Moving BT Master Socket

jonny2510

Hi,

We had a BT line reconnected in our new house, and I stupidly told them to connect it up to the box that was already in place (from previous owners, before the ones I bought the house from) (which is nowherer near a power socket.)

To cut a long description short, the socket it on one side of the door (internal door), and the cable running into it is long enough to move to the other side of the door. (where there are power sockets)

Can anyone see any problems with me unscrewing the socket from the wall, and taking it round the other side of the door (where there is a power socket for my cordless phone and router)?

I'd leave the wire connected in the bottom, and just simply relocate the master socket.

I'm interested in either whether anyone knew if BT would dissaprove, or whether I'm overlooking something that would make it more difficult than I'm imagining.

Aldridge_Andy

As a Telecoms Engineer - Not BT, there shouldn't be a problem especially as you're not disconnecting anything, just making a small change in location.

BT used to record the Master Socket location, not sure if they still do.

In all honesty provided you're reasonbly competent there shouldn't be a problem at all, after all there engineers are human too!

Rhino666

I am told that BT equipment should not be touched by anyone other than a BT engineer but has anyone ever heard of a householder being prosecuted or charged for moving or replacing a socket ?

I certainly would not be concerned about moving a socket in the way you describe and BT engineers would not be overly concerned about rewiring either as long as the wiring appears to have been done by one of them. They have a distinctive method of wiring and you have a perfect example of that.

jonny2510

I wasn;t really thinking of prosecution, more if there was a fault and they refused to fix it because it had been moved, although if there ever was a fault I could always move it back before the engineer came out

hammy_the_hammer

hypothetically if the socket was moved and months later a fault occured on your line no one would know whether the new position was the original position or not ...for example a lot of customers 'inherit' the wiring after previous occupants have moved out. the only time i have known this to become an issue is when something is moved and it results directly in an engineering visit.
"We had a BT line reconnected in our new house, and I stupidly told them to connect it up to the box that was already in place (from previous owners, before the ones I bought the house from) (which is nowherer near a power socket.) "
you weren't stupid as if you'd asked the engineer to move it this work would have been chargeable

silvercar

Ridiculous that you sign upto a service and then they can charge you because your requirements are different to a previous owner.

hammy_the_hammer

silvercar wrote:

Ridiculous that you sign upto a service and then they can charge you because your requirements are different to a previous owner.

if you move into a house and the line just requires 'switching on' as the line is insitu means a charge of £0 to the customer .
it would be ridiculous that because an engineer has visited the premises, possibly only to verify that the line is now working that he then undertakes additional work for an installation charge of £0.
who should pay for the engineers time? you and I or the person requiring the additional work ?
do you want BT in a competitive environment or the old nationalised one ?
or are you like some who want it both ways depending on which scenario suits

Rhino666

'do you want BT in a competitive environment or the old nationalised one ?'

Well from my recent experience BT has become an Indianised one - even the BT engineers are organised\prioritised from abroad and don't they just love it. I spoke to one on Thursday who was encouraging me to complain to help oust the poor performing but cheap facilities based in India.

ahrimaniac

'Well from my recent experience BT has become an Indianised one'

Yeah, 46 call centres, two of which are in India.

Exaggerating much?

normanmark

Rhino666 wrote:

'do you want BT in a competitive environment or the old nationalised one ?'

Well from my recent experience BT has become an Indianised one - even the BT engineers are organised\prioritised from abroad and don't they just love it. I spoke to one on Thursday who was encouraging me to complain to help oust the poor performing but cheap facilities based in India.

The engineers are organised over the uk. I'd get your facts straight before posting with 'The Sun' newspaper style of opinion.

movingforward2010

hammy_the_hammer wrote:

or are you like some who want it both ways depending on which scenario suits

thats me!:p