Engineer install question (Similar to BT?)

pooper · 24-10-2006, 09:34

I'm getting 10mb installed next Tuesday, and im just wondering what exactly the engineer will do when he visits..... in the way of tests?

When i got BT Broadband installed, i remember the engineer getting a crappy laptop out, to test the connection (did the 'woosh' tests) and i remember him saying that our line could 'just about' handle the connection!

Anyway, if the ntl engineer comes out, and discovers that the line coming into the house is poo (we've got a really old Cable & wireless line downstairs), will he try to tweak it....... or will it be a case of: "sorry, your line is a bag of poo, so you'll only get 6mb maximum..." ?

Do engineers ever re-install the cabling outside the house? Also, how common is it to have a poor quality line?! After having such a crappy BT line, im just paranoid now!

Thanks!

Stuart · 24-10-2006, 10:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooper

I'm getting 10mb installed next Tuesday, and im just wondering what exactly the engineer will do when he visits..... in the way of tests?

When i got BT Broadband installed, i remember the engineer getting a crappy laptop out, to test the connection (did the 'woosh' tests) and i remember him saying that our line could 'just about' handle the connection!

It's a long time since I had broadband installed, but NTL used a custom designed line tester (handheld unit, looks like a very large PDA)

Quote:

Anyway, if the ntl engineer comes out, and discovers that the line coming into the house is poo (we've got a really old Cable & wireless line downstairs), will he try to tweak it....... or will it be a case of: "sorry, your line is a bag of poo, so you'll only get 6mb maximum..." ?

Cable isn't as dependent on line distance as ADSL. NTL do try and give everyone the advertised speeds (and in my experience, manage it with the proxies switched off). Unlike BT, they don't advertise an 8 meg service and then offer 6.5 meg maximum (note: Line distance limitations don't apply in my case, I live at most 300 metres from the exchange).

Quote:

Do engineers ever re-install the cabling outside the house? Also, how common is it to have a poor quality line?! After having such a crappy BT line, im just paranoid now!

Thanks!

The installer SHOULD do whatever maintenance is needed for the service to work. However, they may not. Sometimes there are physical reasons why they can't do it, and NTL should arrange another visit for that maintenance. They may do this if new cable needs to be installed (IIRC, this is called a repull, and may require a specialised team). They may also do this you ask them to route the cable high up (near or in the roof of a house for example).

One thing to remember: Both ADSL and Cable can suffer if you have bad cable or a bad line. A lot of BT's infrastructure (talking about the last mile here, they are gradually replacing the whole network apart from this) is old. The phone line to my house (for example) is over 30 years old. I suspect a lot of people's lines are older than this. Cable does (theoretically at least) have the advantage that nearly all of it is less than 20 years old. One thing to watch out for though: A lot of the Cable Companies have used cheap installers, who have cut corners every way they can (cheap cable etc).

As for whether you'll get the full ten meg or not, I don't know, I'm on a set top box, so don't get it anyway (Set Top Boxes are limited to 5 meg), but I don't tend to get that unless the proxies are turned off. Other people have had no trouble at all.

24-10-2006, 10:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooper

I'm getting 10mb installed next Tuesday, and im just wondering what exactly the engineer will do when he visits..... in the way of tests?

When i got BT Broadband installed, i remember the engineer getting a crappy laptop out, to test the connection (did the 'woosh' tests) and i remember him saying that our line could 'just about' handle the connection!

Anyway, if the ntl engineer comes out, and discovers that the line coming into the house is poo (we've got a really old Cable & wireless line downstairs), will he try to tweak it....... or will it be a case of: "sorry, your line is a bag of poo, so you'll only get 6mb maximum..." ?

Do engineers ever re-install the cabling outside the house? Also, how common is it to have a poor quality line?! After having such a crappy BT line, im just paranoid now!

Thanks!

Put quite simply, if you are after bang on 10mb and for whatever reason they cannot achieve that then you have no obligation to take the service, that is the way I would look at it! in other words they cannot give you what you have asked for!

pooper · 24-10-2006, 11:25

Cool, that pretty much confims what i've been thinking

Can't wait to get it installed now

Do you think the engineer will use the old C&W cabling we have in the house, or is that not even suitable for ntl broadband? (was previously only used for analogue (?) TV, either way, it looks pretty ancient to me

Stuart · 24-10-2006, 11:28

Unless there is some technical problem preventing them, they will use it.

pooper · 24-10-2006, 11:34

Ah right ok. So its just standard coax cable?

25-10-2006, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooper

Ah right ok. So its just standard coax cable?

Standard 75ohm coax

pooper · 25-10-2006, 10:12

Cool

Well i got a phonecall yesterday, was a bit strange, it was a woman calling from what sounded like a private mobile number....... was checking my details... how long i'd been at my address. bank details etc.... then called me back to confirm the install date..... then told me if i recommended any friends to ntl, i'd get Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£50 taken off my next bill........! Weird..!

Anyway, i'm hoping it all goes smoothly on Tuesday.... after all the crap ive had with BT, i'm pretty pessimistic about it all now lol

Fingers crossed

RS100 · 25-10-2006, 11:44

ntl install standard cheap rg6 which has copper and aluminium core and aluminium braid and foil but if you have signal problems they will install rg11 pure copper core and copper braid from the street cab to the omni box out side on your wall then from the omni box to the isolator block inside the will install rg6,

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooper

Ah right ok. So its just standard coax cable?

Rik · 25-10-2006, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by pooper

Cool

Well i got a phonecall yesterday, was a bit strange, it was a woman calling from what sounded like a private mobile number....... was checking my details... how long i'd been at my address. bank details etc.... then called me back to confirm the install date..... then told me if i recommended any friends to ntl, i'd get Ãƒâ€šÃ‚Â£50 taken off my next bill........! Weird..!

Did you give her your bank details?

Sounds a bit fishy.

pooper · 25-10-2006, 22:55

Yeah i did :/

Was really strange... and i guess that was a stupid thing for me to do... but... hmmm weird.... did no one else get this when they signed up for broadband online? lol

JontyG · 27-10-2006, 20:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by RS100

ntl install standard cheap rg6 which has copper and aluminium core and aluminium braid and foil but if you have signal problems they will install rg11 pure copper core and copper braid from the street cab to the omni box out side on your wall then from the omni box to the isolator block inside the will install rg6,

The RG6 cable that ntl install is far from cheap. It is a quality double screened cable.
The primary difference between RG6 and RG11 is the pysical dimensions of the cable. RG6 is 6mm ,RG11 is 11mm diameter. The "fatter" cable properties are such that the RG11 cable suffers from smaller signal loss over distance.
The corret cabling for any installation depends on a number of factors such as:
Available output signal from amp (in green box)
Cable length to property
Cable length from omni (box on your house) to STB/ Modem
Number of passives / splitters in use
Number of STB's & Modems serviced

In a large number of cases RG6 is the correct cable to use, and fitting RG11 would be the WRONG option