Master Socket query

Hi

I'm having BT Infinity installed next week. I've read all the blurb and realise that the master socket is updated etc. Here's my query, though.

Outside on the wall of my house there's a white box about the size of a small paperback book. The phone line comes out of the ground into that box and then there are 2 cables coming out of that. One goes to my kitchen where there is a master socket. The other goes into my home office to a "normal" extension socket.

If I leave the engineer to it, I expect he'd want to update the existing master socket in the kitchen. However there's nowhere for the equipment to go in there and no way of running a data extension cable from there to where I really want the equipment in my home office. So... I want to know if it's possible for the Openreach engineer to swap the two sockets acround - ie. change the master socket in the kitchen to a plain old normal extension and make the extension in my home office the master socket (and add the new fibre bits in there).

As both cables come out of the external white box I'd guess that it is possible - however I want to make sure as I can't risk leaving it to chance!!

Thanks, in advance, for any advice.

Probably.

There are, however, several ways that the existing arrangement can have been implemented.

It could be that the cable to the master socket uses a back feed for the extension and this is then joined in the junction box outside. It is also possible that the junction box outside simply splits the incoming pair into two and that both points are actually master sockets (which isnt ideal).

A "proper" OR person should be able to handle this situation.

Hi greenglide

Thanks for your reply.

From what you've said, I would imagine that it's the latter as the master socket in the kitchen was just a bog standard extension box when I moved in. I had a kitchen extension built and the builder updated sockets at that point so although I can't remember it happening (probably because I had more things to worry about at the time with the building work) I think that's when the NTE5 master socket was put in.

Prior to that, the other socket was added by someone I foolishly got out of the Yellow Pages thinking he would be running an extension from the kitchen into my office. He realised that that wasn't going to be easy (almost impossible I'd say) which is why he went outside to the "white box" and pushed through the wall next to that into my office to create a new extension.

So as you suggest it would seem likely that the junction box splits the incoming pair into two which, as you point out, isn't at all ideal.

I just hope that the OR engineer can sort all this out. I'd even be "happy" to lose the kitchen extension if I had to. I just don't want him attempting run a data extension from the kitchen to my office. It would be unsightly, hellishly difficult to fit and my wife would probably divorce me.

Thanks, greenglide.