new install: what are they doing?
 

We have a new install scheduled for Wednesday (for the in-laws) and although the house has an existing cable box on the (house) wall:

Attachment 25659

VM have sent someone to drill through the garden wall and put a coil of new cable through:

Attachment 25660

and fixed this new cover on the pavement side of the garden wall:

Attachment 25661

Anyone know what they are doing here? If there is a cable already in place, why on earth drill through the wall? Surely they should test the existing cable first?

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Hi
I'm sure other people will be able to give you a more difinitive answer. My guess is that the cable has been remotely tested and shown to be not upto spec.

The cover is probably part of their health and safety routine.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

There is no VM kit in the house, just an unconnected cable .. previous owner was on BT. Wouldn't you just test existing cable and if ok, use it?

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

I'm guessing that the cable box you're looking at is ancient (From the analogue days, maybe?) and simply not able to handle the current services. May as well be an entirely different cable, so a new one needs to be installed.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Does Depends,

VM have in the past used new cable at my old house even though several people had service when they lived there. The same argument I guess could also be said for superhubs etc. They are replaced like water when they could be left in situ and reused.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Except that the SuperHubs have default wireless details, which most people don't change. Leaving them in place would leave a potential security hole in customer's networks.

SuperHub 2's are required to be returned when services are disconnected, and I'm pretty sure that there would be a refurbishment process for those that are returned - same as there is for TiVo boxes.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Would it though? based on the assumption only the people who have physical access to the hub would know these details?

That makes sense but I just don't think it's necessary. We all want VM to save money somewhere so they stop putting the bills up as many times a year as they can get away with.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

You're underestimating the lengths that Virgin goes to in order to save money. There's a viable reason for upgrading people to superhubs in terms of getting them on DOCSIS3, which improves the network as a whole. There are viable reasons for replacing Superhubs in the event of a fault and they don't just throw away the old ones, they refurb them. Or at least until the device hits EOL.

It's actually more costly to leave old equipment in place like what you're suggesting. The old Ambit 300 modems that some people still love actually cost Virgin a fortune as they have to pay extra for out of band updates to its firmware.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Exactly - if they were left in place as part of a blanket policy, anyone who had lived in the house when VM had services there would know the details.

As I said, I'd expect the SH2 are refurbished, so VM aren't really losing money by getting re-usable kit back at disconnection, and issuing new kit for each new install.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

the passwords are pretty hard to remember without writing down but i see your point

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

I still wish they made a firmware update for 8 ds channels. May my vmng300 rest in peace :angel:

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

That's a very good point. I know of plenty of "casual users" (i.e. not hackers, technophiles, or deliberate intruders) who could well be tempted to driving past an old address if they knew they could still use free internet there - many people would even do so by accident by not deleting their old wireless details from the saved list on their laptops/iPhones/etc.

---------- Post added at 11:18 ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 ----------

Just a case of reflashing it and printing a new password sticker tbh. Automated processes will almost certainly be in place for that. That said historically VM hasn't had a particularly strong track record of re-using equipment, plus looking at the SH2-AC/upcoming SH3, a lot of returned SH2s will be becoming redundant soon enough as well.

At the end of the day though, in volume, these devices cost a few dozen pounds at most, which is far less than the introductory discounts VM offer on most of their tariffs anyway so a negligible cost.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Is the SH2 not like the sH1, where they can literally just swap out the wireless chip for a different one? Seems like a cheaper way of upgrading the SH2 to a SH2AC rather than scrapping it and sending out a completely new one. Though I suppose Virgin is under no obligation to do that either, Wireless-N is still more than enough for 152Mbit.

Though you're right about the upcoming SH3.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

it boils down to old "forgotten" if you like accounts, after x amount of years the account number resorts back to ending with 01, which means its a new install i.e. never served before.

you could say its a safety net, so after say 8 years of no use someone orders virgin, then a new cable is installed as the old one "may" have been removed,

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

They didnt put new wires in for me, even though my GREY box outside says 'CableTel' lol

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

it does depend on the engineer, i'm part of a two man crew and if the current cable works with no issues then i will use that as its fully functional and not use the new one.

however if a one man crew turns up then they use the old / current cable as they dont deal with laying the new ones

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

I honestly don't know, I've never ripped apart a SH2 or SH2AC, I left VM back when the SH1 was still new.

I've said before though, yes 450Mbps N can easily deliver 152Mbps under good conditions, but it has a hard time delivering them reliably over longer distances (think further away rooms, etc.), AC has a big advantage there.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Two man install team turned up today (working for McNicolas). They said that they replace the cable as a matter of course as the original cable is often not up to scratch for the new VM services. Did a great job btw ..

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

Result then.

Re: new install: what are they doing?
 

My cable must be around 20 years old, still going strong