Master socket wiring Diagram post BT infinity install

Fishcake

Fishcake

Fishcake

Associate
Joined
8 Dec 2008
Posts
20
Does anyone have a wiring diagram showing what the BT engineer does to the master socket to install BT Infinity?

I assume they just connect the previously unused wires in the master line to an ethernet socket in the master socket.
The reason I ask is I want to work out how this should be done prior to a BT engineer getting their sticky mits on my wiring. I dont have a standard phone install.

Talking to BT will yield little to no information given past experience, so I was hoping someone here has opened their master socket post install and checked. Googling, I found nothing.

thanks in advance.
 
All they do is fit a filtered faceplate to the existing master socket. There's no alteration to the incoming wires at the premises end.

There's a BT guide showing the removal process here that shows how it fits.
 
Thanks did not find that, suggests that they rewire the master socket to allow the infinity signal through to the new face plate (standard bt phone wiring only uses 2 wires in the master). Problem I have is I don't have a standard master socket so the face plate won't work. Hence I want to understand how the wiring works to check what I am told when the engineer starts breathing in through his teeth, rubbing his chin and saying "going to be expensive that".

I have dealt with bt engineers on two occasions, first time they turned up and did nothing (but tried to charge anyway having assured me there would be no charge) the second time took 3 visits and many calls and they managed to damage my property and then take 3 months to even think about compensation....don't want to make this thread a moan about bt engineers but you can see why I want to know how the infinity signal is wired through to the face plate.
 
There will still only be one pair of wires coming into the premises.

If you haven’t got a modern master socket they’ll just fit one, and it shouldn’t cost you anything extra.
 
Hmmm, not convinced. If that was the case they would let you install the face plate as it would require no wiring. I think bt lines carry more than 2 wires in the cable to your house, they just use only 2 for phone signals.

Happy to be wrong on that :-)
 
Believe me, or not; your choice.:)

There are multiple pairs in the BT cable. Only one pair is used.

There were no modifications to my wiring (at the premises end) except for the installation of the filtered faceplate. This is FTTC not FTTP!
 
Correct, the physical cable coming into the house has multiple pairs in the event you want additional lines etc, but a single phone line only uses one single pair.

When you get Infinity installed the same single pair your phone line uses is required. Infinity is just VDSL which as the name suggests is just another form of DSL so it works by using unused frequencies on the phone line that are not required for the voice service. The faceplate BT fit on is simply just a filter but it's neatly integrated into the socket. It's nothing special, no other pairs are wired up. In fact, I'm sure even regular ADSL filters will still work for VDSL as I have seen a couple of VDSL installations with the original BT engineer installed 2001-era faceplates left on and it works fine.

When I had Infinity installed, the tech just took off my standard BT only faceplate, put the new VDSL faceplate on and that was it. Just unscrewed the old and screwed on the new. No wires were involved whatsoever because I have no extension wiring.

They used to do exactly the same back in the early ADSL days too. When I first got ADSL installed back in 2001 it was engineer installation only and BT charged £150 for the privilege. A year or two after they allowed users to do the self-install with plug in filters. I imagine this will happen for VDSL eventually also, just while it's a new product they want to be sure everything is ok.

As already mentioned, if you don't have a standard BT socket they should fit one and it shouldn't cost you any extra. Worst case scenario is that they should fit in a data extension kit (nothing more than an unfiltered data socket for VDSL only) and piggyback this as an extension off your current master.
 
Last edited:
Ok thanks very much. Still going to be tough with the bt engineer, I have a patch panel with a connection to the master cable through an MK module. Probably too much for a bt engineer. Will consider options carefully. Thanks for the help and your time.
 
Fishcake said:
Hmmm, not convinced. If that was the case they would let you install the face plate as it would require no wiring. I think bt lines carry more than 2 wires in the cable to your house, they just use only 2 for phone signals.

Happy to be wrong on that :-)
Click to expand...

It all depends on the building.
If you have a cable running from a pole outside your house, chances are it contains two pairs of wires for telephony (or any other BT service) and a strengthening wire. That's assuming the cable is less than ten years old, otherwise it may be a single pair of wires, and they will probably replace it when they perform the infinity install.
If your in a reasonably new build you may have a underground cable directly to your house, this may contain up to six pairs of wires, but usually only two.
Internal telephone cable usually caries three pairs (and it's commonly known as six wire ;) ).
 
Interesting info re pairs. Seriously tempted to go down the line bonding route once 80/20 product is available.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom