Very basic question

Thoie

New build house, there's a single phone socket in the sitting room, on the external wall.

No broadband as yet, but should be getting Virgin in the next week or so. I have a home office upstairs (diagonally opposite where the sitting room phone socket is). I'd like to have the router installed in the office, rather than in the sitting room, and I don't want cables tacked to walls/skirting boards all over the house. I'd like to be able to plug the router into a socket on the wall in the office.

Is it a phone line or network cable that I need to bring to the right place? Is this a job for an electrician, or someone else (and if so, who)?

Edit: Nevermind. Just realised Virgin uses coax so it's all moot.

Static M.e.

Not being smart but why not wireless, I have efibre and it works perfect for gaming \ streaming. You could also consider those Home Network Plugs which also work quite well.

Hope you get sorted either way.

Thoie

Static M.e. wrote: »

Not being smart but why not wireless, I have efibre and it works perfect for gaming \ streaming. You could also consider those Home Network Plugs which also work quite well.

Hope you get sorted either way.

Most devices around the rest of house will be wireless, but for my office I want to be able to plug things directly into the router. I also just don't want the modem/router in the sitting room - it's just one more set of blinking lights, and yet another socket used up.

If I go for a phone as well, a lot of them these days plug straight into the router too. Again, the office is the most likely place I'll be using a phone, so it would be handy to have the base/charging unit for the phone there too.

The powerline adapters are another option, but you'd still end up with the modem in the sitting room.

Johnboy1951

Thoie wrote: »

New build house, there's a single phone socket in the sitting room, on the external wall.

No broadband as yet, but should be getting Virgin in the next week or so. I have a home office upstairs (diagonally opposite where the sitting room phone socket is). I'd like to have the router installed in the office, rather than in the sitting room, and I don't want cables tacked to walls/skirting boards all over the house. I'd like to be able to plug the router into a socket on the wall in the office.

Is it a phone line or network cable that I need to bring to the right place? Is this a job for an electrician, or someone else (and if so, who)?

Edit: Nevermind. Just realised Virgin uses coax so it's all moot.

Bring the connection into the office and sort out the distribution from there?
Would that not work? Maybe using home plugs and Dect phone if required.

Thoie

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Bring the connection into the office and sort out the distribution from there?
Would that not work? Maybe using home plugs and Dect phone if required.

That's what I was originally trying to figure out - who would be the right person to bring the connection properly into the office in the first place, without having visible wires tacked around the place, and whether it would be cat 5 or phone line that would be needed.

Once the modem/router is in the office, the rest of the house can work from wifi. I just don't want someone running a wire from the existing connection point, along the top of the skirting boards, over the front door, and up the side of the stairs, tacked on to the skirting board all along the way.

While the only phone point in the house is in the sitting room, they've installed aerial points in each room, so as Virgin uses coax, it looks like I can have the router in the office without any messing.

Johnboy1951

Thoie wrote: »

That's what I was originally trying to figure out - who would be the right person to bring the connection properly into the office in the first place, without having visible wires tacked around the place, and whether it would be cat 5 or phone line that would be needed.

Once the modem/router is in the office, the rest of the house can work from wifi. I just don't want someone running a wire from the existing connection point, along the top of the skirting boards, over the front door, and up the side of the stairs, tacked on to the skirting board all along the way.

While the only phone point in the house is in the sitting room, they've installed aerial points in each room, so as Virgin uses coax, it looks like I can have the router in the office without any messing.

As it is a new build, and you are getting Virgin broadband, then simplest seems to be to bring in the broadband connection to the office.

Up to you how you distribute from there.

Alun

How are Virgin getting the feed into the house? You say it's a new build, so if the coax doesn't already enter the house via ducting that was installed when the house was built somehow, I'd be trying to get some idea from them as to how they plan on doing it. Normal way in estates where there's no ducting is to string cables from house to house and install a tap. From the tap they'll then tack cables on the outside of the house and drill a hole where you want the cable to enter. Not something I'd be too keen on with a brand new house TBH.

Thoie

Alun wrote: »

How are Virgin getting the feed into the house? You say it's a new build, so if the coax doesn't already enter the house via ducting that was installed when the house was built somehow, I'd be trying to get some idea from them as to how they plan on doing it. Normal way in estates where there's no ducting is to string cables from house to house and install a tap. From the tap they'll then tack cables on the outside of the house and drill a hole where you want the cable to enter. Not something I'd be too keen on with a brand new house TBH.

That's all sorted - there's ducting outside along the road, and the builders had put a box on the exterior wall (beside the electricity meter) where everything can come through the ducts into that box.

There are aerial sockets in each room, and a mass of coax in the attic, so I'm assuming that each of the aerial sockets in the wall eventually leads back to the exterior box. That could be the rock I flounder on. Knowing builders it's equally likely they randomly scattered coax cable around the attic during some kind of arcane ritual.

To those suggesting I bring the broadband connection to the office, I may not have expressed the original post very well, but that was what I was asking about, and what I'm trying to achieve.

Static M.e.

Hmmm I would have thought that the randomly scattered coax cable in the attic is where all the aerial tv points meet up before they hit they aerial on the roof. if you go up into your attic you should be able to find out easily enough, just look to where all the coax cables meet.

Either way, you could try the following.

1 - Get Virgin to install Virgin Media wall outlet as per normal beside your TV.
2 - They, you, then need to run a cable from the install box to a splinter which protects your connections from surges and allows you to split the TV \ Broadband connections.
3 - As per normal connection a cable from the splitter to the TV (So TV is now working).
4 - (Tricky bit) Connect the second cable from the splitter back into the aerial socket beside the TV.
5 - Go into attic and trace the aerial cable from the Sitting room back up. Do the same from your office and then use a coax cable coupler to join the cables (Definitely check this our first in the attic as you may need an electrician).
6 - If above works, they connect the Virgin router to the aerial connection in your office and it should just route the signal from the sitting room to your office..

Personally if I thought I was going to have a permanent office in that room then I would get an electrician to remove the aerial sockets in each room and replace them with Cat 6 connections. They wire them all back to a switch\router in the office (or the attic) and manage all my connections from there. As it is a new build and all of the wires are already running back to the attic, it shouldn't be too difficult (costly) to replace them. I cannot see a reason why you will ever need an aerial connection in any room ever again.

Thoie

Static M.e. wrote: »

Hmmm I would have thought that the randomly scattered coax cable in the attic is where all the aerial tv points meet up before they hit they aerial on the roof. if you go up into your attic you should be able to find out easily enough, just look to where all the coax cables meet.

Either way, you could try the following.

1 - Get Virgin to install Virgin Media wall outlet as per normal beside your TV.
2 - They, you, then need to run a cable from the install box to a splinter which protects your connections from surges and allows you to split the TV \ Broadband connections.
3 - As per normal connection a cable from the splitter to the TV (So TV is now working).
4 - (Tricky bit) Connect the second cable from the splitter back into the aerial socket beside the TV.
5 - Go into attic and trace the aerial cable from the Sitting room back up. Do the same from your office and then use a coax cable coupler to join the cables (Definitely check this our first in the attic as you may need an electrician).
6 - If above works, they connect the Virgin router to the aerial connection in your office and it should just route the signal from the sitting room to your office..

Personally if I thought I was going to have a permanent office in that room then I would get an electrician to remove the aerial sockets in each room and replace them with Cat 6 connections. They wire them all back to a switch\router in the office (or the attic) and manage all my connections from there. As it is a new build and all of the wires are already running back to the attic, it shouldn't be too difficult (costly) to replace them. I cannot see a reason why you will ever need an aerial connection in any room ever again.

I have Sky for TV, so Virgin will just be for the broadband (long story, can't get anyone else). I have no idea why the builders put in aerials instead of network points in each room, but then again, there are a number of "interesting" features

The "Virgin media wall outlet" is the missing link I didn't know about - thanks! Basically, if that gets installed in the office, then I don't need to do anything else. Every device that is not in the office can live with wifi, so no other cabling required.