Private Broadband Engineer

CinderKona

Hello all,
I am moving home and i have informed BT with 5 week's notice and they tell me that there is a line in place to connect the copper fibre and this will begin when i move in, however the i cannot find the master socket and also the last owner seems to have left an RJ11 (?) sticking up from the carpet in the place I'd like the router and TV set up. I am not so sure about this connection. Is is possible to get a private engineer to look as BT quote me August for the first engineer appointment?
thanks

Neil_Jones

CinderKona said:

Hello all,
I am moving home and i have informed BT with 5 week's notice and they tell me that there is a line in place to connect the copper fibre and this will begin when i move in, however the i cannot find the master socket and also the last owner seems to have left an RJ11 (?) sticking up from the carpet in the place I'd like the router and TV set up. I am not so sure about this connection. Is is possible to get a private engineer to look as BT quote me August for the first engineer appointment?
thanks

Anything on "your" side of the master socket is your responsibility.  BT will charge you three figures for any issues on your side of the socket, they are responsible for "their" side of the socket, ie where it comes in from the pole/underground up to and including the socket itself.

If your property is provided by a telegraph pole, look at where it comes in for clues to find the socket,  Depending on the property it may be in the hall, on a window sill, on an outer wall (on the inside obviously!).  Sockets end up in strange places sometimes if you're not looking.  It has to be somewhere.

Can you take and post a picture?  It may not be an RJ11, its more likely to be an RJ45.  You can tell the difference thus:

https://www.router-switch.com/faq/rj45-vs-rj11.html

Basically an RJ45 has eight pins and is fatter, an RJ11 is thinner and has six pins.  They are not interchangeable.

JJ_Egan

You may well be able to get a private guy who knows what he is doing . Usually listed under telecoms .

Work in house under Covid rules ??

matelodave

People can work in your house. It's not a problem it just needs a bit of common sense. Be mindful of the advice.

Wear a mask -both him and you, Keep the windows open and maintain a safe distance, ideally keep out of the room he's working in. Wipe down surfaces with antibac or bleach solution after he's been, but if he's any good he should do it himself.

TBH I think BT and some of the other suppliers are just using it as an excuse, rather than a reason.

unforeseen

matelodave said:

People can work in your house. It's not a problem it just needs a bit of common sense. Be mindful of the advice.

Wear a mask -both him and you, Keep the windows open and maintain a safe distance, ideally keep out of the room he's working in. Wipe down surfaces with antibac or bleach solution after he's been, but if he's any good he should do it himself.

TBH I think BT and some of the other suppliers are just using it as an excuse, rather than a reason.

Nothing to do with BT. OP can't find out where his line comes into the house and wants an engineer to trace cabling in their house. 

hbrook

If you cant find the master socket on the inside of your property, take a look around the outside of your property for any cables and connection boxes hanging on your walls. BT connection box is usually marked with Telecoms/BT - mine is grey. It will give you a good indication of where the master socket is likely to be.

Brewer21

CinderKona said:

Hello all,
I am moving home and i have informed BT with 5 week's notice and they tell me that there is a line in place to connect the copper fibre and this will begin when i move in, however the i cannot find the master socket and also the last owner seems to have left an RJ11 (?) sticking up from the carpet in the place I'd like the router and TV set up. I am not so sure about this connection. Is is possible to get a private engineer to look as BT quote me August for the first engineer appointment?
thanks

I've just had Sky broadband installed and a phone line activated.
I was wary of all this as I've not had a master socket for the phone for over 20 years, I've just had a Virgin media phone and BB, TV.
Basically I signed up to Sky but there are others out there, take your pick, and they will install the master socket and what's necessary, it cost me £30 if I remember to have the work done, seems a basic charge by quite a few companies. Obviously you need to find out if and where your line comes in, the companies will ask this. And BTW if not going via BT/Openreach you'll probably get a contractor in, that's what they did with my job. The guy said they get all of Sky's installations as Openreach don't want the hassle of these type of jobs. Whether that's because of Covid or just don't want in house work who knows. Maybe busy with other work as I know we've had a good deal of upgrade work around us just lately with the fibre cables going in.

CinderKona

Thanks - well the house is still empty and I have a month before I can move in.
I have made initial contact with a contractor and will take some photos tonight and send them. I know sky and virgin was installed before but I still have a year left with BT.

JJ_Egan

Sky would be on the BT Open Reach system .

Virgin separate own network cabling .Worth putting postcode in and checking .