10 Meg Installation Concerns

[busterdan]

Its too late to call Customer Services now... but for over a week I have been booked in to have 10meg installed.

I already have 2mb running to a Samsung STB, and the cabling to my home was originally done by Bell CableMedia who then became Cable and Wireless before NTL.

I have been told that I will get a new cable modem but because of this a second cable will be run into my home.

At the time I didn't think anymore about this.... the question is -

Will this second cable probably be run from the cable point in the pavement about 5 metres from my home.

or

Will the second cable be run from the large grey NTL box that was originally installed on my house - from this currently runs two coaxial cables - both go to internal connection boxes for STB (one of these is in the bedroom and is no longer used and could be removed).

If... they need to run a cable from the pavement then thats a problem... because of the paving that we have at the front of the home.... if it's going to be run from the grey box then that should be OK.

ON the inside...one of my existing connection boxes has two coaxial connections... is it likely they will use this or two separate boxes to then run cables to the STB and SACM.

Anyway, I'd appreciate some info on this.... as I might need to contact them first thing in the morning to put the installation on hold :(

[Chris W]

I doubt that you will need a new cable from the house- it is more likely that the existing cable inside the house will just be split in the most convenient place to get a cable to near your pc.

[busterdan]

Thanks for replying Chris... the person in sales did say quite clearly we will need to run a second cable into the home....

I just didn't think to ask where from :td:

I dunno whats in the "grey" box but clearly it splits telephone, and at least two coaxial cables as that is how it is at the moment. Ideally want them to drill through the wall in my home about two metres away from the grey box as this would be the closest to where I now have my STB, Router and laptop..... at the moment I have the old coaxial cable running about 7 metres underneath the carpet/skirting board....so it would be much better and easier for the installer to drill straight through and put in new cables.

[SLM]

The easiest way to swap over from a stb to a sacm is split the coax cable that comes from the outside to the tv, just behind the tv then all that the installer needs to do is remove the cat5 from the back of the stb and put the new coax and cat5 into the sacm. This will a) save you from having cables all over and b) the installer time.

[busterdan]

The easiest way to swap over from a stb to a sacm is split the coax cable that comes from the outside to the tv, just behind the tv then all that the installer needs to do is remove the cat5 from the back of the stb and put the new coax and cat5 into the sacm. This will a) save you from having cables all over and b) the installer time.

Yup that certainly sounds like the easiest option... I like the idea of recabling though... just so that it will tidy up things and mean I haven't got so mush cable routing around inside my house.

I also though there might be some issue with run/splitting a single cable that for example might affect broadband speed?

If the installer decides to cplit it though thats fine with me as long as it doesn't affect performance.

CHeers

[JCF]

The 'grey' box is known as an Omni, it's (obviously) nothing much more than a junction box which serves to move from external to internal cabling, with an isolator in between. SLM is quite right, all you need to do is to pipe into an existing coax cable for the modem feed. However, if you have CAT5 already run for your current connection then all this can be done fairly discreetly behind your STB and simply connect the ethernet lead into the modem rather than the STB.
Hope this makes sense.

[busterdan]

Yes thats definately going to be the easy option... the cabling as it stands is a bit messy but it works - so splitter sounds good to me...

And I now know what a Omni is :D

[CF9009]

There does seem to be some confusion around this. I have an engineer coming soon to install the 10Mb cable modem (I already have a Samsung stb).

I was initially told by NTL support that the cable is split inside the house at the existing outlet. Another call to customer services then said that a new cable is run in from outside.

I want to have the latter so that the cable modem can be in a different room to the stb. I am now concerned that the engineer will arrive and be unwilling to do the additional outlet box.

Has anyone had this done? What is the procedure? Do the engineers arrive with the necessary equipment to install an additional wall outlet elsewhere fo the cable modem or do they only co-locate it with the existing stb. Are they willing to install the cable modem elsewhere to the stb?

The vagueness of all of this has me somewhat concerned.

[busterdan]

Hi all... i've been updated... though haven't had any chance really to test anything as yet.:tu:

The engineer arrived at 10:15 this morning (he was supposed to come between 12 and 6)... luckily some one was there but it was a little inconvenient for me to get home... still I managed it..

He was OK.... well half asleep but anyway... I asked him about the cabling and he said that he would split the cable (my router is next to my TV and this feeds into a laptop docking station as wel as my Xbox). Clearer he didn't want to start drilling new holes in my walls and the splitting method seems the easiest. He assuered me that splitting the cable had no detrimental effect on performance of the modem or boradband speed.

He gave me a NTL CD (which I didn't particularly want to us but it seems like you have too). he had the modem connected and activated within a few minutes... it is the NTL 250 model SACM. I installed the CD software and followed the steps and then connected the supplied blue ethernet cable directly to the SACM.

The software asks for Surname and the Pin number that I had been sent separately... after a few minutes the registration was acknowledged. One silly thing is that I was prompted for a email address.... I already have one for my current 2mb package as well as web space... I will not let you add this address again...and you cannot cancel either so I have had to add a second email address (also looks like I have new webspace now too... be handy if I can have the old and the new webspace!!) :)

Checking with ipconfig eventually a new IP address was allocated and I was on the internet, the CD software also confirmed that I was fully registered. The CD then tries to install loads of other stuff (such as anti-virus software) which I don't need though I couldn't cancel Broadband Medic... I don't think I need this so will probably remove it. In the past I have added machines/PC's by logging onto start.ntl and adding my Account PID and password - it looks like NTL have replaced this with the CD and PIN number... unless there is still an address you connect to and add this information manually.

I haven't run any speed tests yet or connected to my router (I'm not sure whether I will need to clone my laptops MAC address or the Cable Modem one). I briefly had time to download a file... I tried Winamp - it looked to download at around 760kbps - I haven't tried upload yet.

[CF9009]

Thanks for the information.

A couple of questions:

Do your previous E-Mail addresses (the main plus additional E-Mail addresses)still work as I would guess that most users will wish to resort to these and not use the new address?

Also, would the engineer would have been willing to drill the wall and put the cable modem elsewhere?

I believe there is a web link to register cable modems which does not necessitate having to use the installation CD and related material.

[busterdan]

Thanks for the information.

A couple of questions:

Do your previous E-Mail addresses (the main plus additional E-Mail addresses)still work as I would guess that most users will wish to resort to these and not use the new address?

Also, would the engineer would have been willing to drill the wall and put the cable modem elsewhere?

I believe there is a web link to register cable modems which does not necessitate having to use the installation CD and related material.

Yes the old address still seems to work... though I never use NTL mail anyway.... I don't know if the new account works.

My old webspace is still available too... haven't tested the new one.... be great if NTL have inadvertantly given existing customers registering with the CD double the amount of webspace :)

I never bothered pushing the engineer on rerouting the cabling.... he just seemed disinterested really... he didn't actually No though.

Yes I have seen the link on one of the other threads now... Hopeully I can cleanly remove their own software if it isn't needed.

Still not connected to my router but downloaded a 220mb HD Video clip in under 4 minutes... and running a test on here http://specials.zdnet.co.uk/misc/band-test/speedtest500.html

I get varying results from 8000kbps to 11000kbps

Here are some other results with down and upload results
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedchart.asp?id=f2ab3e88108b59b5058f2ab3e88
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedchart.asp?id=bf7e2918108b59d6dddbf7e2918
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedchart.asp?id=99da8982108b59e50e999da8982
http://www.adslguide.org.uk/tools/speedchart.asp?id=a77ef689108b59fddc5a77ef689

[UKFSR]

I have just gone from the stb to a SACm. He gave me the choice of new wiring up into the bedroom from the box outside or from the back of the stb. I chose the new wire as I am getting rid of the TV package to make way for Sky+.

Only drawback was getting a seperate pin to get it working. It also meant signing up again which means I have double web space and double email address facilities.

Very Strange, but good.

Just as a side note, the guy i spoke to in Customer Services was brilliant, he sorted all the connection, Pin and billing side all in one go.

[CF9009]

Cable modem now installed and worked first time. Registration was easy. Also, no problems having the modem in a different location to the existing set top box.

My cable modem is giving consistenty higher speeds than the Samsung set top box in built modem. After the speed upgrade in my area my ex 3Mb connection (upgraded to 10Mb) dropped to about 1.5Mb on average with the stb. After the cable modem went in it now varies between 3.5Mb and 10Mb, with about 7Mb being the typical measured rate.

Of course, the speed may have increased with the stb in any case, as there was recently engineering work going on in my area. Even so, 5Mb was the limit of the Samsung stb.

Certainly a large improvement over past NTL hardware upgrade experiences...