BT are now accepting Infiniity orders for my exchange (Spalding). As this will probably be the last upgrade in speeds that we will get for some time, I want to make sure that I have the best possible set up internally to take advantage of the additional speeds predicted to be 66MB.
Currently I am on ADSL2+ and the phone wire comes from the pole just outside runs along the front of the property and then in to the master socket by a small side window. I have a HH2 that sits on the window sill and gives a flawless signal wirelessly to my Sony TV. My PC is on the other side of the property by a phone extension which is now useless for ADSL2+ so I am having to connect wirelessly.
I understand that Infinity requires the Home Hub 3 and a seperate modem. Given that the window sill is small and already has the phone on it, I do not think that it will be big enough to cope with one additional piece of kit and in any case only has one double power socket.
My first question is whether there are any alternatives to BT's offering of a modem and seperate hub.
I really would like to have my PC connected to the Infinity supply by ethernet. Currently I am running on wireless. BT do offer to change an extension socket to a master, but the way I read thiis, it is done by installing surface extension wiring. Having replastered every room and putting all wires in ducting this is a no no for me. So one option is to replace my phone wire to the extension socket by cat 7 cabling. Is this standard of cable compatible with the existing standard BT master socket? If so I could do this now before installation of Infinity so that I have a reliable benchmark. If cat 7 is not compatible, do the new Infinity standard master sockets have an access point for end users to connect internal cabling to in the same way as existing standard BT master socket.
If there are no acceptable alternatives to BT's offering of seperate modem and hub, I would have to make my extension the master socket and transmit wirelessly to my TV, but ethernet into my PC. If I had cat 7 cabling from the existing master to the extension would this do the same job as BT's surface extension kit wiring?
One option that I am exploring is to move my phone line entry point into the property. Openreach have offered a quote for this subject to survey. This would result in a shorter length of cable from the street pole and the entry point woiuld be via my garage to the location of my extension. This eliminates the need for internal cat 7 wiring.
Both the last two options would mean the home hub would be in a different room to my smart TV. Given that media streaming on my PC can be intermittant on my current 13mb speed with the hub placed in the lounge would the increased Infinity speed improve the internal Wi-Fi signal speeds so that if things were the other way round to how they are now, the Wi-Fi signal to the Smart TV would be better from a hub linked up to Infinity placed in my study? In short is the same standard of wireless signal feasable?