New to fibre broadband

[#1]

Surely around 17Mbps would be much better which is what you can get from the test socket, if you get your internal wiring sorted out with the correct filtered faceplate and a single master socket you should get this speed at the best location for the router. It would be a huge improvement over your previous broadband connection and I would not hesitate to get the wiring fixed, Ok you may need to pay but it would be worth it.

[#2]

I agree with real ale, the increase in speed makes spending a little dosh well worth while.

Rather than calling openreach in I would suggest searching for an ex bt engineer or someone with telecom/computer knowledge. Look in your local press for adverts for installing extension sockets or amongst friends that may be able to recommend someone.

Once the sockets are sorted out, abandon the internal network and buy some TP Link power line adapters, these will provide network access through the house wiring wherever you have a power socket.

The best of luck, let us know how you get on.

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/list-18.html

[#3]

I see I'm not alone in thinking it would be worth spending some money to get your wiring sorted out. You have two main choices plus a potential do it yourself option.

You could ask for an OpenReach engineer visit to sort the wiring. I believe you would probably get the Master socket replaced and the wiring tidied up. I think it's a fixed cost for this but perhaps someone from PlusNet could confirm.

As mentioned by "yfont" you can find someone local to do the work.

Or you could try a fix yourself by replacing the face plate on the Master socket. This is very easily done. Note that by law you are not allowed to touch the incoming wires to the Master socket but after that it's fair game. You can buy filtered BT face plates online but I use the following. Not as cheap as BT one's but it gives you the choice of passing a filtered or unfiltered signal through. As your modem is on an extension you would use the unfiltered option.

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php

The face plate, a cheap Krone  tool for making the connection and a 3 - 4 day delivery costs £12.48 Fitting instructions are available online. Simply changing the faceplate may be enough to sort the signal but if not you would have the filtered faceplate for when (or if) you got someone in.

Brian

[yfront]

I agree with yfront that it could be best to keep your router in the test socket and invest in a set of powerline adapters.

@bmc wrote:
You could ask for an OpenReach engineer visit to sort the wiring. I believe you would probably get the Master socket replaced and the wiring tidied up. I think it's a fixed cost for this but perhaps someone from PlusNet could confirm.

We won't be able to arrange an engineer to specifically fix internal wiring, but if we arrange an internal shift order they would move the master socket to a convenient location (assuming where it is now isn't convenient). The engineer fee is £160.

[#5]

The OR engineer cost is more than I remembered so I would suggest a bit of DIY and see how that goes.

Brian

[#6]

Thank you to everyone who has tried to help me. It's fantastic how every one of you have given your time to help.

For now I have plugged the router into the test socket and have a cable coming from the Ethernet point in the lounge to the router so our Ethernet points work.

I'm hoping that a friend of a friend is going to come at some point to look at everything for us and have asked for the engineer visit to be cancelled for now.

If I got the power line extension things that someone mentioned earlier, could I link it up to the switch so that our Ethernet points worked?

[#7]

That sounds like a good temporary fix to get the improved speed, personally I would steer clear of powerline networking devices, I have had mixed results with them and they can cause interference particularly on VDSL (FTTC) circuits. If someone can sort out your master socket/internal wiring and connect a data extension to the upstairs socket for the router you can continue to use the switch and Ethernet network as before, without any nasty powerline stuff.

[#8]

Are you happy with the router being downstairs as a permanent solution?

Is the Ethernet cable "hidden" or does it cross open floors and can only be a temp solution.

Brian

[#9]

The cable is crossing the floor so this is just a temporary fix for the time being

[#10]

Still think getting someone in to sort the wiring is the best solution. It shouldn't be a big job and would let you go back to the setup you had before.

Having said that, if you keep the modem downstairs I think you're looking at power line adapters to get the signal upstairs. I have no experience of these other than what I read on-line. They appear to be a bit like WiFi - it works or it doesn't. One thing I have read is that if your power sockets (up and down) are on different circuits then the circuit breaker can block the signal.

Assuming for the moment you just want your signal upstairs (ignoring power line WiFI plugs) you'd be looking for something like http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-18_TL-PA9020P-KIT.html (first one I found from a previous link). You could try one up and one down to see if that works but if not you have the option of both down. One at the router and one close to the Ethernet connection (where you can hide the cable).

If I understand correctly you're currently using the test socket to get a good signal. If you're happy with the modem downstairs and have no other requirement for the phone extensions you could disconnect the extension wiring from the face plate and plug it back in. This "should" give you the same speed your getting from the test socket - or it would prove there's a problem with the plate and it needs replacing.

This would also allow for the replacement of the plate with a filtered one without any extra work. Just for information the following link shows how to replace (and rewire) a face plate. Bit out of date but the theory is the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKoyZYe5YW4

Brian

[#11]

Further thought - you could buy a long cable and run it around the edge of the room (including up and over any inconvenient door frame) from the modem to the Ethernet connection point.

Brian

[#12]

The best solution would be to go with @bmc solution to disconnect the extension wires from the master base plate as it seems you don't really need them, then go for a set of gigabit powerline adapters from the router to the Netgear switch. You can have as many power line adapters connected to the primary one that is connected to the router as you need if you wish to further extend your network.

This is the route I'd take and the simplest and least expensive. I have had no issues with Power line adapters.

Cheapest about at the moment seem to be below, which is very reasonable.

https://www.mymemory.co.uk/d-link-1000mbps-powerline-gigabit-starter-kit-2-pack.html

[#13]

I'm not a wiring expert but I think I have an idea why the signal is poor other than when you're connected to the test socket.

Phone wires come in pairs and, depending on the cable used, there will 2 or more pairs available. Doesn't matter which pair is used, so long as it's the same pair and each end and the "pairs" are connected to the sockets by colour ie same colour at each end for connections 2 & 5.

From your picture in post 17 I thought the crimps had been used to extend the cable for the face plate. The fact there were 2 cables was confusing but you later confirmed there were in fact 3 extensions. Now, I assumed that two extensions were wired directly to the face plate and the third was "daisy chained" from an extension.

I just had a closer look at the cabling in the picture. It is unclear from the picture but it appears two pairs from each white cable are connected to the crimps before the crimps are connected to the face plate. This implies 4 extensions.

A new picture where the white cables are separated would help along with a note of what cables are entering the crimps.

It might also help if a picture could be taken of the back of the upstairs socket to show how it's wired.

Brian

[#14]

Thank you all again for taking the time to try to help.

We are away for a few days so I can't take any more photos just now but will do when we get back.

I said to my husband about there being another extension and he said there might be one in our bedroom behind the wardrobe but isn't sure if it's an Ethernet point or not.

Unfortunately the temporary fix with an Ethernet cable from the lounge can only be temporary.

We are hoping someone will come and look at the wiring (hopefully this side of Christmas).

[#15]

While there may be a fault with the face plate I think it's likely that the signal is being disrupted by the wiring. As you don't use the extensions ultimately you need only one "pair" running from the master face plate to the socket upstairs. The problem is establishing which of the white cables runs upstairs (assuming both don't). Once you have that it's relatively easy to wire up only one pair.

If you get somebody in they may have a way of checking which wire is which. If not, they would simply disconnect every cable from the face plate and the socket upstairs. Then connect one pair and see if it works. If not, they would then connect a pair from the second cable - one of the two should work.

Brian