Sky FTTP put box in wrong place and lied about how it works

[Carole+Goff]

We recently agreed to upgrade to Full Fibre. I know a little bit about communications and how things need to be connected etc. Our agreed date for installation was 9th October. Today (1 Oct) completely unnannounced Kelly Communications (Open Reach subcontractor?) just started drilling on the outside of the house. No warning nothing. I had no idea who they were or what they were doing. So I went out and asked whats going on and he said hes setting up fibre connection. Letting slide the complete disregard and rudeness of not even taking 10 seconds to knock on the door and explain who he was and what he was doing I said ok but we need the cable from the pole here not where youre putting it. He basically said hes putting it here and thats that. I explained to him if he placed the box where he was then we would have to run a cable all the way through the house to get to the modem assuming a box will be fitted on the wall on the inside of where hes placing the box outside. He mumbled something about thats not how it works but it very much is how it works. As he was avoiding my questions, while continuing to install in the wrong place and he clearly didnt want to be there anyway I said fine install it but when the person comes to fit the internal part comes and they confirm a box does indeed need to be placed in the same place on the inside you can come back and take it all out as we wont be having it.

I called Sky and spoke to a very snotty man who insists we have no say in the matter about placement as it comes down to expert knowledge and the fact fibre cable cant be bent more than 30 degrees. All of which I already knew and completely appreciate. However where we need the cable placing is no different to where he has now put it in terms of technical issues etc. The cable would still attach to the the same face of the house (front) it would simply need attaching at the right side as you look at it instead of the left side where he has put it. Infact the angle which the cable reaches the house is more accute where he has put it than it would be where we need it proving that the placement where we need it would have been better. Its clear from his attitude before I had even said anything to him he didnt want to be there and he ran the shortest possible length to the house as possible because hes lazy then tried to fob me off saying the outside box doesnt need to connect to the inside box and also we dont need to run ethernet from the inside box to the modem. Which we do hence why Sky sent out an ethernet cable yesterday.

So Im not sure if anyone from Sky will see this I hope they do and can get this cable moved because if not we will most likely be refusing the final part of the installlation and leaving Sky after 25 years. The snotty Sky man on the phone did not care one bit about losing such a long standing customer which is a shame as we have had no real issues or complaints with Sky in said 25 years.

Any tips on what can be done would be appreciated. If Sky can reach out and get a surveyor out to prove my case regarding placement that would be appreciated.

[JimM1]

@Carole+Goff Sign off the times i am afraid, and yes he should contact you and go through the what's best but then again they all think that what is best for them! Regarding the position off the new ONT to be fitted then contractor's to OR without a shadow off doubt do as they think, sometimes that is also based on other homes, done before, but you now have the time to just stop it all or if not MY ADVICE, see how easy it is going to be to run an Ethernet cable from Where to Where and take care off that part yourself.

Trust me it's an uphill fight and one not worth having!

[Carole+Goff]

The ethernet cable will need to run full length across the living room either run around two walls and back on itself down the hallway (60ft ish of cable) or drilled through a wall only to be confronted with the front door in the hallway which would need running up one side, over the top then down the other to meet the modem where everything else is attached.

If he had put it where we need it he would literally just have to move across 20ft or so across the front of the house and attach it there. No more difficult or technically challening. Like looking at your screen now. Instead of top left, attach it top right so when you run it down to the bottom everything is in place.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Carole+Goff wrote:

 he ran the shortest possible length to the house as possible because hes lazy 

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Having the drop cable run with least distance between CBT (the distribution point in the street) and CSP (the external Customer Service Point) is standard practice: it reduces material use and the vulnerability of the link.

[Carole+Goff]

I appreciate that but placing where we need it will create no further techincal challenges and because of the angles involved the extra bit of cable is probabaly 3 meters tops.

[TimmyBGood]

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@Carole+Goff wrote:

 If Sky can reach out and get a surveyor out to prove my case regarding placement that would be appreciated.

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That won't happen: it's outside the remit of any Openreach client ISP, and there are no such 'surveyors' on Sky payroll anyway.

You might convince Sky to raise a complaint with Openreach for investigation by themselves: as the employer of subcontractors such as Kelly they do have staff in that role.

Realistically though, Openreach is attempting 85,000 new FTTP installations every week between now and the end of 2026 and is putting significant pressure on its own staff and subbies to complete any individual job as fast as possible.

[Carole+Goff]

A diagram of the madness.

[TimmyBGood]

@Carole+Goff 

Again, shortest distance from pole (or duct) to external wall is standard practice.

[Carole+Goff]

Also just realised all of the CCTV cameras and everything related will also need rewiring too.

[JimM1]

@Carole+Goff Question for the 2nd part, is it possible to run the External from the CSP where it is just now, along the outside off the home pinned to the wall, would be a black outer, then come in at your door location, OR and the contractors do try to ensure no possible damage to the delicate fibre as much as possible outer is well protected inner is not, and as @TimmyBGood has pointed out, time etc may just be the overall factor, some off the contractors are just not willing to play ball, this is the way and take it or leave it OR are somewhat more flexible but just depends on the day!

[cuke]

Looks like a cable could be run externally but that will, unfortunately, incur further cost for a installer.

[Chrisee]

@Carole+Goff Kelly Communications are sub-contractorscwho work for Openreach and you should have been warned about the external work according to this https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/full-fibre-broadband-installation-checklist#accordion-b43... that you weren't comes as no surprise as these guys are paid by the job. 

Hopefully who ever does the internal install is more helpful. They should ask where you want the ONT and hub situated and the pigtail fibre cable they use is 10m long but some is required to be coiled in the CSP but it can be pinned to the wall to run horizontally from the CSP to a better access point. You maybe lucky and the engineer might be carrying a longer pigtail although in theory they shouldn't use one on a standard install. . Sky's own engineers are pretty helpful as are Openreach's own staff but only the engineer on the day can say what is possible although you can decline the installation I would avoid getting to that point. .

[Carole+Goff]

I wasnt informed at all that they were coming. Openreach says 9th October (next week). Im sat at home and all of a Kelly Coms is drilling into my house!

I have now called Kelly Comms head office and the customer care lady was brilliant! She said as long as I hadnt signed off on anything then they can move the box, especially as I had no idea they were coming, was not shown any ID nor initally consulted then ultimately dismissed  by the engineer. She wrote some serious amount of notes too I coud hear her tapping away. Im now awaiting a call from the engineers manager and its likely they will move it. Especially as it will take a few months of rewiring the entire house, leaving us without CCTV and the Alarm I forgot about that as well. 

[JimM1]

@Carole+Goff Hope you have also considered that when you go FF that the Alarm and CCTV are all digital compatable for operation time to look as you have it now!

[Carole+Goff]

Ive spoken to the alarm people after realising it will mean messing around with it all and they said the phone alert system will stop working as phone will be coming from a new digital source but they will come out and sort it for us when the change happens.