Property with in-situ fibre for BT and Virgin

[#1]

Just moving into a new(ish) place. The previous people had Virgin. I'm going BT. The ONT is up and running again with a selction of green lights. I will say that whoever mounted the ONT didn't take into account the design of some AC/DC plugs (where the cable goes in that the top, rather than the bottom). The ONT won't re-seat on its original wall mounting, as the base of it is only a couple of mm's away from the top of the power socket plate. Not an insurmountable problem.

However...

I'm left with a 'snake' of a couple of metres of cabling stuff coiled up on the floor attached to what I assume to be the Virgin 'feed'. It appears to be screwed in with a haxagonal coupling. Can I just take a pair of pliers to the fixing and (carefully) unscrew the (no longer needed, not connected to anything) irritating 'snake'?

[#2]

@greygit1 

That sounds like an "F" type connector - as used on satellite equipment.

Does the end that used to be connected to your Virgin equipment have a barrel with a terminating plug screwed in to it?

If so, it is OK to unscrew the cable from the wall socket, PROVIDED that you also remove the terminating plug from the end of the cable and screw it in to the wall socket.

This is to maintain the correct impedances on the Virgin network.

If you are not sure what you have, can you post photos of the wall socket and the free end of the cable?

[#3]

The bit with the red sticker that says "Forward Path Equaliser 4dB " etc.?

[#4]

N.B.

This is not "my" virgin equipment. Just cabling left over from the previous owners,

[#5]

@greygit1 

Photo(s)?

[#6]

@Mr_Paul 

A search for "Forward Path Equaliser 4dB" might give the answer you are looking for, it does not look like a terminating plug to me.

It is quite likely Virgin Media have disconnected their cable at the cabinet end. I would image the card in the cabinet can cope with both open circuit and short circuit cable.

@greygit1 

Be brave and remove the cable!

[#7]

@Dan_the_Van 

I have already done a search for that - so I know what it looks like.

What I am interested in, is if there is a termination attached to the output of the equaliser. Also, the equaliser will provide some impedance matching back in to Virgin's network.

Signal levels and impedance matching are critical in Virgin's network, so if the OP does decide to follow your advice they should at least re-attach the equaliser at the wall socket.

We had Virgin cable many years ago at another house. When it was ceased, they fitted 75 ohm terminations to both wall sockets. The cable was not disconnected in the joint box splitter.

[#8]

@Mr_Paul 

I really think you're being a bit over dramatic here, the OP has a cable he wants to get ride of and you're worried if it causes problems with VM local network. I'm pretty sure the OP is not, an open circuit cable is not going to cause a massive issue, do you plug in 75 ohm terminator to unused TV or radio sockets around the house?

[#9]

@Dan_the_Van 

The signal levels and impedance matching in Virgin's network are far more critical than any home distribution system, due to the number of multiplexes that it carries.

"do you plug in 75 ohm terminator to unused TV or radio sockets around the house?"

I designed and installed our home TV distribution system myself, and there are only a couple of unused outlets. Yes, they do have 75 ohm terminations fitted - I made them myself with aerial plugs and resistors.

[#10]

@Mr_Paul 

Can't say I'm surprised.

If there is a terminator on the Equaliser I doubt they would need both, I would just connect the terminator to the wall socket.

I'm leaving this thread now.

[#11]

The cable was gone (before I posted the question). The equaliser now is screwed back into the Virgin access point.