It's the quality of the extension cabling that matters. Apparently even BT-installed extension cabling from years ago isn't brilliant for VDSL2. The "Data Extension Kit" the OR engineers carry is good stuff, that's all.

Although what adebov says is technically as per what the engineers are told to do - ie fit the VDSL faceplate, if your extension wiring is CAT5 and looks OK then several posters on here have managed to get them to leave things as they are. There have also been several others, (more I think), who have successfully asked them to alter things so the current master becomes an extension, and the extension you currently use for ADSLx becomes the master. That second possibility is probably the one for you.

It all depends on how experienced and helpful the engineer is and what he thinks of your wiring.

A final possibility, if persuasion, pleading and tea/coffee and biscuits fail, (more than one engineer visiting these forums crave Jaffa Cakes), let them install the modem in the hall, hopefully on your Clarity faceplate, and move it when they have gone!

Edit - typo.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 27-Aug-11 20:57:50)

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

There have also been several others, (more I think), who have successfully asked them to alter things so the current master becomes an extension, and the extension you currently use for ADSLx becomes the master.

That is exactly how my very first ADSL line was configured (back in September 2001). The engineer argued (saying the extension cable wouldn't be good enough).
Obviously it worked fine, because I was only around 2km from the exchange (back then) and it was fixed speed 512kbps (so would probably still have worked, even if I'd have had a couple of km wiring inside my house).
vDSL is a very different ball-game and will need much better quality cabling if the signal isn't to degrade too much.

Yep. I hope I stressed enough to Gary how important the quality of his cabling is to whether or not he gets agreement. I may be wrong, but I don't think CW1308 qualifies.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

I may be wrong, but I don't think CW1308 qualifies.

Or burglar alarm cable, which I'm sure is what the idiot electricians used in my new house (can't think of many other reasons why I should get 4.8Mbps in the master face-plate, and less than 2Mbps in a filtered extension - removing the filtered face-plate first, obviously).

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

There have also been several others, (more I think), who have successfully asked them to alter things so the current master becomes an extension, and the extension you currently use for ADSLx becomes the master.

How do they do this without changing the wiring? There must still be some internal "extension" wiring to extend the line from where it comes into the property to where the new master socket is to be located.

I've got CAT5 cabling from my master socket to all my extensions, including those that are only for phones, so I reckon they are already good quality.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

(more than one engineer visiting these forums crave Jaffa Cakes)

Thanks for this tip - a good excuse to buy some Jaffa Cakes and I'll certainly enjoy them, even if the engineer doesn't!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

let them install the modem in the hall, hopefully on your Clarity faceplate, and move it when they have gone!

That's what I'd do - at least as a test. It would all depend on them leaving my Clarity faceplate installed, though. If they did that, then I'd have a backup plan: if the router was slower/didn't work on the internal extension upstairs, then I could disconnect my extension that goes upstairs from the faceplate and put an RJ45 connector on it, to make it into a network cable, and leave the BT modem downstairs by the master socket, and connect it, using the wire that I've re-purposed to the router, which could be located upstairs.

don't know why - just is.
I'm sure someone will come along if there's a technical reason (rather than a commercial reason) as to why it's changed slightly.

Nope, commercial only, they are cheaper than the 'original' faceplate filters.

Hi Zarjaz .

Am I right thinking CW1308 isn't satisfactory for the purpose? (Although we now know the OP has CAT5 it would be nice to know whether I'm right or wrong for the future).

In reply to a post by garywood84:

How do they do this without changing the wiring?

Phone line (unfiltered) only needs two cores (there are eight in CAT5 cable), so they'd join the incoming pair to one of the pairs in the CAT5 cable serving the socket you'd like to be the new master (connecting that pair to the A & B input of the master) then send the filtered voice-only signal back down the same CAT5 cable, to the old master location (now just a regular extension socket) and join them to the cables serving the other extensions.

Basically: -

Incoming pair >>>>joint (at old master location) to CAT5 >>>>>>>>>> new master location >>>>>>>>>>>(same CAT5)>>>>>>> old master location>>>>>>>remaining extensions.

(more than one engineer visiting these forums crave Jaffa Cakes),

Come now Bob, you know it's Fig Newtons that do the trick......

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

commercial only

Sounds about right