Moving CM to another room [Archive]

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RobK

08-05-2007, 12:52

Doofy

08-05-2007, 13:03

i have exactly the same problem i rang VM to book an enginner was told couldnt be done on there systems and has to be done manually. Still waiting 2 weeks and cannot get it done. PS I was told that the 25 quid charge was soon going to be upped to 75 quid so maybe there holding out for the increase....

Steve-o||[^]

08-05-2007, 13:33

I need to move my CM to another room and was wondering if I can do this myself, or am I supposed to get a VM engineer in?

The cable currently comes down from the loft into a bedroom and goes straight into the CM. The bedroom I want it to be in has a TV aerial point in which is wired up to the loft but is not connected to anything. Can I just connect the CM cable to the aerial point?

Rob

when you say aerial point, do you mean one that ntl/telewest/vm/or even cable tel put in?

I re-wired my house (is that allowed?) because the original installation was a bit poor - basically a bee line to the main room to the TV. then BB was split off that and then TV in two other rooms...got a bit messy. While i was waiting for some F-socket terminals to arrive i tried to connect my modem to the original TV terminal (installed many, many years ago when it was Cable Tel) and it didn`t work - i suspect it has a filter of some sort built in?

The bedroom I want it to be in has a TV aerial point in which is wired up to the loft but is not connected to anything.
erm...i`ll assume it`s got a connector on the other end? either replace the new one with the old one whereever it`s screwed onto (if you`re not wanting to use the currect bedrooms cable for anything) or get a splitter and have both.

Halcyon

08-05-2007, 13:36

Your best bet would be to leave the modem where it is and just get a longer ethernet cable.
you can use upto 100 metres of ethernet without problems.
The cables don't cost much.
_________________

Edit: You should be able to connect the cable modem to the other point in the bedroom. It doesnt matter which place you connect it to, as long as it is the same sort of point as where it is currently plugged in at the moment.

RobK

08-05-2007, 14:07

;34297559']when you say aerial point, do you mean one that ntl/telewest/vm/or even cable tel put in?

They were put in by the house builders (house is only 5 years old). Every room has an aerial point which has coax cable going up into the loft, where it is unterminated and just left in a coil.

I suspect it's not possible to use them for the CM, otherwise why didn't the NTL engineer use the one in the current room instead of dropping a new cable? I think I will end up pulling the current cable back into the loft, then drilling a new hole in the new bedroom ceiling and dropping it through there. Not the tidiest solution though!

helmutcheese

08-05-2007, 14:18

Ideally you should use the proper shielded (tinfoil coax) cable for Cable and Sat, you can easily join it with a male to male adapter and buy a length of addition cable and a screw on a F Type female connection for each end of new cable, or you could use the cat5 cable as mentioned above or go wireless if too much hastle to run cables.

BTW, You may get away with the built in coax in your walls, it may be high quality, it will work but you need to check modem signals after you install it.

RobK

08-05-2007, 15:03

Thanks folks. I guess it won't hurt to give it a try (hopefully)!

Druchii

08-05-2007, 16:37

And please use crimp on F connectors, as the VM install techs do, it's there to stop extra interference etc.

helmutcheese

08-05-2007, 16:41

No its not, its there for quickness as the engineers have strippers that cut it all to length inc the outer and inner cables then crimp on with another tool, the average home user is not going to have outlay of buying 2 tools and crimps for 1 or 2 jobs, his modem signal levels will soon let him know if its all ok, the cable is screwed on elsewhere anyhow so makes no difference.

Druchii

08-05-2007, 16:52

I'm hoping someone backs me up on that one...

Ever tried connecting screw-on connectors? And find they don't fit correctly, or are too lose, or you cut the cable too short? Interference.

Besides, this job should really be done by a VM install tech, as it's their equipment and only they should modify it.

helmutcheese

08-05-2007, 16:54

Anything can be done wrong, thats why you do it properly and I never said crimps were not the ideal way to do it, just not practical to buy all parts for 1or 2 jobs, and VM will charge him a wad of cash to do it.

Druchii

08-05-2007, 16:56

I actually have a spare 1M cable they made up for me when i asked for it, so maybe he could collar a Tech in the street if he sees one and query it?

Doofy

08-05-2007, 17:04

I used the screw on connectors on mine when i wanted to move it worked fine absolutely no problems ever, VM engineer sorted me out properly when they came on another matter.

The Jackal

08-05-2007, 17:15

You can extend it yourself but bear in mind that doing so could effect signal to noise ratios. Just make sure you keep that nasty looking cable point box so that any problems within your house can easily be fixed by relaying new cable which you can easily pick up from maplin (or online as it is a lot cheaper).

Personally I don't have any cable or phone points in my house. Cables and splitters are all under the floorboards so if anything goes wrong I'll be screwed :erm:

RobK

30-05-2007, 11:48

Well I did this at the weekend. I used a twist on F connector (sorry!) and connected the two cables in the loft, then plugged an aerial to F socket adapter into the TV point in the bedroom.

The result is that it works fine, but with slightly reduced power levels as expected. The downstream power level is now -4.5dBmv whereas before it was -3dBmv. The maximum download speed seems to have come down a bit as a result: getting more like 14Mb/s instead of 16. Shame eh?!

Would I gain much by reducing the cable lengths or replacing the TV aerial socket and adapter for a proper F connector faceplate?