Hi Roberto

Sorry, I didn't make that very clear. I haven't installed CAT5 throughout the house internally. My ethernet is completely external in the study only from the router, then I use Devolo Homeplugs to take it to power sockets around the house, but that won't affect the BT installation of course.

I don't use the main kitchen socket at all as it is behind the wooden trolley which holds a microwave.

The BT sockets in the house were all put there when the house was built - main one in kitchen, hallway, bedroom, study. Only the study socket has a landline phone connected as I really don't use a landline phone nowadays. It's there just for backup and for my Mum who is the only person who rings me on the landline!

Only the study socket was changed when I first moved in to incorporate a 2nd BT line, so that particular socket has two points in it. This was in the days when there was no broadband available, dial-up only, so I had a 2nd line installed for dial-up internet only. I cancelled the line rental on the 2nd line when I switched to broadband 8 years ago.

Edited by deleted (Thu 09-Feb-12 16:18:40)

Hey, no problem.

I spent time working in Kenya and Mauritius! But weirdly, when I was working in St. Petersburg, all the locals thought I was Russian, and left me alone! In Kenya (in Kisumu and Lake Victoria region), the locals thought I was a "missionary" - (NOT!)

I have found the call centre OK, they aren't really script junkies, so that's good. Sometimes the line can be bad, and that does not help.

This is a good first port of call ... http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/service_status

When I had problems there was a problem ithe Sheffield area (but on looking at the further details, the dialling codes affected included 01904, which was York, ie ME!). So, even though some way off down the M1, it was having an effect on MY broadband. It said, "time to resolve" 17:00, and once I had restarted the Home Hub, it gave me a new IP, and that was then end to the problems (but no new IP until AFTER 17:00 ... so I guess it was a real problem!!).

The main issue of course, is when you actually need to restart the hub? No-one can really tell you this, and it's hard to find out. Restarting the modem is not in general a good idea because this can make the exchange think your line is unstable (but I am sure you know about this....). Once or twice now and then is not a problem. But, all I had to do was log into the Hub, go to the Broadband section, disconnect amd then connect. And all seemed to be happy.

Oh yes, one thing, the Home Hub 3 has a USB port on it ... I have stuck a 32gig pen drive in it. This gives me network storage which is available to all devices connecting to the hub - a bit like NAS. Our household machines just drop off files into their folders on this drive, and then anyone can pick them up or uise them later. Others have used spinning USB disks too and that works, so you can basically use the HUB to provide a basic NAS pretty cheaply. Not saying other routers can do this as well, but as supplied, worked straight out of the box.

Oh yes, if you go BT, just don't load the BT Cd, there's nothing on it you need, and it might cause problems. The engineers certainly don't require it (even though the blurb seems to suggest they do).

Cheers,

Rob

A microwave will almost certainly give interference problems with any 802.11 transmissions and with VDSL any pickup or microwave radiation could affect the bit loading in certain bands.

You need to find a way of getting the socket away from the microwave. Maybe having a new master installed and cabled appropriately.

In reply to a post by MHC:

A microwave will almost certainly give interference problems with any 802.11 transmissions and with VDSL any pickup or microwave radiation could affect the bit loading in certain bands.

You need to find a way of getting the socket away from the microwave. Maybe having a new master installed and cabled appropriately.

So it looks like I will have to pay BT Openreach about £130 to move the master socket, before I order Infinity? Or would they be able to do that as well on the same day?

Sadly there is no way I can move the microwave. The kitchen is tiny.

If your extensions are hardwired out from the master I reckon if you speak nicely the nice OR man may be able to "move" the master to an extension position (ie the cable is in place).

e.g.
1. My phone came into the lounge - the master was in the kitchen and an extension upstairs. The entry point in the lounge was a flat plate.
2. When OR fitted my NTE box, they removed the plate in the lounge and fitted the box there. I then added an ADSLNation faceplate, and ran an ADSL cable to the kitchen to the O2 router. Worked fine.
3. When I moved to Infinity, the OR guy made the box in the kitchen the master, and put a face plate back on the lounge entry point. Just a bit of jiggery pokery withthe wiring. The upstairs extension (wired by BT originbally) still works fine and that's where I keep the base station).

So, I reckon that if you mention your problem when you order, I reckon they'll be able to do it. Good to avoid the £130 master move if you can ...

rob

Great, thanks Rob. I'll keep my fingers crossed! Yes all the BT extensions in the house are hardwired from the master.

I'd really like to go ahead with Infinity. From the comments here it does sound good.

Edited by deleted (Thu 09-Feb-12 18:08:46)

Without knowledge of the exact layout of the property it is hard to say, but could an external feed be provided to an external wall of the study and then enter the house at that point?

Install a master in the existing socket in the study and then out from there to the other extensions.


I have tried a download using 802.11G and then started the microwave - it killed the download which immediately jumped back to life as te microwave switched off.

In reply to a post by MHC:

Without knowledge of the exact layout of the property it is hard to say, but could an external feed be provided to an external wall of the study and then enter the house at that point?

Yes, with no difficulty at all, providing the BT engineer is allowed to use a ladder as the study is on the first floor. It would be a simple matter if he could.

With or without microwave, I couldn't have the router and modem in the kitchen anyway, as I need to run ethernet cables from the router to my computer, printer and Time Capsule, all of which are located in the study. I prefer a wired ethernet connection if possible, as opposed to wifi. There are already 15 neighbours with wifi networks in this vicinity alone so it gets somewhat crowded!

Edited by deleted (Thu 09-Feb-12 18:42:18)

This is the sort of thing I was heading towards.

(By the way, your earlier post was quite clear, just that I confused you by talking about CAT5. What I was saying there was that some people have replaced their extension wiring with CAT5, and where that has been done the BT Engineers are generally quite happy to move the master to the other end of it. There was no way you had done that ).

This second line you had, did it have a master in the study? If so, how did the incoming line get to it? Using the built-in house wiring, or with a wire round the outside of the house?

However it was done, it looks like being the answer.

I would be worried about the microwave affecting a VDSL2 signal though, as MHC says, given its closeness to the incoming line, but don't see what can be done about that. His reference to it wrecking a wireless though I think is less relevant.

I have tried a download using 802.11G and then started the microwave - it killed the download which immediately jumped back to life as te microwave switched off.

I'm not sure how relevant the effect on wireless is, though to some extent I share your concern about VDSL2 wiring being so close to it.