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Move BT master socket - cost?

m063
Grafter
Posts: 167
Registered: ‎11-08-2007

Move BT master socket - cost?

I want to move my BT master socket from its current inconvenient position by a downstairs front window to my office/study upstairs at the back of the house.
I seem to remember some previous confusion as to whether Plusnet can arrange this.
So can someone confirm that Plusnet can arrange it and what is the cost?
Incidentally, although I say 'BT master socket' the current wiring goes from the pole to corner of my house, then fastened to a drainpipe, then on wall to go through window frame and to a junction box (marked with BT logo). From junction box have one wire to a BT socket and one wire goes back out through window frame then up to roof, subsequently to another junction box, where it splits to 2 phone sockets.
I've got the Plusnet TG582 on one of these latter sockets. Works quite well, surprisingly.
Of course, I'll also have to relocate the extension cable.
12 REPLIES 12
Joshc
Grafter
Posts: 167
Registered: ‎23-12-2014

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Hey,
We can arrange this for you. However it would be £144. (Not including VAT)
There are other engineers out there in the yellow pages that would be able to do this just as well , by the way.
Smiley
m063
Grafter
Posts: 167
Registered: ‎11-08-2007

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Thanks,
I thought that only BT was allowed to move the master socket?
Isn't that the case any more?
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
Fixes: 565
Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

A post from Money Saving Expert in 2011
Quote
I have know TRIPLE checked with BT and they have said again..
that it is an 'Urban myth' that you will get fined and its illegal to move master
sockets.
The rules were relaxed a few years ago.
If it goes wrong you will have to pay to get it fixed by Openreach!

Who knows?
Windows 10 Firefox 109.0 (64-bit)
To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead - Thomas Paine
Joshc
Grafter
Posts: 167
Registered: ‎23-12-2014

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Any electrician should be fine doing this. Smiley
Oldjim
Resting Legend
Posts: 38,460
Thanks: 787
Fixes: 63
Registered: ‎15-06-2007

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Slight correction
Quote from: JoshuaC
Any competent electrician should be fine doing this. Smiley
Joshc
Grafter
Posts: 167
Registered: ‎23-12-2014

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Haha,
@ Oldjim
No comment . Wink
davidj66
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 746
Thanks: 56
Fixes: 4
Registered: ‎04-09-2008

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

I've been thru a similar discussion with a relative recently -post 4 from Strat really summarises neatly -no-one is going to stop you moving a master socket .......but c*ck it up at your peril cos BT ain't cheap !
twocvbloke
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 6,399
Thanks: 1,782
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎06-11-2014

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

It's only two wires, kind of hard to muck that up, from the dropwire it's White to "A" and Orange to "B", if from a junction box using regular 2-Pair CW1308 cable, it's White/Blue to "A" and Blue/White to "B"... Grin
And as for extension wiring, Blue/White to 2, White/Blue to 5, and if need be Orange/White to 3 (bell wire used for older BT and converted GPO telephones)... Smiley
Just remember that when the line is ringing, up to 90Volts AC can travel down the line and give you one heck of a belt if someone rings as you're holding the wires, AND there is a constant 50 Volts DC voltage on the line too which can give you a bit of a burn if you're not careful... Smiley
Tools needed, screwdrivers, a Krone tool or one of them single-use insertion tools often included in extension kits (for the IDC terminals), might be able to get away with an old credit/debit or similar card (never had much luck myself), and a hammer for the cable clips... Smiley
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Quote from: JoshuaC
Any electrician should be fine doing this. Smiley

Absolute bull I'm afraid Joshua.
Most electricians haven't got a clue about the correct wiring standards needed for phone lines, never mind interference free broadband. There are too many that have even used Alarm cable.
Technically you are not allowed to touch anything prior to the Master socket, but twocvbloke has described exactly what is needed, but he didn't make it clear that you should use IDC connection boxes if any are needed (for reliable connections) such as the BT77A (widely available). However if any connections are external - ie the drop-wire to CW1308, ideally they should be jelly-crimped. The correct way is to use the BT66B box and one supplier supplies free jelly-crimps with it.
Any extensions should be wired from the master socket front-plate and not from any box prior to the master, otherwise if you ever get a fault you cannot isolate your extension wiring and if it turned out to be that which was causing the fault, that's when you will end up paying big time!.
twocvbloke
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 6,399
Thanks: 1,782
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎06-11-2014

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

In the last house, I rewired everything phoneline related, because whoever lived their previously either had two lines or didn't know what they were doing and had two NTE5 masters joined together on one line.
I took all the wiring out back to the BT77a where the dropwire entered the house, put in new 2-pair CW1308 from the 77a to the relocated master (was previously in the front bedroom) on the landing, then ran extensions from the master on the landing to a pair of LJU2/3A sockets in the positions where the two Masters were (latterly adding a cheap window-mount socket for an american Cortelco 2554 wallphone in the kitchen), took a couple of hours to neatly route all the cable but it worked 'til we left the house (and I removed my wiring & sockets excluding that between the 77a and Master)... Smiley
And a quick translation:
NTE5 - Network Termination Equipment no. 5, aka Master socket with removable faceplate.
BT77A - 6-way IDC junction box.
LJU2/3A - 67mm square Secondary socket.
The Openreach engineer we had in afterwards to set the line up (it was a stopped line initially but for some reason someone stole our pair) didn't bat an eyelid at the wiring I did, everything tested out great (well, after they "pulled an underground pair" from the cab that we're now back on) and we had 3.6Mbps ADSL, so long as you pay attention to how it's wired up initially, then there's little chance of messing up, just never admit you did anything behind the master socket... Grin
I have a collection of telephones hooked up to a Panasonic telephone system (not connected to the phoneline), so am always fiddling with master sockets and the wiring behind them, and as it's on my own personal exchange, I have no need to be coy about it... Cool
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Used to have a home exchange connected up to the line donkey's years ago, a home built strowger job using a couple of uniselectors. Dial 9 for the outside line Wink
twocvbloke
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 6,399
Thanks: 1,782
Fixes: 3
Registered: ‎06-11-2014

Re: Move BT master socket - cost?

Nice, I'd love to have some proper strowger selector hardware, thing is it's so collectable now it's pretty pricey, just a shame the likes of BT just scrapped all the old exchanges or sold for pennies to countries we're probably now enemies with, but I guess at the time digital was the thing and anything mechanical was worthless junk according to them... Undecided
Still, people keep finding mechanical PABXes in buildings (like abandoned equipment that nobody bothered to remove when fitting newer electronic stuff), so there's hope yet...  Grin