Master socket (or not?)

Hi All,

I'm trying to get Fibre Broadband sorted at my house.

I've spoken to 3 different providers who have all given me different answers.
We don't have a "Master" socket, in our house, we have one of those grey boxes fixed onto the outside wall out of which runs a piddly little wire which looks like an extension cable and goes to a standard socket affixed to a wall.

Plusnet have told me that this won't be a problem and that their engineer will be able to sort it once on site (I've heard that before)

EE have told me that I need a different type of socket fitted and this will cost me £50 through them and be done at the time of install.

Sky have told me that there's no point me even signing up before I get BT to come and install a "proper master socket"

Which one, if any, is correct?

Thanks in advance!

Alex

Plusnet , though Sky are doing self installs so you don't need an NTE5, you just use plug in filters.

Edited by deleted (Thu 16-Jan-14 12:58:09)

I presume you mean an External Master. If so:

Get your own decent quality NTE5 with a VDSL faceplate (not an ADSL one). Open the NTE5 which will be a master and remove the three components - resistor, ring capacitor and spark gap. Re-assemble.

Fit some good quality CW1308 or Cat5e to the master, ensuring a pair is used for 2 and 5 and the connect the other end to your NTE5. Plug in the filter and you have the two required outputs - voice and VDSL

Yup, with the standard Open Reach engineer install, they will install a new NTE5 socket and VDSL faceplate

I've just had this very thing done (a move to Plusnet as well as it happens), but the same should apply for most ISP's though if they are offering self install (Sky and BT? at the moment) I would expect there to be an extra charge if you want an engineer install.

Think where you want the new socket. It should be before any extensions, or they would need rewiring. I had mine installed in a sort of lobby area, by one of our entrance doors where the phone cable enters the house. The OR modem and the Plusnet router live there as well (hung on the wall), a network cable runs down into the cellar where it connects into the rest of the house network. It's niot a very good place for wifi connection in house, but I don't use that on the plusnet router as I've already got a wifi AP set up.

Had proper OR guy, he was helpful, put it exactly where I wanted, did a nice neat and tidy job, waited until I'd checked the connection was ok, and the speed was ok.

If you want the moden mounted away from the new socket, order the free 30m 'data extension' and then the OR guy can run that to where you might want the router.