Need help finding what is feeding my master socket *inc pics

We have just moved into a property a couple of weeks ago. Due to virginmedia having a serious over subscription issue in the area we are moving to a fttc provider.

I have included pictures so i am hoping someone can help me identify were the feed is coming from.

Outside our front door we have a electric/gas cupboard also in there, there is a GPO phone socket from the middle ages that has a white wire coming down then fed through the wall into our hallway:




From the left hand side of the hallway were the cable is fed in it then goes all the way to the right wall where it feeds into this small white box, There is also another smaller cable coming off it that leads upstairs but there is no longer a phone socket there as it has been plastered up:

https://s22.postimg.org/44tfua6mp/image.jpg

From that white box a slightly larger cable is then fed through our living room into the master socket in the bottom left hand corner. I'm not sure if the large wire is coming out of the master socket into the small white box or if it's the other way around.

I have added an arrow showing the wire that goes to our master socket:

https://s7.postimg.org/z862n8jq3/arrow.jpg

We also have green tubing going through our garden that leads to our shed inside the shed there is large black cable that has coax with phone wiring attached to it. On the inside of our house we have the virgin media wire cover and from that there is a small white cable feeding into our master socket.

Inside the shed:
https://s4.postimg.org/mtmaz5azh/Camera_ZOOM_2017021...

The otherside of the wall showing the small wire going from the virgin point to the master socket and the other wire coming from the small white box in the hallway:

https://s27.postimg.org/40ikic1hf/omg_lol.jpg



I'm confused as to what is actually feeding it. If anyone could shed some light i would be very grateful. Sorry about the long post

Edited by jalzoo (Wed 15-Feb-17 21:35:25)

The wire that is entering the master socket will come from either the DP on a telegraph pole or from underground.

There is no telegraph pole outside so i guess it is underground. Im just confused if it is coming in through the old GPO socket or coming in through our back garden

I'm not sure. I would presume through the garden to the GPO socket, unless "garden" means shed?

i say shed it is more of a small brick building attached to our house in our back garden. the gpo socket is in our electric cupboard outside our front door the cable comes up through the floor. Neither feeds are related they both look seperate but im trying to work out which one is feeding the master socket as they both lead to it.

Edited by jalzoo (Wed 15-Feb-17 22:08:34)

I would say it's the cable entering the GPO socket from underground.

Thats what i was thinking.

There goes my internet speed when i go live the thing is a right rickety piece of junk lol

We can help you with that. It would be best to start a new thread.

Looking at the master socket that's a fairly new socket.

This indicates that BT have recently been to the property and will likely have sorted any issues.

I think it'll work fine.

If no telegraph Pole it's from underground and likely the GPO one.

I fitted the VDSL face plate. Before i fitted it the socket was still fairly new looking. The previous owners of the property had sky i believe.

Here is a picture of the GPO box outside with the wire coming off it:

Picture

What wire is it?, it is really thin. Once it goes in the small white box in the hallway the cable that leads to my master socket is ALOT thicker:


Picture2


Does this all look ok for VDSL connection?

Edited by jalzoo (Thu 16-Feb-17 00:26:32)

In reply to a post by jalzoo:

Does this all look ok for VDSL connection?

Not to me. A couple of suspicious points:

The wires coming out of the joint box in the hallway suggest one possible problem: that the wiring forms a spur heading upstairs. Even if there is no socket up there, the wiring alone can cause reflections that interfere with the VDSL2 signal. As a "fault", this is known as a "bridged tap".

You need to ensure that the signal follows one twisted pair from the entry, through any joints, on the way to the master. Disconnect the spur.

Likewise the cable from the VM box into the back of the master ... you will need to ensure that is not connected (in the master) when the BT line is running.

I suspect you have a direct in ground feed which arrives in the property behind the GPO plate, a photo of behind there would allow confirmation. Most likely there's gel crimps, or maybe a red plastic connection block, you need a direct connection from here to the NTE.

What WWWombat says is correct re a bridge tap. Pictures of inside the BT78 junction box and the NTE
Would be useful too.

*don't go touching anything, just photos please.

Although it is disconnected at the end in the shed, I wonder where that black (co-ax?) cable lying on the floor was used for?

Here is some photos inside

Gpo box:

Picture2

Box in the hallway:

Picture1

The wire that runs upstairs looks like it has been disconnected in this box.

Edited by jalzoo (Thu 16-Feb-17 09:16:23)

OK, that all looks good for a single pair to the NTE..

Last request for a picture of the insides of the NTE so I can see what goes where, especially that wire that appears to run on into the Virgin equipment. Thank you.

Thank You for your help,

The previous owners of the property had sky broadband so i assume that the virgin media phone cable is not hooked up.

Here is a picture behind the master socket and virgin media box:

https://s28.postimg.org/4ojru74l9/nte.jpg

One last thing to check ..... can't quite see due to the scrum of wires, the blue/white pair which is terminated on the NTE rear screws, it does come from the cable feeding at the bottom of the NTE doesn't it ? If that's a yes .... then I reckon you are good to go as is.

Yes it comes from the cable feed at the bottom.

Thank you so much for your help

In reply to a post by jalzoo:

Yes it comes from the cable feed at the bottom.

Thank you so much for your help

I second what has been stated already, it looks a good setup to me.
Inside the GPO box, it is not wet is it?

Nope it is nice and dry in there. The small cupboard has my smart meters in it aswell. It has a nice heavy white pvc door no damp or moisture that i can see anywhere.

Got NETGEAR AC1900 WiFi Nighthawk VDSL/ADSL Modem Router all ready to go in along with some cat6 rj45 to rj11 for the vdsl socket.

Just excited to go live now.

Thank you very much everyone

Edited by jalzoo (Thu 16-Feb-17 16:07:42)

In reply to a post by jalzoo:

Nope it is nice and dry in there. The small cupboard has my smart meters in it aswell. It has a nice heavy white pvc door no damp or moisture that i can see anywhere.

Should perform well then. Don't be fooled by VM's "thicker" cable marketing... We both know how congestion on that network feels! The cabling you see might not look new, but it is twisted pair and as long as the wiring is copper not aluminium it should work good.

What speed estimates have you been given?

Speed estimator i have to do through the postcode checker it gives me between 66-80 i'm about 280m from the cabinet but that is following the path around im not sure on the exact route it takes. I spoke to an engineer who was just about to walk into the exchange ( we live across the road from it ) i was worried the underground cables were alluminium but he told me they were indeed copper in my area and that i should sync up full speed. I wont hold my breath though something will go wrong it always does with me lol.

in the small box in the hallway the wires coming in from the GPO look silver to me rather than a copper look. Hope that doesn't mean im going to suffer the aluminium fate!.

If i'm honest though i'm looking for reliablity rather than speed. At the moment i am with virgin 200meg but during the evenings i get 8meg terrible over subscription in my area. they gave me a fix date but i wouldn't trust it with a barge pole. Even though FTTC is slower i'd much rather have a more reliable speed throughout the day.

Edited by jalzoo (Thu 16-Feb-17 16:52:04)

Fret not, the pairs you refer to are tinned copper.

Doesn't the address option work for you? That is by far the best as you haven't got a "BT" phone number.

The adress checker says 66-80meg

In reply to a post by jalzoo:

I fitted the VDSL face plate. Before i fitted it the socket was still fairly new looking. The previous owners of the property had sky i believe.

Here is a picture of the GPO box outside with the wire coming off it:

Picture

What wire is it?, it is really thin. Once it goes in the small white box in the hallway the cable that leads to my master socket is ALOT thicker:


Picture2


Does this all look ok for VDSL connection?

That old GPO box behind your hand in the picture sitting on top of the black tube is your underground feed from outside, definitely. I've seen that setup many times.

That thin looking cable probably takes it from there to the rest of the house. Looks like a 1960s/70s house hat you have there, often they did use very thin internal wiring back then. You say the GPO box is outside, it looks like it is in your garage though? Again, a setup I've seen many times.

Edit-looks like Zarjaz has helped you anyway now.

Edited by deleted (Tue 21-Feb-17 13:05:02)