Apparently, The Mighty Google says lots of people search for “local phone and broadband engineer near me”.
Yes, I’m one of those engineers, based in the TS16 area of Stockton on Tees. I serve business and residential customers in the North East and North Yorkshire. No, this is not simply an advert, but some pointers on finding a good engineer.
Wait a Minute, Can’t My Provider Help?
Yes, providing any fault or issue is on their side of the network, that is, on their side of the master socket. If the problem is on your side, or you need additional work, such as moving a socket, cabling, etc. you’ll struggle to get their call centre staff to understand. Most providers are equally as bad – we simply need to get used to it. They will simply threaten you with an hourly rate of £130.00 for something that does not fit into one of their standard responses. I suspect that is is what has led you to this blog! More on this below. Please read on.
So, Am I On My Own?
Not really. There are plenty of qualified, independent, highly-experienced engineers around. You just have to take some care in choosing, and cut out any unhelpful middlemen.
What to Avoid
Anything that appears to be “a national centre for local engineers”. They typically brag that they can find an engineer anywhere. Their web sites will have a certain over-the-top spamminess of repeated phrases and outrageous promises. “24 hour cover in any part of the country”.”Fully-trained engineers always available”. Etc, etc. How do they work?
They advertise heavily, take an enquiry (and possibly your money), then attempt to find an engineer in your area with whom they probably have never dealt with before. The engineer might be sent out with only basic details of the problem. This will have been passed down through several people. Hence, they may arrive having been uninformed about the issue. They won’t be happy. You won’t be happy. Worse, they may not get paid. The company they have been sent by have taken your money, but not passed it on to them. Don’t be deceived by a local address, as these can be fictitious, or simply a token local address.
But Wait a Minute…
Don’t confuse these with websites which are a genuine informal collective of ex-BT engineers. These will be run by engineers themselves, who have relationships with other similar engineers. A much safer, ethical option. More on these later.
What Else To Avoid.
To recap, If your broadband/telephone line is misbehaving, then your first course of action should be to call your service provider. This could well be painful, use up several hours of your life “on hold”, and not move the issue any further forward. I have blogged on how to survive this here. Sadly, if you have an intermittent problem, simply something that is not an easy fix, or a basic simple change, they won’t want to send out an engineer for free, as this will always be a cost to them. Likewise with moves of cabling, sockets, etc. If it’ s not on their script then “computer says no”.
However, if they do happen to finally agree to send an engineer…
Be Kind To Openreach.
The majority of the UK telecommunications infrastructure is maintained by Openreach, a former BT subsidiary. Your provider may send one of their staff to your house. Their engineers are strictly monitored and must account carefully for time spent fixing faults. They can’t spare the time to do more than a basic check if you have a problem such as slow broadband, occasional line noise, etc. This is no disrespect to the skills of most of them, it’s just they are under great pressure. Furthermore, you can’t deal with them direct – you must go via your provider, and misunderstandings are frequent. Usually, a different engineer will be sent very time if a revisit is needed, so they will have to pick up your problem from cold. Therefore, call your provider for the big, obvious things, not the fiddly stuff. For the tricky things, get a local independent engineer (more below).
“They Are Only Wires Anyway – I Can Sort It Out” (said The Electrician)
Mains electricity and telephone/broadband are very, very different. Some electricians still don’t grasp this fundamental fact. Actually, I don’t mind them fiddling with telephone wires and sockets, as it generates work for me in putting things right. Enough said. Most electricians won’t have a clue about the special needs of broadband but they still have a go and often make amusing but expensive messes. A web forum of engineers I’m a member of has weekly photos of bodged work, and it’s deeply funny. A pity for the customer, but a useful generator of work for us who understand how to do it right.
Now, The Good News. How to Find A “local phone and broadband engineer near me”
As mentioned above, there are some sites which are simply contact points for informal groupings of ex-BT or ex-Openreach engineers. They are typically managed by an ex-BT person who takes a modest fee from any enquiries passed on to members, who cover large sections of the UK. The web sites may mention the former experience of members in BT or Openreach. They are worth a try. Here’s one I deal with, managed by the excellent Geoff Grove.
More Good News.
Google is clever at working out where you live and delivering search results to suit. If it turns up local telephone and broadband engineers, it will probably turn up an address. If this is residential, or small business, you can be assured that they are truly local. Don’t worry about small premises or unglossy websites. Check for a Facebook or Google My Business page, or at least some favourable Google reviews. Good! It looks like you may have found the“local phone and broadband engineer near me” ! Most will have the added advantage of knowing where local exchanges are (hence potential broadband speeds), issues with infrastructure (some areas are cabled with non-copper cables which slow broadband down). They won’t be passing high travel costs on to you. Plus, they might even know how to find you…
And Finally…
If you are reasonably local to me, then… (well you know what comes next…).
If you are not local, here’s the deal:- I’ll pass on your postcode and basic needs to a web forum of engineers free-of-charge, you provide me with a favourable Facebook and/or Google review based on the usefulness of this information and my level of helpfulness. Done? Thanks! I gain nothing else from the pleasure of finding you “local phone and broadband engineer near me”, apart from the satisfaction that you might actually get your problem solved.
Hi I’ve been having daily broadband issues for several years. I have to constantly reboot my router. Engineers have been out maybe 10 times. They always find a water fault in an underground cable and move me onto a different spare. I’m on the last pair and it’s on and off. They won’t replace the cable as it works to a certain extent when you reboot the routers and it’s not raining or icy. The phone is fine. I’m fed up. I know there is a small Jb before it goes underground for 200mts before it gets to my house. The faults seems to be in the underground section. If I was to lay 200mtrs of no10 drop cable and drop it into the grass 6inch on the back of a spade then terminate either end do you think it would last?
Well, it’s technically feasible, but you really would be seen to be messing with Openreach’s equipment, and they could get quite awkward about. Entering their junction boxes (known as distribution points or “DPs”) is what phone hackers and spies used to do.
Your service could be deemed as sub-standard, so I would persist with your provider,or escalate it to OFCOM if you have no progress. I hope that this helps. I will cut and paste your comments on an engineer’s forum (anonymously) and see if they suggest anything. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for all your help. It really helped. Got nowhere with virgin media
Hi Rob
Wonder if you could recommend an engineer that could move my master socket for me (which is located right next to my front door)
Not necessarily an easy job though, as ideally I would like it moved to the rear of the property, where my home office is located
Maybe! Can you advise a postcode for the job, please?
Super helpful article – many thanks!
Most kind of you to say so. Thank-you! Rob.
Hi Rob. Could you possibly recommend am engineer to move my master socket from the hallway to the living room Pls? Post Code is SG1 3EB
I will ask my contact in The South…
Hi Rob,
Great article, thank you. Do you know any engineers in the Lake District area? I live in Ulverston on the Furness peninsula near Barrow and looking for someone to run a Cat 5 cable from my downstairs main broadband socket to my upstairs office to avoid wi-fi issues.
Thanks for your kind words. I have passed on your details to a contact at https://www.arantec.co.uk/ who may be able to help.
P.S. He is Matt Barron – 07711 819009. He asks that you give him a call.
Rob
Hello, have block of flats and wish to share the signal from the router to one of the other apartments. Is this possible. Many thanks, Dave
If whoever pays the bills is happy to give out their wifi password, and the signal is good, then I don’t see why not.
Similarly, most routers have RJ45 output sockets which could be cabled to adjacent flats, providing a hard-wired point or even to serve anothr wifi transmitter.
Hi Rob, had openreach and a private company sent by our server, zilch, worse than ever. Our signal drops in and out, our landline is fuzzy, weird noises, and also drops in and out. We are in Bruton, Somerset and have done what we can ourselves. We diagnose that our 40 year old wiring is all over the place, in a damp house probably corroded and needs replacing as well as new powerful router needs placing properly.None of the 3 above will rewire, even though we are prepared to pay. We need the phone line working properly as we are both in poor health and have a careline so we need clear communication with 999 and the surgery. Please is there anyone locally near Bruton as we mistrust national companies?
Kind regards and thank you for trying,
Xen
Oh dear! This kind of treatment is quite common, however.
Independent, ex-BT engineer Mark Hawkes of MPH Telecom is not too far from you, and I have forwarded your message above to him. He will be in touch, but can also be contacted on 01935 677875. Rob.
I have been trying to get BT via Open Reach to give me the service I have been paying for. For 3 months I have not been able to get 4G. BT replace my Hybrid EE Connect box plus my Smart WIFI connection equipment. However, 3 engineers, who were booked to check its installation, never came. On complaining yet again to BT, I was offered another engineer booking for 5 days time, again with a 2 hour window.
Sadly, I think that this a “B.T.-only”-type of job.