External over roof installation options?
 

Hi there,

We have recently moved house and are in the process of trying to get VM service installed (30MB broadband + TV).
The TV is located by the rear wall of the house overlooking the garden, this is my preference for the router location as well.
Our landlord does not want any internal cable runs, and given the layout this would look messy. My preference is to run the cable directly over the roof and enter at the rear of the house exactly where the TV is which the landlord has agreed to, however this is a 4 storey house. It is a terraced house so there is no option to run it around a side alley.

An installation engineer has done a site inspection and said the only way to do an install is via the street side of the house. He won't do an over the top installation due to health and safety issues.
This seems bizarre to me as there are already cable runs for telephone lines up to the top storey, and satellite cable runs down from the apex to the rear of the property.

Does anyone know if independent cable contractors would be able to run the cable from the rear, back to the front of the property?
And if so any recommendations for the North London area?


Thanks for any help.

Re: External over roof installation options?
 

No cable engineer i know would go over a roof that high as we are not allowed or stupid enough health and safety is there for a reason. We dont get ladders that high and we dont harness the ladders like sky to go that high. your best bet would be to get the engineer to leave you cable and you sort out someone to run it over the top yourself

Re: External over roof installation options?
 

The legnth of cable might be an issue too

Re: External over roof installation options?
 

Cable length shouldn't be a killer issue as signal levels can be balanced once the install is complete. The VM tech the OP had talked to is quite right, it has been many years since they were allowed to do over-roof installs. However provided you have used the correct cable they are often happy to wire you up to a cable run you have done yourself. That will be no small undertaking in a 4-storey terrace but it is th only way to get an install to the opposite side of the building without any internal wiring.