Exactly what hardware do I get/need to provide?

So now I'm out of contract with my current ISP I'm very tempted to go to FTTC. Looking at the spreadsheet BT seem to work out the cheapest by quite a long way given the free setup and free hardware.

My question, and something I'm still not entirely clear on, is what kind of mess/tangle of cables and boxes will I end up with when the engineer comes and does his thing? I don't really want to be turning the lounge or bedroom (where there are two separate phone lines) into a mini server-closet.

In reply to a post by hutchingsp:

So now I'm out of contract with my current ISP I'm very tempted to go to FTTC. Looking at the spreadsheet BT seem to work out the cheapest by quite a long way given the free setup and free hardware.

My question, and something I'm still not entirely clear on, is what kind of mess/tangle of cables and boxes will I end up with when the engineer comes and does his thing? I don't really want to be turning the lounge or bedroom (where there are two separate phone lines) into a mini server-closet.

BT will send you a HomeHub 3 and the Openreach engineer will bring the VDSL modem with him/her on the day of install. So you need two power points, one for the modem and the other for the HomeHub. There is an ethernet cable between modem and HH and of course the cable from the BT socket to the modem.

You will end with an Openreach VDSL modem which connecst to the the phone socket and (if you choose BT Infinity) a Home Hub wireless router which connects to the Openreach modem by an ethernet cable.
You will require 2 mains power sockets for both the Openreach modem and the router.

Thanks both. That's ridiculous. 2011 and 2 boxes and 2 mains sockets for a broadband connection. "Progress"

What hasn't been mentioned is that you won't have a dangly filter - the engineer will fit a rather bulky filtered faceplate - see pic on this page.

Why is that ridiculous ? The separate modem requires one power supply. The router requires another. You can buy yourself a combined modem router, but they are expensive. The modem is Openreach's property, after that, it belongs to you or your service provider.

You 'fancy' the service, but are moaning about the kit required ??? No pleasing some folk.

With a little forethought, you can have the modem placed somewhere out of sight......

I'm assuming that most people still have their master socket in their hallway or in their living room. Hallway's don't tend to have lots of power sockets because they're hallways, living rooms do but people tend not to like wires everywhere.

It's 2011, we should be moving towards less boxes and wires not more.

The FTTC connection will terminate on a new socket so its up to you where this goes, within reason. Suggest you opt for somewhere in close proximity to two mains sockets.

In reply to a post by hutchingsp:

Thanks both. That's ridiculous. 2011 and 2 boxes and 2 mains sockets for a broadband connection. "Progress"

I agree. It's a step backwards, and is less economical.

In reply to a post by New_Londoner:

The FTTC connection will terminate on a new socket so its up to you where this goes, within reason.

Errr, No! It will normally terminate on a replacement faceplate on the master socket, as I explained to the OP earlier.

It is possible to get it terminated up to 30 metres away using a Openreach Data Extension Kit which the engineer should have available. In fact I believe further is possible but that is the length of the one they carry. That used to be free but something at the back of my mind says it may now be chargeable.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

You can buy yourself a combined modem router, but they are expensive.

They are as rare as rocking horse droppings at the moment, and what is available is priced at a premium.

DrT

In reply to a post by DrTeeth:

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

You can buy yourself a combined modem router, but they are expensive.

They are as rare as rocking horse droppings at the moment, and what is available is priced at a premium.

But if you buy a VDSL2+ router you don't get given a new one every month or two .

RobertoS

Unless things have changed since my FTTC connection in early June this year, the OR Engineer installed about 10 metres or so of 'Data Cable' at no additional charge. He had a 30 metre cable with him. Can't comment on charges if the installation requires more than this.

It's probably their biggest time consuming cost with the installation, so wouldn't be surprised if they don't start trying to get back the cost with extra charges (hope no one from BT/OR reads this, as they might actually do it!).

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What hasn't been mentioned is that you won't have a dangly filter - the engineer will fit a rather bulky filtered faceplate

These filtered faceplates can produce an audible hiss on good quality phones. So you might need a dangly filter to eliminate it, as recently happened to me.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

What hasn't been mentioned is that you won't have a dangly filter - the engineer will fit a rather bulky filtered faceplate

These filtered faceplates can produce an audible hiss on good quality phones. So you might need a dangly filter to eliminate it, as recently happened to me.

Or the original Pressac filtered faceplates originally used for ADSL Engineer installs - very good quality and do the job better than the new cheap VDSL filters

Make sure the OR Eng mounts your modem on the wall as they get rather hot if left on a flat surface and will burn out. Many people have had more burn out's than not. I'm on my 3rd modem.

iechyd da

were the other two mounted on the wall ?

what spacing are the holes for the modem ?

In reply to a post by jjpearce:

what spacing are the holes for the modem ?

Exactly 100mm