Master sockets vs power adapters for internet

bizgirl

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could help. I've just moved house and have a bit of an issue with my internet/phone lines.

The house has the following:

1) An oldish looking BT junction box in the hallway next to the front door, with what appears to be a phone line coming into it from outside plus another (assume internal) line coming out of it that disappears under the floorboards.
2) A fully functioning NTE5 master socket in the dining room.
3) An ordinary phone socket in the dining room (which doesn't have a dial tone when I plug in a corded phone).
4) An ordinary phone socket in the lounge (which also doesn't have a dial tone).

I've plugged my router into the master socket in the dining room to get broadband and it's working just fine. However, I really need the router to be in the lounge next to the TV so I can use my internet provider's TV box.

I'm torn between moving the master socket so it's next to the TV (which I understand will cost £135) or just leaving it where it is and using power adapters to connect the TV box to the router.

I was wondering the following:

1) There is currently no phone socket next to the TV (the defunct socket in the lounge is located on the opposite wall with a long extension lead running below the floorboards to the TV cabinet). Does this mean there could be a fair amount of disruption when installing a master socket there - i.e. will floorboards have to be pulled up, walls drilled into etc?

2) Is there any disadvantage to using power adapters instead of moving the master socket?

3) How come I have a junction box and a master socket in the house - is this normal?

As you've probably guessed I am a complete novice when it comes to these things, so any advice that people could give me would be much appreciated. Thank you! :beer:

Oh, and please let me know if this should be in the DIY forum instead!

flashg67

Can't answer all your questions, but I've used powerline adapters for a number of years for home working over a vpn and also attached to my smart tv for streaming (SD & HD), and they work just fine. I only have the older 200mbps versions and have no problems. They'd be the preferred (& cheaper) option for me, with far less disruption

Linton

2) Power adaptors may or may not work well - it depends on your house's wiring and what else is on the same circuit. Every time I have tried to use them they have lost connection several times a day. The best answer I have found to your problem is WIFI. This for example.

bizgirl

Thanks Flash - good to know you've used them without any problems!

Linton that's really interesting about the range extender, thank you! So I could literally just plug it in next to my TV, plug the ethernet cable from the TV box into the range extender and I'd be good to go? It seems like a great solution - any downsides?

Linton

bizgirl wrote: »

Thanks Flash - good to know you've used them without any problems!

Linton that's really interesting about the range extender, thank you! So I could literally just plug it in next to my TV, plug the ethernet cable from the TV box into the range extender and I'd be good to go? It seems like a great solution - any downsides?

Assuming you have a wifi router! Yes that's exactly how it works once set up. But to set it up you will need to first attach it to a PC with an ethernet cable. I use a tp-link device to communicate from one side of the living room near the BT master socket to the other side where we have a non-wireless Humax box. Another is used to extend the wifi coverage within our house.

There are similar devices from other suppliers but the tplink one seems cheaper than most and much cheaper than a power adaptor. I have found it straightforward to configure and it works well.

bizgirl

Thank you! Yes I have a WiFi router in the dining room plugged into the master socket; and a PC that I can attach it to for the initial set-up. Think I'll give it a try! :beer:

onomatopoeia99

1. The person Openreach send will take the path of least resistance, which will mean the cable being clipped to the top of skirting, around doorframes etc with the minimum of drilling and almost certainly no removal of floorboards. I seem to recall from when I had mine moved that I was told the fee covers the first hour's work, any more is chargeable.

2. You may be lucky and powerline adapters work well. Or you may be like my workplace where they were the biggest problem on our network until I got the drill out and spent a Sunday running a proper ethernet cable. I will never use them again.

3. Presence of both suggests the original wiring in the house has been upgraded with a master socket at some point in the past.

bizgirl

Thank you Onomatopoeia!

I'm just wondering where the phone line enters the house - is it always at the master socket? If so it seems strange that the master socket is the middle room downstairs (there's another room plus hallway in front and a kitchen behind). Could the line be coming in the front and then running about 20 feet under the floor to the master socket in the dining room?

I'm just trying to work out where the engineer would need to position the cabling if we do go down that route...

[Deleted User]

Bizgirl - the cable from the street generally runs into a junction box before going to the master socket (your number 3 question), this is because the cable from the junction box onward is of a different type for internal wiring.
As an example, in our house the cable that comes into the house terminates in a junction box in the loft and then the internal cable runs down the wall into a bedroom to the master socket.

xman

A few ideas in MoneySaving order:

If there is phone box is in the TV room, then maybe the cable is just not connected somewhere? The modem needs to be ideally connected to the master socket but you can well try to reconnect extension in the TV room and see how it goes - make sure you use the filter to connect.

If the performance is not good and the TV box is not wifi capable, could you just run a really long LAN cable hidden nicely under floors/carpets?

If that is not an option then you can try to create the LAN ports via power sockets or wireless systems like Netgear Orbi - you can only know what works best when trying so buy from a place with a good returns policy.

I wish my master socket was in the middle of the house as it would give far better wifi coverage around the house - currently my the master socket is in the front of the house and while it allows wired connection to the Sky box and TV the location means the opposite side of the house upstairs has poor unreliable connection - so think about this too when relocating the master socket.

bizgirl

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice! I opted for powerline adapters in the end and the TV and internet are now working a treat! I'd definitely recommend them as a solution if anyone is in a similar predicament to mine.

Cheers!