A few questions prior to our go live date

Help & Support
#1

I’m just wondering if we are still due to receive an engineer visit prior to, or on, our go live date (8th February)?

Also, the current BT phone line is installed next to the front window downstairs, but I’ll need the connection to be strong enough in the back bedroom where I have my office (basically at the opposite end of the house). If we do receive an engineer visit, will we have any say as to where they install the connection? The front bedroom would even be better than having to use the micro filter to connect downstairs as it appears no-one had any forethought regarding the placement of the phone lines and plug sockets.

#2

Does the current socket you have have Openreach written on the front at all?
If so, there is a good chance this might be activated remotely and not require an engineer visit.

How long have you been in the property? Sometimes although there is a socket there, if it’s been inactive for sometime, this can cause the line to be inactive and require Openreach to attend the home to get it activated. What this wouldn’t necessarily do is create a job where they’d relocate the socket - they would most likely just activate the existing socket in the home.

This is obviously only general advice. @jake or @Oliver would be able to look into your account and give specific advice for you :slight_smile:

#3

The current socket does not have Openreach written on it and it’s right next to a Virgin Media phone socket.

We’re currently living in temporary accommodation as we’ve been relocated by our landlord whilst they renovate our house (not the best timing imo). We should be here for 3 - 6 months, so Cuckoo seemed ideal as a temporary internet provider for our current living arrangements. We’ve been here for just over a week and we booked Cuckoo on the Friday before we left.

It also looks like there’s an old VM Cable internet connection in the living room, so I’m not sure that this house has ever been connected to OpenReach.

#4

Hiya @sbw957 and Welcome To The Cuckoo Community :smiley: :egg:

From what you have explained it sounds like the socket that your describing is related to the Virgin Media equipment…There are some occassions where that socket maybe part of the Openreach Network but controlled by Virgin Media or even just fully part of Virgins equipment.

If Openreach is needed to install a new line then this will be informed to you via email prior or the work will be carried out on the day of connection or soon after.

If the engineer is indeed required then you should get a text message (if your supplied your number at signup) from “SiteVisit” to advise an engineer is on route.

The “Openreach” lines are normally run from the front of your property to the Master Socket just inside the door or eg…main hall/lounge or in some cases a kitchen (unless you have paid for additional services to have extensions installed for an upstairs room or office as you mentioned) & will look like this.

Extensions can also be done by plug in kits & cable clips from any DIY Hardware Shop however :slight_smile: & then by plugging in your microfilter and connecting the router.

Cuckoo can also move with you back to your home after the renovation has been done 2 weeks prior to moving back from within your online account.
As they are more than just a Temporary Internet Provider.

Hope This Helps.

#5

These are the connections in the front room.

IMG_20210203_195629527
IMG_20210203_1956295274096×3072 2.77 MB

IMG_20210203_195808209
IMG_20210203_1958082092048×1536 1.07 MB

As you can see, the connections are a BT and VM phone line and an old NTL Cable Broadband connection. Will I require an engineer visit?

1 Like
#6

Hiya @sbw957

Thanks for the images This Is Brilliant i didnt ask for any from you earlier as i didnt check if images were enabled for your community account or not.

While I cant see any wires going up to the BT/OpenReach based socket like the Virgin Media socket has that doesnt mean that its not connected as it may actually be connected more neatly from the outside inwards and to the back of the socket,you can sometimes see a white cable going up to the top of the socket if you fully unscrew the lower half of the socket where the test socket is and look into the back cavity of the box.

A line test should be done to determinate if its an active socket or not and from the looks of things it may qualify for a remote activation so no engineer will be required.

That said if the BT Socket has been deactivated for quite some time and the Virgin Media/NTL Cable socket has been in use then an engineer may need to attend to confirm this and re-activate it to enable the remote activation if that makes sense.

You can actually find out if the socket can be remote activated using an unorthodox method yourself of checking TalkTalk’s website

https://www.talktalk.co.uk/shop/availability

for potential packages & input your postcode then hit “check availability” then select your address on the next screen and tick the box that asks if “you are moving to this property” and as it checks it will tell you if it finds a line or not if it does then packages will be offered to you and once it gives you your package results scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will see a section called " Useful information" this section will have a drop down box and it will say whether an engineer will need to attend or not and also a go live date then at this point just leave the checker as you already have the Cuckoo order going through.

Hopefully that will put your mind at rest.

1 Like
#7

Thank you for the advice. I may try that TalkTalk method tomorrow if one of the Cuckoo staff doesn’t perform a line test of their own.

Hopefully it will all get sorted for our go live day. :slight_smile:

#8

The line tests can only be run once they get notification that they have control of your line & this is when they will see if its live or not and will need to despatch the engineer.

They should however be able to see if the line was recently active or not.

Fear not if theres an issue just send an email to hello@cuckoo.co from your registered account email address and one of the team should get back to you ASAP.

#9

So, I performed the TalkTalk test and yes, we do need an engineer visit. Will that be automatically assigned or should I contact Cuckoo and let them know in advance?

1 Like
#10

Hiya @sbw957

Hopefully it will all be taken care of on the Activation Day and Cuckoo will see this on the system but theres no harm in sending in an email to the above address & in the meantime im going to nudge @alex & @jake to take a look at this prior however.