I have BT infinity and this box is so intrusive in the hall! Is there anything I can to move it or make it look less bulky?! It's also sideways too! Thanks

Here's a photo of it - http://i57.tinypic.com/xqh08n.jpg

Not really.

Since it's the master socket you can't really touch it (you are allowed to remove the broadband filter and you can remove the lower plate where your phone plugs in, you can't take the entire socket off the wall as that's only to be done by Openreach) - you certainly can't move it without paying Openreach (via your phone company - which is BT in this case), and that won't be too cheap so it might be worth living with.

Unfortunately it's the filter that attaches over the socket that is causing the bulk - the actual master socket would stick out about as much as a plug socket. Short of removing the filter and using individual ones at each socket (which is not at all recommended, this master socket filter is the better option) there's nothing you can do

Also the fact that the master socket has the back box on it is taking up space. You could fit one of the recessed back boxes to cut down on the bulk. This would involve having to cut a square hole in the wall and fitting something like one of these these.. The 16mm one might even do.

This would allow the NTE5 part (the master socket) to sit flush with the wall.

Obviously you would have to unscrew the whole thing from the wall, and as moox says above, you are not really meant to be doing this.

I thought it was recessed but looking again, it doesn't appear to be

Thanks. BT want £205 to move it.

That is an impressive amount, given that the cost BT charges to install a totally brand new telephone line (which would include putting a new socket anywhere you wanted it) is £130 (or £65 as an online special offer)

In a way, it's a shame that we didn't do the US approach (Openreach would own a junction box on the outside of the house, but from that point inside the house, you have total freedom), or allow third party contractors to do this sort of work - a bit like how you can get any registered gas fitter or qualified electrician to put in an oven or wire your house, no need to get the gas/electricity companies involved

As long as it is done properly there is nothing stopping you from using a 3rd party telecoms company to move a line box. I have done it loads of times, as long as you use the same joiners that BT use. They will not know where the box originally was.

Yes techically it is wrong but we do just as proffesional job as BT do. I have moved mine from just inside the front door (useless place) into my lounge.

They were doing this for a short while with new build properties - the External NTE

However, use of this was discontinued, I would guess because of users losing broadband speed.

Where are you based?!

Norfolk.

It also makes it difficult/impossible for the customer to eliminate their wiring as there is no test socket

Can't see why that would be true if done properly (e.g. the NTE had a filter and one socket inside the house gets the DSL side of the filter for connection to a modem).

If BT were so concerned about speed, they wouldn't have eliminated the requirement for a proper install for FTTC, they wouldn't use dodgy contractors like Kelly, or they'd have chosen to do FTTP like most other telcos


That's arguably a design flaw - the US version can have a test socket (or more accurately you disconnect a cable to disconnect the extensions, and plug whatever you like into that socket)

The Openreach version could have a "BT" socket like the internal NTE5 has now.

e.g. http://www.computercraft.com/photo/nidopendim.jpg

This is true. The yellow plug that you see in the picture is covering the test point, however you can't plug anything into it without one of these adapters.


That would possibly work, but with those external NTEs this was certainly not the case. Take the one in the picture for example. That white wire probably would have fed through to an extension socket on the other side of the wall, and from there it would have been daisy chained to every other socket in the house. As yo know daisy chained extensions cause speed issues, and the broadband speed is at it's highest at the NTE, which of course the customer is not able to use.

Who and where are these "most other telcos"?.

FTTP is pretty rare everywhere - even VM doesn't bother with it.

As for 'choosing to do it' - who's going to pay for the massive expense?.

Maybe it works in the US but here people just call up their provider to fix a problem regardless of whether its their fault or otherwise even if the external NTE existed who else are they going to call to sort out their internal. A Gap in the market possibly.

If external NTEs were limited to new builds I'd hope that the wiring would be done better than this. e.g. cat5 with each socket running to a central point, no daisy chaining - then just pick and choose which socket you want the modem to be connected to (or use two pairs in same cable and fit a dual socket with RJ11/BT connections).

Or better yet, have a "comms cupboard" with RJ45s/cat6 to each room and a location to put the modem/router. But that's probably wishful thinking with the UK building industry's love of cutting corners.

I doubt a few more metres of relatively high quality copper is going to cause a speed issue, compared to the hundreds or thousands of metres aging, rotting copper that it has already gone through to get there


This is off topic, but I will bite:

Major and minor telcos all around the US and Canada (including those that did lots of VDSL/FTTC are reversing that decision), Ireland's ESB (in association with Vodafone), Australia's NBN (before the current right-wing government gutted the idea for ideological reasons and decided to copy BT), etc.

Or BT themselves, in large sections in Cornwall for example, where they decided to do FTTP instead of FTTC (even where the ROI is practically zero). But not in new builds, it seems - where they'll put in the effort to put in new copper for the new estate, but not fibre at the same time - very shortsighted.


Virgin doesn't bother with it because they don't need to. DOCSIS 3/3.1 has plenty of life left - they can offer hundreds of Mbit/s on HFC. Unfortunately they are doing a BT in their recently announced expansion, with no evidence of FTTP even though they are building from scratch

BT needs FTTP more because VDSL is a dud. (yes, there is G.Fast, which has dubious economics with none of the advantages of FTTP)


The same way we pay for any other major infrastructure project - we're about to spend £50bn on a railway line that serves a fraction of the country. We could spend less on this and make a national difference.

Plus the cost savings from not having to maintain an aging, rotting network with a host of issues that FTTP would avoid.

BT themselves could do more if they didn't choose to spend the money on sports rights or EE.

Haha me too!

PM me if you're interested in some work.