Moving to FTTP - concerns around position of router etc

[#1]

Hi folks,

Like many I've spotted on the forum, I'm looking at moving to FTTP, but have a non-standard house layout and want to figure out the best way forward before pushing the go button.

(Our exchange is FTTP priority, so I'm being pushed by my current provider to swap, though I actually want to move to Plusnet which has better deals and customer service)

FTTC comes in from telegraph pole, through an upstairs bedroom and along the skirting board and through a hole into our home office. I'm hoping we can follow the same path for FTTP, but as it will involve moving a lot of furniture before we start, I'd like to know the odds!

The bedroom in question doesn't have power along the exterior wall, neither does our downstairs.

Ideal world would be for the cable to go straight into the office, but I think that would involve a lot of exterior cabling based on where the telegraph pole is.

Any suggestions (other than be sure we have good biscuits for the engineer :)) ? If I do make an order but openreach can't do anything amenable, can I refuse/cancel?

[#2]

@JMFD First - the cable from the pole to your property will have to enter  at, or very close to ground-level - the way the exterior/interior cables are spliced dictate that. Do you have a power source downstairs on the wall where the cable will therefore enter?

[#3]

@JMFD

There is some lee way in where the ONT is situated but as stated by @jab1 the fibre cable first has to be brought down to ground level to what's known as a CSP (Consumer Splice Point). From there it becomes a matter of the desirable over the possible.

The ONT is usually on the inside wall of where the CSP is but doesn't have to be. The lack of a power socket for the ONT could complicate matters - or focus the installers mind on where to put the ONT.

Unfortunately it's often the case you don't find out until the day of install when you speak to the engineer and agree a route / location. Have a good think about all the possible locations so you have an idea of what's possible on the day.

Also consider the router is attached to the ONT by ethernet cable so can go anywhere you're happy to run said cable. Might take a bit of time / cost but you should be able to have the router in your desired location no matter where the ONT is.

Brian

Edit : The cable can be taken back upstairs after the CSP if required and it's possible they might consider taking it round the corner of the property but it's not as flexible as copper cable so would "stick out" on the corner.

[#4]

Wherever the ONT is - it has to be within 1m of a power socket,  the cable is that length  - and pre-terminated.

[#5]

Thanks all, just to confirm there are no power sockets on the ground floor near the telegraph pole "corner" of the house, or in fact any on the ground floor near the wall facing the street. Im hoping this would mean an upstairs install is more likely prioritised.

[#6]

Then, @JMFD - you have a problem. There is no way of extending the pre-terminated cable. Where is the nearest ground-floor socket? They cannot do an 'upstairs' installation,  as they cannot splice the cable at height.

[#7]

@jab1 @bmc 

Sorry, but I disagree with the pair of you.

Provided the OR installer is willing to cooperate, the cable does not have to be brought down to ground level or enter the building at ground level - overhead feeds offer more options in this respect IMO.

The cable could be brought through a wall into an upstairs room and the CSP fitted internally.

As I've mentioned before, my own cable enters my house under the eaves and runs through the loft and beyond through a self-installed conduit to an internally fitted CSP.

[#8]

@RobPN AIUI, your installation is a very old one - was the power cable (for the ONT) pre-terminated?

[#9]

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@jab1 wrote:

.. was the power cable (for the ONT) pre-terminated?

---

I'm not sure what you're getting at @jab1 

Aren't all the power cables pre-terminated - presuming you mean the DC one from the wall wart?

In case the DC cable needs to be extended (in the absence of a nearby mains outlet) - this thread deals with that.

Edit: Apparently mains extension cables have been acceptable.

[#10]

@JMFD On the OR page - either https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL , or https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL/AddressHome , is your instal quoted as a one  or two stage (KCI2) job?

[#11]

It'd listed as a one stage job.

Nearest socket closest to the front of the house is inside a fitted unit 3m and a door away. Running an extension from there to somewhere I don't want the installation in the first place is not desirable!
.

[#12]

OK - in that case, have a good read of the topic posted by @RobPN  -sounds like that may be the way you will have to go, or similar.

[#13]

There must be different lengths of pre connected cable for the ONT as OR state they'll run the for up to 10 meters inside the houde - but not through walls. I may be wrong.

I'm reasonably certain that it's been spoken about in the past where the cable comes down to the CSP and then gets taken back up the wall to the first floor for the ONT.

As to power, extensions can be used though in the longet term you'd probably want to get someone in to put a power socket where required.

Brian

[#14]

@bmc The cable I was talking about is the one from the power socket to the ONT - not the internal fibre cable itself.

[#15]

@JMFD 

Just a quick thought before I do to bed.

Would it be possible to install some ducting in the loft and take it external at either end - one where the cable arrives at the house and the other near where you want the router. Put a draw rope in so the installer can pull the fibre cable through to the other side of the house and then down to ground level for the CSP. The cable then comes back up to the first floor before coming in for the ONT.

As I said, just a thought.

Brian