Installation using neighbours existing box

[berty_buk]

I am having virgin installed tomorrow and was wondering how they are going to manage to run the cable from the street to my flat.

We live on the ground floor flat with a complete monoblocked drive and a small grass area between the road and the flat. My upstairs neighbour has virgin installed with the cable running from the street under the grass and attached to a brown box outside my window. I was wondering will virgin need to cut up my grass to lay new wires or will they be able to use my neighbours brown box to feed my virgin supply?

Also my neighbours feed goes up over our porch and into his property. Does anyone know if virgin will need his permission to run the cable next to his and then drop it back into my property. (All cables are attached to the outside walls!)

Any help would be appreciated.

[madmacfan10]

Hi there.
If you live in a block of flats, your building would normally have a grey cupboard, called a lockbox attached to the building. This is normally mounted above the ground level, and the main cable feed from the street would be connected to this box. The cable feed would then be split off to each individual flat, from this lockbox, by the use of coax splitters known as taps. If your building has a lockbox, then the engineer would simply run a new feed from the lockbox directly into your flat.

If you live in a Street property, i.e. a converted house, then your cable feed would be split off the main brown box attached the building, known as an onmi box, directly into your flat. If your neighbour already has cable installed, then they would simply run a new feed directly into your flat from the existing brown box. This would not affect the neighbours service.

In either of these cases, You shouldn't need permission to run a new cable alongside the existing cable installed, so long as it doesn't affect the neighbours service, and If you don't own your flat, you have permission from the landlord. I can't see any problems arising from the new install.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Madmacfan10

[berty_buk]

Thanks madmacfan10

I think i will be the street property setup.

Thanks
Bert

[markc1290]

Is this a sound way to conduct an install? my neighbour has a brown box on their wall literally a couple of inches from our property, but we have never had cable before. I asked for a install survey and they said the install shouldnt be a problem, but they may use the brown box to feed my services.

I'm just anxious given some of the problems people have with virgin installs.

any advice is appreciated.

Properties are bog standard semi detached.

[carlwaring]

I live in a small 'granny annex' in the grounds of a larger house and I get my services from their box. I have not had any problems in the nearly six years I have lived here.

[markc1290]

Ok, as long as it wont affect mine or their services then that's fine! I get on really well with them and didnt want any issues to arise! Too many Virgin Media Horror stories out there!

[carlwaring]

Too many Virgin Media Horror stories out there!
No there isn't. There's a few which, by the fact that they are being mentioned at all, are extra-ordinary in nature. :)

[markc1290]

Fair point, I shall leave it in their hands and see what happens on install day.