Query about broadband installation

[73Chips-Fish]

We’re thinking about leaving Virgin Media. What we are really concerned about is the physical installation if we sign up with a new provider.

The installation with Virgin was a nightmare. We are in a mid-terraced house and ended up with a huge length of cable running through the bedroom, along the hall skirting boards, over the bathroom door and into the spare room. Is there any way of avoiding this with a new install? We are willing to have the router put anywhere to avoid this. Our installation was carried out quite a few years ago  - have things moved on since then?

We would love to hear from anyone who has recently gone through this process, especially if you live in a terraced house.

[Keith_Beddoe]

@73Chips-Fish 

Welcome to this user forum for BT Retail phone and broadband customers.

I assume you are intending to place your order with BT Retail?

Its Openreach that do the provision work.

If you are intending to order from a different provider, then its best to ask on their user forum.

[imjolly]

You need to see what is available to first so enter your address and post results 

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

[73Chips-Fish]

Hope this is ok

[jac_95]

@73Chips-Fish 

Looking at your results it states that the fibre will be fed to your property from overhead from the rear of the property.

It will usually be brought in side near where it's fed to the property but you can speak to the engineer when they arrive to see where the ONT will be placed within reason. They may need to run more fibre externally to where it's then brought inside but maybe limited due to nature of property 

[SherlockPhones]

This is what irks me about FTTH broadband. The customer has to be in and they have to have access to your home. Then they insist on fitting it near a mains socket near where the customer wants it to go, resulting in cable run all over the place. It's completely unnecessary when most domestic customers just want a decent reliable 80Mbs or less, which in the vast majority of cases, could be done from the street using the existing copper phone cable and telelphone socket.

[73Chips-Fish]

Thank you for your reply - it is much appreciated.

I've attached a couple of photos of the rear of our property just to confirm that we do have an oh feed at the rear. I think it may be on the second photo just above the drain pipes. I think Virgin wouldn't have been able to use it because of their internet system being different.

[iniltous]

The cable from the telegraph pole normally needs to terminate on an external block ( called a CSP ) and then a different cable runs to the location of the ONT from the CSP , the router is then plugged into the ONT .

A typical installation in situations like yours , (and the least hassle install ) would be the cable from the pole attached to the house , probably using the same fixing that the existing unused copper dropwire fixes to , it’s then ran down the wall  (externally) to ground floor level and the CSP fitted on the outside wall , then the second cable runs through the wall into the rear room where the ONT is fitted…the old copper dropwire probably removed at the same time so visually no change , one wire from the pole to house 

[73Chips-Fish]

I agree with you completely. It's such a shame that when you've decided on a broadband provider that the engineers can't visit before the installation. At least you would have some time to prepare if it was going to be problematic (moving furniture etc) You'd also think the engineers would appreciate knowing in advance if it was going to be a complicated job.

[73Chips-Fish]

Thank you very much for your reply. I've attached a couple of shots of the front of our property. In the second you may be able to see the wire Virgin installed which runs into our front bedroom.

The router is in the back bedroom which is why we had to have so much cable running through the house.