[countrypaul]

@Scoozi  you mention " I am assuming I'll have to re-connect all my devices to the new router, but they didn't mention it. I'm not sure if I'll need an additional powerline adaptor - no mention of that either."  You can either reconnect all your devices to the new router (assuming you get one) or you should be able to simply change the SSID and Password on the new router to match the old one so everything should then just reconnect and continue working. If you ever factory reset your new router you will have to manually reset the SSID and password.  The new router will likely only have 3 free ethernet ports so if you have 4 devices plugged into the Ethernet ports on your old router a change will be required. If you need advice on options then probably best to ask on here rather than be deluged with lots of information about multiple options.

Why might you need an additional powerline adapter, or is that unrelated to the install?