Getting Your Business Broadband Installed Successfully: What to Do Before, On and After the Day

Once the order is placed, the carrier gives an installation date. It is an estimate, and it can move, but the visit itself is fixed once confirmed. Between now and then:

1. Decide where the line terminates. The engineer installs a termination point (an ONT for full fibre, an NTE for other services) and will put it where you tell them, or where is easiest if you do not. It needs to be where your network lives: the comms cabinet or server room, next to the firewall and switch, with a mains socket within reach. A line terminated at the front desk because that is where the engineer was met is a line that has to be moved, at a cost, before it is useful.
2. Check the route. The cable has to get from outside the building to that room. Look for an existing duct or entry point, a route along walls or above ceilings, and anything in the way. If the cable has to cross someone else's part of the building, sort permission now.
3. Get the permissions. In a leased or shared building the landlord or managing agent usually has to approve drilling and cabling, sometimes with a formal wayleave. This is the single most common cause of an install being abandoned on the day.
4. Power and space. A double socket in the cabinet for the termination equipment and the router, and space for them. A socket that is behind a rack or already full is the sort of thing that stops an install at 3pm.
5. Make the workspace safe. The engineer will be working in your comms cabinet, along the cable route and possibly at height or outside. Clear the route and the cabinet area of boxes and clutter, make sure the room has working lighting and is not being used as a store cupboard, and tell us about any hazards in the building: asbestos in older premises, live electrical work, restricted areas, machinery, or anything that needs an induction or a permit to work. Under our terms the client is responsible for the health and safety of visiting engineers on their premises, and a site that is not safe is a site the engineer is entitled to walk away from.
6. Tell us anything unusual. Listed building, a shared riser, a security-controlled server room, a site that needs an induction or a permit to work. We tell the carrier before the day so the engineer arrives prepared.

Where the carrier's survey finds that new ducting, a pole or extra cabling is needed, it quotes excess construction charges before the work goes ahead. You decide whether to proceed; we will tell you what the options are.

Someone with authority must be on site for the whole appointment window, typically a morning or afternoon slot, sometimes all day. They need to be able to let the engineer in, show them the route and the termination point, and make decisions if something is not as expected.

This is the part that matters most. If the engineer arrives and cannot get in, nobody is available, the room is locked, or the site is not ready, the visit is aborted. The carrier charges an abortive visit fee, which is passed on at cost with an administration fee, and the install is rebooked at the back of the queue, often two to four weeks later. A missed slot is the most expensive thing that can happen to an install, and it is entirely avoidable.

Leave written notes for whoever is on the front desk. Reception changes, people take lunch, and the engineer will ask the first person they see. A one-page note covering who the engineer should ask for, where the line goes, where the keys are and our phone number saves a lot of confusion. We can supply the note.

Tell the engineer to call us if anything is unclear. We work with Openreach, CityFibre, Virgin Media Business, BT Wholesale, TalkTalk, Sky Business, Vodafone and the rest every week, and the engineers are used to speaking to us. A two-minute call about where to terminate or what to do about a blocked duct is far better than a guess, and much better than an aborted visit. Our number is on the note.

Keep the workspace safe while they are there. Nobody using the cabinet or the route while the engineer is working, no doors propped open onto the street for the cable and left unattended, and a word to staff that there is an engineer on site and where. If the engineer raises a safety concern, take it seriously; they will not, and should not, carry on regardless.

Let them finish. The engineer tests the line to their termination point and confirms it is live with the carrier. Do not let them leave until you have seen the lights on the equipment and, ideally, they have confirmed sync with us.

The carrier's job ends at the termination point. Ours starts there.

• Router and firewall. We configure the firewall for the new line, either in advance so it is a case of plugging in, or on the day, remotely or on site depending on the setup.
• Testing. Speed, latency, the public IP address, any static addresses that were ordered, and the services that depend on the line: phones, card machines, remote access, cloud applications.
• Cut-over. The old line stays live until the new one is proven. Phones and anything with a fixed address are moved across in a planned change, not by pulling a cable.
• Backup. Where you have 4G or 5G failover, we check it hands over and back.
• Cancel the old service. On the right date, after the new line has been running cleanly, so you are not paying for two lines or, worse, cancelling the only one that works.
• Documentation. Circuit reference, the carrier's fault line, the termination point, the equipment, and who to call. You should never need it; you will be glad of it if you do.

The charges for aborted visits, excess construction and site visits are set out in our terms and conditions, which are attached to every quotation.

• The date slips. Carrier dates are estimates until the visit is confirmed, and they move for reasons outside anyone's control. We chase and keep you told. For office moves we put a 4G or 5G backup in first so the business is not dependent on the date.
• The engineer cannot get the cable in. A blocked duct, no route, or permission missing. Sometimes fixable on the day with a call to us; sometimes a survey and a second visit. The earlier we know about the building, the less often this happens.
• The line is live but nothing works. Usually the router or firewall, not the line. We test the line at the termination point first, then work outwards.
• The line was put in the wrong place. Moving it is a chargeable visit. Deciding the location before the day is the whole point of the section above.
• Excess construction charges arrive. You decide whether to go ahead, defer, or choose a different carrier or service. We lay out the options.

Before the day

• Termination point decided: comms cabinet or server room, with a mains socket and space.
• Cable route checked from outside to the cabinet.
• Landlord or managing agent permission in place.
• Workspace safe: route and cabinet clear, lighting working, hazards told to us.
• Anything unusual about the site told to us.

On the day

• Someone with authority on site for the whole appointment window, and reachable by phone.
• Keys and access to the cabinet, riser and any locked rooms.
• Written notes left with reception: who to ask for, where the line goes, our number.
• Engineer told to call us with any question.
• Engineer not released until the line is confirmed live.

After

• We configure, test, cut over, and cancel the old line on the right date.

If you are expecting an install and would like us to run the checklist with you, or to speak to the carrier on your behalf, get in touch. If you are still choosing a service, our broadband, leased lines and mobile page explains the options and our office moves page covers connectivity for a move.