Installation over 10metres?

[paulnose]

Hello,

I recently had a Virgin Media spotter come out and look at my property. I live on an unadopted road of which at the beginning of which is a Virgin Media Box. They spotter said that because I was over 10metres from the current network termination point I could not get the service. After a little begging he made reference that I may be able to cover the extra cost of running the cable. The road is unadopted and he advised that I would have to get a solicitor involved to get the neighbors permission and such as well as get the trench dug up.

Does anyone have any experience with having Virgin install runs over 10m and what is involved in coordinating diggers with installation technicians? Also, the spotter didn't have any costing ideas so any insight into the costs would be appreciated. [distance from box to house is approx. 40 meters (36 meters of unadopted road)]

Thank you,

-Paul

(Eagerly needing to get away from ADSL and Sat.)

[jb66]

If you can ask your neighbours if any of them would like virgin it may make your street look more appealing to virgin

[paulnose]

The spotter said Virgin only is looking at 50+ properties right now, my street only has 9 so we are well under that. More looking to see if anyone has actually dealt with Virgin in running of extended fibre under unadopted roads and whats involved in the process if Virgin has done it.

Cheers

[jb66]

The spotter said Virgin only is looking at 50+ properties right now, my street only has 9 so we are well under that. More looking to see if anyone has actually dealt with Virgin in running of extended fibre under unadopted roads and whats involved in the process if Virgin has done it.

Cheers

Its not fibre its just a really thick co-ax cable

[weesteev]

If the roadway is unadopted then we will require wayleave permissions from all residents, there may be further restrictions in place which we would need to check though.

Why no drop an email to cablemystreet@virginmedia.co.uk with your request and contact details and the team can look into it for you.

Cheers

[paulnose]

Thanks Weesteev, I noticed that Virgin seems very keen to run cabling underground, but now realizing that the network is HFC and they are going to be running coax which is a lot more resilient, do you think they would do a one time overhead install from existing telegraph pole?

I saw that they are piloting this model in some areas, I guess I'll just have to give them a call and bug them into submission. Since this would be the easiest option with the pole right by VM's box and a straight unobstructed run to the house, especially since my neighbors might object to digging up a pavement that was surfaced only about 5 years ago.

I'm from the US and have lived with fully overhead cable system for 30 years and have only lost signal about 3 times, once for Hurricane Gloria which ravaged the area, once for the the big Northeast blizzard, and another time when an extremely large tree came down at the top of my street. And I lived in a far more wooded area then over here.

Thanks all for the help :)

[jrhnewark]

From a purely geeky point of view, this is really interesting. The thing with overhead is that they're probably BT-owned telegraph poles. VM would have to gain permission from BT, who probably wouldn't grant it. It's a very, very different model to what you have in the US (which is worse in many, many ways, but better in the environment you're in!).

My advice would be not to trust what the spotter says. Bug them directly. If you can get any neighbours interested, VM will be more interested in it.

Having said that, they never got back to me when I moved into the cul-de-sac where I currently live and I'm glad for it. Sky is a better TV offering and O2 Broadband is excellent on the Pro package.

Just out of interest, why do you want to move onto VM so much?

[weesteev]

We cannot currently use aerial deployment for our cable infrastructure, it all has to be underground at the moment. The model that is being piloted is using poles owned by electric companies, not BT and its not for access network that feeds homes. All a bit complicated really.

The spotter is a bit out of his/her depth by the looks of it. If its over 10m then they wont be able to get the work done and it would be referred to the New Build team, especially as there is multiple properties that will require work in the public footpath to service. The spotter is also not corret about the number of houses, we look at any amount of homes, its the total cost that matters not the number of homes.

My advice is to contact the cablemystreet team who will be able to communicate with you directly.

Hope this helps

[paulnose]

I've sent an email out to the cablemystreet this morning, so we'll see what they say, I did state in it I was willing to incur the extra cost since my neighbors probably aren't looking to switch anything (rather non-techie street)

As for why I want to switch to VM.... without ranting:

-Have had numerous problems with responsiveness of the $kyHD box, now out of warranty. (Also many issues with recordings, support is very unhelpful)
-The $ky Anytime only downloads premium channel content which I don't subscribe to, which means that it's completely useless. I much prefer the OnDemand services that VM can provide.
-I don't care to begin an arguement on ADSL vs. Cable, but if I have to be on this ADSL line for another year I'm going to go crazy!!!
-I'd very much prefer to use my own router instead of piggybacking onto the PoS router required by $ky.

Oh yeah, and VM offers all the programs I enjoy in HD (Living Channel being the difference) I think the 46 channels boast by the sat co. is a bit of crap since 24 of those are premium sports/movie channels that require more extra $$$ on top of the already 10quid extra for HD.

-Paul

[Digital Fanatic]

I've sent an email out to the cablemystreet this morning, so we'll see what they say, I did state in it I was willing to incur the extra cost since my neighbors probably aren't looking to switch anything (rather non-techie street)

As for why I want to switch to VM.... without ranting:

-Have had numerous problems with responsiveness of the $kyHD box, now out of warranty. (Also many issues with recordings, support is very unhelpful)
-The $ky Anytime only downloads premium channel content which I don't subscribe to, which means that it's completely useless. I much prefer the OnDemand services that VM can provide.
-I don't care to begin an arguement on ADSL vs. Cable, but if I have to be on this ADSL line for another year I'm going to go crazy!!!
-I'd very much prefer to use my own router instead of piggybacking onto the PoS router required by $ky.

Oh yeah, and VM offers all the programs I enjoy in HD (Living Channel being the difference) I think the 46 channels boast by the sat co. is a bit of crap since 24 of those are premium sports/movie channels that require more extra $$$ on top of the already 10quid extra for HD.

-Paul

Hope you get it sorted, Paul. The New Build Team are very good and if it's possible, then they will get it sorted. Good luck! :)

[weesteev]

Thanks DF, didnt realise we had a fanclub!!

Paul, if you live anywhere north of Cheshire then I will see your request when it comes through, otherwise best of luck and keep us posted when you hear back!

:)

[jrhnewark]

The people south of Cheshire never actually got back to me... :erm:

[paulnose]

Luckily I'm North of Cheshire, just outside of Leeds :)

[paulnose]

Finally heard back yesterday from Virgin:

Thank you for your email regarding provision of cable services.

I will ask #### ########, the local New Build Officer for the area to examine this in detail and look at whether we can take this further.
This may take 7 to 8 weeks to achieve so please bear with us. As soon as we have some definite information, we will of course let you know.

#### - please investigate and report back.

So guess it's just sit back and wait time.

I also talked to one of my neighbors and they are interested in fiber (well HFC) as well, but the general mood on the street is that no one's going to be digging up the road. so it'd be nice if they could do alternate routes.

Thanks all for the help. Will update when I hear next.

-Paul

[Peter_]

Finally heard back yesterday from Virgin:



So guess it's just sit back and wait time.

I also talked to one of my neighbors and they are interested in fiber (well HFC) as well, but the general mood on the street is that no one's going to be digging up the road. so it'd be nice if they could do alternate routes.

Thanks all for the help. Will update when I hear next.

-Paul
Thank you for editing that response above.;)

[paulnose]

So here is the update.

Spoke with the New Build Manager for my area a few weeks ago in regards to cabling the street. He was extremely helpful and setup to have a quote put together for costing of cabling.

I received an email last week with the verdict:

Hi Paul,

After receiving costs from the planning department with the standard installation process this would require full permission from all 9 residents and a contribution of £4,700.00 on top of our money to extend the network.

Regards,

Although it is good to hear that Virgin will work to extend their network, sadly it does require that they would have to cable the whole street. I can't justify (or afford) footing a bill to cable my entire street. Guess I'll just have to wait for someone to have a 'need' to dig up the road and then I can approach the neighbors about installing cable.

Cheers all,

-Paul

[weesteev]

Sorry to hear its not great news Paul, keep us posted if things change!

Best Regards

[wyabcp]

Hi ... just got a 30 meter cable installed... lots of hassle but worth it in the end... will update my original post with the details...