NBN Connection Question - Do I Need to Replace This Cable?

• 

  SnoozeAndLose on 19/04/2019 - 22:45

  which cable you are referring to Ethernet cable of the phone line alike cable?

  if you are talking about the cable from the socket to your modem, i dont think it need to be replaced.

  • 

    brokenxsmile on 20/04/2019 - 09:45

    Yes, the cable from the socket to the modem. I was wondering whether anyone has come across the need to replace that before when getting NBN

• 

  whooah1979 on 19/04/2019 - 23:01

  +4

  https://imgur.com/a/XcuKltI

  Dodgy work there.

  • 

    brokenxsmile on 20/04/2019 - 09:47

    Yes! I now remember why it is like this. When we had a home alarm installed, I vaguely remember them installing a splitter of some sort behind the panel, but can’t remember why the cable was installed like that…

    • 

      ESEMCE on 21/04/2019 - 14:01

      It may well be the splitter that is the problem especially if it is a star splitter (ie wires split off around the house from the split point) and has an whole house ADSL filter installed.
      Should at least get the splitter removed and leave just a single line connected, but FttN ideally should have new copper from the connection point in order to maximise connection speed.

• 

  neb2101 on 19/04/2019 - 23:36

  +1

  There should be no up-front fee for a standard nbn installation.

  Do I need equipment installed by NBN?

  • 

    IVI on 20/04/2019 - 02:43

    -1

    We were impressed by our
    NBN installer spending al-
    most an hour "getting our
    NBN100 service ticking"
    along (previously for ADSL).

    Luckily enough, our Node
    Box was across the street.

    While generally line of sight
    to your Node Box is Not a
    Guarrantee of a short cable-
    run, as she left, she told
    us that her test showed the
    existing wiring was capable
    of ~129 Mb / Sec, ie, ~30%
    more than we needed.

    I think she spent some time
    either cleaning or replacing
    all the junctions, between a
    wall socket & the shiny new
    NBN node box outside.

    No fee was charged…

• 

  nfr on 19/04/2019 - 23:55

  +1

  Just the cable? Telephone cables are cheap but they rarely fail, especially if it was working fine with adsl. Does iinet mean the wall socket? Maybe ask a different RSP, iinet is not that good anyway.

  • 

    brokenxsmile on 20/04/2019 - 09:49

    Yes, they advised the telephone cable needs replacing, which I found strange as it was working on ADSL

• 

  dcep on 20/04/2019 - 00:16

  it's a dodgy outlet but no need replacing, it'll work just fine as it should with adsl for fttn

• 

  alvian on 20/04/2019 - 02:10

  +2

  This is irregular cabling and not compliant to ACMA cabling standard. Where is the other end of that cable connected to? The outside telephone line should be terminated to a wall socket and not left as a bare cable with a plug. Find the first telephone outlet and plug the modem into that socket.

  If that bare cable with plug is the outside line, then it belongs to nbn and you and your cabler are not allowed to service it. You will need to ask nbn to come to have it properly terminated for free.

  (Everything inside the home from the nbn utility box (mounted outside the house) or the first telephone outlet (if no nbn utility box is used) onwards is your responsibility. Everything outside up to and including the nbn utility box or the first telephone outlet belongs to nbn. The nbn utility box or the first telephone outlet is the network boundary. An outside line should never be terminated with a plug as shown in your photo. An exception is if the outline line terminates at a central filter.)

  https://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Suppliers/Regulatory-arrang…

  • 

    brokenxsmile on 20/04/2019 - 09:53

    Thanks for your advice!

    I don’t know where the cable is connected to. It has been like that for 5+ years.

    I couldn’t remember why the cable comes through a hole like it does, but my other half remembers that when we had a home alarm installed the guy installed a splitter or something behind the plate so the alarm could have a line also. I wonder if that is the problem.

    • 

      alvian on 20/04/2019 - 17:37

      +2

      You may have a central filter and a mode 3 override splitter installed for your back-to-base monitored alarm. Your house might be wired as shown in figure 6, section 4.3.6 in this nbn document. I now believe that DSL cable shown in your photo is the blue coloured line in figure 6. If this is correct then your FTTN nbn should work, but nbn/iiNet will not service your house for free until you have it re-wired to the new standard (see below).

      Since FTTN has no available battery backup at the node, B2B alarms via VoIP don't work during blackouts and such systems are no longer recommended. (B2B via traditional landline doesn't work on FTTN period.) All reputable alarm companies are retrofitting their alarms for monitoring via the mobile network.

      Here is the important bit: The wiring in figure 6 of section 4.3.6 is obsolete for FTTN. It works for ADSL only. The mode 3 splitter, the central filter and all but one telephone outlets should be removed. The correct cabling for FTTN is this.

       Outside Telephone Line -- Telephone Socket -- Telephone Cable -- VDSL Modem/Router DSL Socket
      

      There should not be any telephone extension wired after the first and only telephone socket.

      Your computing devices connect to the VDSL Modem/Router via its Ethernet sockets and Wi-Fi. Your analogue telephone devices connect to the VDSL Modem/Router either through the special "Telephone/VoIP" sockets with telephone cables, or via an intermediate device called the Analogue Telephone Adapter (ATA) like this.

       Analogue Telephone --  Telephone Cable -- ATA -- Ethernet Cable -- VDSL Modem/Router Ethernet Socket
      

      • 

        brokenxsmile on 21/04/2019 - 11:12

        Thanks for your help! Some of it definitely went over my head, but has given me an idea of what needs to be done when someone comes out to fix it.

        We don’t need the alarm to be monitored or upgraded, but want to get the internet working!.

        Here is what it looks like inside the panel: https://imgur.com/gallery/3kXoIlJ

        • 

          alvian on 21/04/2019 - 12:25

          +2

          @brokenxsmile: I am not sure which panel we are looking at, where those blue sleeved Ethernet cables (being used as telephone cables) lead to, what that piece of circuit board with additional telephone sockets is doing (seems like a disconnected central filter) or why there is a piece of paper on the left hand side (improvised insulation?). None of them looks like the outside telephone line to me and I think something else is going on at the other end of one of those Ethernet "telephone" cables.

          This is one of those situation where we could look at your photos, guess what they are and what to do about your cables for days, when a competent cabler will solve the mystery within 10 minutes and the rewiring done up to standard within 30 minutes.

          To answer your original question, in this situation where you are uncertain of the internal routing of your cables, I would recommend asking a cabler to come sort out the mess. Ask for a sketch of the final internal wiring plan for reference.

          • 

            brokenxsmile on 21/04/2019 - 17:20

            @alvian: Thank you :) Appreciate you taking the time to reply.

            I wasn't expecting it to be solved, I was more wanting to see if anyone had experienced something similar before, and whether it could be simply the DSL cable or something requiring more work. Definitely sounds like the latter!

• 

  Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 20/04/2019 - 09:13

  What is the reason for it needing to be replaced?

  • 

    brokenxsmile on 20/04/2019 - 09:55

    I understand it is because the NBN modern isn’t receiving the required signal or something… I haven’t spoken to iiNet (account is in tenants name) or NBN yet, but was wondering if anyone has heard of having to replace the cable. Or perhaps there is another issue.

• 

  brokenglish on 20/04/2019 - 20:32

  -1

  No, absolutely nothing for you to do or replace inside the house.
  Why was there a discussion of you needing to replace something? Has the NBN even been ordered?

  Either your tenant is lying (trying to get some work done) or that iiNet person doesn't know anything about FTTN at all.
  What you need to do is just proceed to order the NBN from the ISP website (or your tenant if the bill is under the tenant's)

  Was in your situation, the NBN installer blokes (not iiNet) will do everything, takes time, but it will be done.
  If the fibre optic cables have already been erected to outside your house (meaning they've already dug something outside your house), then they will connect it to the phone controller/socket/thingy that's usually attached to the outside wall of your house.

  Only 3-4 months after my address was listed for FTTN that NBN blokes actually came to install it.

  • 

    brokenxsmile on 21/04/2019 - 11:17

    The tenant is definitely not lying. There is no benefit for doing so - the tenant is relaying iiNet advice. I think it’s more likely the iiNet person doesn’t know (from having dealt with them many times and eventually changing ISPs).

    NBN has reached the area and the tenant has swapped to an iiNet NBN plan. I don’t know if the NBN installers have visited the property.

    I think part of the problem is the splitter that was installed by the alarm company many years ago (https://imgur.com/gallery/3kXoIlJ).

    Were you without internet for the 3-4 months you waited or could you still use your ADSL?

    • 

      brokenglish on 21/04/2019 - 11:45

      Was still on ADSL. The splitter won't cause a problem.