Which is the virgin street cabinet?

[TJS]

There is this one about 100 meters from my house

http://i.imgur.com/7M2Ul.jpg

(I blocked the numbers out as they seemed that they could be used in some way to identify location but its a 5 digit number then a forward slash then a 3 digit number)

then this one; at the end of the street about 200 meter away

http://i.imgur.com/yf37Z.jpg

[kwikbreaks]

All the ones I've seen are pointy top green and tend to have a cover nearby with CATV on it but it will probably vary from area to area as different companies did the builds.

[asbo dog]

first one looks as thoe its a vm cab but the second i would say is bt's, dont hold me to that thoe.

as said the biggest give away is the man hole covers having catv

[TJS]

Hmm; this area is EX- NYNEX, Cable & wireless, Telewest + NTL; going by the markings on the phone sockets + cable in box's in the house

What do you mean by a cover with CATV on it?

---------- Post added at 16:11 ---------- Previous post was at 16:08 ----------

first one looks as thoe its a vm cab but the second i would say is bt's, dont hold me to that thoe.

as said the biggest give away is the man hole covers having catv

The first one doesn't have a manhole cover near it at all; but further down the street there is another one thats pretty much identical with the same numbering system on it which has a manhole right infront of it

http://i.imgur.com/cNPY1.png

---------- Post added at 16:13 ---------- Previous post was at 16:11 ----------

http://i.imgur.com/Oj9tU.png *this is the one from the first picture

[The Installer]

The first picture you posted is a VM cab, the second is BT ;)

[kwikbreaks]

If the lighter grey bits on the covers in your first picture have the letters CATV on them then pound to a penny that is a VM street cab. If the other one has the same numbering system then I'd say that is too.

The flat top one looks like a BT cab to me too but as neither train nor cab spotting figures highly in my list of interests I too can't be sure.

My own local council seem to think that re-tarmaccing paths is far too expensive (along with sweeping them) so the route taken by the ducting my own cable runs in up the street to the cab is easily visible.

[*sloman*]

http://i.imgur.com/yf37Z.jpg = BT

http://i.imgur.com/7M2Ul.jpg = looks like all the VM cabs in my area, but mine are green and covered in graffiti

all here: http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/wiring_cabs.htm

[TJS]

Thankyou :D

sorry for the weird question but the geeky side of me couldn't help but want to know where everything connects LOL

---------- Post added at 17:14 ---------- Previous post was at 17:11 ----------

p.s.

any idea why the cabinet closest to my house doesn't have a manhole in-front of it; but the one a bit further down does? whats actually under the covers?

I'm wondering if many the cab closest to me is linked to the one further up the road perhaps

also i live in a relatively rural area I'm not sure if this makes any difference; but the village i'm in has about 40 houses if that; then where the other street cab up the road (with the manhole cover) is part of the 'main village/town' which where i live links on to (kinda confusing LOL)

[JayJay]

Nothing interesting in the pits, just cables, dirt, and other nasties! The odd glove from engineers too! ;-)

You may find the manhole could be on the road.

[Sephiroth]

Thankyou :D

sorry for the weird question but the geeky side of me couldn't help but want to know where everything connects LOL

---------- Post added at 17:14 ---------- Previous post was at 17:11 ----------

p.s.

any idea why the cabinet closest to my house doesn't have a manhole in-front of it; but the one a bit further down does? whats actually under the covers?

I'm wondering if many the cab closest to me is linked to the one further up the road perhaps

also i live in a relatively rural area I'm not sure if this makes any difference; but the village i'm in has about 40 houses if that; then where the other street cab up the road (with the manhole cover) is part of the 'main village/town' which where i live links on to (kinda confusing LOL)
(SEPH): Interesting. Not many rural areas are covered by VM. Where are you located?

I can answer some of your questions. As others have stated, the top picture is the VM cabinet.

There are two types of cabinet:

1. Every 200 m apart (in my area at least), they serve the 50 or so homes passed (could be more in densely populated areas). These put copper into the homes and are connected by copper to an aggregating cabinet.

2. Several of the street boxes described above feed to an Optical Node. That street box should have a 240V warning on the cabinet because it is directly powered. In an area like mine, it's less than 500 homes passed per optical node. In densely populated areas it could be as high as 2,000 homes passed. Performance will differ between those extremes. The optical node converts the copper RF to optical signals.

The fibre goes back to a local VM data centre where it aggregates with other fibres from other localities. The fibre distance can be quite high, like the distance between Bracknell and Reading - some 13 miles. The fibres go through equipment that converts the optical signal back to RF and then they land onto line cards in the CMTS. The CMTS is a big FO cable modem! My area, Reading, has 23 CMTSs serving a catchment of around ¼ million people (I don't know the percentage of connected homes).

The pinch points are the local optical node when an area is oversubscribed and the line card when the areas concerned are all running flat out. VM are busy installing new line cards with much higher capacity and throughput, allowing more channels and thus reduced congestion. Every so often, VM resegment an area. That is they redistribute localities across line cards to provide better load balancing.

The signal carried along the copper is both TV and internet. Your own home receives every signal transmitted to your locality. Only signals addressed to your cable modem go past the BPI+ filter in your modem; everything else is discarded.

And that's a horribly simplified description!

[TJS]

Thank you :D


+ I live in the stoke on trent area theres quite a few small villages around the borders of stoke which get covered by virgin; a couple of the phone sockets inside my house say "NYNEX" on them so its been covered since the 80s :erm:

What do the buildings look like where all the cable modems connect? Is it anything to do with the phone exchange or is that strictly BT lines; because the phone exchange is about 800 meters from my house.

Had a quick walk down the street with the box thats closest to me and I can only see about 7/8 houses with the brown cable box on the side of them LOL

[Sephiroth]

The data centres aren't advertised for security reasons. The one in Reading is absolutely non-descript. It'll be as place on an industrial estate (of sorts) with VM vans parked on the hard standing. VM phones have nothing to do with BT phones. Totally separate.

If your village is a long way from anywhere else (like more than half a mile), I'd say that the box you pictured was an optical node. It looks large enough given that it serves only 40 homes.

[TJS]

Does this mean that my contention ratio will be an absolute maximum of 40:1; or does it not work like this for contention?

[Sephiroth]

Now you're getting difficult! I'll leave you to Google "broadband contention ratio". To my mind it's a budget set by the ISP according to expectesd uage for the provided infrastucture.

I can tell you this, based on my area, 40 homes passed per street box will have low contention particualrly as it might well be that you also have fibre to serve those 40 homes. Of course 4 or 5 menaces can easily swallow the bandwidth by constantly downloading or uploading.

So nw tell us, what's happening with your broadband?

[kwikbreaks]

The pinch points are the local optical node when an area is oversubscribed...Would I be right in guessing that this is the situation which takes ages to get fixed? I'm guessing the way out would be to add another optical node or at least an additional fibre back to the CMTS.

---------- Post added at 07:49 ---------- Previous post was at 07:46 ----------

all here: http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/wiring_cabs.htm
well just look at that - a website dedicated to cab spotters :)

[Sephiroth]

Would I be right in guessing that this is the situation which takes ages to get fixed? I'm guessing the way out would be to add another optical node or at least an additional fibre back to the CMTS.
SEPH: It depends where the contention lies. If it's at the line card, then resegmentation makes sense, failing which an additional or more powerful line card. If the contention is at the optical node, maybe an additional fibre. But usually the contention is due to the swamping of channel capacity due to oversubscription and thus peak time demand. Also the number of upstream channels is crucial to the avoidance of contention for gaming. The optical circuit itself, IMO, is unlikely to be the weakness. Only the number of channels it carries.
---------- Post added at 07:49 ---------- Previous post was at 07:46 ----------


well just look at that - a website dedicated to cab spotters :)
SEPH: Ha ha. I mapped the whole of Winnersh last year and that enabled me to work out the number of homes passed per cabinet and optical node. I did it first on Google Street View and then walked the streets for confirmation. The odd cabinet door was open as a photo opportunity but sadly no optical nodes had their doors open.

[kwikbreaks]

The odd cabinet door was open as a photo opportunity but sadly no optical nodes had their doors open.
Bit of street cab soft porn I hunted down for you then...
http://www.broadband-finder.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/street-cabinet.jpg :shocked:

http://skuds.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/virginbox-254x300.jpg :erm:

===

I had to turn off safe search to find this one...

http://www.nbr.co.nz/files/0cabinet.jpg

[Sephiroth]

Thanks kwiky. They're not optical nodes though. I think I've got a photy of at least one on the home machine that I'll post together with my nerdy map of Winnersh and it's street cabinets.

[kwikbreaks]

Most of the pictures on google seem to be just the equipment rather than open cabinets so maybe that VM gaffer tape holding so many shut is stronger than I thought :)

This looks like it's probably an optical node as it's right next to a standard looking cab. Terrible picture unfortunately - long lens paparazzi no doubt... http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/48586000/jpg/_48586673_rutland2.jpg

[TJS]

How do the ones that don't have an optical node in work? do they just link up to one that does?

[Sephiroth]

They combine and amplify the individual circuits (taps) in the big Magnavox box which then combines with the incoming coax from the street box further up and produce a single amplified coax to the next street box, and so on until it reaches the optical node where it's all remodulated to fibre optics.

Something like that. In other words, your supposition is correct. There is a clue on kwik's phot if you study it.

[zekeisaszekedoes]

This turned into an interesting thread. Geeky, but good. Wish I'd gone and had a poke around when the tech adjusted the levels yesterday, maybe snapped a pic to see how many houses the cabinet covers.

[qasdfdsaq]

Threads like these are why I still visit CF (occasionally) :)

[7031]

Threads like these are why I still visit CF (occasionally) :)
Seconded. I find it pretty interesting actually.

[TJS]

Does anyone know what sort of the speed the fiberoptic nodes connect to the street cabs at?

---------- Post added at 16:29 ---------- Previous post was at 16:29 ----------

Also is it the fiberoptic node thats limiting areas from being upgraded to the 100 mb package sooner; or do they need to upgrade the CMTS things?

[7031]

Does anyone know what sort of the speed the fiberoptic nodes connect to the street cabs at?

---------- Post added at 16:29 ---------- Previous post was at 16:29 ----------

Also is it the fiberoptic node thats limiting areas from being upgraded to the 100 mb package sooner; or do they need to upgrade the CMTS things?
Not sure. I saw an engineer working on the cabinet the same day that 100Mbit became available in my area, and I'm pretty sure it's not a fibre node, but it could have been a separate thing.

[TJS]

Hmm; Looking at the 100 mb roll out schedule then comparing to the CMTS sttus website; it seems that the areas that are being upgraded for 100 mb first seem to have only about 3 - 4 CMTS' when the larger areas like stoke on trent e.t.c with upwards of 15 CMTS' Only show 'being planned' it seems strange to upgrade smaller areas first :s


http://shop.virginmedia.com/content/dam/allyours/pdf/100Mb_rollout_16_03_11.pdf

http://ukinternetreport.co.uk/cmts/

[Sephiroth]

Does anyone know what sort of the speed the fiberoptic nodes connect to the street cabs at?

---------- Post added at 16:29 ---------- Previous post was at 16:29 ----------

Also is it the fiberoptic node thats limiting areas from being upgraded to the 100 mb package sooner; or do they need to upgrade the CMTS things?

The speed of light! The downstream is pumped out for your modem at the configured rate and likewise from your modem for the upstream.

Have a read of this (http://rwatsh.blogspot.com/2007/04/understanding-cable-broadband.html).

The fibre capacity question is not intuitive. The article I've pointed to might help you understand. It's all about Msyms/second, QAM modulation (bit density) and how many channels are shared between how many users. A single channel at 256QAM (8 bits/symbol) at 6.952 MegaSysms/sec allows 55 Mbits per channel (you see that on the modem stats). There are 4 bonded channels on each of which you get your slice. If you were working at 50 meg, you'd get 13.9 meg/channel and if more than 4 users are fully stretching their link, anyone else coming onto that channel will face congestions (as then will the others). So it's the maths of DOCSIS that governs what happens, not the speed of light.

Does that help?

[Tazz]

The data centres aren't advertised for security reasons. The one in Reading is absolutely non-descript. It'll be as place on an industrial estate (of sorts) with VM vans parked on the hard standing. VM phones have nothing to do with BT phones. Totally separate.

If your village is a long way from anywhere else (like more than half a mile), I'd say that the box you pictured was an optical node. It looks large enough given that it serves only 40 homes.

Ooo near a certain wholesale supplier by any chance? ;)

[7031]

The speed of light! The downstream is pumped out for your modem at the configured rate and likewise from your modem for the upstream.

Have a read of this (http://rwatsh.blogspot.com/2007/04/understanding-cable-broadband.html).
Thanks for that. Very informative read.

[Sephiroth]

I promised some photos. There is a typical street cabinet photo, a 230V cabinet photo and a PDF of my nerdish research in Winnersh.

The PDF differentiates typical cabinets from 230V cabinets (Optical Nodes) and also shows the BT Infinity cabinets. The number of houses per street is also shown so that I could get the homes passed number. It's 39 homes passed on average per street cabinet and 480 per optical node.

[jtaylor06]

Very interesting read!

Wow, so many wires in the first image of yours Seph!

[Sephiroth]

I chode a smaller cabinet for clarity! You should see some of them. Each home has its own cable to the tap point you see. That lot is combined and put into the amplifier which combines it all together with the incoming from the next durthest away (from the fibre optic node) cabinet. Upstream is split from the common cable and fed back to the tap points.

Something like that!

[TJS]

I promised some photos. There is a typical street cabinet photo, a 230V cabinet photo and a PDF of my nerdish research in Winnersh.

The PDF differentiates typical cabinets from 230V cabinets (Optical Nodes) and also shows the BT Infinity cabinets. The number of houses per street is also shown so that I could get the homes passed number. It's 39 homes passed on average per street cabinet and 480 per optical node.

how long did that PDF take you to make LOL damn i thought i was bad wanting to know how everything works :dozey:

[Sephiroth]

how long did that PDF take you to make LOL damn i thought i was bad wanting to know how everything works :dozey:
You shouldn't have asked then! I did it in Visio and it did take a couple of weeks to walk (after first research with Streetview) and a few evenings drawing etc. Utter nerd stuff.

[TJS]

You shouldn't have asked then! I did it in Visio and it did take a couple of weeks to walk (after first research with Streetview) and a few evenings drawing etc. Utter nerd stuff.

LOL what do the differen't colours mean on the PDF?

[jtaylor06]

You shouldn't have asked then! I did it in Visio and it did take a couple of weeks to walk (after first research with Streetview) and a few evenings drawing etc. Utter nerd stuff.

Ouch! Visio can be very fiddly too; well, unless that's just me :P

[TJS]

also; i noticed some streetcabs have the usual 2 doors; but then an extra small door to the side; whats behind there?

[Sephiroth]

typosThe extra small door on some cabs are telephone terminations. If it's a very large cabinet with CATV on the floor, then it's a telephone only cabinet.

The colours on the drawing are as follows:

Red square:--------------------Typical VM cabinet
Red rectangle with 230 legend:--Optical Node

Green square:------------------Typical BT cabinet
Green rectangle with F legened:-BT FTTC cabinet

Numbered roundel:--------------Number of homes in the street (from electoral roll)

As it happens, there is a VM Core station in Wharfedale Road, where the backbone passes through (as in winn-bb-1a-so-130.virginmedia.net). So all the optical nodes from Bracknell, Wokingham, Winnersh to the east and a whole chunk more from the other directions) pile into Reading where there are 23 CMTSs. Each CMTS has 12 line card slots. Each card (of the type they're putting in now) provides 72 downstream and 60 upstream channels (the older line cards do 20 DS + 20 US channels).

From Reading, a head end switch sends the aggregated data from the CMTSs to Winnersh where it is switched onto the backbone that you see on all the traceroutes people publish.

[_wtf_]

What I find interesting is the people who know their stuff have BT Infinity.

[Sephiroth]

I've got BT Infinity so that I'm never without internet. Not that I've needed this luxury more than twice over the past 5 years (once when it wasn't Infinity) and once recently when VM were upgrading the CMTSs in Reading and piled a load of peops onto a single CMTS without telling them beforehand (not that BT would either).

Also there's professional curiosity. I'm getting a load balancing router and then I can use both simultaneously according to policies I set in the router.

[pip08456]

What I find interesting is the people who know their stuff have BT Infinity.

I wonder why???:D

[TJS]

Turns out there is a manhole cover for the street cab; but its on the other side of the road for whatever reason LOL it says NYNEX on it aswell rather then CATV

[pip08456]

NYNEX was a forerunner of NTL. Used to be with them myself!

[Ignitionnet]

For you Seph, underground plant.

[Sephiroth]

Mwah.

[pip08456]

Defo a Geeky thread this one!

[7031]

I do believe that these images qualify as softcore nerd porn.

[pip08456]

I do believe that these images qualify as softcore nerd porn.

Got to agree there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D

BTW Seph's a porno star!:D:D

[craigj2k12]

Seph's a porno star!:D:D

hes just the camera man

[asbo dog]

dont cry, nothing a spanner wont fix http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Fibre-optic-broadband-cable/A-broken-green-cabinet/td-p/520603

[TJS]

Virgin people have been out pulling new cables into the cabinets in my area; I'm not sure what they were doing but they were out for a couple of hours + the super-hub restarted its self

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/05/36.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
http://www.pingtest.net/result/41198340.png (http://www.pingtest.net)
Cant really see much difference; The jitter has raised slightly but i'm not sure if they're still doing anything further up the line?

[craigj2k12]

they were probably pulling a line for a new customer? or a couple of new customers? if your re booted then they may have put you on a splitter like they did with mine. has your upstream power increased?

either that or they were pulling for a new customer and the superhub did one of its special reboots lol

[TJS]

they were probably pulling a line for a new customer? or a couple of new customers? if your re booted then they may have put you on a splitter like they did with mine. has your upstream power increased?

either that or they were pulling for a new customer and the superhub did one of its special reboots lol

The cables looks a lot thicker then the one running to my house like id say about 2 - 3 cm wide

Upstream power is still at 41.7 and downstream at 5 - 6 dBmV as always

[craigj2k12]

The cables looks a lot thicker then the one running to my house like id say about 2 - 3 cm wide

Upstream power is still at 41.7 and downstream at 5 - 6 dBmV as always

i dont know much about that, the coax (the one to your house goes into the cabinet) and then it goes from coax to fibre through something and magic happens and you get internet.

as you can see, i am a clear expert in this field.... but i do know that some kit is being swapped ready for 100mbit

[Sephiroth]

It looks like the overbuild network is going in.

[TJS]

whats that? D:

[Sephiroth]

The overlay network went on top of the legacy network for 50 meg; the overbuild network is to make areas good for 100 mrg.

[kwikbreaks]

...and magic happens and you get...
Same as most other technology then...

[craigj2k12]

Same as most other technology then...

apart from the superhub :D

[essjay]

I promised some photos. There is a typical street cabinet photo, a 230V cabinet photo and a PDF of my nerdish research in Winnersh.

The PDF differentiates typical cabinets from 230V cabinets (Optical Nodes) and also shows the BT Infinity cabinets. The number of houses per street is also shown so that I could get the homes passed number. It's 39 homes passed on average per street cabinet and 480 per optical node.


From what I can make out neither of them cabs have a 240v feed. Only the optical nodes as you call them (or launch cabinets, or mux a's) have a 240v feed you can tell this has it will have a RCB device. This is then wired into a PSU either an all in one unit that splits the power into 60v and 48v or two separate units.

A typical area in the Northwest (ex Nynex build) would be something along the lines of the following.

Fibre to optical node 4 of those this is then converted into RF into the launch amp for the area, these then feed either trunk or line amplifiers, never any more than 4 in the cascade, on average 14 per area, each amp feeding a 48 way tap block.

So each cabinet can serve 48 homes
Each area on avarage 672 homes
each optical area 2600

These are only averages .

[TJS]

From what I can make out neither of them cabs have a 240v feed. Only the optical nodes as you call them (or launch cabinets, or mux a's) have a 240v feed you can tell this has it will have a RCB device. This is then wired into a PSU either an all in one unit that splits the power into 60v and 48v or two separate units.

A typical area in the Northwest (ex Nynex build) would be something along the lines of the following.

Fibre to optical node 4 of those this is then converted into RF into the launch amp for the area, these then feed either trunk or line amplifiers, never any more than 4 in the cascade, on average 14 per area, each amp feeding a 48 way tap block.

So each cabinet can serve 48 homes
Each area on avarage 672 homes
each optical area 2600

These are only averages .

You are right about the voltage feed; i cant see any warning of that anywhere on or near the cabs; whats the difference between the cabs that have these and the ones that don't?

[essjay]

They are usually twice the size or bigger

[digitalspace]

This thread is brilliant, just the kind of tech discussion I've been searching for, and with pictures too! :)

[TJS]

So I actually took a look at the brown box on the side of my house properly for the first time; and there is a load of cables going to it.

There is 2 sets of double cables with a brown plastic outside going into the box; and then a black double cable going in there as-well; I have no idea where the brown cables come/go fro but the black cable goes under the path and down into a green hose that goes under the street Any idea what the brown cables are for?

Also i opened the box up and its literally packed with cables LOL so i just closed it.

---------- Post added at 15:19 ---------- Previous post was at 15:17 ----------

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/06/67.jpg (http://imgur.com/3CA0M)

[carlwaring]

Okay. So we know what a BT cab looks like and we know what a VM cab looks like. So what's this? ;)

Download Failed (1)

My ideas:
A. A BT cab that VM have taken over or hijacked.
B. A BT cab in VM's Cabinet Protection Program.

[TJS]

Okay. So we know what a BT cab looks like and we know what a VM cab looks like. So what's this? ;)

http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/1174/02062011077.jpg

My ideas:
A. A BT cab that VM have taken over or hijacked.
B. A BT cab in VM's Cabinet Protection Program.

At first i was like 'that looks like some of the bigger streetcabs arround here' but then it has some kind of mutant door thing coming out the front of it?

LOL

[Sephiroth]

@ TJS

Ah - a photo of the inside of the brown box would help answer your questions more reliably. (if you can be arsed to provide a phot, do please separate things as clearly as possible for ease of discernment!).

Essjay may know more about the Nynex build, but the build in my area was Telecential --> Comtel --> Cabletel = NTL.

Mine is a grey box with a thick black cable emerging from a green undergound hose. The telephone wires pop out of the black sheathing and distribute out of the box and round two places in the house. The digital cable goes into a splitter that goes out round the wall to two other TV box places in the house and through the wall to another room which further distributes via a splitter to cable modem and TV.

So your brown cables - did Nynex do FM radio separately? Or is that even how analogue TV was provided? Essjay?

[TJS]

@ TJS

Ah - a photo of the inside of the brown box would help answer your questions more reliably. (if you can be arsed to provide a phot, do please separate things as clearly as possible for ease of discernment!).

Essjay may know more about the Nynex build, but the build in my area was Telecential --> Comtel --> Cabletel = NTL.

Mine is a grey box with a thick black cable emerging from a green undergound hose. The telephone wires pop out of the black sheathing and distribute out of the box and round two places in the house. The digital cable goes into a splitter that goes out round the wall to two other TV box places in the house and through the wall to another room which further distributes via a splitter to cable modem and TV.

So your brown cables - did Nynex do FM radio separately? Or is that even how analogue TV was provided? Essjay?


Ill attempt to brave opening the brown box again.....

---------- Post added at 16:15 ---------- Previous post was at 16:09 ----------

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/06/63.jpg

Please excuse the picture quality LOL i tried to be discreet and use compact camera because i Imagine a few eyebrows would be raised if i was out there with my slr taking photos of a box. LOL

edit: made picture lower resolution

[craigj2k12]

whoa the size of that coax coming in

[TJS]

whoa the size of that coax coming in

I thought that to LOL

[craigj2k12]

I thought that to LOL

fatter than me leg

[Peter_]

Compare it to the standard sized brick for a reality check.:D:D:D

[TJS]

Compare it to the standard sized brick for a reality check.:D:D:D

The bricks on my house are smaller then modern ones as it was built in 1830

I think its RG-11 coax coming into the box

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/06/64.jpg

RG11 top RG6 bottom

[Peter_]

The bricks on my house are smaller then modern ones as it was built in 1830
Not that small as the cable is the standard siamese cable coming into the OMNI box.

[JayJay]

Carl, im sure its one of ours, there is a few like that ive worked in Bristol which I actually thought was Cell Communications (thats what happens when your not from the area!) once opened revealed it was a mux :)

[essjay]

Ill attempt to brave opening the brown box again.....

---------- Post added at 16:15 ---------- Previous post was at 16:09 ----------

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/06/63.jpg

Please excuse the picture quality LOL i tried to be discreet and use compact camera because i Imagine a few eyebrows would be raised if i was out there with my slr taking photos of a box. LOL

edit: made picture lower resolution


Do you live in a flat by any chance ??

Or have two phone lines ?


Its a bit difficult to see from that angle, but what I can tell you is that you have 2 x RG6 siamese running in in what looks like 2 x telco lines and a RG11 DTV/BB feed into a 2 way splitter

White RG6 into the wall behind the drop box and another RG6 black feed going elsewhere



---------- Post added at 18:05 ---------- Previous post was at 18:03 ----------



So your brown cables - did Nynex do FM radio separately? Or is that even how analogue TV was provided? Essjay?

FM, Analogue, DTV and broadband all down the same cable.

---------- Post added at 18:10 ---------- Previous post was at 18:05 ----------

Either 2 phones lines or you've had a re pull for RG11 and they have never took out the original RG6 which would make sense if you have phone live as RG11 Siamese is like rocking horse ****

[TJS]

Do you live in a flat by any chance ??

Or have two phone lines ?


Its a bit difficult to see from that angle, but what I can tell you is that you have 2 x RG6 siamese running in in what looks like 2 x telco lines and a RG11 DTV/BB feed into a 2 way splitter

White RG6 into the wall behind the drop box and another RG6 black feed going elsewhere


Nope; semi detached house LOL

Although the people who lived in the house prior to me did have a business from the house + a VM business connection so you could be right about 2 phone lines; I never thought of that

---------- Post added at 18:24 ---------- Previous post was at 18:20 ----------

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/06/61.jpg

There is one of these on the internal wall directly behind the brown box; and one upstairs in what used to be the office for the people who had the house previously;

The socket just below the virgin box is a hardwired GB/s ethernet socket that is in from the previous owners

---------- Post added at 18:25 ---------- Previous post was at 18:24 ----------

+ there is a phone socket on the other side of the window

[essjay]

That makes perfect sense, you must be quite far from the cabinet to warrant a RG11 feed.

[TJS]

That makes perfect sense, you must be quite far from the cabinet to warrant a RG11 feed.

Roughly 120 or so meters; The thick black RG11 cable has a smaller cable stuck on the side of it and goes through a green hose in the front garden bit of my house under into the street; the 2 brown thinner cables just seem to emerge from under ground

[Sephiroth]

Difficult to tell, but it looks possible that the RG6 coming out of the splitter feeds another part of your house (it goes up the wall, I think) or another house. Follow it. It's outside grade cable. The brown cables seem to be telephone. The white cable goes into your house.

Again, if you can be arsed, you could feel where the second black cable ( RG6) goes.

EDIT: I read Essjay's assessment after I posted the above.

[essjay]

120mtr is about right

[TJS]

Difficult to tell, but it looks possible that the RG6 coming out of the splitter feeds another part of your house (it goes up the wall, I think) or another house. Follow it. It's outside grade cable. The brown cables seem to be telephone. The white cable goes into your house.

Again, if you can be arsed, you could feel where the second black cable ( RG6) goes.

EDIT: I read Essjay's assessment after I posted the above.


The one that goes up the wall is to the upstairs of my house Each house around here has a separate brown box on it

---------- Post added at 20:06 ---------- Previous post was at 20:03 ----------

How come the brown ones don't go through the same duct as the black cable? The thick black one with the little cable on the side goes out the box under the path then down into some plastic piping that goes under the street but the brown ones just seem to appear out of the ground; theres no apparent duct that they go to or come from; unless there is 2 ducts running to my house perhaps?

---------- Post added at 20:06 ---------- Previous post was at 20:06 ----------

p.s. the second brown one isnt particularly visable but its just behind the black cable going in can be seen more clearly from this photo http://i.imgur.com/3CA0M.jpg

[essjay]

if you have a look on the street you will find your swept tee (could be triangular or round) all the cable will come out of there.

The route they take into your property will depend on how good or how lazy :D the installers were.

But it defiantly looks like at some point you have had at least two repulls.

[TJS]

if you have a look on the street you will find your swept tee (could be triangular or round) all the cable will come out of there.

The route they take into your property will depend on how good or how lazy :D the installers were.

But it defiantly looks like at some point you have had at least two repulls.


Theres no visible marks on the road; but then i'm not entirely sure what i'm looking for LOL.

The black cable theres about 2" of green tubing coming out of the ground just behind the front wall to the garden then the cable comes out and goes under the path tot he side of the house then up from under the path into the box; but the grown cables just seem to appear with no viable duct that they go into

---------- Post added at 20:18 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------

http://www.sde-civils.co.uk/images/product-pages/plastics/ducting/ducting-9.jpg just like that except about an inch diameter

[Sephiroth]

if you have a look on the street you will find your swept tee (could be triangular or round) all the cable will come out of there.

The route they take into your property will depend on how good or how lazy :D the installers were.

But it defiantly looks like at some point you have had at least two repulls.

There's a good photo here (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDMQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talkphotography.co.uk%2Fforum s%2Fshowthread.php%3Fp%3D3514878&ei=M-HnTYaxA8GKhQfp5KCoCg&usg=AFQjCNGvgnULb6kOsIAm6mUaIF88upA-Jw). See post #1

I tried to get it into this post but the advanced feature on the forum didn't want to browse.

[TJS]

There's a good photo here (http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CDMQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.talkphotography.co.uk%2Fforum s%2Fshowthread.php%3Fp%3D3514878&ei=M-HnTYaxA8GKhQfp5KCoCg&usg=AFQjCNGvgnULb6kOsIAm6mUaIF88upA-Jw). See post #1

I tried to get it into this post but the advanced feature on the forum didn't want to browse.

Little triangle thing is just infront of my house like litrally 10/15 meters directly infront

[essjay]

like this

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2011/06/52.jpg

[Spiral Ghost]

Hi everyone, since you were talking about Virgin street cabinets and boxes I was wondering if any of you can recognize this type of box which sits about three meters high on the side of many buildings over here in Scotland. I erased the first two numbers from the stickers. Any help is appreciated.

http://www.bonteadigital.com/Blackbox.JPG

[Sephiroth]

It's got the 1980s BT logo on. DP usually means Distribution Point and I presume there are no telephone poles in that street.

[Spiral Ghost]

Thanks Seph, so basically it's just a big splitter inside... I just wanted to be sure that it's not some sort of picocell.
And you're right, there are no telephone poles in the street.

[qasdfdsaq]

A picocell wouldn't have a BT logo on it or multiple cables coming out of it. They look more like this:

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/resources/4bee10804e91532f91f8bf34fd69d626/picocell_left-table,0.jpg

[Jon22]

Just out of interest, what is the dark green cabinet on the left in the below link? I know the one on the right is a Virgin cabinet.

http://g.co/maps/enzx

[Sephiroth]

It's difficult to see on the photo through lack of contrast. if you can take your own phot in the right light conditions ....

Normally VM have a street cabinet in front of which is a pit cover marked CATV. If it's a 5 foot tall and wide humming cabinet next to it with CATV on the pit cover, then it could be a Virgin telephone cabinet. The optical nodes, with 240V lable on the front, are not usually next to a coax street cabinet except in densely populated areas where both sets of 48 tap points are needed.

BT usually site their Infinity cabinets immediately adjacent their telephone cabinets. But as you're sure the one on the right is VM ....

[Jon22]

Thanks Sephiroth. Its definetly not a BT Infinity Cabinet as our exchange hasn't been done yet.

[JayJay]

That is there for the telco and sometimes power for local nodes. :) Contains batteries and such :)

[BigMinty]

OK the big Cabinet everyone is confused about is a MUX + Telephone Switchboard. inside there are About 600 diffrent lines for use with phone
Also 6x 12V batterys incase of power cut
And fiber optic feed which feeds the nodes.
and it does belong to virgin