Two totally separate phone sockets ? [Archive]

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LyntonT

06-09-2008, 11:59

Hi All,
Thanks for reading.
I'm about to become a Virgin customer with TV, Internet and Phone.
The fitting of the TV and Internet systems doesn't bother me but the phone is causing some concern so I thought I'd ask your opinion.
Currently I am with BT for phone and have a master socket in the hall, then out the back of that is a cable that goes through a few cupboard spaces eventually ending up in my room upstairs giving me a second socket.

VM obviously won't use the existing BT socket for the point downstairs so I'll be left with a dead BT socket both upstairs and downstairs.
It would be possible to connect the cable that comes from upstairs phone point to the new VM phone point downstairs but for various reasons I don't see how this could be done in a tidy manner.
If they put the VM phone point near the existing BT point its impossible to get the feed cable to it tidily.

After all that my question is..................

Is it technically possible to have four wires from the main VM box that is on my house wall outside where:-

Wire 1 = Phone point downstairs.
Wire 2 = TV
Wire 3 = Internet
Wire 4 = Phone point upstairs

wire 4 could then go up the outside wall, into the loft space then down to where I want the point to be ?

Hopefully the above makes sort of sense ??!!

Regards

Lynton

dave_dph

06-09-2008, 13:00

After all that my question is..................

Is it technically possible to have four wires from the main VM box that is on my house wall outside where:-

Wire 1 = Phone point downstairs.
Wire 2 = TV
Wire 3 = Internet
Wire 4 = Phone point upstairs

wire 4 could then go up the outside wall, into the loft space then down to where I want the point to be ?

Hopefully the above makes sort of sense ??!!

Regards

Lynton

Yes a friend of mine had a similar installation. She asked for the wiring to her extension socket to be run outside, which they did with the usual black cable.

Make sure that you have requested the extension to be wired externally on the work order - they may charge for this.

Back in the days of Birnmingham Cable all telephone installs included one extension as standard, I believe that is no longer the case.

BenMcr

06-09-2008, 13:13

Its Ã‚Â£25 per extra socket at install

If you order them at a later date it is a Ã‚Â£75 call out, but you can usually get 2 done for that price

LyntonT

06-09-2008, 17:24

Thanks Dave_DPH and BenMcr for the replies.
I did mention it to Virgin when I booked the connection date but I'm not totally certain if they fully understood that due to wiring issues I don't want the second socket to be a simple slave off the first.
Oh well, if they want to charge extra for the second socket I'll be a bit annoyed especially after having explained the situation as best I could.
I'll report back here with the outcome when I'm back online via cable :-)

Thanks

Lynton

homealone

06-09-2008, 17:45

dave_dph

06-09-2008, 18:00

If you don't want the second socket as an extension of the first then you may find you will have to pay for the rental of two separate phone lines ???

I think he meant that he didn't want the extension run direct from the main linebox, he wanted the wiring routed outside the property to the extension socket upstairs.

homealone

06-09-2008, 18:11

I think he meant that he didn't want the extension run direct from the main linebox, he wanted the wiring routed outside the property to the extension socket upstairs.

Possibly, but I'm not sure what the options are regarding that kind of installation - i.e. whether it could still be an extension of the 'main' telephone socket (and have the same number) or whether it would be a separate line with its own number.

In the first instance the 'install extra socket' fee would presumably apply, in the second the installation should be free, but the extra line would incur extra monthly rental charges.

My installation used to be of the two separate lines variety - I changed to a 2 handset wireless DECT phone run off the main socket & cancelled the second line ...

Nedkelly

06-09-2008, 18:29

Most installers will look for the master socket and put the Virgin one next to the BT and the transfer the ext to the Virgin socket using the wires already there .The techs have to leave the main BT socket alone and leave the line working in case you decide to go back :)

LyntonT

07-09-2008, 08:50

To clarify what I meant - Is it possible to have two separate phone lines from the main Line-Box on the outside wall of the house each having the same number.
In other words is it possible to split the line at that point rather than having a master/slave combination in the house.
Also we already have a "Cable & Wireless" (Yep its even pre NTL days!) phone point in the lounge so I was rather hoping they'd maybe just chage the face-plate on that and activate the cable rather than drilling more holes just to put the VM socket near the BT one which is in the hall.

Maybe I'm getting all worked up over nothing. I guess its just a case of giving the engineer(s) a tour when they arrive and let them know my concerns so they can work within certain limits to keep me happy :-)

Thanks for all your responses so far

Lynton

chickendippers

07-09-2008, 10:43

I doubt they'll replace the faceplates, seems like a bit of an unnecessary expense just to update the logo. When we had VM installed they just used the existing Telewest branded points, it doesn't make any difference.

Jonnymeg

10-09-2008, 17:06

Why not buy a set of cordless phones then the second one won't need a socket with messy wiring?

LyntonT

15-09-2008, 12:52

OK thanks to everyopne for the responses.
I now have my phone, TV and Internet access with Virgin.
The Engineer was brilliant and managed to work around the second phone point issue.
The TV and phone are fine but to be honest I'm really disappointed with the Internet access.
I have a 10MB link whose speed regularly and random drops down to 2MB for a fraction of a second.
Normally this wouldn't be a problem but internet video chat is a lifeline between me and my parents who live in New Zealand.
The weekend just gone was the first time I tried the chat while with Virgin and to be honest it was crap with audio video dropouts and garbling.
With my previous ISP I was on ADSL but only ever got about 2Mb due to me being a long distance from the exchange but at least it was stable at 2Mb for the 6 years I had it and the video chats were great.
I have spoken to Virgin Tech Support who have apparently identified an issue with signal levels and the SNR to/from my modem.
An Engineer is booked to look at this problem but to be honest it worries me that the whole thing seems to be so critical like that.
I'm really begining to think I have made a bad decision moving ISP's.

So disappointed with something that ought to have been so good from the start.

Lynton

dave_dph

15-09-2008, 17:26

I have spoken to Virgin Tech Support who have apparently identified an issue with signal levels and the SNR to/from my modem.
An Engineer is booked to look at this problem but to be honest it worries me that the whole thing seems to be so critical like that.
I'm really begining to think I have made a bad decision moving ISP's.

So disappointed with something that ought to have been so good from the start.

Lynton

If you set up VM newsgroups and post your signal levels and modem logs into virginmedia.support.broadband.cable, they will be able to confirm what you have been told over the phone. During my six years on cable broadband I have only had one signal issue which they were able to resolve remotely.

The newsgroup support is excellent. When you post a message you need to give them your alias - the part before the @ in your email address, they can locate your account from this info.