Virgin Media Community

[Billynic]

Hi,,the  broadband  cable  going from the box on the wall to my router is way too long ,I need one of about 1 metre long ,do virgin supply these ,and in this present  climate  were would  I get one .thanks

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

You have to use VM cable and it will require a tech visit to install as they may need to balance the signal levels too. There will be a £99 no-fault charge.

If its all working fine I would be tempted to leave it and hide the excess cable somehow.

[kpanchev]

Just go and buy a metre of coax cable, 75 ohms, two connectors for each end (not the antenna ones, but the satelite / cable box ones) and make yourself a cable. It will cost you £5-10 depending where you buy it from.

Make sure you connect after the surge protector (if you have one installed, on some installations the technicians don't even bother putting one).

[gary_dexter]

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@kpanchev wrote:

Just go and buy a metre of coax cable, 75 ohms, two connectors for each end (not the antenna ones, but the satelite / cable box ones) and make yourself a cable. It will cost you £5-10 depending where you buy it from.

Make sure you connect after the surge protector (if you have one installed, on some installations the technicians don't even bother putting one).

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Please don’t advise people to do that...

[kpanchev]

Why not? So virgin can charge an extortionate amount of money to deliver a cable?

Anyway if it does not work (and it most surely will work) it will cost less than a tenner to try this...

[Billynic]

Hi ,thanks for your help ,but I dont think it's that simple, because  when the cable  comes out of the  box there is a plastic  sheath covering  an adaptor so I have to leave that on,....I presume,billynic 

[kpanchev · Accepted solution]

That's the surge protector (isolator), just unclip the plastic cover and unscrew the original cable, then screw your shorter one.

The only difference you get with virgin cables is the connector, it is a crimped one which you need a special tool to attach. The ones you buy from any electronics shop (or B&Q if you wish) will be screwed over the coax cable.

[gary_dexter]

what about the risk of introducing noise on your line and also back to the cab?

[kpanchev]

You need to be really, really, reeeeaaaaally clumsy to make a cable that will introduce noise... and if this happens, the OP will know straight away as their connection will be slow to non-working.

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

OP is significantly changing the length of cable so it will need signal adjustments/balancing by the Tech - possibly in the Street Cab. They are not charging for the cable per se rather for the tech call out and time to do the work. Ask how much a sparks will charge you for moving a socket or rewiring a light fitting.

My daughter once bought pre-made and "guaranteed VM compatible" cables from Amazon to move her V6 box. All it did was ruin the two neighbours signal with noise ingress - whilst her signal was fine (she said). The VM techs discovered this when they checked our system to try and pin down the source of the neighbours' noise. They spotted it instantly and swapped it for one of their cables and the neighbours problem disappeared.

I was just thankful they didn't charge us a large sum for breaking the T&C's of our contract - which specifically forbids what is being suggested - which they were well within their rights to do and add to our bill.