Move Sky socket
David_Williams7
Posts: 4 Forum Member
I live in a block of flats with a communal Sky dish. The previous owner obviously had a large construction housing his TV etc, but it's left me with a socket in the middle of a wall, five feet off the floor. I'd like to move it to a more sensible height.
I'm not a Sky customer and I just use it for Freeview and Freesat. The phone socket has a dialling tone, but I've what looks like a master socket at the other end of the flat, and my BT broadband works fine with the router plugged into that.
So can I move it myself, or get someone in, or do I have to get Sky (when I'm not a customer) or Openreach to do it? And, as I understand it, if it's Openreach I can't approach them direct, so how do I go about it?
Would appreciate any advice.
I'm not a Sky customer and I just use it for Freeview and Freesat. The phone socket has a dialling tone, but I've what looks like a master socket at the other end of the flat, and my BT broadband works fine with the router plugged into that.
So can I move it myself, or get someone in, or do I have to get Sky (when I'm not a customer) or Openreach to do it? And, as I understand it, if it's Openreach I can't approach them direct, so how do I go about it?
Would appreciate any advice.
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Satellite-Extension-Compression-Connectors/dp/B0048079SO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1485132120&sr=8-2&keywords=sat+extension+cable
You could also use an extension for the telephone to where you want.
In my opinion would save some hassle in moving the socket.
If you want to get that moved, you'll need to get your phone provider to order that service from Openreach. You'll be charged for that though.
Are you saying that the router doesn't work in an extension socket elsewhere in the flat? You shouldn't need to get the master socket moved to get that working - it should be possible to use it an extension socket too. Does the master socket have "two sockets" on it, e.g. does it look like this http://phil.lavin.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/fttc-faceplate.jpg
If you want to move the satellite dish connections then that's something you'd have to ask your landlord / building management company about.
Any TV/Radio/Satellite sockets on it are possibly wired into the communal distribution system. Depending on how this is managed you may be able to move them yourself or you may have to get the building management involved. Only they can really tell you the full score.
If the phone socket is an extension wired off the removable section of the master socket then you can do what you like with it. It's nothing to do with Openreach, they are only interested in the socket that is attached to the incoming line. You would only need to get your phone service provider involved if you wanted to move the master socket.
Of course how easy it is to move the sockets depends on where you want them moved to and what cable run is being used to where the socket currently is. If there is sufficient slack in the cable to move the socket then that is a world easier than if you have to muck about extending the cables.
The "master socket" has a BT logo on it and is one of those you can take the front off. It looks like one of those you get a picture of if you Google "Which is my master socket?". I suspect it's the original socket from before the satellite dish was installed. Perhaps I could start disconnecting things to find out which one is the master socket now, but I'm not sure it takes me any further forward.
I could just leave things as they are, with the socket high on the wall, but it's unsightly. It's on an internal stud wall, so if the cables behind it in the wall came from below it would be easy to drop it down to skirting board level, but unfortunately they all come down from above.
Thanks for the answers so far. Would I be right in thinking that the consensus is I should either live with it or call BT?
The extension socket(s) you can do whatever you want with, Openreach doesn't own or control those, so moving that would be totally up to you and is something you could DIY or get a professional in to do
Unless someone's been doing some dodgy wiring then yes, the socket you describe should definitely be the master.
If it was originally in that place, or it was moved & the wires shortened, then they will need extending.
As mentioned above, you only need to get BT (Openreach) involved if you need to move the master socket.
https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.satcure.co.uk%2Ftech%2Fimages%2Ftriax_304114_all.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.satcure.co.uk%2Ftech%2Fwallplates.htm&docid=i2HG3Ir-SmeMJM&tbnid=J_TI_BVWGtbhiM%3A&vet=1&w=567&h=231&bih=605&biw=1280&q=sky%20tv%20sockets&ved=0ahUKEwjtnbDNi9jRAhXqDsAKHcdcBGIQMwggKAQwBA&iact=mrc&uact=8
My "master socket" is the middle one of
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRiP48gX1P-_QmUFGk6RAvwQ_YsUgH5qe8PhdJbbwEy9QhStIUa
The faceplate will just have an extension from the BT Master socket, as all the other sockets are an extension from the control room, where the dish and aerial are connected to.
You either need to look behind the face plate, see if there is any spare wire, and if not, decide if it's something you can do yourself, or get someone in (an aerial or satellite installer, not BT).
There is no need to involve either your phone service provider nor Openreach to move that socket. They would either charge you several major limbs to do it or tell you politely to go forth and multiply before closing the door behind them
As said if you are lucky the socket was moved with the cables still attached and the slack is hanging down inside the cavity in the wall. If you are unlucky the socket was moved and the cables trimmed to length.
In the former case you should just be able to drop the socket down to skirting level easily enough. In the latter case you will have to faff about with extending the cabling.
The wall is hollow - plasterboard. So what I'm thinking is to enlarge the hole in the wall where it is and leave the socket in the same position, but attached internally to the studwork or something attached to the back of the plasterboard the other side of the cavity. Then I'll put the leads to the TV down the inside of the wall and out of a small hole at the bottom where they will be hidden. So no changes to the wiring, the socket is visible, but set back, and the leads to the TV are hidden as well. And I'll hang a picture over the hole!
Have you checked to see if there is any slack pushed up into the ceiling? Or have the cables been cut to length?
And if you do recess the socket just make sure there is no horizontal studding between it and where you plan to have the cables emerge. I've seen even professional cable installers get caught out by that one!