Installation of new fibre line

[TheLocalHero]

I'm due to have a fresh line installed on my properly in the coming weeks.

Can the new fibre line be installed from a telegraph polo opposite my property and run over through the air with the existing phone line?

I'd rather not have my front garden and patio dug up just to installed faster broadband.

Is this an option.?

How will the line even get to my curbside? My exchange is about 50 houses away down the road......

[Client62]

Have a look at how other local properties are being connected to Virgin Media.

The Virgin Media connection box is normally visible on the front side of a property.

Check if cables / fibre tubes go into the ground or up the front of the house and across to the telegraph poles.

[TheLocalHero]

I see no evidence of my neighbours having any sort of fibre installed. I like in a cul-de-sac mostly occupied by very old people 🤣.

I just wanted to know if having the line installed through the air was an option. So I definitely won't be having the garden dug up nor will the box be installed on the front of my house either.

Thanks for the reply.

[goslow]

---

@TheLocalHero wrote:

I see no evidence of my neighbours having any sort of fibre installed. I like in a cul-de-sac mostly occupied by very old people 🤣.

I just wanted to know if having the line installed through the air was an option. So I definitely won't be having the garden dug up nor will the box be installed on the front of my house either.

Thanks for the reply.

---

Look for external wall boxes on the front of properties (as per two examples near the bottom of page 1 of the article below)

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2019/12/identifying-bt-and-virgin-medias-uk-broadband-street-f...

which may be brown, grey or white in colour and may be branded with logos from former cable TV companies. The larger boxes are used for fibre optic connections.

Also look for plastic covers in the pavement as per message #2 below

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/How-will-my-install-go-i-have-no-VM-socke...

which may be branded as VM or CATV or one of the early cable TV companies

Look for any signs of the cable between the pavement cover and the homes. Sometimes VM uses a green plastic conduit laid on the surface (as per message #7 below)

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Managing-Your-Account-Cable/Green-protective-pipes/td-p/4986394

Sometimes the conduit or cable is buried. Sometimes clipped to a wall or fence.

Most VM installations are via coaxial cable to the home, not fibre optic.

[nodrogd]

The answer to this is very unlikely.

95% of Virgins local networks are Fibre-to-Cabinet. Fibre cabinets are usually 500m to 1km apart, with local distribution via high grade copper coaxial cabling (HFC network). This cabling is not suitable for use in BT ducts or poles owing to the diameter & weight of the cables used. Also the cable install gangs are not heights trained.

The use of BT ducts & poles is restricted to areas where the local network is full fibre & was only installed in the last couple of years.

Even then there must be a local agreement with BT to use their poles. If another operator already has fibre equipment on the local BT poles Virgin won’t be able to use them.

Have a look round the local streets for houses with brown Virgin boxes on the front wall. If they look like this

Virgin omnibox
then the network is HFC copper coax & you have no chance of the type of connection you want.

[TheLocalHero]

Thanks for the reply.

I've had an email stating an engineer will be round to do some external work.

I guess I'll catch him and see what options I have. The driveway leading up to my house is brickweaved and the whole front of the property has paving slabs laid.

If the only option is to dig either of these up I'll be cancelled the installation and my contract.

Ps. I'll keep and eye out for those brown boxes in my street. But I can't say I've ever seen one.

[goslow]

---

@TheLocalHero wrote:

Thanks for the reply.

I've had an email stating an engineer will be round to do some external work.

I guess I'll catch him and see what options I have. The driveway leading up to my house is brickweaved and the whole front of the property has paving slabs laid.

If the only option is to dig either of these up I'll be cancelled the installation and my contract.

Ps. I'll keep and eye out for those brown boxes in my street. But I can't say I've ever seen one.

---

FWIW, VM sub-contracts a lot of its cable installation work. The sub-contractors may turn up unannounced and possibly when you are not in.

If that happens, they will quite possibly just get on and start installing the cable (by whatever means they see fit).

[TheLocalHero]

I just spoke to an advisor and told them that's not an option. The only option for installation is from the telephone pole. Either that or cancelled.

[jpeg1]

The contractors usually avoid lifting paving because it's too much trouble. They will fall back on running the cable along the party fence or wall. 

But if there is not an existing connection trap in the pavement outside it may not happen anyway.

Nothing you say to the sales advisor will have any effect. Their only job is to get the sale and they have no influence on the subcontractor who does the job. 

[TheLocalHero]

Theres definitely no connection traps in any of the curbs in my cul-de-sac. The area is fairly rural and dates back to the early 60's.

The nearest exchange is over a mile away down the road.

Should I just give up hope with fibre and sign up to a different supplier?