Broadband Related > Telephony Wiring + Equipment

Getting wiring normalised

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displaced:
Well, finally all sorted!

I disconnected all extraneous cabling from the junction box and replaced the run from there into the house (well, bungalow).

Since the walls were freshly done, I ended up replacing the multi-function faceplate where the line terminated with separate satellite terminal plates and the new NTE5C.  I then ran an extension from there back up into the loft through the existing trunking and connected that to the phone socket in the new lounge.

So, all standard, neat and working well.

Still to sort was the Sky Q problems.  The Q hub and main Q box were next to the NTE5C in the bedroom, and the Q Mini is in the new lounge.  About as far from eachother as possible.  Signal was barely making it out of the bedroom - and line-of-sight between the two Q boxes went smack through a load of thick walls and the mains consumer unit.

I naively thought I could hook up a decent AP (a Ubiquiti AC LR), but no dice. Sky Q's proprietary mesh won't operate over anything other than their own kit.  Fitted a couple of Sky Q Booster boxes in strategic places and it's up and running.

Lessons learnt: 

- Having a phone line tester is invaluable when faced with mystery wiring.
- Jelly crimps are nifty.
- I will never, ever get Sky Q.  A TV service which dictates what home network gear I can use isn't something I want.
- Never assume how WiFi will behave. Some walls might as well be lead-lined.
- Ubiquiti stuff is cool.  I've now got an AC-LR and an AC-Lite at home 11ac is slightly worse than my Apple AirPort, but the management stuff is excellent.

burakkucat:
An excellent result has been achieved.  :)  Well done!  :thumbs:

I had to go back and read every post . . . then everything just fell into place.

Out of curiosity, what was the old external junction box that you replaced with a BT66?

GaryW:
You can stop Sky Q using its own mesh network if you have wired connections to the Sky Q boxes - you can then go into the service menu on the Sky Q boxes and turn off wi-fi.  I use BT Whole Home Wifi discs to get a wired connection near the boxes, but obviously powerline and/or proper wired connections would also do the trick.  You might even be able to just rely on the Sky Q boxes' own (proprietary) Powerline networking - I've never tried it so don't know if it works!  (My setup has powerline disabled as well as it causes major VDSL issues in my house).

MrMike:
Regarding the Sky Q setup. I disabled Wi-Fi on both the main Sky Q box and the mini box and connected them both via ethernet cables to my switch/router in my home network resulting in no more requirement to use it's own private Wi-Fi network. It alleviated the occasional dropout of TV picture on the mini box as the Wi-Fi reception was poor with the thick walls in my home. The mini box was noticeably cooler to the touch after disabling Wi-Fi as it did get very hot. I'm sure it was within normal operating ranges, but it was very uncomfortable to keep my hand rested on it for longer than a few seconds. It is of course placed in a well ventilated area.

To disable the Wi-Fi radios on the Sky Q boxes go to the main menu and highlight the Settings menu, but don't enter it. Then press 0 0 1 followed by the Select button on the remote. Here you can find the Network sub-menu and disable the 2 wireless radios. Disable powerline too while you're at it if it has enabled itself. It seems it's a feature that Sky are quietly dropping, however it can still be used. Remember to do these steps on all Sky Q and mini boxes.

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