Installing Fibre methods

Ianb2017

Hi there guys,

I'm working on a renovation project on a small hotel. We have a plan for the wifi set up around the building, the thing we aren't too sure about is the provider and a good starting point.

The concern is that as the project nears it's finale (which is a good few months yet) we don't want all floors down and polished then have someone with "interweb man" on his coat to take to the floors with circular saw....

Not being particularly tech savvy when it comes to this topic I've consulted my memory and come up with BT and Virgin as fibre providers... I'm sure there are others...maybe.. I had a quick web chat with a virgin staff member and was told I'd have to sign up to virgin right now in order to proceed with the fibre installation (of course I wasn't expecting something for nothing, but I at least figured I'd could pay them a token fee to run a cable in or something), when I was told that no, definitely had to sign up, I explained my nice new floor analogy coupled with a circular saw wielding engineer and was told that was something that was unavoidable...unless of course I signed up now...

So I turn to you guys....any ideas :think:

Oh and of course, as mentioned there is still a fair few months left, so I have no desire to sign up to a business broadband set up with all the bells and whistles whilst trudging around in my work/painting gear..

JJ_Egan

Who supply's current phone line BT probably .
BT master socket of some description at point of entry .
If its WiFi not sure what would need to be cut or dug up .

onomatopoeia99

Firstly, unless you are in one of the very few areas where FTTP is enabled, or you pay for a leased line, you won't be getting fibre to your hotel, you will either be getting a twisted pair phone line as on the BT network (which opens the possibility of many ISPs) or coax on Virgin Media (which only allows Virgin Media as the ISP). Either will need to enter your property somewhere, where there will be a master socket or coax lead terminated with an F-connector (for virgin) where the modem / router will plug in. That will have one or more RJ45 ethernet sockets and probably wifi as well. You may already have a line coming in somewhere and be able to find it, that would give you an idea at least.

From there it ceases to be the ISP's problem, how you get the connection to your devices and the rest of the premises is your responsibility (though a disappointing number of punters bizarrely think that their local network is a matter for the ISP's support department to help them with). If it's much bigger than a family home, a single wifi router is unlikely to cover the whole building well. You can use ethernet cable (cat5e, cat6) to distribute it from a central switch and patch panel somewhere, then have wireless access points connected at each outlet.

If you are not "tech savvy", you should talk to a local IT company about your infrastructure and get it sorted out now so the circular saw can be avoided when you have finished renovating. Yes, it will cost you to pay someone that knows what they are doing, but if this is going to be an incentive to your future customers it would be better to get it right at the start rather than waiting for complaints.


We have Virgin Media business as our ISP at my workplace. I do not recommend them.

AndyPK

Do virgin supply the area? If roads need to be dug up then it usually takes them at least 2 months. So I would go through the order process and see if they can actually supply you. Should make it easier to decide.

I don't think you would see a virgin engineer with circular saw. They don't like to be there long!

It sounds like you need a network engineer, if you want many wifi access points throughout the place.

and maybe run some cat5 network cable in to the extream ends/corners of the building so that wifi points could be installed. But i'm guessing.

Loads of companies sell fibre now.
But its either through virgins cable, or openreach cable(BT)


Old buildings with thick walls can be a real problem however small you think the building is

Ianb2017

Thanks so far.

Basically, the infrastructure within the walls is semi sorted, we've run cat5 all over the place which we will use to connect up to numerous access points, which will spread signal throughout the building. The main issue at this stage is getting something to the 'front door'... (or wherever it comes in).. Basically I need a clean install, but I'm not sure if I'd pay BT a lump for them to do it, without actually having to sign up to a plan.. (or initially thinking virgin as another possibility, but I see they're not recommended).

littleboo

Openreach provide the infrastructure to the property (unless you go with Virgin), you don't deal with them direct, you deal with your chosen ISP who deal with OR. So you will need to order a service from an ISP to get a line installed or activated.

Ianb2017

Hi there,

so basically what you're saying is there is no way to pay for a master socket to be installed from the nearest central point on the street, without signing up to a plan?

iniltous

Ianb2017 wrote: »

Hi there,

so basically what you're saying is there is no way to pay for a master socket to be installed from the nearest central point on the street, without signing up to a plan?

Correct, pick a provider (BT, Sky, Talk Talk, or whoever ) , if no line currently exists , that provider will arrange with Openreach to provide a line and a master socket, it would then be up to you to arrange to connect that line to your own 'local network' possibly using the router supplied by the ISP you have chosen .
You cannot get a line and socket installed in advance then contact a communications provider to bring that 'line' into service later.
If you were a large scale developer building many property's you could arrange to 'pre install' , using the Openreach Newsites process, but that doesn't apply to single or small scale developments

AndyPK

I amazed the building doesn't currently have a phone line?

What's that all about ?

onomatopoeia99

Ianb2017 wrote: »

Hi there,

so basically what you're saying is there is no way to pay for a master socket to be installed from the nearest central point on the street, without signing up to a plan?

Seems so.

There's also nothing to stop you signing up with a provider with a short minimum term and cancellling after one month. I believe there are still one or two that offer that.

Ianb2017

Hi all,

Ok seems we have an answer that it's not really possible to do what I ask... quite a shame considering I would be happy to fork out an amount to BT (or openreach) to just run in a new line).. Unsure if there is an existing line as there is only one phone socket to be found and that has no life to it by any means... I did speak to BT the other day who said an engineer could do a clean install for £120 (ish) I think it was, however I didn't push as to whether that amounted to signing up to a contract first off. Perhaps it does...