Telephone / internet socket confusion

Katie0

Moved in recently and plugged in the cables into holes and adapters that fit.. looks awful.
The socket is in two pieces, and I have an additional adapter.
I’m changing all the light switches and power outlets so want to sort this too!
Link to two pics of the current anatomy, and another of the ‘ideal’
Could anyone advise what I need to buy ?
So grateful in advanced
ibb.co/xMVB2Fd

Risteard

The Master Socket belongs to BT (Openreach).

Katie0

Thanks, what does that mean? Can’t I change it?

Aylesbury_Duck

If it’s the BT master socket it belongs to them. Change it if you like but if you ever need to get them out to fix or enable a connection they may charge you to replace your non-standard socket for a standard one.

jk0

Katie0 wrote: »

Thanks, what does that mean? Can’t I change it?

You aren't supposed to. What I did was move the BT socket under the floorboards, then run wires under the floorboards to new sockets around my house.

Davesnave

You can't change the Master Socket, but you can hide it, as jk0 suggests. It's down to your ingenuity.

Even the Queen probably can't get one in brushed brass, though she could probably have it installed in a stuffed corgi, or something like that.

tacpot12

What is the additional adapter for? If it for extension wiring, you can fix the extension wiring to the wall and bring it into the front portion of the BT Master socket at the side. This will make the extension wiring much neater. Changing the extension wiring colour to white or cream will also help hide the wires.

I'm not sure if your faceplate has the ability to have ADSL extension wiring connected to it, but if not, you could also replace the faceplate with one of these, and bring the ADSL wire in at the side: https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GPNTE5ADSL.html

Again, fitting white or cream ADSL extension wiring would improve matters greatly

There are lots of how-to's on the internet that explain about installing extension wiring. There is no brass option for BT NTE5 faceplates. (The BT Master socket you have is called an NTE5).

As has been stated, you could move the BT Master socket (NTE5) to a position where it is less visible, and then run extension wiring from the master socket to a brass Secondary socket which can have both telephone and ADSL (RJ11) connectors. Ideally, you would move the BT master socket closer to the point where the cable enters your home and lose the excess wiring somehow. You could also remove some cable to shorten it, but be aware that you are destroying BT property.

Katie0

Thanks everyone.
Whoever makes attractive chrome/brass nte5 sockets will be a millionaire.
What a pain!
I’ve just had my floor boards restored and can’t bear to mess around any more with them, but that’s such a good idea to hide it all underneath.
I think I’ll go for a brass faceplate with a micro filter 😕
Thanks!

Owain_Moneysaver

The NTE is BT's property and should not be replaced with an ordinary socket. BT will charge you to replace it back to an NTE if they find you.

Wire the extension wiring in at the back properly, flush fit the NTE using a standard electrical back box, and cover the front faceplate in sticky back plastic

https://www.vinylwarehouse.co.uk/end-of-line-limited-amount-brushed-bronze-sticky-vinyl-fablon-fab12586-45cm-x-15m-7838-p.asp

dan958

I moved my master socket into a cupboard. I was running ethernet around my house anyway, so thought I would also do that while I was at it. It also made it better because I could keep my router and server in the cupboard easily as well.