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[DaveC]

Over the last few weeks, I've seen Openreach pulling fibre through the underground ducting in our street, so am assuming the long-awaited install day will not be too far away now.

Ideally I would like the ONT located in my comms cupboard under the stairs.  This isn't an easy cable run from the existing master socket location (which I assume will be the default ONT location - i.e. on the opposite side of the external wall to where the underground ducting pops out of the ground).

However, I currently have some of the bathroom floorboards up, which is opening up a possible route to the comms cupboard.  So I'm wondering what the chances are of the installer using a pre-installed "ezbend" internal fibre cable (I've a BT-branded one on the way from ebay).  I could run this relatively easily from the comms cupboard to the current master socket, but the bathroom floor will likely be tiled by the time the installation date arrives, so not really an option for the installer to do it themselves.

Ideally I would run conduit and invite the installer to use that, but due to lack of access of some of the joists to drill new holes, it's probably not going to be possible - I'll just about be able to fish the cable itself through the existing holes.  Although I could probably use conduit for most of the run.

Plan B would be to just have the ONT located where the master socket is (I already have CAT5e cables running from there to the comms cupboard), but it would be nicer to be able to avoid having any visible cables, and also to locate the ONT next to the UPS.

Thanks.

[Dwight]

Hi DaveC,
They are more likely to run outside your property than inside. But an actual conduate I expect would be more acceptable as they want to gaurante their work, before sign off.
Do you live in a terrace, or something more modern?
There is also the kit avalible, but that would leave you with a white box to hide.
https://shop.premitel.uk/product/fibre-termination-point-relocation-kit/
Regards.
Dwight

[DaveC]

Thanks for the reply.  It's an end-of-terrace, but the comms cupboard is bang in the centre of the house under the stairs (the ground floor is square-shaped), so the existing entry point is just as easy (or hard) to reach the cupboard as anywhere else. 

I had seen that extension kit, and something like that may turn out to be the plan B - I could run two cables in place (one with just a single connector and a bare end, and the other with connectors at both ends).  If the installer won't use the first cable then I could let him/her install the ONT at the entry point, and then install the extension later.

Although I don't think I would use that kit - the BT "MDU" cable seems suitable and a 20m length bought for less than £20, and uses EZ Bend cable.  I'm not sure what cable that kit is using.

[tiffy]

From my experience, can't really assume that OR or their sub-contractors will be able or even willing to try to get the fibre run to the location of your existing POTS master socket, in my case the old copper line was UG fed but DIG, ie. armoured cable, not in trunking so no attempt to follow that routing with the fibre could be made.
At my son & daughters properties, also copper UG fed but later builds and in trunking, OR sub-contractors failed in both cases to run the fibre through to the master sockets due to blockages/trunking collapse and settled for a convenient "hole in the wall" entry.

I settled for an ethernet cable run between the ONT and where I wished the router to be which in my case was quite easy to achieve and conceal, timber framed bungalow.

You mentioned UPS backup requirement, presumably for ONT & router?
I already used a central UPS unit so decided to incorporate a PoE feed to the ONT which of course also powers the router, details here in this rather long saga of my FTTP migration experience.
https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,26792.msg451455.html#msg451455

To be honest, it hadn't occured to me to extend the fibre at the time of my installation, don't remember fibre extension kits being available then, an ethernet cable run was the easiest option for me at the time, no issues close to 3 years on FTTP.

FTTP installation on the day will very much depend on the mood & competency of the attending engineer whether OR or sub-contractor, from my limited experience any pre-install preparation by the customer provided it's to an acceptable standard is usually appreciated.
Good luck with the FTTP migration when it comes around, hope it goes well.

 

[DaveC]

A few years ago I excavated and repaired BT's ducting in my front garden - it was terminating just short of the house, and then the incoming phone cable was just buried in the top-soil.  I was having a patio laid, so dug it up to the next join in the ducting and reburied it as deep as I could, with the correct bend coming up vertically to the house.  Some photos amongst this thread:

https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,21450.0.html

There's probably only about 10m or so more ducting beyond that which I have already checked to the junction box in the pavement, so fingers crossed it's OK.

Thanks for the link to your install thread.  I recall this thread about the enclosure, but hadn't seen your final result:

https://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,26803.0.html

[tiffy]

Yes, you have certainly done your home work and are well ahead of the game, should end up with a very tidy FTTP install to your required specification hopefully in the not too distant future, will be interesting to hear/see the final result.

[tubaman]

If a conduit was available, with an easy pull through, then I'd like to think they'd be ok to use that but I very much doubt you'll persuade them to use a fibre that you have supplied as to them it's an unknown quantity.

[DaveC]

If a conduit was available, with an easy pull through, then I'd like to think they'd be ok to use that but I very much doubt you'll persuade them to use a fibre that you have supplied as to them it's an unknown quantity.

Yes, that's what I'm concluding. 

I've also come across this blog post in my searching, where the poster did what I was planning (installing a BT-branded EZ Bend cable he bought from ebay, although he did it in conduit) but the installer couldn't use it - not because he didn't trust it, but because it was apparently the wrong kind of cable for the tools he had available:

https://www.chatteris.biz/blog/talktalk-future-fibre-installation/

The actual comment says "All did not go exactly as planned here, I had originally ran in some EZBend fibre from the CSP to the ONT location, it turned out that fibre tools that are issued for stripping lead-in/lead-out cables, were not compatible with EZBend fibre outer sheath as the fibre did not have a rip cord to aid sheath removal, consequentially, it was decided to  use the EZBend fibre as a draw, and pull in a Openreach supplied fibre optic cable which was my fall-back plan anyway."

So I think I'm going to do my best to run some conduit - I've read a number of reports from people who have successfully had their FTTP installed via internal conduit.