Forum Discussion

KLS29's avatar
KLS29
Settling in
23 days ago

New to Virgin Gigabit – Router Placement & Ethernet Setup Advice Needed

I just had Virgin Gigabit internet installed today. The router ended up at the furthest point from where I actually need it - not the installer’s fault, but the “ground” team who laid the exterior cable put the box on the wrong side of the property while we weren’t home. They ran the 4 meters of exterior cable above ground and wrapped it through a hedge (which a hedge trimmer will definitely get!).

I have Cat5e Ethernet wiring installed around the house (about 3.5 years ago) with 6 data points running from my home office on the opposite side of the house. These points currently serve 2 TVs, my PC, and my kids’ Xbox.

Since I work from home, I want the most reliable connection possible, so Ethernet is a must. I’m weighing three options:

  1. Relocating the router by running extra cable under the house to the office (routing outside on the white render will equally as bad . This would let me use the 4 Ethernet ports on the Hub5 router and my existing wiring. However, this is a messy and time-consuming job involving lifting carpet, floorboards, and drilling through crawl space tunnels with no direct access - a bit of a nightmare.
  2. Using TP-Link AV2000 TL-PA9020P powerline adapters. This is much easier to set up but means I won’t use the Ethernet ports already installed in the office. Our electrical wiring is new, and the EV charger is on a separate circuit, but I’m worried about interference and noise affecting performance.
  3. Booster Pods - If I have to go down the wifi-only route, asking Virgin for some booster pods to boost the signal at the opposite side of the house.

Also, the installer mentioned there’s a thicker cable running to the house and the Virgin cabinet is close by (at the end of the drive), so I might be experiencing interference from that (I thought this would be a positive rather than a negative). 

Does anyone have advice on what’s best here? Is my wiring almost certainly Cat5e given it was installed 3.5 years ago - invoice was part of a rewire and just says data points installed? Any other options I should consider?

Thanks in advance!

7 Replies

  • legacy1's avatar
    legacy1
    Alessandro Volta

    You could ask to have the cable point moved if at some cost? 

  • Adduxi's avatar
    Adduxi
    Very Insightful Person

    Pay the £25 non fault call out fee and get the outside omnibox moved to where you need it.  Avoid PLA’s where possible.  Cat 5e is quite suitable for 1Gb speeds. As for the Pods, that’s a no from me. 

  • KLS29's avatar
    KLS29
    Settling in

    Thanks - everything seems to be settled, but the installer (but much older than my son - who is in year 9), said "the cabinet is so close and you seem to have Rg11 cable outside, which means signal will be too high causing intermittent WiFi".  How accurate is this?

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person

    If you are close to the cabinet ideally RG6 needs installing, but having RG11 in place should not be an issue. Network techs (but not installers) can fit downstream/upstream path attenuators to the back of your modem if required, which reduces the excess signal to a manageable level.

    It will certainly not affect your “WiFi” as such, as this is part of your internal network. It affects Virgin’s network signal that provides your broadband.

    Under no circumstances make any of your own changes to the cabling on Virgin’s side of the modem.

  • KLS29's avatar
    KLS29
    Settling in

    That @nodrogd  the chap (boy) that came out to install did put attenuators to the back of my modem.  He has suggested Virgin returning to look at the RG11 - we haven't got anything with a wired connection at present. We have had the occasional drop in Wi-Fi (lasts all of 2 to 5 seconds) and has happened perhaps 2 x per day for the last 3 days. 

    • jb66's avatar
      jb66
      Very Insightful Person

      Alot of this doesn't make sense to me, the box on the outside is just a termination point. I can't see what relevance this has on where you want your hub, you simply ask the techncian to just add a long cable to where you desire.

      Having a thicker cable means you have less signal loss, its easy to make a signal weaker by adding an attenuator. You could post your signal levels up if you so wish.

      Even the best Powerline on the market (Devolo Magic 2) won't give you even a quarter of the speed your paying for so its not an option.

      Virgin boosters will give you wifi signal in places you currently don't but it won't give you anywhere near the speeds you are paying for.

      Your options are pay £25 for Virgin to move the router to where you want it, you don't have to move the omni box OR run your own Cat5e from the virgin hub to the location you require.

  • I think you have a couple of options...

    1. Leave the VM hub where it is and get a small 4 or 8 port switch and install it wherever your existing RJ45 cables terminate, then connect the switch to the VM hub with a new RJ45 cable, you'll probably have to route this through the wall and around the house unless there's some other way you can route it internally.
    2. Call VM back and get them to move the omnibox to wherever you need it. You don't really want the fibre wrapped around a hedge so I'd get them back anyway