Independent NBN wall socket installation · Not NBN Co, not an ISP
The NBN wall socket is in the wrong room, or broken. One new socket on its own cable fixes it.
The modem only works on the socket in the back bedroom, the plate in the lounge came off with the vacuum, or there are five old phone sockets and nobody knows which one matters. One NBN wall socket installation quote covers the cable from where the line arrives to the room you want. Quotes are free within 5 km of our Sutherland Shire office. Phone or photo estimates are free where the job allows.
Get a quoteBook a site visit Play the 2 min SECURE A COM film (opens in a new tab)
Trusted by 1,000+ businesses
-
Shang
★★★★★Jason is a truly friendly telecom professional. The kind of competent technician one hopes for when the internet breaks down. He was quick to diagnose a bridge tap fault and resolved the internal issue swiftly. He also gave me solid advice on making the switch from FTTN to FTTB. Glad i came across Secure A Com on YouTube and booked in a session. Highly recommended!
Read more Show less
-
Lawrie Fraser
★★★★★I would recommend secure a com. They were really helpful and efficient. They got all phone ports working with the NBN connection - which telstra wouldn't!
Read more Show less
-
Dean C (Cosmic)
★★★★★We've had 2 jobs recently with Secure a Com and both have been completed to our total satisfaction. The first one involved a failed NBN installation due to the inability of the NBN technician to find the original Telstra lead-in cable. Jason sorted the cable issue out within an hour and wired a new connection in the house to make it NBN ready for us. This meant the second NBN installation went off without a hitch much to our relief. Our second experience was rewiring some LAN ports to connect our security system's cameras to the new NBN router to allow us to access the cameras online. Jason was great to deal with and did both jobs very professionally. We highly recommend Secue a Com's services.
Read more Show less
-
Melissa Weir
★★★★★My Mum and Dad were over the moon with the work Jason did at their home today. The NBN set up wasn't ideal for their telephone requirements, and he sorted it out quickly and efficiently. Jason is friendly, polite, patient and helpful. 100% recommendation.
Read more Show less
-
Ali Beydoun
★★★★★Jason provided a fantastic and friendly service, and was able to visit and resolve the phone socket issue at my residence at very short notice. After searching online, I was glad to stumble on Secure A Com, and wouldn’t hesitate recommending them to others. Thank you!
Read more Show less
-
John Khalil
★★★★★Highly recommend Secure A Com, not only was Jason very helpful in installing our cables he was also able to quickly troubleshoot our faulty internet cables
Read more Show less
-
Thomas Beissert
★★★★★Had Telstra coming out twice on behalf of TPG to get our phone line going for internet after moving into a new house. Long story short these guys didn't solve anything couldn't find the main line in the house ect. Jason was great to deal with, confirmed booking quickly and was on time. Found internal wiring and connection points within 20min, installed new port and fixed Telstra's main line to the house in 1h. Very happy and thoroughly recommend their service.
Read more Show less
-
Juan Alvear
★★★★★Had NBN installed, but the other phones in the house didn't. They go all our phones working again. Very very happy.
Sound familiar?
An NBN wall socket is one socket on one cable, and most houses have five
The modem only works on one socket, and it's in the wrong room, cracked, or one of five.
The NBN wants one socket on one cable straight back to where the line comes in, with nothing else joined to it. That's the job, across Sydney.
Read moreShow less
The modem only works on the socket in the back bedroom. The plate in the lounge came off the wall with the vacuum lead. There are phone sockets in every room and no way to tell which one matters. Or there is no socket anywhere, and the provider has said one has to be there before they can connect you.
All four are the same job. The NBN wants one socket, on one cable that runs straight back to where the line comes into the house, with nothing else joined to it. Most houses built before the NBN were wired the opposite way, with a socket in every room hung off the same pair of wires. This page is that one new socket: where it goes, what it replaces, and what happens to the old ones. Ethernet points in several rooms are data cabling, moving the NBN box itself is NBN box relocation, and a connection that is already dropping out starts at NBN fault repair. We work across Sydney and take jobs well past it; the extra travel is charged, and the rates are in our terms and conditions.
Free advice
Before you book: what to check first
Ten minutes with a screwdriver and a phone camera answers most of what we would otherwise ask, and sometimes shows that no new socket is needed at all.
Keep this list handy
Get all seven checks as a one-page PDF before anyone touches a wall plate.
Send me the free guide- Find out which NBN connection the address has. The address checker on NBN’s own site says whether it is fibre to the premises, the curb, the node or the building, or the pay TV cable. The answer decides what the modem plugs into, so everything else on this list follows from it.
- Take the wall plate off and photograph the cable behind it. Two screws. A thin cable with two or four wires is old phone cable; a thicker one with eight coloured wires is data cable. That one photo tells us more than a paragraph of description.
- Count the old phone sockets in the house. Every room, including the one behind the wardrobe. On a copper connection each extra socket still joined to the line is a likely reason the service is slow or drops out, and the count is part of the quote.
- On fibre to the premises, think cable, not socket. The NBN box stays where it is and one data cable runs from it to where the router should live. That fixes most garage installs without moving anything.
- Mark the wall where you want it, and look for a power point. The modem needs power beside it. A spot with no power point nearby is a spot that also needs an electrician.
- If you rent, ask the agent before anything else. A socket fixed to the wall is part of the property, so the owner decides and usually pays. Get the yes in writing first.
- Send the photos and a rough distance. The plate off, the wall you marked, and the outside of the house where the line arrives, with the distance between them in metres or in paces.
Sound like you?
Which NBN wall socket job is yours, and what you end up with
The socket is in the wrong room
The only socket the modem works on is where the phone lived thirty years ago. So the WiFi starts three walls from anyone using it.
Usually points to: one socket in the right room, on its own cable.
Read moreShow less
The only socket the modem will work on is in a back bedroom, the kitchen or the hallway, because that is where the phone lived thirty-odd years ago. So the modem sits there, and the wifi has to get through three walls to reach anyone.
Moving it is not an extension lead and not a second socket. A new cable goes from where the line comes into the house to the room you want, and the modem moves onto it.
What you end up with. One socket in the right room, on its own cable back to where the line comes in, with the old one taken off the line rather than left hanging on it.
What we do on the day ›If it is the NBN box that is in the wrong place ›
The socket is cracked, loose or pulled off the wall
The vacuum caught the lead and the plate came away, and it's dropped out ever since. The cheapest job on this page, and worth doing properly.
Usually points to: a new socket terminated fresh on good cable, tested with the modem.
Read moreShow less
The vacuum caught the lead and the plate came away. The plug only works if you hold it at an angle. A painter took the plate off and put it back with one wire short. The connection has dropped out ever since, and nobody connects the two.
A damaged socket is the cheapest thing on this page to put right, and it is worth doing properly: the wires behind an old plate are often brittle, and a new plate on a tired joint lasts about a month.
What you end up with. A new socket, terminated fresh on good cable, tested with the modem on it. Where the cable behind it is the weak part, a new run instead, said before any work starts.
If the connection is dropping out as well ›Why the old socket is rarely right ›
There are phone sockets in every room
A socket in every room, each run on from the last. On the copper connections every one still joined to the line takes a little of the signal.
Usually points to: one socket carrying the whole line, the rest taken off it.
Read moreShow less
The house was wired for a phone in the kitchen, the lounge and three bedrooms, each socket run on from the last. On the old phone service that was fine. On fibre to the curb, the node or the building, every socket still joined to the line takes a little of the signal with it.
You do not need to work out which one is first. That is found by testing, and it is usually not the one the modem has been sitting on.
What you end up with. One socket, the right one, carrying the whole line, with the rest disconnected from it. They can stay on the wall; they just stop being part of the connection.
There is no socket at all
The renovation buried it, or the provider says a socket has to be there before they can connect. In a unit the run starts at the building's frame.
Usually points to: a socket where you want it, run from where the line actually arrives.
Read moreShow less
The kitchen was renovated and the socket went behind the new splashback. The unit is new to you and nobody can find where the line comes in. Or the house never had a phone, and the provider has said someone needs to fit a socket before they can connect anything.
In a unit the line starts at the building's frame, not at your door, so the run is from there. In a house it starts where the cable from the street arrives.
What you end up with. A socket where you want it, on a cable run from the point the line actually arrives, tested with the modem before we go. In a unit, that includes the connection at the frame.
The usual suspects
Why the old phone socket is rarely the right NBN socket
A phone socket was built to carry a voice. The same handful of things stop it carrying an internet connection well.
- It is one of several on the same line.
Every extra socket still on a copper line splits the signal: that's a bridge tap.
Read moreShow less
Old phone sockets still connected to the copper line split the signal between them. This is what a bridge tap is, and on a copper connection it is the usual reason a line is slower than it should be.
- The cable behind it is thin phone cable.
Two or four wires run from socket to socket, and not what a new socket goes on.
Read moreShow less
Two or four wires, often run on from socket to socket. It carried a dial tone for decades and it is not what a new socket should be fitted to.
- It is where the phone was, not where the modem should be.
A hallway or a back bedroom, so the WiFi starts at the wrong end of the house.
Read moreShow less
A hallway, a kitchen bench or a back bedroom, so the wifi starts from the wrong end of the house.
- The plate is cracked or the wires are brittle.
A knocked or painted-over socket gives a connection that comes and goes.
Read moreShow less
A socket that has been knocked, painted over or refitted short of a wire gives a connection that comes and goes with a nudge.
- It has an old filter built into it.
A filter left inside the plate can cause dropouts for years, unsuspected.
Read moreShow less
Some sockets fitted in the broadband years before the NBN have one inside the plate, and left on the line it can cause dropouts for years without anyone suspecting the socket.
- It is the old cream three-pin type.
It needs an adapter, and an adapter is one more loose joint.
Read moreShow less
It needs an adapter before a modem lead will fit, and an adapter is one more loose joint in the line.
- It was covered in a renovation.
Behind a splashback or new plaster, still connected and impossible to test.
Read moreShow less
Behind a splashback, a built-in or new plaster, still connected and impossible to reach or test.
- The connection is fibre to the premises.
No phone socket can do it: the router runs off a data cable from the box.
Read moreShow less
Then no phone socket can do the job, because the router is fed by a data cable from the NBN box and not by the phone line at all.
Want it in more rooms?
Multiple phone sockets on the NBN: why one line gets one socket
On a copper connection, every extra socket on the line is a branch that reflects signal back. Internet in another room is a data point from the modem. A phone in another room is the modem's phone port fed out to the sockets you choose.
Read moreShow less
On the copper connections, fibre to the curb, the node and the building, the internet arrives on a single pair of wires and it wants the shortest, cleanest path to one socket. Every other socket still joined to that pair is a branch, and a branch reflects signal back down the line. The more of them, the slower and less steady the service. So the answer to “can I have NBN sockets in more rooms” is no on the line itself, and yes for everything after the modem.
What most people actually want is one of two things. Internet in another room is a data point cabled from the modem, which is data cabling. A phone that rings in another room is the phone port on the modem fed out to the sockets you choose, which is phone line installation. Neither puts a second socket on the NBN line, and both leave the connection faster than it was.
Which socket is it?
What an NBN wall socket looks like, and the old 610 socket it replaced
A new NBN socket is a flat plate with one small square opening. The old cream 610 block won't take a modem lead without an adapter. What matters is behind the plate: one cable in, nothing leaving.
Read moreShow less
A new NBN wall socket is a flat plate with one small square opening, the same eight-pin shape as a computer network socket. The modem lead clicks into it, and behind the plate the cable is terminated once, with no second cable leaving for another room.
The socket it usually replaces is the 600 series, often sold as a 610: a chunky cream block with three flat pins and a plastic peg, fitted in Australian homes for decades. A modem lead will not fit it without an adapter. Later houses have a smaller modular phone socket that looks nearly right and takes the modem’s own lead, which is why it so often gets used as it is. What matters is not the face of the plate but what is behind it: one cable arriving and nothing leaving is right, and a second cable running on to the next room is the thing to fix. The table further down sets out what the modem plugs into on each kind of connection.
How it works
NBN socket installation: what we actually do
Four steps, and the first two are usually done from your photos before anyone drives anywhere. Every version of this job ends the same way: the modem on a socket of its own, in the room you chose, connected and holding.
-
Work out what the socket is for.
Which NBN connection the address has decides what the modem plugs into, so that is settled first, along with the spot you want. On fibre to the premises the job is a data cable from the NBN box, which is data cabling; on the copper connections it is the line itself.
-
Find the way through the house.
Roof space, under the floor or down a wall cavity, whichever the building allows. A slab, a second storey or an outside wall changes the route, and the route is most of what the quote is. Where no cavity exists, neat surface conduit is said up front.
-
One run, nothing hanging off it.
A single new cable from where the line arrives to the new socket, with no joins and no branches, and a flush plate on the end of it. On the copper connections the old phone sockets come off the line at the same time, so nothing is left sharing it.
-
Test it with your modem on it.
Your modem on the new socket, connected and holding before we leave, with the WiFi checked in the rooms you use.
Read moreShow less
The cable is tested, your modem goes on the new socket, and we stay until it has connected and held. If the modem came out of the garage or a back room, the wifi in the rooms you use is checked before we pack up.
Written by customers on Google. None are paid for, and every word here is theirs.
Read all reviews on Google › (opens in a new tab) Leave a review (opens in a new tab)
Reviews
What people say after the job.
“Jason came out and installed an NBN wall socket the same day that I enquired about it. He was very kind and helpful - managed to install it in 30 minutes hassle free.”
A real job from the field
![Play the video: Socket Installation Relocation in an Apartment for an NBN FTTB Service. [Steps I Took]](/images/video/Wq_eV2DetCI-480.webp)
Coogee, NSW · FTTB · Filmed on site, 3 min
The socket was in the bedroom, and the TV was on the other side of the same wall.
A Coogee apartment on fibre to the building. The old socket had three cables on it, one still carrying dial tone from a service nobody was paying for. The extras came off so no bridge tap was left, the MDF feed was extended through the wall in duct, and the new socket went in behind the TV.
Read moreShow less
Coogee, an apartment on fibre to the building. The socket was in the bedroom and the customer wanted it behind the TV, on the other side of the same wall.
The old socket had three cables on it. One was still carrying dial tone from an old service nobody was paying for, and one ran down to the building’s MDF. The extra cables were disconnected so no bridge tap was left, new cable was joined onto the MDF feed, and the run went in duct lined up with the power point, through the wall to a mounting block on the TV side, where the new socket was fitted.
The video ends with the socket finished and the covers on. The service was not tested on camera, so nothing more is claimed here.
Price
What does NBN wall socket installation cost?
Quoted not fixed
What's included
- Free quote within 5 km
- Free estimate from photos
- Written quote, valid 14 days
- 12-month cabling warranty
- Maker's warranty on parts
Free Spaces account with every job, if you want one. What's Spaces?
What sets the price is the route from where the line arrives to the new socket. The time is set up front, two hours, three or a half day, and you have the price before anyone attends.
Read moreShow less
This work is quoted. Quotes are free for properties within 5 km of our Sutherland Shire office. Beyond 5 km a site inspection is charged at $250 inc. GST, and the written quote follows the inspection; the inspection fee may be credited against the job at our discretion.
We are a specialised service, so we may not be local to you. If you are outside Sydney or more than 40 km from our office, we can still come to you, but the extra travel means an extra travel charge. All travel charges are set out in our terms and conditions.
Phone or photo estimates are free at any distance where the job allows, so most of this work is priced from photos and a rough distance before anyone drives anywhere.
What you get in writing
| Quote | Price | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Photo or phone estimate | Free | A ballpark from your photos, a rough distance in metres and your answers, before anyone drives anywhere. Free at any distance where the job allows. |
| Written quote | Free | Free for properties within 5 km of our Sutherland Shire office, after a look at the job. Valid 14 days. |
| Site inspection, further out | $250 inc. GST | Beyond that distance a site inspection is charged, and the written quote follows it. The inspection fee may be credited against the job at our discretion. |
Trusted on site by
Commercial fault and cabling work, done by the same technician who comes to your house.
Your options
Your NBN connection, what the modem plugs into, and what a new socket means
| What the modem or box plugs into | Whether the old phone socket can be used | What a new socket involves | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre to the premises (FTTP) | The router plugs into a data port on the NBN box with an ethernet lead. There is no phone socket in the path at all. | No. A phone socket cannot carry it, whatever plate is fitted to the front. | A data point: one eight-wire cable from the box to where the router should live. The box stays where it is. |
| Fibre to the curb (FTTC) | The small NBN box plugs into the phone socket, and the modem plugs into the box. | Sometimes, if it is the first socket on the line and nothing else is joined to it. A new one on a new cable is the safer answer. | One new cable from where the line enters the house to the new socket, and every other socket taken off the line. |
| Fibre to the node (FTTN) | The modem plugs straight into the phone socket. | Often, where it tests clean and is the only socket connected. Not if it is one of several on the same pair. | The same single run to one socket in the room you want, with the old sockets disconnected from it. |
| Fibre to the building (FTTB) | The modem plugs into the phone socket in the unit, which is fed from the building's main frame. | If it is connected through to the frame and tests clean. In older blocks it often is not. | A cable from the frame or the unit's entry point to the new socket, and the connection at the frame checked. |
| The pay TV cable network (HFC) | The NBN box screws onto a round cable outlet on the wall, and the router plugs into the box. | No. It is a different kind of cable and a different kind of wall plate. | Moving that outlet is a box relocation. A data point from the box to the router's spot is usually the simpler job. |
SourcesHide sources
Sources: AS/CA S009:2020, the customer cabling standard, for the socket type fitted in new work; nbn's published description of each connection type. Our own fees and reports are in our terms and conditions.
Whoever your provider is, the answer is the same.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Something not covered? Call 02 9188 1577 and ask, or send it through the contact form and you get the answer in writing.
What is your call-out fee for an NBN wall socket?
For a quote there usually is not one. A single socket is priced from photos, the type of NBN connection and a rough distance, and that estimate is free wherever you are. The terms set out when an on-site look is free and when it is charged, and the hero card on this page says the same thing in one line.
Do you need to come out and look before you can quote?
Usually not. Tell us which NBN connection you have, where the line comes into the house, where you want the socket, and whether the house is on a slab or has space under the floor and in the roof. A look is only needed when the route is genuinely unclear, which mostly means a double storey on a slab.
Can I send photos or a floor plan?
Yes, and it is the quickest way to a price. The most useful photo is the old wall plate taken off, showing the cable behind it. Add one of the wall where the new socket should go and one of the outside of the house where the line arrives. A rough floor plan with those two points marked is better still.
Can I move my NBN socket to a different room?
Yes. A new cable is run from where the line comes into the house to the room you want, a new socket goes on the end of it, and the modem moves onto it. The old socket is disconnected from the line rather than left on it. It is the commonest version of this job.
How many NBN sockets can I have?
On fibre to the curb, the node or the building, one. The line needs a single direct run to the socket the modem uses, and every extra socket joined to it costs speed and steadiness. Other rooms get a data point cabled from the modem instead, which is as many as you like. On fibre to the premises they are all data points.
Can I use the old phone socket, or do I need a new one?
It depends on the connection and on what is behind the plate. On fibre to the node or the building, an old socket that tests clean can sometimes stay. On fibre to the curb a new one on a new cable is the safer answer. On fibre to the premises a phone socket cannot do the job at all, because the router needs a data cable.
What kind of socket do you fit?
The eight-pin modular socket, the same shape as a computer network socket, on a flush wall plate. It is what the cabling standard recommends for all new work, and a modem lead with the smaller plug still fits it. The old cream three-pin socket and its adapter are not refitted.
Can I fit an NBN socket myself, or get an electrician to?
The fixed cabling behind a wall plate is work for a registered cabler, and an electrical licence on its own is not that registration. Our technician is an Open Registered Cabler. What you can do yourself is everything on the checklist above, and swapping the lead between the socket and the modem, which is worth trying first.
How long does an NBN socket installation take?
It is allocated in blocks rather than guessed: two hours for a short run on one level with space under the floor, three where the cable crosses a level or goes through the roof on a slab, and a half day for a double storey or a difficult slab. You are told which before the day.
Dig deeper
Guides for this job
5 guides
- 23Oct
Guide
NBN FTTC Box and Fibre to the Curb (Kerb) Explained
Fibre to the curb (FTTC) explained: how to tell if you have it, why the FTTC NBN box powers the unit in the pit and clicks, and the faults we find on it.
Read the guide › - 18Aug
Guide
FTTN Explained: What Is NBN Fibre to the Node?
NBN FTTN explained: how fibre to the node reaches your home, why distance and old copper slow it, the faults we find on it, and the upgrade to fibre.
Read the guide › - 17Dec
Guide
What Is a Bridge Tap? Meaning, NBN Dropouts and the Fix
A bridge tap is an old phone socket still connected to your internet line. What it means, what it does to NBN on FTTC, FTTN and FTTB, and how it is fixed.
Read the guide › - 20Aug
Guide
NBN Box Lights Explained: Flashing Blue, Red or Clicking
What the lights on your NBN box mean on fibre, HFC and fibre to the curb: why it clicks, flashes blue or shows red, and what to do before you ring anyone.
Read the guide › - 16Dec
Guide
How to Set Up a Wired Home Network with Ethernet
How to set up a wired home network: plan the hub, route Ethernet cable in a unit or a house, and add Ethernet ports to each room that needs one.
Read the guide ›
NBN Wall Socket Installation
Trusted by 1,000+ businesses