Forum Discussion

AntS's avatar
AntS
Tuning in
8 months ago

How accomodating are the installers about where the cable goes?

Hi all,

I will finally be installed next week hopefully, the outside brown box is now all wired up. I was wondering how accomodating the installers are? I want to get the equipment in the cupboard under the the stairs, I've uploaded a shoddy paint drawing of the basic top down layout of my bottom floor.

The red box drawn on the outside end terrace wall is where the pre-installation contractors have put the brown box. The dark red line is my proposed path, it would go along the outside wall, and in under the floorboards in the kitchen, and into the cupboard coming up on the other side of the wall.

Would the installer be fine with coming in under the floorboards? also how flexible is the fibre? (I'm on the XGS-PON network) can it be routed around skirting boards etc? anything I can do to make this easier for them coming on the day?

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person

    You will need to put in conduit and a pull rope.  The bend radius should be around 6" or so, to allow for easy cable pull.  VM will not work under floor boards.  If you are on fibre, you will be getting a Hub 5x, so having this in a cupboard will limit the Wifi propagation around the house.  The Hub should be out in a clear space, otherwise you will have to use some Wifi Access Points (or VM Pods) to distribute the signal.

    • AntS's avatar
      AntS
      Tuning in

      Thanks! I already have a Ubiquiti setup so I want it near my existing equipment. I'll be turning the WiFi off on the 5X. So if I crack out the old SDS and pre-drill a hole and get some string out there to pull the cable through to the right place it should be fine?

      • Adduxi's avatar
        Adduxi
        Very Insightful Person

        I can't see why an installer wouldn't work with you, so yes sounds like a plan.  Just make sure there is a good supply of tea and biscuits ......  🙂

  • If you're the one pulling the cable it can go wherever you want, they aren't going to lift floorboards for you though.

  • I'm gonna try and get a handyman in to pre-drill the external hole and try and run a conduit/trunk ready for it to go through under the floorboards, does anyone happen to know the minimum diameter required for the cable to fit through? Haven't actually seen the cable before today 🙂

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta

    If you are going to run the fibre found the house (as opposed to ethernet cable) remember that it has a minimum bending radius. No sharp corners. 

  • jb66's avatar
    jb66
    Very Insightful Person

    If you want to be the second man and go under the floor it will be no problem 

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta

    The tech will drill through the external wall.

    The overall cable diameter of fibre optic cables can vary, but it’s typically around 3mm. The recommended minimum bend radius is 10x, so 30mm in this case. The tech should know this and do a correct installation.