Moving ONT box

[larrysportello]

Hi There,

3 months ago I moved into a ground floor flat I've bought in a Victorian terraced house and signed up for Vodafone fibre broadband. OpenReach installed the equipment. I don't have any previous experience of broadband installation, so I had them situate the ONT and router in the centre of the flat - a bedroom - thinking that would be best in order to get good signal coverage throughout the whole flat. They located the CSP (the external box) at the back of the property, because that meant they only had to drill through one wall to run a cable into the bedroom, then ran the internal cable along the skirting board to a wall socket. There was a double socket in an alcove adjacent to a chimney breast, so I had them install the ONT box there. In hindsight this was a stupid idea, because the ONT and the plugs sticking out of the adjacent socket means there isn't sufficient width in the alcove now to locate a wardrobe, which is currently taking up too much space on an adjacent wall and making the bedroom awkward to move around and unsightly. Recently a visiting TV repairman advised me that it would have been easier and better to install the CSP on the front wall of the property (adjacent to the street), the ONT and router in the living-room on the inside of the same wall (no long run of internal cable along skirting board) and then simply use a WiFi extender (TP-Link, etc) to extend the range of the WiFi to the rest of the flat. If only I'd known about WiFi extenders... I've spoken to Vodafone, who say that OpenReach don't offer any after-sales service to reinstall or relocate the equipment, even though I would be happy to pay again to have the work done. They advised that it doesn't have to be OpenReach and that there are various telecomms companies/contractors who can do the work and would be happy to do so.  Is that correct?  And if that's the way to go, can anyone recommend one?  Leaving the ONT and router in the bedroom is not an option. 

Thank you,

Rob

[larrysportello]

Sorry, that post was too long-winded. In a nutshell, I need to know if there is an alternative company to OpenReach who will relocate the CSP and ONT boxes for me, without having to change service providers, because I want to stay with Vodafone.

Thanks again,

Rob

[BALVANT]

Hi was trawling to check where best to get my new ONT put in place and came across your query.  You can move ONT yourself.  See link.

https://www.premitel.uk/consultancy/expert-advice/how-to-move-the-fttp-ont/

Essentially by taking the optical cable from external box to wherever you want do long as you don’t bend the cable tightly (curvature greater than 2p coin / larger if poss, else light can travel round bend).  You could possibly possible move the outside box but that depends on how the cable was routed to it but don’t try mess with the incoming connection.  Ps is VF broadband service OK/am a VF mobile customer for over 20 yrs but never forayed into any other service with VF.

There’s another useful pdf on internal wiring which I’ll try post you later

[BALVANT]

Hi here something you may find useful re options for internal home wiring although it appears you may be in a flat / maybe overkill for you now but useful anyway/ the key is that you are able to use not only use wireless extenders etc but cat 5 or 6 Ethernet cables.  Maybe something for another time, but you can cable yourself by buying some relatively inexpensive cable strippers and a crimp tool and tester

https://www.openreach.com/content/dam/openreach/openreach-dam-files/images/fibre-broadband/fibre-for...

[Cynric]

@BALVANT Useful link. I'd also add that PowerLine devices are an alternative to running ethernet cables.

[larrysportello]

Thanks for your reply BALVANT, but I need the CSP (exterior box) moved as well. I've found a local company who might be able to do it, so I'll talk to them on Monday morning.

Regards 

[Cynric]

@larrysportello One problem is that the external line to the house remains the property of the infrastructure company, or so I understood. 

[larrysportello]

Thank you Cynric. It's at the back of the property and needs to be at the front, so I accept it I would have be disconnected and an entirety new one installed. I'll see what this local firm has to say and post again if I get a solution.