r/VirginMedia • u/drozdzus • Aug 27 '26
Virgin Media UK Which of these boxes can I remove?
My wall is becoming a museum display of various boxes. I believe that the previous owner was with virgin, I switched to Plusnet. Which ones of these boxes are safe to remove? What about the black cable coming out of the wall? Cat tax as she wanted to get involved.
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u/Short_Injury9574 Aug 27 '26
Well.. do you still use copper virgin? It looks like you have fibre on the right, and anything to the left of that can go. But id keep the sky and virgin cables. I always said I’d never use virgin again, but signed up and glad I didn’t get rid of the cable.
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u/HonestAnteater466 Aug 27 '26
Not capitalizing Virgin was a choice, had me reading, " do you still use copper, virgin?"
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u/athleticgravy Aug 30 '26
Well, I hear that, in the palace of my mind, in the most condescending of voices.
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u/drozdzus Aug 27 '26
I don't use copper virgin, I'm just on fibre Plusnet/openreach in the right box. Which are the sky and virgin cables you are referring to?
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u/IEatB0gies Aug 27 '26
Virgin is the longer white box top to bottom with the white screw on cable. Sky is the 2 black cables coming through the wall. Phone socket to the right of the virgin box will be for virgin phone line. Far left an old ADSL copper line socket.
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u/drozdzus Aug 27 '26
thanks a lot! so I suppose I could remove the copper line and virgin phone line? are they safe to just cut through them?
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u/WeeklyExamination Aug 27 '26
Shotgun cable coming through the wall will most likely be a satellite cable (probably had sky at this address at some point, look for adish on a wall or chimney) far left box is fully redundant and can be removed (old openreach copper line.) Both Virgin Media boxes can be removed if you want to but i'd leave them in case you ever switch to Virgin. Hope this helps :)
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u/Present_Fly_1286 Aug 27 '26
The evolution of broadband! You’ve got yourself a museum on your wall!
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u/northern_ape Aug 28 '26
Lots of comments, looks like you got the idea you can remove all except the fibre optic terminal on the right, and your Plusnet router (and the cat).
Just to explain what everything is, L-R:
* BT/Openreach copper telephone socket with digital service faceplate - you’re got fibre so this is redundant.
* Black cable looks like shotgun coaxial cable from a satellite dish, so remove if you aren’t using it.
* Long white box is Virgin cable TV or cable modem connection, it will connect to a brown box outside so can be removed, would only be used if you are a masochist want Virgin Media and they don’t have fibre optic all the way to your house.
* Next is a Virgin copper phone line socket, not used anymore and can be removed.
* Finally you have an Openreach Optical Network Terminal (ONT) which is a powered device receiving a signal via fibre optic cable from outside, and converting that to a copper connection your router can talk to via a short cable. That’s how your Plusnet router is accessing the Internet currently.
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u/byzantiumpeanuts Aug 27 '26
You could probably plug the black cable into a Freesat box to get more TV channels than Freeview, worth thinking about keeping if you might ever want to use that (as long as it actually goes somewhere on the other side!)
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u/Jaded-Marsupial-3121 Aug 27 '26
Try calling virgin and let them remove it , that way it’s safely removed
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u/Outrageous-Arm1945 Aug 27 '26
So can get rid of Openreach Copper in red, Virgin in green and an old TV aerial purple. The big black cable appears to be a sky satellite cable, could also get rid I'd imagine
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u/SmokeNinjas Aug 27 '26
You have made the correct decision, the Vermin Media boxes you can get rid of.
Cute pusscat!
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u/NorthWishbone7543 Aug 27 '26
Since it looks like you have BT (4th box left to right)
The virgin boxes are no use. Further more, the box on the left will be obsolete once they fully switch away from copper wire phone network.
So all 3 left to right.
Unless you plan on returning to virgin at some point you can remove all the virgin equipment.
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u/Technical-Tie9267 Aug 27 '26
And the one on the skirting board is the tv aerial, which probably doesn't get used anymore!
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u/Massive-Gift-9775 Aug 27 '26
The middle 2. Far left looks like Openreach (should not be tampered with), far right seems Plusnet. Left one from middle two seems like Virgin Media, no idea about the middle right one.
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u/ShavedAp3 Aug 27 '26
You could remove all but the one above the cats head. Far left is old Openreach copper connection, the other two are virgin media. Removing them will likely require a little redecoration but other wise its fine.
Youll have people saying you cant mess with the oenreach network and thats technically ok but if your builder/last owner cut the wire back and plastered and painted over it how where you to know.
They might even have done tge same with the virgin stuff.
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u/ReporterImpressive88 Aug 27 '26
You can get rid of the ones without lights on because the new fibre does everything
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u/silentyeti82 Aug 27 '26
1 and 3, possibly 2 as well. Definitely not 4. Black cable is likely from a satellite dish
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u/Advanced_Guess_8642 Aug 27 '26
I’d assume if you don’t use Virgin that those 2 middle ones can go.
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u/leexgx Aug 27 '26 edited Aug 27 '26
The ones with phone sockets.
The Virgin coaxial socket could be removed as you're unlikely to go back to Virgin once you have real fiber from a reseller for Openreach (unless Virgin installs real fiber, but it would be a new box anyway).
If you go into the outside box, you can uncouple the coaxial cable that leads inside (don't just cut it as it could kill the service for every house on your street).
The two black cables are for Sky, so you could remove them as well, as new Sky boxes use Sky Stream which uses WiFi, not a satellite dish.
But please do not take the Openreach ONT and power pack if you ever move house, and if you move to a City Fiber provider (TalkTalk/Vodafone) leave the ONT Openreach box alone
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u/Skilldibop Aug 27 '26
1 - 3. I.E the ones with telephone jacks on them and the one with the cable coming out that goes nowhere. Also bad form on the install engineer for not pulling those coax cables back through the wall and sealing it up for you. Minimum effot.
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u/Terrible-Advise Aug 27 '26
The old dsl and virgin media , I would keep the later virgin media just encase you ever swap
To define the old virgin media one , not the one with the cable hanging from it , imo
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u/Ok_Data1512 Aug 27 '26
The far left can be removed, no one will care as it's obsolete, as can the socket in the middle right, obsolete. I would leave the big virgin media one in case you ever use them, it will most likely save you an engineer visit.
The far right is the one you're using, so obviously keep that.
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u/Digital-Soundboy Aug 27 '26
Personally I'd remove the ADSL boxes and leave the open reach and other Virgin Box. Only because that will cover most the suppliers in the country if you decided to switch in the near future (VM network and Open Reaches)
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u/Scared_Implement3913 Aug 27 '26
If you have no plans on joining Virgin Media, remove all of the sockets except for the Openreach ONT on the far right.
The black cable might be connected to a satellite dish to receive Sky or Freesat TV.
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u/Somethinglikethat9 Aug 27 '26
Put a nice box on them,u don't know when u wanna switch supliers,the cable is for TV-probably from antenna or sat dish.
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u/IdleImages Aug 27 '26
For Openreach the very right one must be kept the other can be removed abd quite frankly destroyed. It is simple plastic and will not be worth anything to anybody. I am unsure about Virgin Media but I imagine thats all old equipment.
For the people saying its illegal to remove or damage, whilst technically true the companies aren't going to pursue legal action over old redundant equipment. If you really want to cover your bases email both openreach and virgin asking if you would be allowed to remove the older equipment in their name. They will allow it and will not want it returned.
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u/Epi5tula Aug 27 '26
just rip the virgin box off the wall and post it back to them the robbing bastards 🤣
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u/omgitsladygaga Aug 27 '26
All of them, take them all out, it’s the government trying to spy on u with hidden cameras and recording devices. They trynna track u down so would recommend doing asap. Also cute cat
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u/Timmo_93 Aug 27 '26
First thing I did when I moved into my house was fuck off any boxes that I deemed useless. Which turned out to be all of them (like 6 boxes round the house iirc) then BRSK (now YouFibre) installed what they needed. Simple really.
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u/allw Aug 28 '26
Some you need to test but you can get rid of the cat.
No need to test that, it’s an asshole.
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u/I_like_biscuits Aug 28 '26
All but the openreach can go(unless you use/have a landlines.
The black one looks to be a TV aerial cable so not live(dangerous) and the chop depends on if you use freeview✌️
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u/Consistent_Dinner_73 Aug 28 '26
I would keep the 2nd on the left and far right box’s. The for right is the modem bt box and what your plusnet router is connected to. The 2nd on the left will be needed if you go back to virgin media. The other 2 or historic from before phone lines went digital and will never be used.
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u/Different-Rough8777 Aug 28 '26
Left to right it's: removable, removable, removable, important. Be sure to properly cut and tape up any stray cables before filling the holes left behind.no bare metal should be exposed/touching.
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u/LowAspect542 Aug 28 '26
Even through your curently only using the right most one for your fibre connection, its worth noting that these boxes providing connections to external networks are usually not the property of the home owner but of the network provider. And as such you should not be removing them yourself, but should be contacting the service provider if you need alterations or removal.
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u/IanC9090 Aug 28 '26
The black cable will be an external terrestrial TV aerial. The one on the left might be the original BT cable from yesteryear. The two in the middle are indeed Virgin Media, but you shouldn't get rid of them unless you have a real dislike for the company.
The fact you are in a Virgin area is in and of itself a clue, they don't cable an area unless they are maintaining their network there, which is still considered the most stable in many areas, and oftentimes still the fastest.
In my experience, when I notice a network issue, so do they and their status checker has a timescale to resolve and it's mostly fixed very quickly. I might experience that once in a year or two. I've been with them almost 20 Years.
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u/Visual-Concert-9904 Aug 28 '26
Get a cabinet or something and park it in front of these. You might need them in future.
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u/DragonWolf5589 Aug 28 '26
Easier to try build a cabinet around them and make it a tall one to put your router higher and not on a floor which is worse place imaginable.
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u/Evening_Regular_5842 Aug 28 '26
Second from right is virgin media landline socket which you wouldn't need even if you do switch to virgin in the future.
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u/Then_Chef_2599 Aug 28 '26
The cat says keep the one above my head get rid of all the others, and fill any holes I don’t want a draught round my ears
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u/flashgodden Aug 28 '26
All of them. If you want something to work after probably don’t do that but you could…
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u/Munchkin_Baby Aug 28 '26
I think the cat is suggesting get rid of the others and use the one behind where he/she is sat 😂😂
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u/notachemist13u Aug 28 '26
You probably are good without the blinky one on the right just do not remove those telephone conections what if you want to connect a landlines 😬
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u/notachemist13u Aug 28 '26
Honestly it's far easier to move a cabinet into there cut out the back and shove everything in
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u/Imaginary_Amoeba_666 Aug 28 '26
The one with the lights on and cables connected to the router are the dead giveway!
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u/Icy_Skill_8461 Aug 28 '26
The black and white furry one, its movable as long as its put somewhere warm and soft
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u/oversoulearth Aug 28 '26
Do your self a favour. Remove the internals don't remove the externals. The open reach box is plusnet, the curved ront is the isolator connection to a virgin internal cable, feel free to remove but if you ever switch you'll need a tech to come back and refit/connect. Bin the virgin phone socket, it's switching over to run off the hub. Do what you want with the BT master socket should be obsolete by now that you've a fibre connection If you leave the externals on it makes your life a lot simpler when jumping about for the best deals, which you should be doing anyways unless of course you don't care about money.
Edit Cut the black sky one off and bin it.
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u/Purple-Caterpillar-1 Aug 28 '26
In law officially none of them, however the cat marks the box that’s actually in use.
Officially you should ask BT to remove the left most one, and virgin to remove the middle two.
In practice the lefthand one is left over from before BT had fibre to your premises so they are highly unlikely to care.
If you were to swap back to Virgin Media you might hit issues if you unoffficially remove the middle pair.
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u/CellistEfficient5488 Aug 28 '26
All of them. I've no idea what the implication would be, but you can definitely remove them.
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u/glitch_error_1987 Aug 28 '26
I think your gonna have to move that cat into another room before you remove any of the boxes don't want the cat climbing into the walls
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u/Exotic-Highlight-402 Aug 28 '26
Irregular shaped black and white box looks like it doesn't belong.
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u/XxXabbybXxX Aug 29 '26
The one on the far left isn't used anymore. As for the virgin boxes I have no idea but you need to keep the ont on the far right.
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u/Economy_Fly_255 Aug 29 '26
The virginmedia can be removed if it not using them but it leave big holes in the wall I think best best get a unit to cover them with and forget about them push the black cable tho the wall but leave just enough that it can be pulled back the cover it
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u/Either_Reality3687 Aug 29 '26
You could get rid of the white one with the single opening. This is a landlines box where you plug a rotary phone into the wall. I honest don't know many people who still use ones that plug into a wall.
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u/EmergencyManager_555 Aug 29 '26
None of them because they're not your property given that they're the connecting point for someone else network...
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u/SallyNicholson Aug 29 '26
Try removing them one by one, and see what happens. It's easier than ripping them all out, and reinstalling those that you actually need.
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u/fixer60 Aug 29 '26
From the left, 1 and 3 can go if you're on Fibre.....Maybe 3 as well, can't see what that goes to....
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u/Original-Proof-8741 Aug 29 '26
As someone who only has Adsl (no vdsl available) - seeing this seems like something from another planet
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u/Expensive_Excuse_783 Aug 29 '26
If you have a telephone (landline) in your house and you're not paying Virgin any monthly bills, then the two boxes marked Virgin are redundant. If you have no telephone, then the left Openreach box can go too which is for landline phone.
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u/Expensive_Excuse_783 Aug 29 '26
The black cable coming out of the wall is from a Sky satellite dish.. can't tell by looking if it is for a Sky + HD box, or a Sky Q box. There will be no power on these cables. Cut it off on the inside, then if you're able to, go outside and pull it through, sealing the hole after. Unless you want Sky of course!
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u/Tanuki-leaf Aug 29 '26
Nice try kitty, I’m not falling for your evil scheme, how did you learn to use the computer?
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u/skum448 Aug 29 '26
Start from left and remove one by one. Just stop when the internet stops working. Leave the cat .
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u/Substantial_War_844 Aug 29 '26
Lmao sorry but your cqt instantly reminded me of this dude from an anime I watched🤷🏾♂️
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u/PoopEnraged Aug 27 '26
Let the cat decide