Full fibre istallation

[CAH706]

Quick question to anyone that's on full fibre and had an installation.

We have had fibre connected to the box outside the house and the exchange is 'built' so we are able to upgrade to full fibre.

I understand a small box is installed internally along with a new modem, both of which require a power outlet

We have no power sockets in our small downstairs Hall and currently our modern and phone socket is in a room away from the front of the house

Question - does the internal box have to be located near the point the wire is drilled through into the house or do they have options to get this in to other rooms?

Thanks

[theboss]

It really depends on the ISP, their policies/guidelines and ultimately how helpful the installers feel like being.

When I had openreach pull fibre into my house (actually garage) recently they ran it up a wall, through an attic space and down a conduit into the back of a comms rack on the other side of the room, and couldn't have been more helpful in terms of making it neat and tidy.

My brother on the other hand had it run to within X meters of the point of entry to his house (which means his hallway cabinet) and had little choice in the matter, though that was during covid.

[Motorman74]

Sky were good as gold with my install - complete freedom to have it where I wanted it, which happened to be where the existing socket was, but I could equally have had it anywhere.

[NDA]

CAH706 said:

Question - does the internal box have to be located near the point the wire is drilled through into the house or do they have options to get this in to other rooms?

No it doesn't. Mine is some considerable distance away.

As others have said, it's down to the installer really - but it is not difficult to position the internal box wherever (within reason) you want it. Preferably near a socket and maybe even near your router!

It's just a case of tacking the small cable.

[Dogwatch]

As said the fibre terminal box (can't remember the name) needs power so needs a power source but it doesn't have to be situated close to the house entry point to work. Installer may have different ideas (Friday afternoon, CBA, etc.). If there's an outside wall to the the current router room could the fibre come in through that easily?
Be aware they have big hammer drills and little regard for your brick and plaster work. Spalling central!

From there you can run a Cat5 cable to the router anywhere in the house.

[jesusbuiltmycar]

Cityfibre installed my box in my office upstairs at the back of the property - the simply ran the fibre cable from their box around the outside of the property.

[thebraketester]

CAH706 said:

Quick question to anyone that's on full fibre and had an installation.

We have had fibre connected to the box outside the house and the exchange is 'built' so we are able to upgrade to full fibre.

I understand a small box is installed internally along with a new modem, both of which require a power outlet

We have no power sockets in our small downstairs Hall and currently our modern and phone socket is in a room away from the front of the house

Question - does the internal box have to be located near the point the wire is drilled through into the house or do they have options to get this in to other rooms?

Thanks

What they ‘can’ and ‘will’ do, are sometime not the same. My suggestion is wait for them to turn up and sweet-talk them into getting it setup as you require.

[CAH706]

Thanks all. That's really helpful.

If they could run the cable round the outside of the house it would enter into the room where the router is

It could be put in the integral garage we have but not sure if that would be great for a WiFi signal if the router is in there as well

I'd ideally want to avoid a visible cable run through the house but appreciate that may not be possible.

I will see what they say

[thebraketester]

If they won’t install the modem past a certain point then you could run cat5/6 cable from the modem to your router which can then be put anywhere, but you’d have to do the cable run.

[CAH706]

thebraketester said:

If they won’t install the modem past a certain point then you could run cat5/6 cable from the modem to your router which can then be put anywhere, but you’d have to do the cable run.

Thanks. That makes sense and would be a good solution.

[gavsdavs]

CAH706 said:

Quick question to anyone that's on full fibre and had an installation.
I understand a small box is installed internally along with a new modem, both of which require a power outlet

The small box they need to install is called an "NTE" and yes it needs power. Not much, 1.5A at 12V so you can power it with a USB cable if you need to.
You do not NEED a new modem, depends how savvy you are. Presentation is 1Gb ethernet and you might already have a router that will plug right into it. Chances are they provide one suitable but it depends what you already have.

CAH706 said:

Question - does the internal box have to be located near the point the wire is drilled through into the house or do they have options to get this in to other rooms?

They join the "external" fibre (the thicker one coming from the pole or out of the ground) in a grey box at waist height somewhere convenient for them to work on,. They need to join this fiber on site with a machine. But you can ask for the "internal" fibre to be inserted into your house where you prefer it, i think they have lengths of up to 30m of this cable. One end goes through the wall and into the NTE in your house, one end is spliced to the external in the grey box.

Talk nicely to the BT man and tell him what you want, they might be compliant.

[Chrisgr31]

Trooli would only do mine to the room on the other side of where the cable comes to the house, and then only within a metre or two of the entry point.

Not sure I can blame them when I am paying £25 a month and installation was £100 for which they had to dig part of the connection. No idea how they make money!

[sjg]

Within reason, the ONT (box that the fibre goes into) can go anywhere - however it doesn't need to be in the same place as your router. It's just a standard cat5 network cable between the two.

What's worth considering is that the fibre cable will have to run from wherever it arrives at your property (overhead or underground) so if you don't want it clipped across the front of your house you might want to have it go inside close to where it arrives, and sort out your own cat5 run to the router. The ONT is tiny (a few inches square) and wall mounted so easy to tuck out of the way - I opted to have it come in the lounge, where an alcove cupboard will eventually go, and put a cat5 socket next to it. It runs back to all the network stuff that lives under stairs.

[theboss]

Chrisgr31 said:

Trooli would only do mine to the room on the other side of where the cable comes to the house, and then only within a metre or two of the entry point.

Not sure I can blame them when I am paying £25 a month and installation was £100 for which they had to dig part of the connection. No idea how they make money!

I don't know anything about Trooli but the 'alt nets' are generally hoovering up investor's money and also crucially government / LA funded grants to build out their networks including areas (especially rural) which wouldn't be economically viable if not subsidised. It's all about getting fibre in the ground and signing up subscribers.

There are two planning to build in my area (a small Shropshire town) with Openreach apparently on schedule to do theirs by 2025. That'll be 3 network choices and a multitude of ISPs wholesaling those services, and chasing maybe a thousand households in the area, if they all do go ahead.

Edited by theboss on Wednesday 25th January 10:40