Idea to install FTTP duct using Virgin coax

My house is a bit unusual in that it has very thick walls and is partially undeground.

At the moment I have VM coax coming in at ground level which then goes down about 1.5m and right about 1.5m once inside the property, into a mini "comms" cupboard.

Ideally, if I can get FTTP, the fibre would follow the same path but there's no way to drill there and manually routing would mean taking off lots of plasterboard etc., impossible.

So my idea was to get some 20mm corrugated conduit and run a draw string through it. I'd then disconnect the VM coax internally and push the conduit with the draw string up the VM coax, using it as a guide to reach the external part. As long as the cable wasn't fixed to any internal walls, which I hope it may not have been, my plan could be worth trying?

Do you have a BT line that enters the property?

No, the house had a lot of work done 5yrs ago and only had a coax cable left for Virgin to use to get cable into the house. At the time, FTTP wasn't available and I didn't have the foresight to install a duct then, sadly.

It may be possible to push the flexi / kopex over the coax guide, as long as the distance is short and there are no snags or other cavities/studs/etc along the way that the coax passes through behind the wall etc.

The usual method would be to use the coax as a draw itself and pull through what you need. You may wish to consider pulling through a replacement coax in that case.

Worst case scenario (if you really want to use that route) is to open up walls etc.

Thanks Pheasant. Using the coax as a draw is tempting but it woudl be catastrophic if it failed and I lost that coax run, as I will be continuing with VM for a while yet in parallel.

Get a decent draw tape/wire such as: https://www.screwfix.com/p/nylon-cable-flex-draw-tap...

One end will have a brass ferrule with a small hole and then fit a 20/25mm split (key) ring to it. Put the ring over the coax and then just feed the tape into te duct. The ring will keep it over the coax and it should finally appear at teh other wend.

The chances of your coax not being clipped to anything are slim to none really. An inspection camera would be the best tool here.

as you appear to have access to both ends of the vm route. if it is in a duct take a small piece of cloth and scrunch it in to a bal,l tie a string to it, and with the cloth ball at one end apply a vacum to the other end and suck it through. then use the light weight string to pull a stronger rope back and leave that ready for the nice OR man to use to pull your new fttp cable in

I don't think its that simple unfortunately. My reading of the OP is the VM cable exits from the UG duct and continues 'internally' just as the bare cable. Hence his 'threading' idea.

If there was a duct present internally and reasonably short/few bends, you could simply rod it through and pull another draw in that way.

Interesting idea!

I will buy you a beer for that if we ever meet up!

Cheers!

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Decided to look through some old photos from when the house was being refurbished and can now see I have no chance of ever threading a new duct or cable down. Unless I had a magic wand.

My plan B, is on another wall, to go straight down from where the fibre will attach to the building from the pole. Then into my office, on the same wall, into the house about two floors down, near an ethernet plug and power points. The wall is only about 30cm thick there, so should be fine to drill through.

I have only limited networking knowledge but if I plug in the FTTP router and patch it into the ethernet socket in my office, I should be able to then connect up to a draytek router to have a failover with the VM router in the central comms cupboard that I had originally wanted to get the fibre to?

The office computer won't have failover, as it will be connected direct to the BT router but that's not that big a deal.

In reply to a post by WillSm:

I have only limited networking knowledge but if I plug in the FTTP router and patch it into the ethernet socket in my office, I should be able to then connect up to a draytek router to have a failover with the VM router in the central comms cupboard that I had originally wanted to get the fibre to?

The office computer won't have failover, as it will be connected direct to the BT router but that's not that big a deal.

If you can manage to locate the ONT within reach of your data cabling outlet, then you can connect the copper port of the ONT and run that to where you need it. Probably best to keep all routing and switching in your central comms cupboard if you can rather than scattering it around. The ONT basically presents a gateway, so for all intents can be left located at a convenient powered point near the point of cable entry.

In other words keep all your other gear centrally located as it will make upkeep, maintenance, patching etc far easier.

You might want to think over how you do your “failover” with possibly 2 routers and 2 provider circuits in play. There are numerous ways to skin a cat depending on what’s needed, the capability of your hardware etc.

Edited by Pheasant (Wed 27-Oct-21 11:07:21)

I'm not sure if this is possible, but would going through from the roof, downwards into the comms cupboard work? I'm assuming here that your premise is a single story unit

Good idea but it's 3 storey and the comms cupboard is on the bottom floor, so it wouldn't really work sadly.

I'm now thinking it should go into my office which is on the wall the FTTP should attach to the house. This has one ethernet cable to the comms cupboard, so I am looking at a draytek switch with vlans, so I can send the FTTP signal to a FTTP / VM WAN switching router there and back to the office. Then everything in the house can switch ISPs.

Not sure of your budget but if internal cable is not an issue go with at least cat 6a if you wish to with copper cabling, or maybe go fibre for the internal route back to the comms cupboard

Actually if you went with two fibre cabling you could use the exiting ethernet cable as a draw string, and upside is that you are 10gb plus ready. Downside is spending more on spf+ switches

Edited by Taras (Wed 27-Oct-21 14:51:06)