Thank you. This is our alternative plan, putting the ONT and WiFi box in the understairs cupboard - we are getting an office built in the garden and will be running a Cat6 cable from that into the house. We'll be setting up access points in the office and somewhere in the house from ethernet cables. I'm trying to find the most optimal way of joining up all the wires and maintaining good Internet coverage. My brother is helping because I'm no expert in this stuff.

Offie in the garden ... A year or two back I would have said 2 x Cat6, now, I would suggest a fibre link.

The issue is risk and liability. OR say no lofts becasue there is always the potential for damage/injury and better to have a blanket ban rather that letting staff decide. Mine are both fully boarded and have decent steps - in the past I have had "sorry cannot go there" but when they see one is designed as a comms room, not an issue.


Getting the ONT installed in a sensible place using an extension is one way - then have a socket installed, just make sure it will be an easy task. As also suggested, run Cat5e/6 from there to the router and from teh router to various WAPs.

Lofts also count as confined spaces, the same as manholes.

In my opinion, the OP’s best bet is to get decent conduit and a draw cord fitted from where he thinks he’d like the ONT to go to and easily accessible exterior wall … preferably the same exterior wall that the current copper feed is attached to.

Even then they might decline, but as you found with yours, it is often acceptable to most installers.

Or be prepared to do some work for them.
I wanted virgin cable under floor to other side of room. Installer was not happy to do it, which was fair enough. So I said if you feed it through the wall & I pull it through under floor and feed it back up in the room, will you be happy. Smile on his face said it all.
Result I got cables where I wanted.

Or just run the Cat6 and power the ONT using PoE and a splitter. They really should make the ONT's 802.3af compliant.

The standard way to have a socket from a lighting circuit is to us a 2A or 5A BS546 socket. Though given the wall warts used to power things that won't be much help. Though you might be able to find a suitable one from one of the countries still using BS546 variants.

The other option is to put a fused spur in before the socket.

Another option would be to get a 12V wall mounted PSU and wire that it to hard wired into a fused spur from the lighting circuit.

Just putting a 3A max label on the socket is insufficient and you would fail a PIR.

In reply to a post by jabuzzard:

Just putting a 3A max label on the socket is insufficient and you would fail a PIR.

I would dispute that. (Guess you mean EICR). There is no reason for it to fail as there us already a 6A fuse. It may raise a comment, that is is current restricted but not a fail. An FCU/spur would not add anything as it could be fused at 3, 5, 7, 10, 13 A whereas te MCB will be 3 or 6 A

In reply to a post by MHC:

You may have better luck having te ONT in the loft. The electrician can install a new socket off the lighting circuit PROVIDIED it is marked low power 3A only.


Then run a Cat5e or Cat6 link from teh loft to where you want the router

Bad practice running a socket off a light circuit,better to run a fused spur off the ring final for the socket,here I've ran a FCU spur in trunking hidden in a cupboard up to socket in loft

Edited by Nightglow (Sat 10-Jul-21 10:29:59)

Nothing wriong with doing it and it is done on a regular basis, provided it is done correctly. Where in teh regulations is it not permitted?


Why do you need to run a fused spour for a socket? Expalin that with reference to the appropriate regulations.

Putting a 13A socket on a lighting circuit is not expicilty prohibited.

But the danger is if someone else decided to connect something other than the intended product to it.

So maybe a good answer would be to connect it up using the (old) 5amp sockets (round pin plugs). That way at least most people would just bypass connecting anything else too it.

I have noticed a lot of holiday cottages have started fitting these in to stop people plugging in their own electrical equipment & overloading the circuits..