Interesting discussion; albeit at the aesthetic expense of Chez Mygri. We went through similar with the water company. They wanted to fit a digital water meter. It has an inductive pad for external reading. That required a data cable run from the meter in the basement to the reader pad on the outside wall.

From previous experience of bodged work by said water company, I just knew that close oversight was essential. Otherwise they'd make a right mess of it all. So pre-prepared in readiness. Pulling up the necessary floorboards, pre-drilled the external hole for the cabling, and drilled holes across the floor joists ready for cable routing, and so on. Pretty much doing the whole job for the water co. It was a good thing I did.

On the day of the install, a young eastern European lad, very broken English but amicable enough, turned up. Hottest day of the year; he was sweating like a pig. Seemed shocked when I got him a soft drink. More used to being spat on by UKIP voters, probably. Lent him a sympathetic ear to hear about the pressures of work. Zero-hour contract; piece-rate pay; twelve meter installs expected per day; insufficient travel-time from job to job; ill-equipped tool bag; and on and on.

By now, I was expecting the worst from him. So quietly fetched my cudgel. Just in case he needed a gentle coax in how-to-do-the-job-properly. He was fine though. Probably the easiest job he'd ever done, what with all the pre-drilling; boards ready lifted; cable route pre-determined, etc.

Not much use to you now, but I do feel that the old adage of "if you want it done properly then do it your feckin' self," always stands one in good stead.

The trouble with having any workmen in the house, especially the perps from the utility companies, is they work to the lowest common denominator. They start firstly by secretly gauging your house, and the quality of its maintenance. Probably subconsciously. Looking for poor decorative finish, bad plasterwork or timberwork, and such like. And then they adjust the quality of their own work accordingly. Again, probably all done subconsciously.

But, by now, they've reassured themselves that no matter how bad their bodge, it will still "fit in"; and won't show. Which takes away that sense of responsibility or guilt for their own shoddy workmanship. That's why it's worth have a cudgel to hand, ready for when they step over your personal threshold of tolerance.

In your own case, they've made a right pig's ars� of it. So how can you remedy it? It's only a small cable. So how can you better route it, in your own time? And where can you re-site that ONT box out of view, too? All is not lost. They've not done any structural damage, and the damage to paintwork, plasterwork and timberwork looks very minimal. Good luck. And don't forget for next time: keep that cudgel handy!
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Edited by deleted (Tue 03-Feb-15 05:54:21)

As owner, take the opportunity to re-vamp the whole entrance hall? What is the ceiling? Water-damaged chipboard? That's the sort of thing the bodging-installer sees and then seeks to match with his own handiwork.

Though maybe you can take advantage of the situation, to improve things overall? If you have to pull down and replace that ceiling, could you also gain access to the flats above? For running the fibre upstairs?

As for the entry of the fibre-cable, could you do something like this?: http://i.imgur.com/bImyhhm.jpg

I would also want to 'lose' that unsightly internal cupboard, and the fire or burglar alarm control unit straight ahead of you, as you walk in. Sinking both of them behind the surface of the wall, hidden by a neat flush door to them.

There must be a certain depth of plaster to the walls. At least enough depth to hide the steel trunking for the existing wiring to that 'break glass unit' and the time-lag switch. Exploit that depth.

You could easily chase-out the plaster for another trunking for that fibre optic cable.

First though, re-route the fibre-cable to the inside. Doing so at a point just above (outside) ground-level. Knock out, or drill through that concrete beside the entrance step. Carefully angle the drill bit so it enters the hallway just above the floor level, and just behind the surface of the right-hand wall.

Then chase out the plaster all the way up to that cupboard. Re-site that fibre box in the cupboard itself; maybe building an enlarged cupboard if necessary. Or better still, sink whatever is in the cupboard into the wall itself, if there's room. Tack the new fibre all the way up the wall, retaining it behind some galvanised steel trunking, and then make good with plaster.

That would be a half-decent job done.

You can kinda see why the fella did it the way he did, though. It's all he's paid to do.

To do it properly, "as if it were his own home" would take quite a few hours; and several return visits.

What with the chasing-out; the excavation and drilling for a new fibre-cable entry point; reintroducing the fibre; tacking it down behind trunking; sticking it down with bonding plaster; then a skimmed final layer or two; and finally re-doing the paintwork to get it back to the original decorative standard.

That's not a 30 minute job. That's probably £300+ labour in several visits for a moderately skilled workman. And if you're screwing around with the electric wiring, re-locating that alarm unit, and whatever is in that cupboard, the total bill could easily be £1,000+.

Good luck in sorting it out!
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Edited by deleted (Tue 03-Feb-15 06:02:18)

Hi gazzyk1ns,

Thanks for your comments; I know from other forums that Kelly have 'form' as the saying goes... I have submitted a complaint to OR, because yes, it does reflect badly on them. I've also made my contact at Superfast Cornwall aware of the complaint and he's pinged back to say he's passing it on to the OR project manager. I'm awaiting developments...

Incidentally, as I've indicated in one of the earlier posts, the SFC contact has been a major factor in getting even this far.

In reply to a post by gazzyk1ns:

Trying to get Kelly (or whoever else turns up on the day) to modify things will surely only muddy the waters if you do have to escalate things, and of course no ISP has been involved at this stage.

Kelly will not be allowed anywhere near this; as you say, its quite obvious they can only make the situation worse.

In reply to a post by Mygri:

Hi gazzyk1ns,

Thanks for your comments; I know from other forums that Kelly have 'form' as the saying goes... I have submitted a complaint to OR, because yes, it does reflect badly on them. I've also made my contact at Superfast Cornwall aware of the complaint and he's pinged back to say he's passing it on to the OR project manager. I'm awaiting developments...

Incidentally, as I've indicated in one of the earlier posts, the SFC contact has been a major factor in getting even this far.

In reply to a post by gazzyk1ns:

Trying to get Kelly (or whoever else turns up on the day) to modify things will surely only muddy the waters if you do have to escalate things, and of course no ISP has been involved at this stage.

Kelly will not be allowed anywhere near this; as you say, its quite obvious they can only make the situation worse.

As Andrew (mr saffron) has said it may be worth looking at planning permission to re house the boxes so that they are secure and not left like this.

Hi edwincluck,

Interesting comments; they rather reinforce my realisation that OR are simply not approaching FTTP installations in the right way. In each case the fibre run into the building, plus the internal feeds to the point of use all need to surveyed before any work is started, and the occupants made fully aware of the implications. Had that been done in this instance, it would have become obvious that the chosen entry point is totally inappropriate, and that an alternative needs to be identified.

On the face of it, bringing the fibre in at the same point as the phone lines seems sensible, but it's actually useless. Unless you're at the point where major redecoration/ refurbishment work is required anyway*, and the additional disruption can tolerated, the upheaval involved for the internal connections and hardware is simply unconscionable.

A proper survey would also allow the occupants to decide on whether doing their own preparation work as you did would be a viable option.

It seems to me that some different technology is needed if the existing connections are to be used, parhaps something like an ONT that has a DSL output, which could then be connected to the internal master socket. The copper feed would have to be disconnected, and fibre voice access used instead. Obviously there'd be a performance penalty due to the phone wiring, but you'd still have the prospect of rather better results than most FTTC users.

* In response to your follow-up post, this does not apply. The building was formerly industrial and was refurbished as residences about 8 years ago. It is fitted out to a high standard and is generally a long way from needing further refurb that would fit in with your suggestion. Had we been in such a situation, we would have done as you suggest and I probably wouldn't have needed to unburden myself in this forum

Hi Taras,

I'm trying to avoid Planning getting involved, but as it's a conservation area, my hand may be forced...

It is also no wonder that BT think that FTTP would be an expensive and long drawn out process and why FTTPoD is so expensive. By the time they have done individual surveys of every premise and agreed with the owners exactly what route should be taken the costs in manpower will be astronomical. For FTTP these costs would take a very long time to recover through £15 a month rental payments.

It seems to me that some different technology is needed if the existing connections are to be used, parhaps something like an ONT that has a DSL output, which could then be connected to the internal master socket. The copper feed would have to be disconnected, and fibre voice access used instead. Obviously there'd be a performance penalty due to the phone wiring, but you'd still have the prospect of rather better results than most FTTC users.

An ONT with a DSL output ???? The current kit provides itself as both a modem and can support up to two voice services. The link from the ONTE to the router is via an ethernet cable .... so I suppose the ONTE could be located outside of the premises and the two services run in ..... but then it needs power, to be kept out of harms way, etc, etc. Most single dwellings will be provided with an external CSP, and then the feed fibre run in from here. How this is done is discussed with the owner on the installation date.

Hi Ian72,

Indeed, and in other words, FTTP would appear to be not viable, except for new builds and where coincidental major refurb is planned. OR really needs to grab this by the throat and completely re-think how it can impliment the technology much more effectively.

A lot of the blurb from Superfast Cornwall is bragging about having the highest percentage of FTTP. I wonder what percentage of those to whom it is or will be available will actually be able to utilise it? The scope for this turning round and biting OR in the backside could just be increasing...

It is also no wonder that BT think that FTTP would be an expensive and long drawn out process and why FTTPoD is so expensive. By the time they have done individual surveys of every premise and agreed with the owners exactly what route should be taken the costs in manpower will be astronomical.

Agree totally.