Hi folks,

I've just moved into a new build and had my BT phone line and Broadband fitted. Unfortunately the Field Tech refused to fit the Master Socket anywhere but in the hall ('not his job!'). This is not particularly useful as the hall is just a corridor with nowhere to put the HomeHub 5 router.

The Master Socket has a single telephone cable in and a single extension cable out leading to a media socket (inc. Ethernet port) in the study on the next floor fitted by the developer. I believe that this socket is where the rest of the extensions are struck off from. Currently the HH5 serving Broadband is plugged into this media socket.

This week I'm having BT Infinity fitted but I'm reading that with BT Infinity (without moving the Master Socket) the only way to have the HH5 in another room is to run a surface mounted CAT5e cable from the Master Socket. I spent a large amount of money getting the developer to pre-fit and bury cables in the walls of our new house and now Openreach might want to ruin our plans.

Is it possible to use the extension cable that runs from the Master Socket to the study and is the same grade of telephone cable that comes into the property from the street (that Infinity will use anyway) to get the Infinity service from my router in the study without using the CAT5e cable?

Thanks!

If you are getting a "self install" version of Infinity all you will be sent is a set of plug in filters similar to the ADSL filters you are probably using currently. Noone from Openreach will turn up and change anything in your home.

So you just plug the new filter in wherever you like just like now.

It used to be the case that Openreach replaced the front panel of the master socket and that did mean that the only realistic way to relocate the modem/router was to extend the RJ45 socket on the master. But that may not be the case now depending on what type of installation you are getting.

I'm not getting a self-install. The Openreach Field Tech is booked for Wednesday.

If that is the case then unless you can persuade him to move the master socket as well you may well have to extend the RJ45 on it to wherever you want the router located.

The extension cable that runs off the master at the moment is likely to be just a phone cable. if so it will be connected up to the phone extension terminals on the master socket faceplate. These are likely to be filtered so no use to extend the router anywhere. Unless the master socket also has unfiltered extension terminals of course, which I'm not certain the standard Openreach socket has.

If you could get unfiltered extension phone sockets off the master then you would only need a plug in filter at the socket you currently use.

But if there are no unfiltered terminals on the master you are pretty much restricted to either moving the master or extending the RJ45 socket. And the latter would require a CAT5 or 6 network cable, you couldn't use the phone extension cabling.

Depending on how much of a jobsworth you get sent you might strike lucky and the Openreach guy could use the extension cabling to junction onto the incoming cable and relocate the master where you currently have the HomeHub plugged in. So you end up with a small junction box in the hall and the master in the study.

The BT VDSL faceplate (which should hopefully be installed by Openreach) has two terminals on it. I would assume they are a neater method of extending the modem socket to another location (like the existing terminals for phone wiring).

So couldn't you just wire those into the socket where you want the modem?

If the terminals on the main body of the new socket are unfiltered then they could be used to connect the extension phone line and hence allow the OP to keep the HomeHub in the study.

Though it's a bit confusing googling the VDSL socket. Some hits suggest there are no unfiltered terminals and some suggest the newer BT sockets have unfiltered terminals and yet others suggest unfiltered terminals are a third party mod. So might have to "suck it and see".

I have a BT issued faceplate (maybe a year or two old but initially installed by Openreach) in front of me and it definitely has the terminals. I don't know what they actually do, but given that they're on the filter I'm going to assume it's whatever is on the modem socket, as there'd be no need for filtered terminals on the faceplate when they're already on the lower piece that slots into it..

I'm inclined to think that they are unfiltered extension phone socket terminals. As you say the ones on the removable lower section would be the filtered ones so can't see much point duplicating them on the main body of the socket.

So if the OP can persuade the Openreach guy to wire the study cable to those sockets (s)he should be able to keep the HomeHub in the study as at present.

Or just wait until the engineer has left and re-punch the extension socket into the unfiltered terminals yourself.

I did something similar to this guy: http://phil.lavin.me.uk/2012/02/bts-...sl2-explained/

As long as you don't wire anything into the main terminals on the back of the socket then then you are not tampering with Openreach's equipment.

Well it's all sorted

The Openreach guy came at it from the standpoint of what do we want and how can he achieve it which was most helpful indeed. He has moved the Master Socket into the study using the extension wire that the developer had installed. He even tidied up the extension wiring behind the original media socket where apparently the wires had been stripped back and were in danger of shorting. What a brilliant chap.

Seeing how our extensions had been wired he even asked about our ethernet - which is another story and doesn't work yet either - as he does network wiring too in his own time. I took his number so if our developer fails to sort the ethernet out I can give him a call and he'll come take a look for us.

Out of interest, was the original installer who said it "wasn't his job" an Openreach person (turns up in Openreach branded van and clothes etc)? BT uses contractors for certain jobs and those contractors aren't as well trained or well paid, so perhaps you got one of those.

Still, moving the master socket was a good thing to do - BT would want £120 or something ridiculous to do it afterward

My Openreach engineer - about 18 months ago - also came at it from the same POV and came up with a similar solution. The incoming drop cable was firmly crimped onto a unused extension pair - and this was then used to move the master socket!

Actually I think you may be right Moox. The previous guy didn't have an Openreach uniform like today's chap did and though he did have the Openreach logo on his van it was smaller and more in the corner rather than emblazoned down the whole side with swoopy lines like today's chap's van.

Sounds like it was indeed a contractor and today's person was an Openreach employee, which would explain the difference in helpfulness

TBH I don't know why BT uses contractors. If they need more people, hire them directly - as the contractors are a bit of a PR nightmare since people think they're "BT" and when they mess something up, or refuse to be reasonable, it reflects on the company

I've met quite a few Openreach employed jobsworths over the years. You can't say with any certainty that a contractor will be always unhelpful and an Openreach employee helpful. You get a random mix of all possible combinations and it is pure pot luck which one turns up on the day.

I used 5m of standard telephone cable to run from my master socket to my home hub in another room. Cost me £5 and I still get maximum speed.

It baffles me why people spend loads of money.

There is some truth in this, however the Contractors get paid on a 'per-job' basis whereas Openreach Engineers get paid a fixed salary, regardless of how many jobs they do a day. It's a no-brainer really that the contractors will want to be in and out as soon as possible, doing the minimum of work.

You should be putting the modem/router as close to the master socket as possible. If they fit you a new faceplate in then it will be filtered I think automatically, definately for the broadband section.

So put the Homehub next to the master socket. It's better to have a longer ethernet cable from the hub to where-ever you are going. But its important to keep the cable from the master socket to the hub as short as possible.

The regular phone cable wire isnt really made for fibre broadband. That will be the weak spot of the network. Some of the faceplates let you plug an ethernet cable head in to the phone socket (i think its been designed to take both heads). So you can put a special cable that is ethernet standard but as one end a phone head and the other end an ethernet head (this bit is optional).

Once you have connected at least 1 computer to the connection, you can access the hubs menu's and setup wifi if you like. So you can either use wifi or ethernet cables to bring it to where-ever you wanted it. Or even a combination of both i.e. have an ethernet cable going to a wifi hub, so it brings the wifi closer to you.

My setup is that I have a new faceplate on. One part goes to the phone, and the other part goes to my modem/router. Then from there I have an ethernet cable going upstars to a network switch (which is where you plug the ethernet cable in to the back of it, then it makes available that connection on however many ports the switch as, I bought a 6 port one). So from the switch I have 2 ethernet cables plugged in. One to my laptop in that room, and 1 going to another switch in my bedroom. This switch as 4 ports (its an older switch). I have my 2 pc's and playstation plugged in there.

I hope the information I give helps, and that I didnt overwelmed you.

I would have thought the extension upstairs or wherever it was could be converted quite easily to a VDSL RJ45 without the need to move the master socket. That is the option my local telecoms chap has suggested (ex BT). There's usually spare twisted pairs on the cables. The cost for doing this is very low.

See post 10

I had a contractor fit my infinity, got home from work to find no broadband or internet lights on.

Other half said he just walked in and plugged another box (router) in and said that's it luv this cards got your wifi details and password on, bye

the lights not lighting up was a bit of a give away it wasn't going to work.

Not a patch on the customer service a .. Openreach.. engineer gave us a few years ago Could not fault the guy..

I had a real Openreach person do mine, and he tested both services before leaving, both with his own tester and the white modem. The phone extensions stopped working, so he debugged my wiring even though he probably didn't have to - at least not for free.

BT really needs to stop using contractors, or at least make sure they are adequately trained and equipped to do the job properly

The whole point of this thread is that they have stopped using BOTH OpenReach AND Contractors and made Infinity "self install"!!!!!!!!

That's great. Until you have a problem with the broadband and you see a contractors van pull up outside your house.

Do you still have a white modem? I was told mine was no longer necessary when my Home Hub 3 (I think it was) was replaced with a Home Hub 5. The HH5 contains its own modem.