Ordered BT Fibre 2, Phone and TV - but setup is confusing

[lane26]

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Hi all,

Me and my partner have just moved into our first house and ordered BT broadband (Fibre 2). The instructions to set up the Smart Hub 2 talk about connecting it to the master socket, then running a broadband cable from that to the Hub.

However, there’s a problem - the master socket is in the cupboard under the stairs (I think - see photo), but I wanted to set up the Hub in the living room where it would be connected to the TV box via Ethernet cable.

Now in the living room, coming out of the wall is a BT fibre broadband cable (other photo), but I’ve got no idea where this leads. Can I plug this directly into the Hub and expect it to work?

The previous owners of the house had EE phone/broadband which I believe uses BT so the setup must be there.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[jac_95]

That second image of the cable looks like an ethernet cable probably installed by the previous owners.

There must be another end to it or installed to a patch panel maybe near the copper NTE master socket.

Unless the previous owners have made this into a strange extension phone cable with a RJ11 connector (hard to see in image)

[lane26]

Thanks for the reply. So you don’t think that cable to the wall goes out to the street? So, there’s a good chance the other end of it is somewhere in the cupboard under the stairs near the master socket?

[rbz5416]

Unfortunately the silly size limits for images on this forum makes most of them next to useless, especially when viewed on a 4k screen. 🙄

Have you removed the faceplate from the master socket in pic 1 or was it like that?

With pic 2 it's impossible to tell if that's an RJ45 (ethernet) or RJ11 (DSL). See if it fits in the grey Broadband port of the SH2. It's possible the previous owners lashed up an extension from the master socket to do as you wish to do.

[licquorice]

I suspect from picture one that the previous occupants have hard wired a cable to the rear of the master socket connecting it to the incoming line. The cable in picture 2 is the other end of the cable in picture one and if an RJ11, simply plugs into the DSL socket if the hub.

[lane26]

Thanks.

We found the master socket like that (faceplate removed). Could that mean they’ve had some work done to put that extension in?

Also, perhaps this is a silly question but, the cable going into the back of the master socket is grey, but the one coming out of the wall is black, so surely they aren’t part of the same cable?

[rbz5416]

Just see it the plug fits & if it does, see if it works.

Unpicking previous owners DIY is all part of the fun. 😁

[lane26]

Thanks for the reply. The cable coming out of the wall is black, but the cable going into the master socket is grey. So I don’t see how they can be the same cable?

[rbz5416]

If you're going to carry on resisting simple suggestions that would take minutes to try, then I'm afraid I have nothing more to offer.

[imjolly]

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@lane26 wrote:
Thanks for the reply. The cable coming out of the wall is black, but the cable going into the master socket is grey. So I don’t see how they can be the same cable?

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the colour of the cable is not important as it appears that the incoming openreach cable is black and connected to terminals A&B  you then have a grey cable also connected to terminals A&B which then appears in pic 2.  as both are connected to A&B then the colour is immaterial

try the suggestions