Getting started - the cables

[#1]

I have subscribed to PlusNet but not yet had an installatuon performed. I was with Virgin Media.

First, there are three cables or leads that go into the back of a Plus Net Router.  There is the yellow Ethernet cable, and a power lead. There is a separate lead from the landline phone to the outside of the house.

There is also, if the setup is like the one at Virgin, this third lead.  This leads to the back of the router also, coming into the house from the street, across the garden.  What does that do?  It is not the telephone lead. The landline telephone lead is independent of the router.

Second, when the engineers come to take out this old Virgin cable that leads from the street, to put in the new PlusNet cable I assume in its place.  Last year, I had new carpets fitted.  The carpet fitters made sure the Virgin cables went under the cables to keep them out of sight.  Would PlusNew engineers (Openreach) do the same thing?  Make sure that the cables are fitted under the carpets without their being visible?  Wthout damaging the new carpets.

Thanks.

[#2]

@ukthesis . Welcome to the forum.

Your broadband is delivered on the telephone landline cable so it is not the same as that which you currently have. There is no other connection to the outside world. If this is a new line then the Openreach technician will put the new master socket in a place, within reason, in a place of your choice. I very much doubt that they will lift carpets, they love tacking cables to skirting boards. I hear that cups of tea and chocolate biscuits can help.

If you already have a BT landline connected to your house then they will connect to that upstream of your house and not visit your property at all.

I note that this has been posted onto the ADSL board. Have you posted on the wrong board or are you really downgrading from Virgin cable to standard slow broadband?

[#3]

My technical knowledge is close to zero, so sorry if I posted to the wrong board.

I think I understand the PlusNet system.  I had a non-BT phone line, which I think was the problem.  This is why Virgin Media had to install long cables to the back of the router from my outside garden.  Long cables going under the carpets.  

I have asked PlusNet to get me a BT phone line for £50 more.  This should resolve that problem.  Probably leave in the old cables, as trying to get them out might damage the new carpets?

This is how I understand the PlusNet system.  There are three cables at the back of the router.  One to power the router up.  A second cable, the Ethernet, to deliver the internet from the router to the computer.

A third lead from the back of the router.  This lead goes into the same wall socket as my landline phone lead does.  After I have a BT line. This lead takes the place of the long lead that Virgin had to install those years ago.  It does the same job. This new lead is short and won't go under any of my new carpets. 

Is this correct?

[#4]

Moderator's note(s):

Thread moved from ADSL Broadband to My Router.

[#5]

@ukthesis 

Yes, that is correct. If Openreach fit a new socket it will hopefully include a filtered faceplate. These have two sockets for your phone and router connections. If so then you will not need to fit the microfilter/splitter that comes with the router. If  Openreach don't automatically supply the filtered faceplate then my advice is to ask the technician for one. They are neater than microfilters and work better if you ever want to fit a telephone extension cable. Do not throw the microfilter away. You will need it as part of the fault diagnosis routine if you ever have a connection problem.

[#6]

Hi there.

I've just progressed your order through to our suppliers now as it doesn't look like our automated system was able to automatically place the order on this occasion. 

We should be able to confirm your engineer appointment date within the next 48 to 72 hours. We'll post your new router out to you closer to the installation date, normally aiming to arrive within the last few days.

When the engineer arrives they'll likely connect a spare BT line that to your property, fitting a new master telephone socket if that's needed then carry out any further work at the exchange and cabinet to activate your services.

It's unlikely the engineer will touch the Virgin Media cabling and I can't guarantee they'll fit any BT cabling within your property exactly how you'd want it but it's definitely worth asking them when they arrive. I certainly wouldn't expect them to cause any damage to your property though, but in the very unlikely event that happens I'd recommend calling the Openreach damage reporting team on 0800 023 2023 (option 1 + option 2) so they can return to put things right.

Once the work has been completed your order should complete before midnight on the day and we'll send you an email and text message to let you know when your broadband is ready for you to setup your router.

When setting up the router you'd (obviously) use the power cable to plug into the power socket, and the grey/white cable goes from the grey DSL port on the router to your Openreach socket and that's it at least for your router to get the internet. You'd then need to connect your devices to the WiFi network and/or computer into the router using an ethernet cable.

The ethernet cable we provide will be fairly short but if you need a longer one, you can always buy a third party ethernet cable to use. I'd also have a read Here which may give you a little more advice.

I hope this helps. Feel free to let us know if you have any further questions.

[#7]

PlusNet do not fit a Filtered Faceplate, according to the lady at PlusNet I spoke to.  Only the Microfilters. 

No doubt you can buy a Filtered Faceplate on EBay, but trying to fit one myself sounds really complicated.  And if I get it wrong, no doubt PlusNet will not fix the problem.

[#8]

Thanks for getting back to us.

I can confirm that the engineer will fit a new faceplate as part of a new master socket if required.

However if anything goes wrong with the faceplate it'd be classed as internal wiring and isn't something we'd be able to replace or arrange to be fixed. The demarcation point is basically the test socket which is behind the faceplate.

[#9]

@ukthesis 

I wouldn't "over think" this at the moment.

Assuming you have no BT socket at present, your best approach is to be as helpful as possible to the Openreach installer when he or she arrives to fit the phone socket.

With a new installation, most likely you will end up with a "curvy" box that sticks out from the wall.

If the most likely mounting point (typically somewhere near the front door but this depends on the easiest approach for the wire) is suitable for you then encourage the Openreach installer to but the socket there.

If that isn't a convenient location then asking nicely for it to be somewhere else (which is reasonably practical) may well get results.

There must have been a similar process when the Virgin service was installed.