Swapping hub 2 with aftermarket router to enable access to Openreach Fibre connectivity ?

[Jimmy]

Hello,

The house has previously had an BT ONT fibre box with Ethernet connection installed:

The newly received Hub 2 apparently has to be plugged into the Master socket via a DSL cable:

Can i buy a alternate router to use NOW broadband via the fiber connection (directly underground) or will there be no connectivity ?

Thank you.

[chilli2]

@Jimmy 

By FFTC do you mean FTTC (fibre to the cabinet)?

By ethernet router, if you put a second router after the now one you will have a situation called double NAT which will affect your speeds etc as the now router can not be used as in modem only mode.

 You will need a modem that can work with now, and then what you call an ethernet router, or a single box solution  containing it all .

Don't get modems, routers and switches confused.

 You can get cheap devices called switches,  but these are not routers, or WiFi access points

[Jayach]

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@Jimmy 

@Jimmy wrote:
I am still tempted to buy a Ethernet router on basis they can remotely switch providers for the installed connections at the house which also go to the exact same cabinet if anyone can give a definitive answer ?

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No they can't, your service will be provided over the medium for which it is intended.

Copper for FTTC (and ADSL) connections. fibre for FTTP connections.

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@Jimmy wrote:
Of note the house now has FFTP (as via Virgin Media) FFTC (as via Sky) and also the Master Socket which still works as a phone line as secondary to the Sky Q hub (and which also seems a gross waste of materials):

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You said earlier the Sky is using the ONT, if so that is FTTP. not FTTC. And, if it is FTTP the phone should be connected to the router.

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@Jimmy wrote:
Thank you, the contract does not read well and was last updated 2021 i believe and as such i do not know what service i will actually be receiving (@RoyB I requested 'Broadband Basics' for the advertised 36Mbps as is listed as 'Brilliant Broadband' in my account:

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Brilliant broadband is ADSL, max speed is approx 20Mbs, but is dependant on the distance from the exchange. Fab Fibre is the VDSL service with an average speed of 36Mbs 

[Jayach]

Ah, as you mentioned Broadband Basics, have you signed up for the social tariff, as only available to people on certain benefits?

What is NOW Broadband Basics? (nowtv.com)

[RoyB]

@Jimmy 

Although Virgin is indeed FTTP, it’s not Openreach FTTP, as used by Now and Sky (and a host of other ISPs); it’s carried over Virgin’s own completely separate cable infrastructure, which we might usefully call CTTP.

So it may be that you don’t actually have Openreach FTTP where you are - you would need to use a broadband checker to find out - but it does explain why having had that service would be no barrier to FTTC from Openreach.

[RoyB]

@Jimmy 

You said:-

Why would an after-market router not work as when "currently" the Now signal will go from the Master Socket to the phone lines, underground, and to the cabinet:

You were talking, I got the impression, about an aftermarket fibre router, designed to connect to the ONT?

The point is that if you take FTTC, there won’t be anything at the cabinet end of the connection to your ONT for the router to talk to.

If you wanted to replace the Now router on FTTC with an aftermarket VDSL/ADSL router (and who doesn’t? 😛) then provided you got one that supports MER 61, that would be fine.

Whereas an alternate with the FTTC connection will just skip the journey of the phone lines ?

I don’t understand this question.

I wonder if you have the right model in your head of how all this works?

If you have FTTC VDSL then a copper wire runs from the Master Socket in your house to the cabinet, where it is split between broadband and phone; it is connected to fibre, for the broadband, and a further, separate copper cable to the exchange, for phone.

If you have FTTC ADSL then a copper wire runs from the Master Socket in your house to the cabinet, where it continues to run over copper cable to the exchange, for both broadband and phone.

If you have FTTP, then a fibre cable runs from your ONT to the cabinet, where it continues over fibre. No copper, and no separate phone line; just VoIP if you want it.

If you have FTTC, nothing is connected at the cabinet to the fibre cable coming in from your ONT.

if you have FTTP, nothing is connected at the cabinet to the copper wire coming from your Master Socket.

[Jayach]

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@RoyB wrote:

If you have FTTP, then a fibre cable runs from your ONT to the cabinet, where it continues over fibre. No copper, and no separate phone line; just VoIP if you want it.

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The fibre for FTTP doesn't go back to the cabinet, they are just for copper.

The Full Fibre infrastructure is different.

[RoyB]

@Jayach 

Nor it does!

I always wondered why there were no green boxes on our estate!

[Jimmy]

@RoyB 

Apologies, 

The internal ONT, external junction box, are supplied by one of two wires connected to the nearest telegraph pole and the Master Socket is connected by a secondary:

wires 

I would like to make use of the ONT to connect to a television to watch BBC IPlayer:

The ONT only accepts a CAT5E Ethernet cable and so is factually incompatible with the Hub2 - whereas 'Wireless N Cable Routers' as with the current Sky Q hub, use CAT5E as primary ?

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'The point is that if you take FTTC, there won’t be anything at the cabinet end of the connection to your ONT for the router to talk to.'

This /\ please: can you confirm each house has it's own switch at the cabinet (i.e. will shortly be '1 on 2 off') and thereby save me the money and time of encountering even more redundancy...

Thank you.

[RoyB]

@Jimmy 

@Jayach reminds me that fibre doesn’t go back to the cabinet, it just joins the headlong rush down the main fibre ‘pipe’.

But even if you are physically connected to it, you need to be subscribed for fibre with an ISP before anything you send down the connection will get anywhere.

As we have tried to explain above, the VDSL/ADSL router from Now is indeed not capable of connecting to an ONT. I have no idea about Sky Hubs, but they must have a choice of a FTTC one and a FTTP one, depending on if you go full fibre with them or not.

With FTTC, the copper pair from your property have their own personal termination at the cabinet, where they go onward via fibre (VDSL) or more copper (ADSL). We will have to ask Jayach what exactly happens on the fibre connection from an ONT if somebody tries to stick data down it without having a suitable subscription with an ISP, but the non-technical answer is probably ‘nothing’.

[Jimmy]

You haven't explained anything:

Fiber to the premises is a Virgin Media fiber optic cable literally sticking out from the floor.

Fiber to the cabinet has literally been provided photographically of the copper wires to the telegraph pole going into the cabinet or i would not even be able to type this message.

Dial-up Internet access - Wikipedia

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Sky is 36 Mbps Now is advertised as 36 Mbps:

The difference is the Now 'Router' that was received, appears to be the exact same older model of the one that Sky collected prior to installing the ONS as has been repurposed for the exact same umbrella company.

SO WHY would 'Swapping hub 2 with aftermarket router to enable access to Openreach Fibre connectivity ?' not work ?