Engineer install - Worth it?

So FTTC is now available to order at my cabinet (Wheaton Aston - Cab 1)

When I go through the order process (trying to order Infinity 2) I'm asked if I want an engineer or self install, I was under the impression that 80mbps always required an engineer install.

My current line stats are here

Here's the results of dslchecker.bt.com

I have a BT80a junction box which connects to my drop cable and then that is connected to an NTE5A + MkIII VDSL faceplate with about 3m of solid copper Cat5 cable (using only 1 pair) There are no other sockets connected at all.

The original BT Master socket is next to the BT80a junction box and when connected wth 3 inchs of phone cable there's no difference in line stats (I needed to move the master socket as there's no power anywhere near the original)

I can easily restore the original configuration and let the engineer "move" my master socket which was my original plan but I'm not sure there's really any point so thought I'd ask for some guidance on here.

Over to you folks..

So long as the original BT master is not wired in the line in a star configuration there should be no problems.

With no extensions and a faceplate filter already a self install should be fine.

No there's no extensions wired in at all, I disconnected them all. They were everywhere in the house when we moved in. Off the top of my head I think there was 8!

Personally I can't really see the need for them nowadays with the cordless phones available.

Thanks very much for reassuring me.

Also make sure you have a modern-ish dropwire. The older obsolete ones can cause problems and are meant to be replaced as part of an engineer install.

Any hints on how to identify what sort of dropwire is classed as obsolete?

Here's a pic of my dropwire

When you say you disconnected them, where did you disconnect?

At each extension, or where they were fed from? Were they all fed from one place, or daisy-chained?

From the BT80a originally there was an old master socket connected. I disconnected this and all the extensions were wired into this.

I then used solid copper Cat5 to connect a new NTE5A master socket to the BT80a. There are no extensions connected at all anymore.

Sounds good.

Your linked photo shows a dropwire no.10 terminating in a BT80. This dropwire will be fine.

Thanks everyone for the help, have ordered Infinity 2 with no engineer install. Activation in about 10 days.

Just out of curiosity, at my last house when I ordered Infinity (Was one of the first in the country to get it) the OR engineer replaced my very old master socket. What happens if people have an old style master socket and don't ask for an engineer visit? Do they just get a microfilter to plug in?

What happens if people have an old style master socket and don't ask for an engineer visit? Do they just get a microfilter to plug in?

Yep, that's it.

Hmmm, I wonder how many people are going to end up with difficulties with this approach, and how easy they'll find it to sort out once BT have started the service.

Enough people that the third party market in faceplates continues to operate

Providers can easily ask a couple of questions to determine if microfilters might be a dodgy option.

That's the thing though isn't it ...... most punters just want it cheap as chips, and that's all they care about .... until it turns out it all goes Pete Tong.

and how easy they'll find it to sort out once BT {OpenReach}have started the service.

Well if they've paid for a decent ISP, then hopefully fairly quickly, but see point above.

No questions were asked of me. Surprised they don't have a pictorial guide to sockets around so people can identify their existing hardware. With the myriad of bad extensions and general lack of understanding I can foresee problems. Seems like a short sighted exercise to me.

My Dad wouldn't have a clue where to start if he ordered FTTC and wouldn't even know which is his master socket. To him all phone sockets are made equal..

Well I've ordered from BT as still in contract with them, so just signed up for another 18 months.

I haven't noticed a price decrease from them when I didn't ask for an engineer install.

What happens if people have an old style master socket and don't ask for an engineer visit? Do they just get a microfilter to plug in?

As has already been said, yes. But to add to that, this is why ISPs now tend to quote towards the bottom of the Impacted range and may not allow the 80/20 option to be selected even if the Clean estimate shows it could go well above 40Mbps. In the days of universal engineer install it was almost unheard of for quotes to be as low as now, and also rare for the connection not to be well inside the Clean range.

I haven't noticed a price decrease from them when I didn't ask for an engineer install.

That's because their default has been self-install for many months now, if not over a year.

In reply to a post by CHBMB:

Well I've ordered from BT as still in contract with them, so just signed up for another 18 months.

How long was outstanding on the contract? The Infinity packages are now 12-month minimum terms, not 18 months any more.

I only moved in two months ago so I still had 10 months left. I'm pretty sure my FTTC is an 18 month contract when I ordered.