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Would BT install a new line to a box on the outside of a premises?!


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Old 20-01-2014, 20:08
simonp820
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We're looking at ways of getting fibre broadband to our house that can't currently get it (see thread in broadband forum). One suggestion was to have a line installed at a neighbour's house and use a wifi access point.

So I was wondering if BT would install a new line to a locked, plastic cabinet secured to the side of someone's house? We'd also have electricity installed to the cabinet (from the house).

Something like this:

http://www.meterboxesdirect.co.uk/pr...596x410x220mm/
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Old 21-01-2014, 17:13
littleboo
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How far away from you is the house that can get FTTC ?
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Old 21-01-2014, 17:28
simonp820
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As the crow flies around 50m.
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Old 21-01-2014, 18:12
chenks
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apart from installing the line into an external box, how are you going to connect and power the modem and/or router to it?

at 50m you'll need a reasonably powerful WIFI access point to get the benefit of any speed from fibre.
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Old 21-01-2014, 19:53
simonp820
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apart from installing the line into an external box, how are you going to connect and power the modem and/or router to it?

at 50m you'll need a reasonably powerful WIFI access point to get the benefit of any speed from fibre.
The plan was to get an electrician to put power to the box.

Looking at this device (or similar):

http://www.4gon.co.uk/ubiquiti-unifi...r2-p-5362.html

Opinions welcome!
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Old 21-01-2014, 20:14
chenks
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all this for a bump in internet connection speed?
your current DSL must be pretty bad to consider paying for a second line and shelling out on external grade cabling and kit.
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Old 21-01-2014, 22:14
Hurlley
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Yes they will, they won't care where you want it or how you secure it etc as long you pay for the line to be installed, the Openreach engineer will put it pretty much anywhere. Only thing is that if the install takes a long time over 1.5hours I believe for the guy to do it they may charge you more after. But the answer is yes.

Things for you to consider, is said house fed by underground cable or a Pole? If off a pole then the engineer may either get a second pair from the existing dropwire or run a new dropwire and run it along the house. IF fed from underground cable same but from the box on the wall of the house. IN either case the engineer would be running a cable along the wall of the house to wherever you plan to fit your external housing for the socket. The main problem in my view is convincing your neighbour to do all this, i can't see any neighbour being so kind unless its very close immediate family.
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Old 21-01-2014, 22:23
simonp820
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The main problem in my view is convincing your neighbour to do all this, i can't see any neighbour being so kind unless its very close immediate family.
Thanks for the info Hurlley. We were planning to offer the neighbour a couple of hundred quid for the inconvenience. Have yet to approach one yet though
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Old 22-01-2014, 07:49
chenks
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Thanks for the info Hurlley. We were planning to offer the neighbour a couple of hundred quid for the inconvenience. Have yet to approach one yet though
you'll also have the running cost of having the devices connected to their electricity supply.

on paper this sounds plausible but in reality i can't see it being feasible.
and what is said neighbour moves, sells the house, falls out with you, changes their mind etc etc.

as i asked, how slow is your current DSL connection for you to even consider something like this?
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Old 22-01-2014, 09:45
chrisjr
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I can't see this working at all. I would not be overly surprised if BT politely told you to go forth and multiply at the suggestion they install a line in a box on someone else's wall. I know they will do some crazy stuff, I once had an ISDN line installed to the middle of a park in Basingstoke, complete with telegraph pole! Mind you that was some years ago, not sure how accommodating they are now.

The bigger issue I can see is getting the WiFi to work. Over that sort of range and trying to penetrate exterior walls I would suggest the signal is not going to be that great.

At the very least you will have to experiment with hanging a WiFi access point out of the window of the house you plan to use and see if you can get any sort of signal in your home. It would be a waste of money otherwise not to prove the final link doesn't work.

And as chenks has been asking, just how bad is your current broadband that you are even contemplating this.

Plus have you considered a MiFi device? That uses the mobile data network for the broadband side and WiFi to connect to your computers etc. The great advantage of that is you are in total control and not reliant on the continued good will of a neighbour for your service.

To be honest using a MiFi device would be several hundred places above what you are talking about on my list of how to improve my broadband.
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Old 22-01-2014, 09:57
simonp820
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Current average download speed is 2mb - upload less than .5mb.

Three mobile broadband is a lot better (around 8mb download and 2 mb upload) but they don't offer anything like an unlimited bandwidth product (we average over 160gb a month - mostly Sky On Demand/Netflix/etc).
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Old 24-01-2014, 13:25
SteveMcK
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I can't see this working at all. I would not be overly surprised if BT politely told you to go forth and multiply at the suggestion they install a line in a box on someone else's wall.
My guess is that they will require the neighbour (as the property owner) to make the request and be the named account holder, hence responsible for paying the bills. Otherwise how would BT be able to prove that you owed the money if you decided to stop paying, for example?

Might be better to find a neighbour who already has decent broadband and see if they'll let you share that via a second wifi access point, perhaps for a consideration. At least if you do fall out with them they would only have to unplug you.
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