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CF overhead drop, external run, junction box questions

Qbcd

Super Pro Member
Hello,

I have a few questions regarding a potential Community Fibre install from an overhead drop from a utility pole. Hope someone can help me out before I order, would be greatly appreciated!

First, do they use the existing anchor point from Openreach or can they attach their own? The Openreach anchor in my case is at top left of the building, right by the adjacent building. I kind of need the Community Fibre to connect to the other (top right) end of the building and run down alongside a black drainage pipe, so the black fibre cable is not as visible. The building is painted sort of beige, so if they have to run along the side that has Openreach, it would be quite visible and I don't assume they can paint the cable. I can't paint it either, don't ask.

Related to that, if it can be on the other end, the cable will need to go down one side, then under a window to the other side, and finally enter from a hole near the ground by the front door. Then on the inside it'll have to run up the wall and into a network cabinet that is mounted to the wall above the front door.

That's a bit of a run, and from what I've seen they try to have short runs before they enter the building.

Next, as I said the cable will need to go into a rather small network cabinet. Do they have to have a junction box or can the cable directly connect to the modem? It would be ideal if the cable can just come into the cabinet and connect to the modem directly, but I assume their outside cable is thicker, so it can't be terminated with a standard fibre plug. Or they just have a policy where they don't do that.

If they have to have a junction box, are they okay running the cable up into my network cabinet and then fitting the junction box inside the cabinet with the cable attaching to it externally? I can't really have the cable in the wall with my setup as I described.

And finally, does anyone have the dimensions of the junction box? I can't find them anywhere, would be greatly appreciated! Space is limited in this cabinet, so I might have to have the junction box on the outside of the cabinet, but hopefully not.

Sorry... lots of specific questions, I just don't want them to show up and then it turns out it can't be installed the way it needs to.
 
Hello,

I have a few questions regarding a potential Community Fibre install from an overhead drop from a utility pole. Hope someone can help me out before I order, would be greatly appreciated!

First, do they use the existing anchor point from Openreach or can they attach their own? The Openreach anchor in my case is at top left of the building, right by the adjacent building. I kind of need the Community Fibre to connect to the other (top right) end of the building and run down alongside a black drainage pipe, so the black fibre cable is not as visible. The building is painted sort of beige, so if they have to run along the side that has Openreach, it would be quite visible and I don't assume they can paint the cable. I can't paint it either, don't ask.

Related to that, if it can be on the other end, the cable will need to go down one side, then under a window to the other side, and finally enter from a hole near the ground by the front door. Then on the inside it'll have to run up the wall and into a network cabinet that is mounted to the wall above the front door.

That's a bit of a run, and from what I've seen they try to have short runs before they enter the building.

Next, as I said the cable will need to go into a rather small network cabinet. Do they have to have a junction box or can the cable directly connect to the modem? It would be ideal if the cable can just come into the cabinet and connect to the modem directly, but I assume their outside cable is thicker, so it can't be terminated with a standard fibre plug. Or they just have a policy where they don't do that.

If they have to have a junction box, are they okay running the cable up into my network cabinet and then fitting the junction box inside the cabinet with the cable attaching to it externally? I can't really have the cable in the wall with my setup as I described.

And finally, does anyone have the dimensions of the junction box? I can't find them anywhere, would be greatly appreciated! Space is limited in this cabinet, so I might have to have the junction box on the outside of the cabinet, but hopefully not.

Sorry... lots of specific questions, I just don't want them to show up and then it turns out it can't be installed the way it needs to.
It's a new drop. They use a junction box. Box aprox. dimensions are 95mmx85mm20mm. From the box to the modem it's a standard optical patch cord which you can buy longer runs if needed in Amazon. Have a look at what I done, you pretty much want the same thing.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/fttp-hide-cable.39176/
 
It's a new drop. They use a junction box. Box aprox. dimensions are 95mmx85mm20mm. From the box to the modem it's a standard optical patch cord which you can buy longer runs if needed in Amazon. Have a look at what I done, you pretty much want the same thing.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/talk/threads/fttp-hide-cable.39176/
Thanks, I read your thread, very nice install! Your setup is similar to mine indeed, though your house is much nicer, with mine I'm perfectly ok having the bare cable just follow the drainage pipe, and then it'll have to go under a window near the ground, all as I explained, quite elaborate but it doesn't seem they mind having a longer outside run.

I might have an issue with ladder access as well, you got lucky that they brought a cherry picker. In my case I seriously doubt they'll be able to use a ladder as there is a brick barrier/fence thing not too far from the front of the building, so the angle of the ladder would have to be quite tight, not sure it would work...

I wonder if I can just request a cherry picker, warn them in advance it may be needed, maybe even send them a picture of the front of the property and draw on it where I want the cable to go, don't know if they would care for that.

Phew, I have about 90mm of side-to-side clearance where I want to put the box, so 85mm barely fits. It may be tricky to drill there, you think they'd be ok with using glue or something...? Or even Velcro tape, if the back of the box is closed and flat, which it probably isn't.
 
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Don't bother asking for cherry picker, they are so bad at passing down info from CS to installers. And sometimes it's not even CF installing but a third party, depends on the area. CF certainly has crews with cherry picker but again there could miscommunication here. See how that went for me on this post. So I will advice to book normally and wait and see what you get. If they say they can't do it, then push CS to get a cherry picker install. Sometimes there are have crews multiple crews in the area, and can come do stop by quickly which is what happened to one of my neighbours where the installer called the base and the base routed the cherry picker to come and assist.

If you want to have a guaranteed installation success then run the conduit yourself and have it ready with a pull string. I hired a ladder from a local company and it only costed me £ 50 for the weekend with pick up and drop off (they have weekend deals as builders tend not to work at weekends). Off course it will still be hard for you to use a ladder but you can look for more "creative" solutions. Be safe!
 
Don't bother asking for cherry picker, they are so bad at passing down info from CS to installers. And sometimes it's not even CF installing but a third party, depends on the area. CF certainly has crews with cherry picker but again there could miscommunication here. See how that went for me on this post. So I will advice to book normally and wait and see what you get. If they say they can't do it, then push CS to get a cherry picker install. Sometimes there are have crews multiple crews in the area, and can come do stop by quickly which is what happened to one of my neighbours where the installer called the base and the base routed the cherry picker to come and assist.

If you want to have a guaranteed installation success then run the conduit yourself and have it ready with a pull string. I hired a ladder from a local company and it only costed me £ 50 for the weekend with pick up and drop off (they have weekend deals as builders tend not to work at weekends). Off course it will still be hard for you to use a ladder but you can look for more "creative" solutions. Be safe!
Right, I saw that thread, I'm glad it got sorted out quickly. It's like you got unlucky and lucky at the same time.

Ok well in that case I will book normally and if they can't run the cable where I want it, I will just tell them to come back with a cherry picker and will continue pestering customer service, hopefully it can work out.

I won't need conduit, my situation is nowhere near as neat as yours, but still I can't have a black cable come down across the light-colored building, it would be very visible and ugly. :D I hope they can neatly staple/affix it where I need it to pass though.

Fingers crossed, I will post an update when it's done, looking to schedule it around beginning of September.
 
Thanks for this, was really useful as I'm planning on running some conduit for my upcoming installation.

One question I had is about the entry from the external to the internal. My plan was to drill a brick underneath the suspended timber floor and run conduit to the under the stairs location. Do they generally fit a box outside the property at this entry point, or is it similar to other ISP's where its just a hole though the wall and the junction box would be inside?

As the hole in the bring would be 20mm I'd want to make sure it's covered so I was thinking of just adding something like https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-...of-outdoor-enclosure-75mm-x-53mm-x-85mm/33991 externally, but If they used some kind of boxing externally, it would seem unnecessary.
 
Thanks for this, was really useful as I'm planning on running some conduit for my upcoming installation.

One question I had is about the entry from the external to the internal. My plan was to drill a brick underneath the suspended timber floor and run conduit to the under the stairs location. Do they generally fit a box outside the property at this entry point, or is it similar to other ISP's where its just a hole though the wall and the junction box would be inside?

As the hole in the bring would be 20mm I'd want to make sure it's covered so I was thinking of just adding something like https://www.screwfix.com/p/british-...of-outdoor-enclosure-75mm-x-53mm-x-85mm/33991 externally, but If they used some kind of boxing externally, it would seem unnecessary.
CF is not fitting any boxes outside, only a small junction box inside. As I wanted to repurpose my conduit for other ISP installations as well I decided to fix my own junction boxes inside and outside, as you can see from my post. I used a 25mm PVC conduit to join the outside and inside boxes, so it was also easier to seal it as I had the 25mm pipe come out in the middle of my outdoor junction box allowing me to seal all around it using silicon. As the outdoor box I used a BG IP66 Junction Box. Similar to the one you linked but better IP rating and slightly bigger. I am glad I done that outside box as I have now used it to get main power to my new AC split unit. It's also something you might need anyway as conduit might be too large to pass a cable and you might need inspection chambers anyway.
 
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Awesome thanks, I guess my plan differs from yours in that I wont have a junction box internally (as I'll be coming in under the floor). Using a piece of PVC conduit for the through the wall part is a great idea though. Internally i would expect it to look something like this (obviously taking slow turns to make sure the fibre doesn't have to take any sharp angles.
Screenshot from 2023-08-23 14-27-37.webp
 
Awesome thanks, I guess my plan differs from yours in that I wont have a junction box internally (as I'll be coming in under the floor). Using a piece of PVC conduit for the through the wall part is a great idea though. Internally i would expect it to look something like this (obviously taking slow turns to make sure the fibre doesn't have to take any sharp angles.
View attachment 7959
What's the length from the external junction box to the router under the stairs? What do you plan to use for that run? I presume that part wil be eventually covered/not accessible right?
 
The length of the run I think would be around 6-8m, I was planning on using something like https://www.screwfix.com/p/deta-corrugated-conduit-20mm-x-10m-black/234PV clipping the conduit to the bottom of some joists. Eventually it wouldn't be easily accessible as UFH would eventually be placed under the floor also
Yeah I was going to suggest to go for flexible corrugated conduit as PVC one will be hard to bend in the shapes you have in your drawing. I would go for 25mm to future proof it. While it might be overkill it will be painful to access the conduit if you have any issues. Fibre cable is not thick but you could for instance use it to run mains power for a future electric car charger, assuming your mains consumer unit is under the stairs as well. Make sure you pull few cord/strings to allow for the installer to pull the fibre cable easily, he will be very grateful as it will save a lot of time. And make sure you tie the extra cords in such way that they can't be pulled by mistake, you always want to have at least one cord left to pull more cables as needed. Finally I used some small piece of pipe insulation at each side of my conduit to prevent draft or insects from travelling the conduit.
 
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On a totally separate note, I wonder if I will get a junction box with the new logo if I order early next month. Not that I care much haha. The new branding is ok, except the logo imo, looks like the copyright logo/Pac-Man.
 
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On a totally separate note, I wonder if I will get a junction box with the new logo if I order early next month. Not that I care much haha. The new branding is ok, except the logo imo, looks like the copyright logo/Pac-Man.
Guaranteed you won't! The marketing department is always way disconnected from the physical world...
 
And how much they paid for the new logo and styling. I'm amazed sometimes, companies will pay a million dollars and I know a graphic designer who can do a better job for $500 LOL.

The new logo, that shade of green, plus the name of company sort of make it seem like it's an environmental NGO or something like that haha. It's not bad, but I'm not getting a technology/internet vibe from the new site.
 
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