Openreach ONT box power lead

[#1]

In a nutshell, it's a 100 year old ex-Council house bought by my girlfriends sister and their mum under right to buy years ago, and was occupied until their mum died 2 years ago. Me, my other half & our son are moving in while her sister still "owns" it. The house is in a very poor state, full of damp despite having 2 dehumidifiers running like 8 hours a day while someone is in (usually my OH who has been great at painting / decorating etc, sealanting, putting a new bathroom floor and separate toilet floor lino in, basically tons of work while I'm stuck at work). Yes, the gable end needs badly repointing but we are on zero at the end of every month, praying for pay day. Repointing quotes have said like £1,000 just for the gable wall from back to front, only half way up, and we don't have that money.

Back to my point.....  yes, install is on Thursday 24th and electrician still hasn't replied

Are you saying that the ONT does NOT have to be right next to the entry point as in the example below? i.e. all on the gable wall

I have coloured the "optic" lead from it's entry point in that circle to ONT box for my own benefit. 

Are you saying they could put that entry point on the external gable wall then run a lead from entry point to the actual ONT box which could be placed on the wall near the door, then plugged into the single power point on that wall (see picture in my post #15 ).

I thought the installations were all fixed and the same by Openreach (whoever), and the ONT box has to be right next to the entry point (circle) as the cable is very fragile and can't be bent etc as per the photo?

I am having palpitations now over this and my OH doesn't need the stress either. 

("Hello" if you have found this and read it. I am only trying to get advice and guidance so as to get our installation done as smoothly as possible with minimal leads / wires for us all). 

[#2]

@andyt1970 Is that picture from the 'new' house? If so, there is already an FF connection.

[#3]

No sorry, forgot to put I found it elsewhere on this forum. But a great example of how I believe they would fit it, entry point and ONT box right close to each other.

[#4]

@andyt1970 

Not a great situation to be in house wise. I've always understood that getting a property water tight should always be a priority to prevent things getting worse but you know what's possible and what's not.

Sorry to be the cause of "palpitations" but it's better to ask now than wait until the day of install. My understanding is OR will run up to 10m indoors so long as they don't have to do any extra work. The pictures below are from my install.

As you state the fibre cable is "fragile" so can't do tight bends etc. If I'd been more organized I might have had duct preinstalled to take the cable (or at least have it to hand so It could be installed once the route had been agreed while work was being done elsewhere).

It is entirely possible the the ONT could go near either of the power points in the box room if you're happy with the cable run from the external wall (or have duct available to install once the route is agreed).

Have you thought about the stair cupboard?

Brian

[#5]

Okay, think you are all sick of my posts and diagrams now, so last 2.

Staircase, gable wall and box room at top of stairs, landing window not included!

Self-explanatory pantry wall, this how we want it to be with Plusnet 2 router on a shelf (it's currently plugged into BT socket in dining room but that's because it needs the phone line!)

There is no electrical plug sockets in their despite the electricity meter and consumer unit being in there. All painted, sealanted and lino put down by OH after Electricity North West came to remove old asbestos unit and put new one in, then E-ON did a new smart meter and handheld device thingy, so nothing can go in there. It's not a cupboard as such as it then goes off to the left under the stairs with a severe slope you *WILL* crack you head on.

[#6]

@andyt1970 

Another picture would be nice - the inside of the pantry. Does it reach the external wall and is there enough space to "work"?

With a power socket nearby I would imagine your electrician could easily fit one inside - unless there is something on the wall behind where the current socket.

If there is space to work the OR might be happy to put the ONT is the pantry.

Brian

[#7]

You'd think that Openreach, "One of the world's biggest communication companies", would prefer to do an initial visit to see where the customer would like the ONT box putting, then tell you "No, we're putting it here" (!), then at least on the day of installation everyone knows exactly what is going where. In our case, we could unnecessarily spend on an electrician converting a single socket to a double one, plus a lot of effort emptying this heavy double wardrobe, lugging contents out to another room, then trying to get wardrobe moved.... only for engineer to say they can't do it at point A near window in box room, or worse still, they can't do it at point B coming in from gable wall then having ONT connected to other single socket behind door 😫

[#8]

@andyt1970 

Site visits cost time and money and are not required for the majority of installs. I guess the ability to request a pre install visit might be a good addition to the order process but I'd guess it would be a chargeable option.

The pantry is well worth serious consideration if it reaches the gable wall and there is space to work. Short term a power extension could be used but I'm sure an electrician could bring power to it so long as there's nothing on the wall the other side of the wall socket.

It would reduce the need for an ethernet able run. Something like one of these could be used to bring the cable out to the router.

Brian

[#9]

@andyt1970 

Why do you need an electrician to convert a single socket when you can simply buy an adapter?

I spent a very interesting couple of hours this morning with a MJ Quinn technician whilst he installed FF in a friend’s property. The internal fibre came with a black sheath. This was stripped off once the fibre came through the wall into the house. He was very happy to staple the more flexible white inner sheath along the skirting board so that the ONT could be fixed close to a power socket.

Whilst splicing the inner and outer fibres in the CSP he showed me the actual fibre filament. I would guess it’s about the diameter of a hair. He was vague about bends. I have measured the diameter of the outer sheaths, they are about 5 mm. I would therefore guess that the main limitation on bend radius is dictated by the stresses placed on the tiny fibre by the protective jackets, the general rule of 10 times the diameter certainly makes no sense when comparing the very inner jacket covering the fibre filament with the fully jacketed ‘cable’. 
one last observation relating the CSP. Outer sheaths were stripped off both fibres leaving just the inner layer. Very long tails were left before the ends were spliced. At least a metre of fibre was wound around pegs in the outer section of the CSP before the cover was fitted.

[#10]

Here's a rough plan of the downstairs showing pantry (L shaped in black!), double plug on other side where we want router etc. There is only this one plug socket in the hallway.

[#11]

And upstairs 🙄

[#12]

@andyt1970 

Based on your diagram and the belief that an electrician can wire in a socket in the pantry I think this is a valid option for an ONT. Hopefully others will jump in with an opinion.

The fibre could come in to the left of the window. Assuming there's nothing on the wall behind the double socket the cable could go up to the roof of the pantry, accross the gap under the stairs and then down to an ONT somewhere on the wall to the left of the door. A power socket could also go there or perhaps just around the corner under the stairs. If you put in a double socket you could potentially run both the ONT and the router from it leaving the hallway free.

You then use a face plate like the one I posted (there are many options on Amazon) to create a hole for the outgoing ethernet cable. I'm not certain but I think the router power lead may be 2m.

To me this is the optimum solution. Cables largely hidden out of sight with no ethernet cable run required from upstairs.

Brian

[#13]

@andyt1970 

We know nothing about the state of the house wiring and if the power circuit has been updated to a ring. However, it should not be an issue drilling through the wall into the pantry and spuring off power to a single or double socket in the pantry. If the electrician is concerned about overloading a radial circuit then get them to feed the socket via a 5A fused spur. Once you have power in the pantry you have the option over whether to take electricity to the fibre entry point or persuade the Openreach Tech to locate the ONT on the back of the Hall wall.

I would reconsider the half way up the stairs for the router plan and, as @bmc suggests take an Ethernet cable through the wall into the Hall and locate the Router here. If there isn't a hall table to put it on you can get wall brackets: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133955948572

[#14]

@Baldrick1 

Many posts ago the OP stated there is a shelf where they want the Router to go. Look at post #50

@andyt1970 

My power thoughts today. Technically you don't need any extra or new sockets. For either upstairs location get a 1m two gang extension and fix it to the wall. Relatively neat.

For the pantry slightly more difficult. If you get one of the trough plates with a brush I mentioned before I don't think a plug will fit throught it. However, if you have any spare plugs get a 2m two gang entension, cut the plug off and feed it though the wall and put the extension somewhere on the wall. Reattach a plug for the hallway power socket. Tack the cables to the wall inside and out. Both the ONT and router can be fed from here.

If there's any suggestion of a power overload get a 5amp fuse or unit as suggested.

Good thing is you don't need to take any action until after the install. You just need a power extension cable to use short term.

[#15]

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@bmc wrote:

@Baldrick1 

Many posts ago the OP stated there is a shelf where they want the Router to go. Look at post #50

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I did use the word ‘reconsider’. The location half way up the stairs looked to me like it could be more difficult to access with cables.