Why can't I choose my desired location for first jack installation in our house?

[QueryGuy]

Recently, Bell installed fibre internet in our neighbourhood, so we switched to try it (we are new to Bell). However, when the technician came to set up the first jack, we wanted to put it in the living room at the back of the house and were told that the first jack couldn't be put in our desired place because the pre-installed wire wasn't long enough. The only possible spot, which was the farthest the preinstalled fibre wire can reach, is in the middle of the house. They said if we insist on putting the first jack in the living room, we needed to pay $150 for a "professional installation". We called customer service and they told us the same thing. In fact, we only need about 20 more feet to reach the position we want in the living room. For our family, it doesn't make sense to put the jack in the middle of the house, because we barely use the area, and our technology is in the living room at the back of the house. There are no twists or turns to reach that location, so our request isn't unreasonable. The houses in our neighbourhood are similar lengths, so shouldn't Bell have made sure the pre-installed wire is long enough? Has anyone experienced the same situation? Are we not allowed to put the first jack in our desired location under regular circumstances?

[Vanadiel]

I am not sure what you mean with first jack, but the fibre connection from outside is put in a box, and then a different type of fibre goes from that box to your home hub.

So the location of the home hub is what matters if you wish to use wired connections rather than WiFi connections.

[QueryGuy]

Thank you for your information;

The Bell technician referred to the device where the outside fibre cable will be connected inside our house as the 'jack box' [you may google on the internet to see what it look like]. We are not sure whether a box connects two different wires or not, we can only see a black wire directly from underground. The technician will drill a hole and install that black wire in a jack box, and we will then connect our home hub from the technician after he installs the jack.

The cable from the ground outside is not long enough to install the jack box on the inside wall of our living room; the location of where we can put the jack box inside  is limited by the length of that cable.

[dks]

Thank you for the clarification. The “jack box” is a fibre connection between the inside and outside fibre. It is a transition point. That is normally a point close to your house utility entrance. An indoor fibre is then run to the Giga Hub. This sounds like a completely normal installation. 

[WelshTerrier · Accepted solution]

Good Day & Welcome to the Bell Community Forum.

Was this a Bell Internet self- installation or did you arrange for the technician to complete the full install at the time of your Internet activation? 

Did you discuss this with the technician at the time of the installion? If you did so, then there is no reason why he could not have extended the cable to accommodate your wishes.

If you are wishing to make this change after the fact, there would be a $150.00 charge to do this work.

It makes little difference which cables need to be extended. He has the proper equipment with him to extend any cable. E.g. Fibre, copper, Ethernet, etc.

I would contact Bell Customer Service and request to speak to a manager. Please call: 1 866 310-BELL (2355)

Thank you for posting your question.

Take care.

[Vanadiel]

ok, but the location of the box can be anywhere. You don't need it for anything after the home hub is installed, as everything get's connected to the home hub.

They typically try to hide that box a bit, usually near your power panel.

[QueryGuy]

We did speak to the technician when he arrived to perform the first installation, which was when he told us he could not extend the fibre cable without the extra charge. We did not perform the installation and rescheduled to ask for clarification before we make a decision. Thank you so much for the information, and we will definitely be calling to ask further.                                                     

[dks]

That is correct. You would then be using either a Cat6 network cable to extend your network from the Giga Hub to your devices or using a wireless connection to your devices. 

[WelshTerrier]

Good Day.

Thank you for your feedback. The information that you provided in your last reply reconfirms the reasoning for the $150 service charge. This sounds like a completely normal installation. To move the box to your specified location requires the fibre cable to be extended from the existing point of entry to your preferred modem location. 

Let us know how you make out & if we can be of further assistance to you.

Take care.

[QueryGuy · Accepted solution]

We finally got in contact with a manager, Ian, in one of their technical departments on the 22nd. She made sure we got a new technician to come over as scheduled, on the 23rd. Although the new technician recommended to install the jack box in the center of the house as well, unlike the first one, he extended the cable after we explained the situation. The only unsatisfied comment for the new technician is he didn't seal the exterior hole, which is where the outside fiber went into the jack box inside the house. We are now continuing with the self-installation.

Thank you everyone for all your great advice and comments!  Have a great weekend!