On 21/10/13 12:55, scott wrote:
> In the UK fibre-to-cabinet is in a lot of places now, so it's your
> distance to the nearest cabinet in the street that's important, not the
> exchange. In most cases people are very much closer than 1200m to their
> cabinet, so essentially everyone gets those high speeds.
> 
Good point. I'm probably less than 50m from the cabinet serving the
block I live in. The Kat (my gf) is even luckier - the cabinet serving
her is just outside the gate to her complex's courtyard and the
buildings were were built with fibre installed. I'm still reliant on
copper; it'll cost a fortune to install fibre in the building.

John
-- 
Protect the Earth
It was not given to you by your parents
You hold it in trust for your children

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On 21/10/13 13:59, Doctor John wrote:
> On 21/10/13 12:55, scott wrote:
>> In the UK fibre-to-cabinet is in a lot of places now, so it's your
>> distance to the nearest cabinet in the street that's important, not the
>> exchange. In most cases people are very much closer than 1200m to their
>> cabinet, so essentially everyone gets those high speeds.
>>
> Good point. I'm probably less than 50m from the cabinet serving the
> block I live in. The Kat (my gf) is even luckier - the cabinet serving
> her is just outside the gate to her complex's courtyard and the
> buildings were were built with fibre installed. I'm still reliant on
> copper; it'll cost a fortune to install fibre in the building.
> 
> John
> 
Have just checked, I've got FTTC (fibre to cabinet). If I want more
speed, I'll need FTTP. Who's responsible for that, BT or the consumer?

John
-- 
Protect the Earth
It was not given to you by your parents
You hold it in trust for your children

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On 21/10/2013 10:03 AM, scott wrote:
>> Basically each wall is a sheet of plasterboard. So, looks pretty, but no
>> sound damping, and you can't make any holes in it. (It'll just snap in
>> half.)
>
> In newer houses (<20yrs) all walls are plasterboard (spaced out from the
> bricks if it's a supporting wall), so you'll have to get used to it and
> learn how to fix stuff to them. It's not like nobody in modern houses
> fixes stuff to walls.

I assumed it was only *cheap* houses where they do this. (Then again, 
it's not like I'm a housing expert...)

> You can use these:
>
> http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/project_images/fixingtoplasterboard/1923_l.jpg

Yeah, we tried that. Trouble is, you don't know where the wooden battens 
are hiding...

> You'd be surprised how much weight they can support. 4 or 6 of them will
> hold a big TV *easily*. I use them for everything, shelves, mirrors,
> desks, pictures, bookcases etc - never had anything fall down.

Like I say, the weight of a mere toilet roll holder was enough to break 
one fixing... Not holding out much hope for anything heavier than a 
picture frame not breaking the wall beyond repair.

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On 21/10/2013 12:55 PM, scott wrote:
> In the UK fibre-to-cabinet is in a lot of places now, so it's your
> distance to the nearest cabinet in the street that's important, not the
> exchange. In most cases people are very much closer than 1200m to their
> cabinet, so essentially everyone gets those high speeds.

Only where that infrastructure has been installed. ;-)

(Fortunately, that now includes most of MK...)

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On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 19:48:40 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

>> You can use these:
>>
>> http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/project_images/
fixingtoplasterboard/1923_l.jpg
> 
> Yeah, we tried that. Trouble is, you don't know where the wooden battens
> are hiding...

Google "stud finder" - that's what you need to ensure that the anchor 
isn't being screwed into one of the studs.

Jim

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On 21/10/2013 07:52 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> Google "stud finder"

Do NOT try this at work. ;-)

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On Mon, 21 Oct 2013 21:33:49 +0100, Orchid Win7 v1 wrote:

> On 21/10/2013 07:52 PM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Google "stud finder"
> 
> Do NOT try this at work. ;-)

I wondered how long it would be before someone suggested something like 
that. ;)

Jim

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>> Do NOT try this at work. ;-)
>
> I wondered how long it would be before someone suggested something like
> that. ;)

It turns out that if you Google just about any Linux command name 
prefixed by the word "man", you get the man-page for that command.

Unless, of course, that command is "trap".

Or "mount"...

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> I assumed it was only *cheap* houses where they do this. (Then again,
> it's not like I'm a housing expert...)

I'm no expert either, but I can think of two reasons why they space 
plasterboard out from the blocks now rather than plaster the blocks 
directly. One is that you can route power cables and water pipes in the 
void (no need to chisel out block everywhere or use thicker cable 
because it will be not be in free air). The other is that it probably 
offers a bit more insulation on external walls.

>> http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/project_images/fixingtoplasterboard/1923_l.jpg
>
> Yeah, we tried that. Trouble is, you don't know where the wooden battens
> are hiding...

You use an awl first (or a very small flat bladed screwdriver) to poke 
through. If you hit wood then you can just use a normal wood screw, if 
you hit air then you screw in one of the above. When you've made the 
small hole it's also worth checking the depth to make sure the above 
plug will fit all the way in. If it's not deep enough then you can clip 
the pointy end off the plug (you don't need it as you've already made 
the hole).

> Like I say, the weight of a mere toilet roll holder was enough to break
> one fixing...

IME the ones where you are meant to leave the screw sticking out 10mm 
and hook something over don't last (especially something that gets 
wiggled about every day). It's much better to only use the screw to 
clamp the item against the wall, it's then the friction between the item 
and wall holding it up, there should be minimal downwards loading on the 
screw/fixing.

If it's only wrecked a small bit of plaster you can usually drill out a 
bigger hole and use the flappy metal clip I suggested (I forget, but I 
think they need a 10mm hole or something to fit through). The benefit of 
those is that they force you to clamp a plate or bracket to the wall, 
you can't just leave the screw sticking out 10mm to hang something on.

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>> In the UK fibre-to-cabinet is in a lot of places now, so it's your
>> distance to the nearest cabinet in the street that's important, not the
>> exchange. In most cases people are very much closer than 1200m to their
>> cabinet, so essentially everyone gets those high speeds.
>
> Only where that infrastructure has been installed. ;-)
>
> (Fortunately, that now includes most of MK...)

It seems to be rolling out to most places now, my exchange is pretty 
much last on the list in my area according to the BT website :-( At 
least its status changed from "no plans" to "under consideration" a 
while back, so there is some hope...

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