This is a question I get asked repeatedly.
Can I move my Master BT Socket?
Is it legal to move the main BT socket?

There is no law regarding your master
BT socket. Just a contract.
When it was originally installed,
sometimes in such a ridiculous place,
you will want to move it.
Sometimes the wiring has been installed by the builder or electrician,
with no thought to the end users requirements.
Who wants a master socket installed behind their front door or on a window sill?

As the house owner you can have it
where you want it.
No one can tell you different,
it’s your house.
In regards to the original BT installation, that was to suit the person before you.
The contract in place is to protect the supplier from bad installation practices.
It does not give you any commitment to what you need.

BT Openreach, also do not hide wiring and ugly installations are commonplace.
Drilling through door and window frames, wires on show down internal walls.
Wires clipped to skirting boards and many more amateur techniques.

Want to move your master BT socket?
The place it is in presently, does not work for you?
This is no problem, as long as the work is competent.
Competent work will not interfere with your service,
causing unnecessary call outs.

Who’s going to know? Will it work?
There are no records of every wire installed in every house in the UK.
Once the incoming wire crosses your boundary – You are responsible for it.
As long as it is a competent installation,
it will be fine.

Is it dangerous?
No, It’s scarier crossing a London road.

Am I breaking the law?
What law is there to break?
You are in a contract with certain requirements.
Openreach are not the law,
just another large corporation.
If the cable comes from overhead,
“Do Not“ lower its height,
there are legal safety heights to respect.
Attach to where it meets your property and reroute to where you want it.

Does anybody really care?
I suggest “not really”, the socket is where you want it to be now.
You are what matters.

It is not a gas or electric meter

Touching it will not affect you.

You are only bound by a “contract” protecting the provider.
There is not a common law, involving the Police, about shifting a BT master socket.
Don’t be fooled by gossip.
Know the facts about a telephone socket & a piece of wire.
It’s not illegal to change it, move it or open it.

Would you really expect the police to be interested??
Been listening to forum chatter boxes that parrot, It’s illegal…
They have no idea or experience in what’s involved

BT boundary for your wiring responsibility

The picture below, taken from the Openreach website clearly shows the way they see your contract. It states:

BT Home Improvement Service – information and charges
We won’t be able to tell you if there’s a charge
until after an engineer visits your premises.
It’s free of charge if the problem is with our network
outside the boundary of your premises.

As you can see, the purple line denotes that you are responsible for any wiring
after the boundary line of your premises.
Moving the master makes no difference to the contract scenario.
You’ll still be responsible regardless of it being moved or not.

Can I move my Master BT Socket to a new location

Here is an installation of a master socket that the homeowner
was not at all happy about.
Would you be?
The Openreach employee had no idea of what they was doing,
drilling from outside, in to the house.
Damaging the window sill, leaving a loop of wire on show.
Showing how “not” to install a BT master socket

On this occasion, BT engineer London, removed the socket,
pulled the wiring back through and shifted the telephone cable
to where it should have been when first installed.
Down near the skirting and next to a power socket.
A reasonable place for any home and no damage to the property.

Openreach would not come back and fix their bad work:
Instead they quoted £130+vat + £69 per hour as a call out
Plus parts to replace the socket.

Can I move my Master BT Socket? Yes..!

My master socket is in the wrong place

I have seen master sockets installed in various strange places.
BT engineer London can move any socket to any location you require.
If your master socket is in the wrong place, we can move it.

This installation by Openreach shows a situation
you don’t have to put up with.
The client was told by the
Openreach employee,
“the incoming wire comes through at the top of the window,
the master socket needs to go at this point“.

This is not the case, you can have the socket anywhere you want
within the guidelines set out by your provider, during installation.
Rectifying the above was an easy fix.
Removing the BT connection boxes, pulling out the incoming wire,
then re-cabling it closer to the front part of the house. 
Drilled through the wall and installed the socket in a more acceptable location.
It now sits behind the TV in the lounge.

Can I move my Master BT Socket? – Of course you can!

Just don’t mess it up…! Or it could cost you.

Need to ask a question?
Not happy with your installation?
Leave a comment below

All the above scenarios were easily rectified and a professional job completed for the home owners.
You don’t need to put up with an ugly wire drilled through the window or on show along the wall.

The post Can I move my Master BT Socket appeared first on Ex BT Engineer London.

Generally speaking, over the years there have been various types of BT master sockets installed.
There is a specific style you should have as an end user, for todays technology to work efficiently and have a demarcation point.
This will allow you to verify if you have a fault on your house wiring or whether it’s in the BT network.
However, having the wrong socket fitted and calling Openreach in, to check for a fault can be very costly.

Master sockets in your home

The list below will show one of the sockets you may have installed your premises.
BT master sockets are generally fitted as standard nowadays.

Telephone socket 2/2A, (generally a telephone system socket) compared below
to a single 3/1A or twin 4/1A faceplate socket.

As a result of having the “small” system socket you have no way of testing the individual line coming into the premise,
if there is extension wiring attached.
The picture below shows two cables attached to the 2/2A socket.

One cable is the incoming service from your service provider (the one with black tape).
The other cable is feeding your extension sockets around your house.

Should you experience some type of fault, you only want to test the cable that feeds the socket, (The black tape cable).
You can’t do it. The two cables are connected to each other.
You cannot separate them from each other.
Thus, you have the wrong type of socket installed.

Regardless of the socket being a 2/2A or 3/1A,
you cannot disconnect the extension wiring from the main circuit
without physically removing the wires from the telephone socket.

Consequently, (should you get a broadband or telephone line fault), instead of just testing the BT side of the line,
you are testing the house extension wiring, including the external BT network wiring.
Specifically, you cannot tell if it’s your house wiring at fault,
giving the possibility of an expensive call out charge from Openreach.

A single or twin faceplate socket, likewise, is the same as the small system socket.
Therefore all your wiring will be connected together with no capability of testing the single incoming circuit
without testing your house circuit in tandem.
This is generally the piece of kit an electrician or similar amateur would fit
unaware of the problems they may be causing in the long run

BT master socket NTE5a

The most common at present, a master socket NTE5a.
If wired correctly, this will disconnect any extension wiring.
Just leaving the incoming line from the BT network attached.
All new installations should have genuine BT master sockets installed.

This has two small screws that undo, allowing you to pull off the front plate.
This actually allows you to test whether your telephone line or broadband is working correctly from the test point inside the socket
as your circuit is now within the limitations of the service provider contract you have agreed to.

With the screws removed you can pull off the face plate, this will reveal another socket within the body of the remaining plate.
This is your “demarcation” point, The point where your service providers commitment takes effect.
In most cases, you are responsible for the wiring leaving the faceplate.

BT NTE5a master with VDSL faceplate attached

Similarly you may have the nte5a with a larger cover socket on the front.

The VDSL plate is designed to stop the broadband signal from being transmitted along the extension wiring.
Thus eliminating any possible interference from the cabling, sockets or equipment plugged in to it.
All being well, the broadband signal you receive at the master socket with the VDSL front attached,
should be the best you can achieve.

The latest BT Master socket NTE5c

This has a pull off front, that again if wired correctly, will give you access to a test socket.
Allowing you to test whether your telephone line or broadband is working correctly.

If wired correctly, this will disconnect any extension wiring,
leaving the incoming line from the BT network attached.
In contrast to the NTE5a the NTE5c has the same demarcation abilities.
Its difference being it has a pull off front and the connections are of a clip down termination, not needing any tools.
Similarly to the NTE5a it also comes with a VDSL front plate
allowing the plate to filter the broadband service at source,
before it connects to your extension wiring.

It also has clip down terminations & a test socket inside

The post BT Master sockets appeared first on Ex BT Engineer London.