Moved house - socket in livingroom not connected

[#1]

hi I just moved into new house yesterday and had my plusnet transferred to new address. The person who handled my move advised that the phone company for this address was bt and since I connected my router to a bt openreach socket in the hallway I can get a connection. However, the crucial phone socket that's in the livingroom doesn't connect to the router. This has caused me to have a panic, thinking that the socket in the livingroom may have been for an old phone company the previous tenant used (sky maybe? Theres a sky dish). That's the one I badly need activated in order to connect to my router. Please could you advise best course of action as soon as possible. Thanks

[#2]

@swanlake 

It could be that the hall socket is the BT master socket and the lounge socket is an extension that will serve phones only as it is wired off the front plate of the filtered master socket. If a phone works in the lounge socket that would support that idea rather than the lounge socket being related to Sky etc.

If you need the router located in the lounge then you need a data socket there and the simplest method, if you are not confident of doing such work yourself, might be to get a competent engineer to fit one for you. A bit of googling or combing of adverts in the local paper should reveal the contact names of local tradesmen competent to do the work (possibly an ex BT engineer). Of course you could ask Plusnet to get BT Openreach to do the work but their minimum fee is £150 and it could be more depending on the complexity and time needed.

[#3]

@swanlake Welcome to the forum.

If you want the best possible speed then leave your hub in the Hall connected to the master socket. If that means that you have poor wireless reception in your living room then tha should be addressed separately. Not advised is to locate the hub in the living room on an extension and a phone in the Hall.

As @jgb says, if the house is wired in accordance wih best practice you will have the Master socket with a filtered faceplate where the telephone line enters the property, traditionally the hall, with the living room and any other extensions connected to the filtered output and therefore suitable only for a phone.

[#4]

Okay thanks for the advice guys. Was freaking out as stumped how to connect my Xbox to router, and TV to router if the router is sitting in the hallway. Is there some sort of WiFi extender I could get with an Ethernet port to have next to the TV and Xbox in livingroom, if router stays in the hallway? Sorry for the stupid questions

[#5]

@swanlake 

See here for your options: https://community.plus.net/t5/Tech-Help-Software-Hardware-etc/Distributing-Data-around-Larger-Proper...

[#6]

@swanlake 

Further to @Baldrick1 post, see the attached weblink for a range of wifi extenders some of which have ethernet ports. A simple search on the internet will reveal many such devices from many sellers.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/wifi-extender/s?k=wifi+extender

[#7]

Excellent thanks guys.
There has been a development! With the phone line from the working bt socket in hallway I've been able to bring the router into the livingroom. I have two relatively short Ethernet cables (approx 50 inches). Would there be any harm, do you think, in acquiring two longer ethernet cables and running them from the (newly livingroom based for now as a test) router into the smart TV and Xbox? Thanks again for all your guidance to date

[#8]

@swanlake 

It could be possible to re-wire the master socket to allow data through to the extension. I'm not familiar with OR face plates but years ago I bought an ADSLNation master socket faceplate and an extension faceplate. By wiring the master as per instructions I was able to get a signal on the extension.

Brian

[#9]

@swanlake  The length of ethernet cables is not a problem they can be many metres long. (up to 100 metres I believe)

[#10]

@swanlake 

I think it's already been mentioned but have you tried a phone in the extension to see if it works.

Brian

[#11]

@swanlake 

As @RealAleMadrid  says there is absolutely no problem with using long Ethernet cables. I have them strung around my house following very torturous routes in order to keep them hidden. For example, from my hall to living room the cheap  CAT5E cable goes through a wall into the kitchen, up the back of the oven unit through the ceiling into a built in wardrobe, up that into the loft. Then across the loft, through the roof soffit by a drainpipe, down the back of the drainpipe then through the wall into the living room. It connects at 1000 Mbps with no drop outs.

If you want two Ethernet outlets in your living room you only need to run one cable and put an Ethernet switch in your living room, see. https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-LS1005G-Wallmount-Ethernet-Splitter/dp/B07VWB347G/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpi...

[#12]

Such useful information thanks so much everyone, feeling a lot better about things. Got a longer ethernet cable and plugged that info TV with router moved to livingroom. Will see how the broadband connection is for rest of house in coming days, but for now, sorted. Thanks again