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New Connection - why Coax cable?

kievlyanochka
Tuning in

Hi all,

After many years of avoiding Virgin (I don't have strong reasons), I have decided to try 👋 Virgin services.not fibre.jpg

I have signed up for broadband 250 and expect a fibre connection to be set up soon. Strangely enough, the box has been connected to my house and there is coax cable has been run from the street, why not fibre cable? I would ignore the fact that the box was connected badly (not fully screwed to the wall, cable strongly nailed without conduit all of which can have an impact in the long run. 

After visiting friends this weekend, they showed their connection and they have fibre running to the house. Also checked this forum and can see that most all other members have fibre cable run to the building not coax. 

Why in 2023 Virgin will not use fibre? Surely it doesn't make sense? Is it because of trying to pre-set households quickly or are it technical limitations? 🤔

Virgin did not meet my expectations even before connecting me to their service 🙄

Am I missing something? 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

goslow
Alessandro Volta

@kievlyanochka wrote:

Hi all,

After many years of avoiding Virgin (I don't have strong reasons), I have decided to try 👋 Virgin services.

<snip>

Why in 2023 Virgin will not use fibre? Surely it doesn't make sense? Is it because of trying to pre-set households quickly or are it technical limitations? 🤔

Virgin did not meet my expectations even before connecting me to their service 🙄

Am I missing something? 


The majority of VM's network (originating from the cable TV companies of the past) uses coaxial cable from the street cabinet to individual homes.

Later additions to the VM network use fibre optic to a wall box outside and a media converter which changes the fibre to coax wiring inside to the VM hub.

Some of the latest VM installations bring the fibre all the way inside the home.

The method used depends on the infrastructure in your area.

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

11 REPLIES 11

goslow
Alessandro Volta

@kievlyanochka wrote:

Hi all,

After many years of avoiding Virgin (I don't have strong reasons), I have decided to try 👋 Virgin services.

<snip>

Why in 2023 Virgin will not use fibre? Surely it doesn't make sense? Is it because of trying to pre-set households quickly or are it technical limitations? 🤔

Virgin did not meet my expectations even before connecting me to their service 🙄

Am I missing something? 


The majority of VM's network (originating from the cable TV companies of the past) uses coaxial cable from the street cabinet to individual homes.

Later additions to the VM network use fibre optic to a wall box outside and a media converter which changes the fibre to coax wiring inside to the VM hub.

Some of the latest VM installations bring the fibre all the way inside the home.

The method used depends on the infrastructure in your area.

Client62
Hero

Gosh what utter nonsense.

Most VM connection are HFC which is Hybrid Fibre & Copper ( coax ) from the street cab the to consumer's Hub / TV kit.

In our area we have RFoG which brings the fibre up to the house but the last 10 meters are coax so the same kit as HFC can be used.

The coax can deliver more internet speed than is on offer to buy, it is not a limiting factor.

unisoft
Well-informed

@kievlyanochka wrote:

Hi all,

After many years of avoiding Virgin (I don't have strong reasons), I have decided to try 👋 Virgin services.

I have signed up for broadband 250 and expect a fibre connection to be set up soon. Strangely enough, the box has been connected to my house and there is coax cable has been run from the street, why not fibre cable? I would ignore the fact that the box was connected badly (not fully screwed to the wall, cable strongly nailed without conduit all of which can have an impact in the long run. 

After visiting friends this weekend, they showed their connection and they have fibre running to the house. Also checked this forum and can see that most all other members have fibre cable run to the building not coax. 

Why in 2023 Virgin will not use fibre? Surely it doesn't make sense? Is it because of trying to pre-set households quickly or are it technical limitations? 🤔

Virgin did not meet my expectations even before connecting me to their service 🙄

Am I missing something? 


In areas known as HFC, which is the majority of VM's network, it is coax cable which can easily still handle multiple gbps in terms of bandwidth. Slower upstream speed is nothing to do with coaxial cable. The network was originally designed for Analogue Television and adapted for DVB-C and Broadband capability, as inline with many other traditional cable TV networks. Some of VM's newer network segments use Fibre to the home and then coax from outside the wall of the house to set top boxes and HUB using RFoG and Docsis 3.0/3.1.

By 2028, VM are transitioning to XGS-PON and fibre to the home and dumping DocSIS as a result. They will not be investing in DocSIS 4.0 in the UK.

Thanks

It's sad, I did expect a fibre cable. 

Anyway, we put the cable in conduit to protect it from our future gardening work and fixed properly box to the wall. 

Will the Virgin installation engineer run cable under the floor to my cabinet area (under the stairs) or will they drill through the brick in a place they will find easy for themselves? 

Can I run the cable myself to have the esthetic finish?


@kievlyanochka wrote:

Will the Virgin installation engineer run cable under the floor to my cabinet area (under the stairs) or will they drill through the brick in a place they will find easy for themselves? 

Can I run the cable myself to have the esthetic finish?


The VM tech will, most likely, use the easiest/quickest means to install the cable. Surface mounting with clips is the norm.

You could perhaps install conduit under your floor with a draw rope to allow the VM tech to pull the cable through from the omnibox outside to your cabinet.


@goslow wrote:

You could perhaps install conduit under your floor with a draw rope to allow the VM tech to pull the cable through from the omnibox outside to your cabinet.


Already did it, though after the box has been installed in a different location, I will probably run another rope. I have ordered 15m of coax cable (the seller stated that it's virgin spec). I may run that instead and hope it will be accepted. 


@kievlyanochka wrote:

@goslow wrote:

You could perhaps install conduit under your floor with a draw rope to allow the VM tech to pull the cable through from the omnibox outside to your cabinet.


Already did it, though after the box has been installed in a different location, I will probably run another rope. I have ordered 15m of coax cable (the seller stated that it's virgin spec). I may run that instead and hope it will be accepted. 


If you have already installed the conduit, and you already have a VM tech coming, I can't see you would gain much (anything) by installing some third party coax cable which might be to VM's spec's. Let the VM tech install the actual cable used by VM and have the reassurance that your own new installation, and that of your neighbours, will not be adversely affected by any off-spec materials.

Thanks, I will take your advise on board.

 


@goslow wrote:

have the reassurance that your own new installation, and that of your neighbours, will not be adversely affected by any off-spec materials.

I wonder why my connection will affect my neighbours, surely it will only affect me while Virgin ensures that each household is independently connected. Am I wrong in my thinking? It suggests to me the opposite scenario when my neighbour's set up can affect me.