fibre installation without external grey box

[#1]

my neighbour was having fibre installed yesterday, and the chap from openreach was thoughtfully pulling it into the house using the (now defunct) landline copper wire.

this is exactly what I would like, since I don't want any drivway digging up or an awful grey box on the front of the house.

however, on the plus.net website is does talk about a box going on the outside of the house?

[#2]

A CSP (customer splice point) or 'that awful grey box' as you call it is a necessity for Full Fibre.

[#3 · Accepted solution]

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@jab1 wrote:

A CSP (customer splice point) or 'that awful grey box' as you call it is a necessity for Full Fibre.

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Yes it is, but in some circumstances a CSP can be fitted internally....   The CSP is supposed to be readily accessible in case Openreach need to work on the connection - so on your outside wall is easiest, and it needs to be effectively at ground level as the equipment used for splicing can't be used from a ladder.

My neighbor has an internal CSP, he argued that due to adjacent building listing and the old copper cable coming through a duct inside the house he needed an internal CSP...  the OR engineer obliged.

[#4]

@Ian06 Agreed, the CSP can be fitted internally, but as you point out, it is better on an outside wall for OR access, and not all installation engineers are so obliging. Standard and usual practice is to site them on an outside wall unless there are compelling reasons to do otherwise.

[#5]

apart from looking better, the OpenReach chap realised it was the simpler option, certainly less trouble than piece-by-piece lifting up driveway cobblestones to bury a wire underneath?

all in all, pulling it inside via the existing landline looks like a top job.

[#6]

From your comment above, you have an UG feed. The CSP can be fitted inside - if the installer will do it, but they still need to feed a new cable via the duct - no 'digging up the drive' is needed.

[#7]

I would assume that it depends on where an existing duct terminates. For example, if it comes from the property curtilage to a point inside the property, then that’s the sensible place to install the CSP. 

[#8]

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Full Fibre to Everything Else

[#9]

There are other issues and risks with internal termination.

Ducts ought not to go from outside to inside as that potentially offers a route of ingress for vermin and gas.

The external fibre cable's sheath is not compliant with fire and smoke regulations for internal use.  Discussions suggest that where external grade fibre is taken indoors, it must be in a metal sheath conduit.

See: New-Sites-Fibre-Handbook-August-2024-online.pdf  page 30

"If internal duct feed to SDU plots is provided, then under no
circumstance should a section of duct feed directly from the
underground jointing chamber to the inside of the house.
This is due to the risk of gas passing from the underground
network directly into the house."

The above all being considered the installation engineer might need to be prepared to break some rules.

[#10]

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@pn2025 wrote:

my neighbour was having fibre installed yesterday, and the chap from openreach was thoughtfully pulling it into the house using the (now defunct) landline copper wire.

this is exactly what I would like, since I don't want any drivway digging up or an awful grey box on the front of the house.

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This is exactly what I would like when the time comes. Don't know if it will even be possible - or allowed.

Fingers crossed! 😊

[#11]

@Townman 

I note that this document applies to new sites. It is interesting to note that ducts must not enter SDUs, but it is permitted for MDUs. There are gas sealing requirements for both.

I was mildly amused to read that exposed external fibre should be capped. This is my recent installation:

[#12]

"Openreach will only support internal duct feeds where there is a separate duct section from the underground jointing chamber to the exterior of the house and then a secondary separate duct which feeds under and then inside the house."

So you can not have a duct directly from the chamber to the inside of the house, but you can have two separate ducts. Here a number of the buildings are covered by a grade II listing and external boxes (CSP) are frowned on. Hence my neighbor's CSP is inside his converted barn.

[#13]

@Baldrick1 

That is tidy compared to my neighbour's installation: that comes up my duct (they do have their own) and loops up the front of my property.

Must have been out the day the cowboys arrived.  It is not a BT service.