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

Question

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:

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.
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.
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!

Adduxi · Answer

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

legacy1 · Answer

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

KLS29 · Answer

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".&nbsp; How accurate is this?

nodrogd · Answer

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 · Answer

That @nodrogd&nbsp; the chap (boy) that came out to install did put attenuators to the back of my modem.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp;

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

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