Having Fibre Broadband installed

JohnB47

Today we signed up to having fibre broadband fitted and I'm now thinking about how the new installation will effect the positioning of the router and home phone.

We currently have a copper connection to a master socket in the hall. There is a hardwired connection from the back of that, under the floorboards to a socket in the living room, near the television, where the existing router is plugged in. We have the TV and Hard Disk Recorder plugged into the router but we haven't used that facility for ages because we use a Firestick to watch catch-up TV now and it uses wi-fi. There is also a hardwire, again under the floorboards, to a socket further along the hall where a BT 8500 DECT phone is plugged in.

I'm wondering about the best position for the new fibre router and the home phone. If we no longer need cables from the router to the TV/HDD, the router could go in the hall, next to the front door, although I would need to provide a new mains socket next to it. So if the router is there and we want the home phone somewhere else, how are they connected?

I probably have more questions - I just need to be prepared when the guys turn up (in a couple of months) to do the installation. Any advice is welcome.

SiliconChip

It's very likely that the only connection to the cable network will be via the router and your phone will need to be plugged into one of the sockets on the back of the router - I originally had a separate phone line with Virgin Media but when there was a problem at the end of last year they simply made a network change that allowed my phone to go through the router instead, the separate line is now defunct. I have a doubler plugged into the router socket that has a corded phone in one socket and an extension cable running to the base station for several cordless phones, it all works OK so you should be able to have your phone anywhere as long as you can run an extension cable to it.

J_B

There's FTTC (To the cabinet) green box in the road somewhere nearby, then it uses the existing copper cable for the rest of its journey

And FTTP (to the proeprty) where they bring the dedicated fibre cable direct to your house

IvanOpinion

I recently upgraded to full fibre. I was expecting them to come in, track through my front garden and drill a cable through the wall into a room at the front of the house (as my neighbour did when he switched to Virgin).

I was staying with Sky and the engineer literally pulled a new fibre cable through the existing underground conduit that my old copper cable ran in (came from an access point about 50m down the street). So my new router went in exactly the same place as my old copper router. No need for new power sockets, cables running along walls, or drilling. through an external wall.

Our old phone plugs into the router - and has never worked so well.

Alderbank

IvanOpinion said:

So my new router went in exactly the same place as my old copper router. No need for new power sockets, cables running along walls, or drilling. through an external wall.

That will be because you had a spare socket available nearby.
Unless there is a spare socket a new one will be needed to plug the ONT box into.

JohnB47

Thanks everyone. I've been doing a bit of reading.

It seems that the fibre (overhead, from a pole across the road) will be connected to an ONT box, which needs power (as Alderbank says). Presumably this is inside the house?

So I not only have to think where to position the Router but also the ONT box. And both need a power socket nearby.

The Router is connected to the ONT using an ethernet cable. I wonder how long that Ethernet cable could be. I have reasonable access under a suspended wooden floor.

I suppose I could think about fitting an RJ45 socket near where the ONT box is fitted, and another RJ45 near a mains socket where I want to position the Router, then run a Cat5 or 6 cable under the floor to connect the sockets. 

It might be a bit of overkill - might just have them side by side.

Then there's the phone. What if I don't want it near the ONT? Is there a way to run a cable under the floor to connect the ONTs Tel port to a standard telephone socket where the phone plugs into? Would that use standard telephone sockets at each end and just a pair of wires to connect them - i.e. exactly what I currently have between my master socket in the hall and another one further along?

Lots to think about.

35har1old

JohnB47 said:

Thanks everyone. I've been doing a bit of reading.

It seems that the fibre (overhead, from a pole across the road) will be connected to an ONT box, which needs power (as Alderbank says). Presumably this is inside the house?

So I not only have to think where to position the Router but also the ONT box. And both need a power socket nearby.

The Router is connected to the ONT using an ethernet cable. I wonder how long that Ethernet cable could be. I have reasonable access under a suspended wooden floor.

I suppose I could think about fitting an RJ45 socket near where the ONT box is fitted, and another RJ45 near a mains socket where I want to position the Router, then run a Cat5 or 6 cable under the floor to connect the sockets. 

It might be a bit of overkill - might just have them side by side.

Then there's the phone. What if I don't want it near the ONT? Is there a way to run a cable under the floor to connect the ONTs Tel port to a standard telephone socket where the phone plugs into? Would that use standard telephone sockets at each end and just a pair of wires to connect them - i.e. exactly what I currently have between my master socket in the hall and another one further along?

Lots to think about.

In my case underground supply the existing master socket was in hall way behind the front door with no avaible electric supply the original router was fed from a extension which was behind the tv and my router was then under the tv. So the new supply was rerouted to a new box on the outside wall  outside then drilled through roughly behind the tv to then terminate in the ONT. Their is approx 2m of cable supplied to connect to the router in the same position I have a wired connection to a laptop.No telephone service available
If you can have a telephone service it comes from the router

Owain_Moneysaver

JohnB47 said:

The Router is connected to the ONT using an ethernet cable. I wonder how long that Ethernet cable could be. I have reasonable access under a suspended wooden floor.

Then there's the phone. What if I don't want it near the ONT? Is there a way to run a cable under the floor to connect the ONTs Tel port to a standard telephone socket where the phone plugs into?

In theory the ethernet cable can be 90 metres, in practice they will supply a short one and test the installation using that. So you'll need 2 mains sockets - ONT and router.

If you can supply a 20mm plastic conduit (with no bends) from outside the house, under the floor, to a standard double electrical back box with a brush faceplate where you want the router, they may be willing to draw in fibre through that and put the ONT there. There's a big PDF on Openreach about 'fibre installation for developers' showing how they would like new homes to be prepared ready for fibre installation, so the closer to that you can get the easier it will probably be.

https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/new-dam-(not-in-use-yet)/documents/help-support/building-developers/Quick Guide - Home Wiring.pdf

https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/documents/Openreach Fibre Handbook.pdf  (pages to 22 - rather more detailed)

Yes, you can plug in extension wiring to the phone socket on the back of the router -- most ISPs and Openreach are moving away from connecting the voice service through the ONT and are leaving it to the ISP to provide through their router.