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Paying BT to improve wiring?

ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
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Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Paying BT to improve wiring?

I went to visit a house where broadband is being contemplated.  It's in an area where the downstream attenuation is 55 to 60 dB so even with good wiring they won't do very well.  But here the overhead phone wire comes in a first floor height, snakes around the house and ends in a grey box above the porch.  From this box wires go off in two different directions to different extension sockets.  There is no NT5E-type Master Socket and with this type of wiring debugging any broadband issues would be difficult.
Does any know it it is possible to pay BT to modernise their wiring, fit a Master socket and run all the extension wiring off that?  Or would getting a second line fitted be an easier option?   
4 REPLIES 4
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Paying BT to improve wiring?

What type of cable is the incoming cable, is it CW1411? Could you be a bit more specific about what you mean by "snakes around the house"? What shape is the grey box, has it got screw terminals? Like anything on http://www.britishtelephones.com/bterm.htm
Edit: Who is the line rental currently paid to?
ejs
Aspiring Hero
Posts: 5,442
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Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: Paying BT to improve wiring?

A couple of threads on the kitz forums claim it can be done for free:
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,11462.0.html
http://forum.kitz.co.uk/index.php/topic,11696.0.html
Edit: looks like that only applies if there's no master socket of any sort, probably one of the sockets is an old type of master, distinguishable by the extra capacitor inside.
Anotherone
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Posts: 19,107
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Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Paying BT to improve wiring?

Well I missed them, but I didn't read it as only if you had no master. Worth looking into perhaps
Quote
upon EU request. The latter request has to be submitted to Openreach by the CP / ISP on the EU's behalf as a wiring normalisation task. (Best of all, it's FOC.)

However, this http://www.bt.com/pricing/current/Exch_Lines_boo/0002_d0e63.htm is still there (scroll down about 1/4 way) in the BT Retail Price list "Conversion of hard-wired master socket to Linebox and Regularisation of illicit master socket: " and then there seems to be an engineer call out charge on top from what's been reported before!
Take a look at Plusnet's prices http://www.plus.net/info2/legal/price_guide.html#talk scroll to Converting your line and other setup charges.
So if the quote from the post on kitz isn't true, there will be cheaper ways of doing it  Wink
However the answers to my earlier questions will help determine the best approach!
ReedRichards
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 4,927
Thanks: 145
Fixes: 25
Registered: ‎14-07-2009

Re: Paying BT to improve wiring?

Thanks for the picture link, Anotherone; I could not remember where to find that.  The box in question most closely resembles "Block Terminal No. 66A & 66B".  I'll have to go back and look at the cabling.
Thanks to both for the links.