Bitpipe Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 14 hours ago, mvincentd said: Sorry....penetrations in vertical walls (hmm, what other kind of walls are there!) Ah, yes, makes sense now Best to cast in appropriate ducts now, drilling after is a pain and you also need to angle the hole to fall to the outside which can be tricky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 I'm just trying to sort a phone line out. It seems to be harder than I think it should be, and feel sure someone will have cracked this already.... So, many months ago, our application was made online for a line. Openreach turned up on site within days, assessed the job, and dropped off a load of ducting and pull cord f.o.c for me to lay. Great service! Now, whilst l'm not in need of a connection, I'd like to get the cable pulled through and into the house at first fix. Openreach tell me I need to arrange it through our chosen service provider (talktalk - already in a contract that we're planning to transfer, when we're ready to move in). Talktalk tell me that to get a line in, we can take out a new contract at the new house (leaving us with cancellation fees on the current contract), or transfer the current contract, leaving us with no line in our current house. Both options seem a bit $h!t to me. Anyone been faced with similar please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 are you within the same exchange- do you want to transfer the number? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 No, different area code so no need to transfer number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted August 17, 2017 Author Share Posted August 17, 2017 I had a battle with TalkTalk for months over contracts as they just stuck to a rule that would want to make you hit yuor head against the no sense wall. I was told to email the CEO about how stupid their rule was and how they treated me who wanted to keep a contract with them. It got sorted within a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 I would not want to go back to Talk Talk. We changed to them in the days when they were offering free broadband if you signed up to them as you telephone provider. The catch was that only applied to unbundled exchanges and ours was not unbundled. But we went ahead on the promise that our exchange was due to be unbundled and the BB would then be free. I didn't do any homework, but it turned out there were no plans to unbundle the exchange, that had been a lie. Then we had a fault with the BB. Talk Talk did not want to refer the fault to Open Reach, because they got charged for that (not my problem) they just kept sending me a new router as "that must be the problem" I think I had 4 of them, all made no difference. In the end, I escalated it to the CEO. Because of the lie about free unbundled broadband I was able to leave the contract early and all the money I had paid for broadband was refunded. BT took over the connection again, still with the BB fault, but when I reported the fault to them, it got fixed. The moral of that, is don't trust what TT tell you, and if you get a fault, it may prove very hard to get it fixed. IMHO not worth saving a few £ for shoddy service. Re getting a connection., all you have to do is run the cables as Open Reach instructed you. So in our case the cable came into the house to where we wanted the master socket, across the site, under the road, and ended as a coil of cable above where the OR engineer told me their cable was. When we were ready to connect, I just contacted BT for a "new line" They sent OR to make the connection. The same surveyor I had seen 2 years ago came out first. I had to pay the BT £65 new connection fee, but most of that was then refunded when the work over ran and our connection was late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 17 hours ago, Roundtuit said: I'm just trying to sort a phone line out. It seems to be harder than I think it should be, and feel sure someone will have cracked this already.... So, many months ago, our application was made online for a line. Openreach turned up on site within days, assessed the job, and dropped off a load of ducting and pull cord f.o.c for me to lay. Great service! Now, whilst l'm not in need of a connection, I'd like to get the cable pulled through and into the house at first fix. Openreach tell me I need to arrange it through our chosen service provider (talktalk - already in a contract that we're planning to transfer, when we're ready to move in). Talktalk tell me that to get a line in, we can take out a new contract at the new house (leaving us with cancellation fees on the current contract), or transfer the current contract, leaving us with no line in our current house. Both options seem a bit $h!t to me. Anyone been faced with similar please? One option is to buy your own cable at TLC and pull it in yourself. 5 pair cable is about £60 for 100m. Leave the slack at their end of the duct run - what have you ducted to, a pole or BT junction box? Come connection time, when you're moving in, you order a new line from BT or whoever and when OR turn up, just point them to the cable and they're more than happy to make the connection at both ends. Quite a few threads here already about this - just search for OpenReach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 @ProDave to be fair, we've been with talktalk for years, and have been happy with the service, it just seems that theyre not equipped to deal with the non-standard. Openreach left us the ducting, but no cable or instructions relating to running one ourselves.. @Bitpipe Thanks - did search to find this thread, but doesn't putting your own cable in potentially leave you the mercy of an Openreach jobsworth? ( I know - the guys on the ground are usually great, but it would be just my luck...). We've ducted to the boundary, and that's within about 3m of an openreach cabinet thing. As an aside, the OR website says we can get super fast fibre, but talktalk say we can't. Assuming OR is correct, what sort of cable would we need to pull for that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 22 hours ago, Roundtuit said: @ProDave to be fair, we've been with talktalk for years, and have been happy with the service, it just seems that theyre not equipped to deal with the non-standard. Openreach left us the ducting, but no cable or instructions relating to running one ourselves.. @Bitpipe Thanks - did search to find this thread, but doesn't putting your own cable in potentially leave you the mercy of an Openreach jobsworth? ( I know - the guys on the ground are usually great, but it would be just my luck...). We've ducted to the boundary, and that's within about 3m of an openreach cabinet thing. As an aside, the OR website says we can get super fast fibre, but talktalk say we can't. Assuming OR is correct, what sort of cable would we need to pull for that? The OR surveyor recommended that we DIY the road crossing and pulling the cable and the guys who turned up were more than happy. Worst case you have an expensive pull cord in your duct :). Superfast fibre is just to the local cabinet, bog standard copper twisted pair from there through the 'last mile' to your pole / JB and then to your house. FTTK/H (fibre to the kerb/home) is still pretty rare in UK - I think Virgin are doing it in some areas? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roundtuit Posted August 18, 2017 Share Posted August 18, 2017 Thanks. After a long circular chat with talktalk again, followed by the same with bt, I'll have to conclude that their common sense shield is impenetrable. However, I managed to get the phone number of the OR guy who looks after our area, and he understood our position exactly, without having to explain it lots of times in different ways, and he's going to try and sort some cable out for us. Failing that, at least he's on board with diy cable pulling, so a good result! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvincentd Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Perhaps I was just lucky with a very nice guy at OR who handed me both ducting and cable free but the impression I got was that they actively wanted me to pull the cable...less work for them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 Has anyone managed to have a gas meter installed inside or is it a safety thing that they are always installed outside, in case there's a leak? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 They will only normally install in an external meter cabinet these days. Alternative is a ground box cabinet but only certain suppliers will do this and they also charge more for the meter as it's a different type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 Just Googled them - bloody ugly ain't they!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 Not when they are buried ...... should only see the lid ..!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted September 5, 2017 Author Share Posted September 5, 2017 I can only find semi buried ones like this https://www.strukta.co.uk/building-materials/meter-boxes/meter-box-ground-semi-buried-gas-brown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted September 6, 2017 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Yep those are the ones ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted September 6, 2017 Author Share Posted September 6, 2017 so ugly on the wall or ugly on the floor seem to be the only options lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted September 7, 2017 Share Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) @Vijay Perhaps a small evergreen bush and a clump of something perennially ornamental in the summer needs to be applied in front, with space behind for access for the Meter Man? Or some other suitable structure such as a garden bench? If that plan is N-to-top the meter location could be an amazing little sun trap. Or grow a vine or some wall-fruit? Edited September 7, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 Well Western Power refuse to let me have the meter box inside the house (unless it's on an external wall). There first reason was access to the pipe and when I said it would all be ducted, they suddenly started saying it's cos of the length of the pipe run under the house (B&B floor) will cause the main fuse to keep blowing. I argued asking what the difference was with it being buried for an extra ten meters but they just wouldn't have it, computer says no!!! So looks like I'll have to dig another trench to get the electricity duct over to the garage which is damn annoying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Temp Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 3 hours ago, Vijay said: the length of the pipe run under the house (B&B floor) will cause the main fuse to keep blowing. Yeah right. ..unless it's on an external wall The real reason is they want to be sure their wireless meter reader will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vijay Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 No problems if they just said that, it would be a reasonable excuse that I wouldn't argue with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 13 minutes ago, Temp said: Yeah right. The real reason is they want to be sure their wireless meter reader will work. ... or the posh smart meter box that Eon wanted me to have... "I don't want a smart meter, it's 27m from the meter to the house and your display box won't work" "That's not possible, we only install in external meter boxes in the house itself" "Mine is in the back of my gate wall...." "Who installed the meter, that's not something we would do..." "Eon did ......" Guess who's got a standard meter ..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney12 Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 I still have a standard meter. I marvel at the little silver wheel whizzing backwards like the clappers on sunny days when my PV is generating excess And yes all the relevant paperwork is in place with the DNO, I'm just basking in their incompetence 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triassic Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 The DNO has just moved our meter into an outhouse, we went from having a standard and off peak meter, to just having a standard meter. They just gave me the old off peak meter and said keep hold of it as someone from the electricity company might want it back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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