Recessed BT Phone socket

DogsBody · 4 Jun 2013 at 09:59

Will be moving into a new build house soon and as it doesn't have aphone line will be getting one fitted.

All the sockets downstairs are satin chrome.
So I bought a satin chrome faceplate.

Will the BT engineer use this, and also will he use a recessed backbox if I ask him ?

There are currently no wires showing in the property, the builder has even had twin coax run for sky to the outside wall and also a coax run to the attic for a TV aeriel.

It would annoy me greatly if I had to have an ugly BT socket on the wall.
(I think my brain might explode when I finally get round to having infinity as well)

DogsBody · 4 Jun 2013 at 13:27

bsoltan said:
Why on earth would a new build house not plan to put a phone line in? Is that normal?

As far as I am aware yes it is, to get a phoneline installed you normaly have to contact BT and sort out a contract with them, why would a builder setup a contract on a house that is being built to be sold ????

Is it then possible to remove the master BT socket myself and put the chrome faceplate in place ?

DogsBody · 4 Jun 2013 at 14:24

Jez said:
BT will install their own NTE5 thick master faceplate. You can simply remove this if you so wish and do what you like. The line will even work with an RJ11 crimped on the end and chucked straight into your router, so there is nothing to worry about from that angle.

Good info cheers.
Was just wondering what kind of magical trickery their own box does (the filter I mean)

DogsBody · 5 Jun 2013 at 00:11

bitslice said:
A pity he's talking nonsense then

No you can't.
If BT sees you have messed with their box, they will charge you for rectifying it.
BT own the NTE5 box, you can only plug your extensions into it.

Yes it does.
The NTE5 box contains a ring capacitor, the OOS test resistor and a surge arrestor, this is why they don't want amateurs removing the thing and using their own faceplates.
Extension faceplates contain only the connector, if you use one of those as a master then any line surge will kill your router, your phones won't ring and the exchange won't be able to run its overnight line tests to see if it's OK or not.

Bugger!!

DogsBody · 6 Jun 2013 at 11:41

What exactly does the NTE5 do ?
(should I get my popcorn ready for this answer

)

DogsBody · 6 Jun 2013 at 12:31

trying to decide if I can be bother now to be fair.

I have the house wired with Cat6 everywhere so master socket placement is not really that much of an issue and upstairs has not been fitted with the nice chrome faceplates anyway.
I was just wanting to put the phone socket in a certain place.

It sounds like more of a faf changing it when BT man has gone. I guess I can just put the socket behind where the sofa will go then no one will see it and I can just stuff the router on the floor behind the sofa as well.

I guess I am going to have a trailing wire anyway when the sky engineer turns up and tells me I need to have my sky box plugged into the phone socket anyway (still trying to think of a way around this one)

DogsBody · 6 Jun 2013 at 16:29

Got full size speakers on stands anyway so having kit on display is a meh point really.

Ideally yes I would have everything in cupboard and do it that way but that won't work in my particular scenario.
The thing is I gave the electrician the choice of whether to put the patch panel in the understairs cupboard or upstairs in the bedroom I will convert to my office, But I wish I had insisted on the cupboard downstairs now so I could hide everything.