I want to change the room my VM Hub is in. What cable do I need?

kissenger · 8 May 2014 at 14:34

So long story short I recently got VM broadband installed and I asked the installer to put my Superhub in my living room, but now I want it in my home office, where my PC is (i.e., I want a hard connection for my PC, for gaming, and will make do with Wifi for everything else).

The VM broadband inlet is actually in the home office, which is lucky, so I thought I could just attach a short length of new cabling to the inlet and plug it into the Superhub, and leave the existing cabling running from the office to the living room intact in case I change my mind. But what cabling do I need to buy and would that work?

BuZ · 8 May 2014 at 14:57

Contact VM and a technician/engineer should be sent out within a working week (approx 5 days), although the cost varies depending on your circumstances (e.g. broadband package and contract information). I am 100% sure and definitely think the installation for a change of installation (not from new) is somewhere between £55 - £100 (unless you get it for free). New installations are generally free if you're changing house or something, as it is a circumstance so you shouldn't have to pay. I'd say "I have an issue with my connection" most likely they'll likely move it to another room for you (not sure if this will 100% work though).

Additionally to skip the hefty high price of paying, you could use Ethernet cables (100 metre - 200 metre), or alternatively Powerline adapters.

Nymins · 8 May 2014 at 15:12

He already has a VM inlet in the room he wants the Superhub in, so you could just buy some RG6 and some f connectors (i think they are F connectors?).

BuZ · 8 May 2014 at 15:14

Nymins said:
He already has a VM inlet in the room he wants the Superhub in, so you could just buy some RG6 and some f connectors (i think they are F connectors?).

+1 another alternative.

Steveocee · 8 May 2014 at 17:14

Its only coax cable and F connectors, if you need to cable through it couldn't be easier for you.
I had cut and moved my VM install about 15 mins after the installers left and I wasn't amazingly practical at that point in my life.

kissenger · 9 May 2014 at 20:54

Thought so, but just wanted to check. Thanks for the advice.

I've seen some coax with f-connectors already on being sold as 'satellite cable' so I'll probably go for that.

DJMK4 · 9 May 2014 at 21:23

Can't you just run cat5 or 6

Will save you and you don't have to mess around with service provider cabling

AlanJ · 10 May 2014 at 20:40

I have some vm spec cable and f connectors you can have for the price of shipping

HAz · 11 May 2014 at 00:09

AlanJ said:
I have some vm spec cable and f connectors you can have for the price of shipping

Lol

Duke · 11 May 2014 at 08:26

DJMK4 said:
Can't you just run cat5 or 6

Will save you and you don't have to mess around with service provider cabling

You're hardly messing around with it. He is just removing and leaving the existing cable in place and buying a very short length to the box on the wall which is already in the correct room.

Steampunk · 11 May 2014 at 10:09

There can be noise ingress issues when you do this yourself. Substandard cable, fittings that are not correctly crimped, loose F-connectors, etc, can introduce noise ingress into the whole of your part of the network.

If your DIY work causes network problems and your neighbours complain about poor service, VM will track you down at home, or if you're not in just disconnect you. Once they gain access to fix the problem, they may charge you for causing it in the first place.

I moved my Tivo around on its shelf a few weeks back, and I only did the VM-fitted F-connector finger tight. I then saw my downstream power jumping up and down by 10dBV, and glitches on the TV service. Just by moving the cables and using a proper torque spanner on the connector, everything has got stable at the correct power levels. That's with all original VM cables and fittings, no extra or replacement bits of home made cables. It's really surprisingly easy to introduce noise into the network, and is one of VMs biggest network management problems.

abbotsmike · 13 May 2014 at 02:26

Steampunk said:
If your DIY work causes network problems and your neighbours complain about poor service, VM will track you down at home, or if you're not in just disconnect you. Once they gain access to fix the problem, they may charge you for causing it in the first place.

I'd be impressed if they managed that, given that the last time we had issues, it took until the fourth successive technician came round to actually get the signal meter out, take it round the points in the house, then take it to the road cabinet and find the problem was a bad connection in there. He was also the first to notice that our external filter/splitter was one that should have been replaced 4+ years ago. We moved our TV across the living room, re-cabled the box with some decent cable (RG6 from memory) and good screw on connectors and it worked just fine. It's not rocket science!

Richard_16v · 15 May 2014 at 12:10

Steampunk said:
There can be noise ingress issues when you do this yourself. Substandard cable, fittings that are not correctly crimped, loose F-connectors, etc, can introduce noise ingress into the whole of your part of the network.

If your DIY work causes network problems and your neighbours complain about poor service, VM will track you down at home, or if you're not in just disconnect you. Once they gain access to fix the problem, they may charge you for causing it in the first place.

I moved my Tivo around on its shelf a few weeks back, and I only did the VM-fitted F-connector finger tight. I then saw my downstream power jumping up and down by 10dBV, and glitches on the TV service. Just by moving the cables and using a proper torque spanner on the connector, everything has got stable at the correct power levels. That's with all original VM cables and fittings, no extra or replacement bits of home made cables. It's really surprisingly easy to introduce noise into the network, and is one of VMs biggest network management problems.

I think you overestimate VM's fault finding abilities

Also, just because it has been done by an Official Engineer doesn't mean it is better than what you can do at home. With Sky I removed the "Professionally Installed" cable and replaced it with my own decent cable and compression fitted connectors and my signal went up quite a bit, now I always do my own cable runs.