Moving broadband wall connection box

[PhilS]

Similar to another discussion thread I have built an extension and wish to move the location of my PC. I my case I need to shorten the cable that runs round the house and re-route it to another room nearer to the external box which feeds the TV, Phone and PC. Is it possible to open the internal wall box, disconnect the cable, fit the box to new location, re-route the cable externally, cut to length and reconnect without any issues with my broadband connection? As previously mentioned Telewest want £75 to complete a task which seems a lot for a quite straight forward task to me. The other option is to change my service provider and have a new connection fitted for free!
Any advice would be welcome.

[MovedGoalPosts]

to Cable Forum

It would be wrong of us to say that you can move the cable yourself. Ultimately all of those cables up to the connection to the Telewest STB, modem, or the master phone point socket is their kit. If you do alter it., but something goes wrong. your going to pay to get it sorted out. Worse if you manage to get it wrong in such a way that you introduce problems back into the cable network, Telesest are going to be very unhappy.

With the warnings aside, I suspect this all depends on how competent you feel at DIY.

Ultimately if you are careful, given that you already have all the components and are shortening the cable, there is no reason why you cannot relocate it. Just make sure that all the new joints you make are neat and tight, and there is no stray wire fibres that could create any shorts. I relocated my ntl cable to the STB in a similar way a few years ago and never had any real issues.

[PhilS]

Thanks for your views on moving the box NTHW. One thought, if the cable is disconnected then cut and reconnected will it have any effect on the signal comming down the line? Any views?

[MovedGoalPosts]

Most unlikely that cutting and reconnecting the cable would have any effect. Just be quick about making the cut itself so you don't create a short that lasts for any length of time. I cannot see how a reduced length of cable would have any noticeable effect on the signal, if anything slightly shorter cable would reduce resistance thus enhancing it.

[PhilS]

Just to update on how I got on, box has been successfully moved and cable shorten. Everything is working fine.

Telewest are crafty though as the screws they use for the wall box cover are a special raised star shaped design. If you are lucky you can undo them with long nose pliers, otherwise as in my case, you will have to prise the box off the wall and pull the wall plugs out. You can then reach to unscrew the cable connector from the back and then cut the cable and relocate. I used a standard F plug for satelite cable for reconnecting the wire and fitting to the wall box (availble at most DIY stores for about £1.50 for two). When I had confirmed all was working I stuck the box to the wall with some gripfix and it was job done. Bit cheaper the paying £75 to Telewest!