How would Openreach FTTP route the cable? (Overhead / Pole)

I am considering getting Openreach FTTP installed but I am concerned about the install process and what is allowed / not allowed and how flexible the installer will be.

The current copper overhead cable disappears into the soffits so they can't route that way.
Will the FTTP cable attach to the house with the same hook as the copper one and then will the installer route the fibre cable with cable clips along the bottom of soffits around corners to an appropriate place where the fibre cable can go straight down and go into where the new outside fibre box will be installed?

To make things easier if I put in some trunking on the outside of the house is there a chance the installer will not use it? I do not want to be putting up trunking and then it doesn't get used?

Does the outside box need a straight through connection to the inside box or can it be routed under the floor (with easy access / max 3m) to where I want the inside box?

If the installer comes and it can't be installed in a satisfactory manner will I end up getting charged?

Thanks

Edited by think26872 (Sun 24-Aug-25 11:08:31)

Don't start by thinking of whether the existing route can be followed. Start by thinking of the kit which must be placed. Then see which of the existing features of the route are still useful

The incoming fibre must go to the CSP [Customer Splice Point], which must be at ground level, because no one is going to do a splice up a ladder.

From the CSP another fibre goes to your Optical Network Terminator [ONT], where you should have mains power available. It can be handy to have the CSP and the ONT back to back on an outside wall, so that there is no fibre in the house and everything in the house is under your control

From there, you will have an ethernet cable to your router, which you can put where you like, but is usually, but not always optimally placed by the ONT. Note that OR will not work in lofts, but have been known to use conduit with a draw string

So you have 4 locations to consider

• Where the fibre lands on the house, which does not have to be the current place
• The CSP, which must be at ground level
• The ONT, which should be near a mains socket
• Your router

compared to just 2 for the old phone line

• the cable landing point
• the master socket

which makes for a lot more possibilities.

*If* it were me ….

Does it have to be to the same fixing on the eaves ? Can it not go somewhere else, then come straight down the CSP ? From the CSP an inside out cable could run the ONT.

Could you not have the ONT close to the CSP, and you provide an Ethernet cable between there and where you want the router ? This way you can use whatever convoluted you fancy.

Thanks to the TETRA ladder safety system they are obliged to use, as little work aloft as possible is favourable, it is a huge faff to keep moving the ladders to do cable runs up high.

At the end of the day, it will be down to the installer to say what they can and cannot do.
If it’s a contractor …. that will be as little as possible.

Well written by DFScale.

I might add that not only will the CSP be at ground level, the surroundings ought to be clear too.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

The CSP, which must be at ground level
The ONT, which should be near a mains socket

Thanks no problem with these two requirements - I had already read or watched a video which mentioned these.

In reply to a post by DFScale:

which makes for a lot more possibilities.

This is what is causing the problem . I do not know what Openreach will want to do until they come but if their way of installing is not acceptable to me what happens? If you are saying they may not even use the existing method the overhead cable attaches to the house that makes it even worse.

Thanks

Edit: Fixed first quote

Edited by think26872 (Mon 25-Aug-25 13:54:13)

The idea is that you tell them what you want within the bounds of what they will accept. So if the existing cable attachment to the house is OK for you, they will probably use that. In general, there will be more than 1 way of doing the job, so it is a case of negotiating for what you want within the constraints of what they can do.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Does it have to be to the same fixing on the eaves ? Can it not go somewhere else, then come straight down the CSP ? From the CSP an inside out cable could run the ONT.
Thanks to the TETRA ladder safety system they are obliged to use, as little work aloft as possible is favourable, it is a huge faff to keep moving the ladders to do cable runs up high.

The cable can't come straight down to the CSP as that would involve the cable coming down in front of windows which would be completely unacceptable. There is approximately 5m following the soffits and then it could go straight down.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Does it have to be to the same fixing on the eaves ?

Not really it is attached to the highest apex point so it clears trees etc. It is quite a long run of overhead cable possibly 55m from the pole to the attachment point to the house then another 10m say to where the CSP would probably go.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Could you not have the ONT close to the CSP, and you provide an Ethernet cable between there and where you want the router ? This way you can use whatever convoluted you fancy.

Can the CSP to ONT connection be made by drilling through from the outside "under the floor" and then popping up the cable inside? All accessible through access hatch without actually going "under the floor".

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

At the end of the day, it will be down to the installer to say what they can and cannot do.
If it’s a contractor …. that will be as little as possible.

I could put up trunking and a pull rope on the outside of the house but without knowing whether they will use it I would be just wasting my time and putting more holes in the brickwork!

Am I complicating things will the engineer just do what I suggest especially if I am there to help?

Thanks

Are you complicating things ? , probably…
if you and the installer can’t agree on the way forward the installer leaves and you cancel the order so you are the final arbiter of what’s going to get done, if you can’t agree they won’t start the job , no one has ever been held down and an installation take place against their will …the things you need to consider are the likely amount of time it will take , the tech doesn’t have all day to do your job , especially if you get a contractor that gets paid on completions , the practicality of what you want , and safety …but ultimately the installer is there to provide FTTP not to look for reasons not to do the job.
TBH , if the existing attachment is accessible and usable, then the installer will prefer to reuse it , that just makes sense (it also increases the chances that the copper dropwire will be taken down at the same time ) , within reason the route of the optical cable to the CSP doesn’t need to follow the copper lead in route , regarding the cable between the CSP and ONT being partially under the floor , if you provide the means to draw the cable in , it’s probably OK , but no one on here can guarantee that for sure

They will try to agree the installation with you, they try to minimise work at height and try to avoid drilling.


My experience of ftth installation last week:

OUTSIDE: I asked them to use the existing bracket but they fixed a new hook to facia board and ran cable down to CSP along downpipe. (it saved them about 1m horizontally)
Existing metallic dropwire is not removed immeadiately (it is left in place for "at least a month"),

INSIDE:
cable pulled underfloor from ONT location to external CSP. (hole pre-drilled, drawstring provided)

During commissioning, it helps to have the router near the ONT and a 13A socket available.

ONT uses 2½ Watts (150mA @ 12v, Router ~ 6-10Watts))


Contractor baulked at first visit.- Openreach used a 'cherry picker'

Edited by CheapSkate (Mon 25-Aug-25 18:35:52)

By chance we had the broadband in our small museum upgraded to FTTP. It's in an old building in the middle of town and the FTTC installation was via poles, over privately owned land (not ours), then runs internally from a junction box fixed just inside to the master socket. I wasn't sure they could run the fibre in but Vodafone told us they could, so went ahead and ordered.

Openreach's contractor sent a link to a form asking about the premises. I detailed everything about the existing installation and put that I wasn't sure it was feasible. The contractor's fitter turned up took one look and said it was too complicated.

Openreach booked another appointment a few days later. The fitter arrived, took a good look round and suggested a route for the internal fibre to fit the ONT adjacent to the master socket. Started the install but needed a spiked railing protector for the ladder work, which he couldn't locate. He carried on with the internal work and was going to arrange a return visit but was contacted by a supervisor who was returning from another job, with a railing protector. The pair of them worked to finish the job; at 6pm asking if I was in a hurry to get away as they could return to finish. I said no so they carried on and completed about 6:30 but it failed at testing. It turned out to be an upstream problem and was corrected without another visit a few days later.

The fitter that did the install was an old hand with 40 years experience with BT and Openreach. The supervisor was considerably younger but very determined to see it through.

Don't forget that you need power at the ONT, which is probably why they took the trouble to run ours internally.