Moving BT Master socket to room where router is?

[#1]

Hi all, first of all thanks to all who kindly read, I'm sincerely grateful for this. I'm very happy with Plusnet on a whole, I know they do try to help at the customer services and technical department too but I have felt a little frustrated with things, specially the whole "We may charge you £60 if the fault is inside" (I've already had this explained as to why which is fine but I do feel it's an unfair thing to put on customers when we just want our internet to be set up fine).

I've had Plusnet a while now, same connection, nothing changed or moved etc.. (BT Openreach connected the wire back for me), however lately I've had quite a few disconnections  and speeds slowing down/not being very solid. This not only affects my broadband (wired and wifi as the whole router is going off) but also my TV which I pay extra for as well as extra for BT Sports and extra for HD too, it's a fantastic service but the recent disconnects and cuts with the TV have started to become more frequent and more frustrating.

Now, my setup is fine, it's a solid wire connected direct (no filter, extension or anything), good quality too which has been the same all the time yet lately I've started to have a few problems as mentioned above and now actual drop out's are recurring more though I have felt (ever since they first installed my Plusnet), if the BT socket was in my room where I can plug DIRECT there without a wire going downstairs, this would not only eliminate any "possible" causes of disconnections (we don't even know yet if this is the case however they have done tests at their side and found it's fine their side which I believe totally) but it would also be much better.

The problem is, it's so expensive to the customer (£160 to install a new line) and although I understand that Plusnet pay Openreach to do this, it's still very pricey as it would have been much better if they just put it there in the first place but I think when I had Plusnet installed they just reactivated the old BT socket downstairs. The socket should be (and needs to be) in my room really.

Now, for me to pay £160 for this not only is a lot of money but it still might not fix the problem and there's no give and take for Plusnet to cover this (or at least some of it), which again, I understand why as it's been explained but it still doesn't help the customer. 

So I was wondering, for the one downstairs to be cut off and a new one just completely installed in my room so the master socket is there instead, what is the best way to go around this as even though this might not be the problem, it really would be a better idea to have it there so I don't have a huge wire going downstairs (or any risk of this being a problem for disconnections or slow speeds). It eliminates that problem completely.

BUT, do I have to pay it all at once if Plusnet were to book this for me or could I split the £160 over various payments, also, could I use my credit card too to pay it off (adding it to my regular bill is a problem). 

It's a shame there's no give and take with Plusnet to do this to help customers out but all I want is for my broadband to be solid like it was before this randomly started doing this, other than I'm really happy with Plusnet, I just find this whole customer expense in these situations (and the engineer charge) a little unfriendly, which isn't what Plusnet are (usually) about.

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon. 

[#2]

Hello @robbieglover2k

Thank you for your query and I do apologise about the current issues you are having with your connection.

It might be a more economical option for you, but have you had a look into Power Line Adapters?

Please be aware, these adapters only work on a wired connection and can only be used to work on one device.

If you were to explore the option of relocating your Master Socket, this would have to be taken in one lump sum of £160.00. This is the costs our supplier's Openreach charge for this service, however, we can book this appointment on our behalf. You can make this payment via a Credit Card, our advisors will just take the details from you and book in the installation.

Hope this information has helped.

Kind regards.

[#3]

Thanks @Dumbledore, I'm seriously thinking about it. I do know and understand the situation as to why, I just do feel this is a little unfair it's at the expense of the customer, they probably should have installed it there in the first place but as I say I think they reactivated an old box so this is probably why. It's a catch 22 situation as I realise Plusnet pay them to come out too and it's their charges, just one of those little frustrating situations I think.

This might not even be the problem and might not even fix anything, so £160 is a lot of money for something that might not be needed but it would be better either way than having a wire going downstairs into the room. I'd rather just have the box next to my TV in my room and just plug it in there without having to put wires outside of the bedroom.

It's a shame this can't be paid in instalments either, as I say there doesn't seem to be any workaround for the customer but this would be easier and not only would it help me but it'd help you guys too in regards to having to try fix and work out issue's all the time (it at least eliminates the possibility of it being this).

Thanks, I appreciate your time and help  

[#4]

By the way @Dumbledore , I'm not sure what a powerline adapter is? I've just had a little browse (will need to read up on them more) but from what I can gather is this works a little like how a Wi-Fi extender works so it would be a wireless signal connecting to the plug near my router with my router then plugged into the powerline adapter (instead of the huge wire going downstairs). 

It sounds ok but I just want a good solid connection and don't want to waste money on one of these and then have to pay for a master socket installed as it's not giving me the maximum connection (which as you know anything wireless can lose this).

Thanks, I appreciate your time and help  

[#5]

Hi Robbie.

Unfortunately if an engineer needs to fit a new master phone socket as part of a new provision order, they'll generally install it in the best possible location with where the line enters in mind. As they'll also carry out work externally, the engineer may not have enough time to carry out anything complex with regards to fitting the master socket in a different location.

In your case it's difficult to say why an engineer fitted the master socket in the location they have done. From what I can see when we provided your line we just remotely reactivated an existing line which was already there.

To move your master socket to a position of your choice, we'll need to order what's known as an internal shift for an engineer to specifically carry out this work and that comes at the cost of £160 which we can't cover I'm afraid.

Having tested your line though it's probably better to go down the path of a fault investigation instead, because the connection problem you're experiencing may not be anything internal as I understand you've connected your router into the test socket, which should rule out any internal wiring affecting your connection.

While there's a potential call-out charge of £65 for a fault engineer visit, I'd say that the most common cause for this is faulty internal wiring which should be ruled out. There are other aspects and for openness I'll paste the statement below:

If the engineer finds the problem is with your internal wiring, your equipment, the condition of your property or the Openreach network has been damaged within the boundary of your property by things like building or garden works or if no fault is found, you will receive a charge of £65 to cover the cost of the engineer. This charge will also apply if you miss the appointment or you cancel without giving us 2 working days' notice.

Condition of your property would generally refer to damp etc, which may affect the Openreach equipment.

We also robustly defend all engineer charges before accepting them and passing them on if absolutely appropriate.

With regards to extending the broadband signal around your house, I'd too recommend powerline adapters and they work in a slightly different way to a WiFi extender. You'd connect one adapter into a power socket then your router plugs into that using an ethernet cable, then another adapter would plug into a different power socket elsewhere in your property then a computer or laptop can plug into that 2nd adapter using an ethernet cable. For wireless devices you can buy powerline adapters with WiFi, which means the adapter would give off a wireless signal for your devices to connect to.

I've got a pair in my house and they work a treat although it would depend on the electricity wiring between the two power sockets being on the same circuit and also the quality of the wiring in-between.

Hope this helps.

[#6]

Thank you @Gandalf, please know I'm sincerely grateful to you guys and all at Plusnet for the help you give us, honestly, I say this all the time but it really is what's important and what matters the most, as frustrating as it is for anyone's internet to go down or have issues, what matters is that we are helped which you guys truly do and that's what matters so thank you so much!!

Yeah, I thought that's what it was as we did have a BT line a long time ago in the house (we haven't had one for ages cause everyone uses mobile's now) but I thought it was a case of activating that, so thank you for confirming that also  

Yeah, that's the only thing I don't like and that concerns me when they say about the charge thing because you have done the tests at your side and found no fault (which I believe) so when they say that and talk about the fact my router is wired from my room to downstairs I worry they're going to blame that. My equipment is truly looked after, the wiring is set up as it's always been and hasn't been touched so let's just say if the engineer said "Oh it's your wire" then that wouldn't be fair cause it's not my fault or anything I've done for it to be that and also I wouldn't no how to fix it either (this is why I say about the socket move thing).

It's a confusing one because my internet I've been told isn't giving me the speeds it should be however up until recent times it's always been very solid but lately my Plusnet TV (on odd occasions) has been glitching up and I'd have to change channel at one point to unfreeze it and then lately I've had even more drops and cut outs than normal with the router flashing orange and cutting everything off (not just wireless, everything), it's as though the router is restarting (I know it's probably not but just to give you an example). They did change the frequency yesterday again and it happened once which I called to let you know as promised but they said to leave it 24 hours to settle in which is absolutely fine

I don't mind the odd drop outs at times cause it happens, obviously I'd prefer not to but when it's happening a little too regular that's when it gets upsetting and frustrating, specially when I have the Plusnet TV which I also have the additional package of BT Sport and HD too (which I watch the most) and it's been ruining my experience with that. It always seems to happen when I'm watching the things I really want to watch the most such as UFC for example and it's also quite frustrating when friends come round and it does it too, it's like I'm trying to have a night with them and it's ruining that too hence why I just REALLY want it to be sorted and more solid.

I feel a bit lost to be honest and that whole thing with the engineer thing you mention (which I understand) I don't like and is daunting to me cause if the engineer does happen to say that he can't find a fault or whatever then that's really unfair as there obviously is one somewhere when the drop outs have been as they are and the speeds too but I feel a little lost with it.

In regards to the powerline adapters, the wi-fi is alright to be honest round the house, the main thing I'd really prefer would be to not have a wire going out of my room, down the stairs and into the room where the router is, I'd like to eliminate that massively for myself and for Plusnet too but that's going to cost me £160 which again is a lot of money for a customer to pay to improve their connection.

Thank you so much, I really do appreciate you guys taking the time out to listen and to help, so thank you sincerely!!  

[#7]

Hi@robbieglover2k 

Couldn't you route an ethernet cable under floorboards or through already existing power cable routes?

[#8]

Hi @daveplus, I have no idea how to do that and wouldn't have a clue how to do it to make sure it was done right and safely, I'm really not that technical lol

That's the thing really with all this, I think a lot of it is on the customer too much and where as I can understand that Plusnet (or any provider really) can only do so much I do sometimes feel it's a bit too much sometimes for customers, it's like when they ask you to log into the router and change settings etc... it's really daunting. They asked me to do this once from an email and I accidentally knocked off the internet connection completely and had to call them up to get it back on again, my own fault was that but it was a bit much to ask me to do was this lol

I just want to get it sorted really as mentioned above

Thanks for the kind reply Dave too, I appreciate that dearly  

[#9]

Thanks for getting back to us.

Unfortunately I'm not sure that there's much more that we can suggest regarding this, ultimately we'd need to arrange an engineer visit to investigate this further as the drops in your connection will be affecting all parts of the service.

If the engineer Openreach deems the appointment to be chargeable we make sure it is absolutely valid and we're very stringent before when accepting and passing these charges on. Engineer charges are reviewed by both our suppliers and ourselves.

If you've done the troubleshooting steps we've asked, nothing you own has damaged the Openreach network, you don't miss the appointment or cancel within 48 hours of the visit and you're using our router that's less than 12 months old, the likelihood of the call-out to be chargeable would be almost nil.

[#10]

Oh, well that's better then, honestly, it may be just me but when Plusnet say all this to us it does sound quite daunting, of course I understand (and agree) that if customers haven't looked after their equipment or done inside damage that's caused things with it being a cost to Plusnet to send the engineers I absolutely agree the customers should be charged however that's probably few and far between (I guess) and when Plusnet have said this to us, it's not come across like that but more so of "If we can't find a fault or think it's your fault, we'll charge you" and that comes across as "We might blame you for this so make sure you're aware" yet all we want is help to set up our equipment properly so it's running at it's maximum potential so we can enjoy your service (which is very good in general as I'm really, really happy with Plusnet despite these issue's). I'm glad you said what you said there because Plusnet have never said that to me before but more so as mentioned above and that's daunting cause how do we not know you would do that or the engineer would just say "I can't find anything" and the customer just wants help to get set up you know haha.

The only troubleshoot I can't do is the one where it was mentioned to me about taking the router downstairs and plugging it in there but that would be absolutely pointless cause everything connected to it is upstairs and can't be moved downstairs to connect to it (IE PC, Plusnet TV etc..) so I wouldn't be able to connect anything to it and they told me to do that for two days, it would just be sat there turned on with nothing able to connect to it and then that would mean I'd have no internet (which I need for my business and also my TV), so I'd have no internet and no TV for two days lol

It's only just been over 24 hours since they changed the frequency and refreshed the router (they also said something about updating the software) and so far, apart from the one drop out I mentioned, I've not noticed any cuts or drop out's yet (I have no idea about the speed thing but a test did say at your side something about I should be getting more anyway) but I did also do the test of removing the face plate from the socket and plugging the internet direct there (so the socket was exposed basically and it wasn't going through the face plate filter) but it wouldn't even work at all, the router was just orange all the time the the "b" lit up on the front so the adviser asked me to just plug it back in as normal as it needs to be on and then it came on again, everything else has been done

But thank you so much @Gandalf for that, it may only be me but that whole way it's put across about telling us they might charge us does come across along the lines of "We might blame you", I know that's not the case (Plusnet are complete opposite to that which I love) but it does feel like that and that's why it does feel daunting to have an engineer come when you say that because everything is genuinely looked after here and set up as it's always been so if something DID happen to be with say the wire or something, it's not anything that's been done intentionally or aware of if that makes sense but the wire is untouched and just as normal anyway so there's nothing there to say otherwise (and the connection is fine most of the time until it starts playing up as mentioned above).

Anyway thank you, I'm really, really grateful for everything you guys kindly do, I just want my internet and setup to be the best it can be and to what it should be and we're not always all that technical as customers to do this

I hope this helps  

[#11]

@robbieglover2k 

When you say that when you plugged the router into the test socket and nothing worked then this is a problem. Presumably you did plug a filter into the test socket located in the fixed part of the wall socket and the router into the microfilter? This is the only real test that all but eliminates your chance of picking up the £65 no fault found charge. If you are running your router normally from a telephone extension then in this configuration it is an invitation for an Openreach engineer to simply plug the router in to the master socket and if it happens to be OK that day simply say fault fixed due to your wiring arrangement. Arguing and getting the charge cancelled will not get your fault fixed.  Please don't be offended but I would expect that this not working is because of a misunderstanding on how to connect the router to the Test socket or a faulty microfilter. In my opinion getting the router connected to the Test socket is key before you get Openreach involved.

When you say that nothing can be used when the router is plugged in downstairs, surely all your wireless devices are still working? I accept that the wired ones will be dead.

[#12]

No idea @Baldrick1, the guy on the phone asked me to remove the face plate (which I wasn't comfortable with doing anyway as I explained to him) and then plug the wire into the socket without the face plate, which I did and we waited a minute or so and the router just stayed orange, then a few mins later he told me to plug it back in again and it connected straight away with him telling me it needs the face plate to work and that it was ok. 

In regards to devices, the only thing would be my phone but everything else wouldn't be connected. I was told to leave anyway when I explained this, which again I was told not to worry as we'd done all the other tests.

At the moment they've refreshed my router, I think updated the software and changed the frequency and then asked to leave it 24 hours (which as mentioned above has been fine so far) so that's where we're at at the moment, having the master socket installed in my room (as the OP was about) is simply because I want to eliminate all this hassle for myself and for Plusnet. 

Honestly and truthfully, I think it's a bit much to be asking customers to do this sometimes, I get it about eliminating things but all this technical stuff a lot of people aren't comfortable with doing or do they want to mess about with things when they don't know what they're doing. Luckily Plusnet do help you through it and guide you but it's still very daunting and it's not something everyone is comfortable with doing.

Again, this charge thing you mentioned has just completely undone what @Gandalf just said to me. I've done all the trouble shooting tips asked so far and told it was fine with things such as the one suggested above because nothing would be connected and it is just a case of being where we're at now after the router refresh as mentioned above  

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Post released from Spam Filter.

[#13]

I just replied to this and now my reply has disappeared lol Let me know if you guys can see it as it's not there now for some reason  lol

[#14]

Sorry, it's disappeared into the ether. It could be stuck in the spam filter and will reappear shortly.

[#15]

Oh, I thought it might have been a cached thing but it was definitely there, ah well, I'll write it again in a bit as I'd explained about things etc.. but it's cool