BT broadband/phone

benjo

Please, for the love of fluffy bunnies can someone put me out of my misery!!!!!!:mad:

Grab a cup of tea, make yourself comfortable, feel free to have a giggle.

Have been a BT customer for years and years, when broadband was introduced to our village in 2005 (yes we are very behind) I signed up on day one to BT broadband - which was wonderful, unless it rained or was windy - then the broadband disconnected and stayed that way until the prevailing weather improved. (at this stage we had no telephone problems). Now I got so fed up of having no connection at all I asked for a rebate on my bill, which they agreed and indeed sent a nice man called Norman around to visit our local telegraph pole. Norman spent all day on the Saturday up a telegraph pole only to inform me at teatime that he had to come back tomorrow, since it took him all day to realise he was up the wrong telegraph pole :rotfl:

Norman returned on the Sunday, worked all day and at teatime informed me.... 'you see Missus, the sheath is knackered, I have moved your wire onto another part of the pole and that should do the trick, for a while at least - but really the sheath needs replacing and BT wont want to pay for that.

As I waved goodbye to Norman I hoped I had also waved goodbye to the connection problems and I had, for a few years.

Last summer it all started again, every time the wind blows or it rains heavily the broadband disconnects. Now the telephone line sounds like a fax machine. By December 2008 by internet speed was down to 43kbps. I phoned the broadband helpline, explained the problem and since then we have engaged in an intimate game of ping pong between the telephone fault people and the broadband fault people.

Telephone people say there is no problem on the line. Broadband people have suggested I buy new micro filters - done! new telephone - done! unplug everything - done! plug everything back in - done! monitor your speed madam - done! contact the telephone people again - done!

Remove the frontplate of the main BT socket and plug the broadband directly into the internal socket NOT DONE - there isnt one, no split front plate, no internal socket....'ah that isnt the main socket then madam, where does the line enter the house?' - via the loft, 'ok madam, enter your loft, (presumably via the loft access ladder that doesnt exist), tiptoe across the rafters (being careful not to fall through the ceiling into your lounge), and locate the main socket, once you have done that, remove the front plate, plug in directly to that (either buy a broadband extention cable or buy an electricity extension cable and hoik the computer into the loft) and see if that works' ok, let me see if my wheelchair will fit through the access hatch.

So, I paid a local handy man to access my loft to hunt for the main BT socket 'there aint one missus, just a wire coming in under the roof and leading down into your hallway'.

I phone the broadband people again and they agree there is a problem at the exchange (again) and that due to 'instabilities' on the line they have reduced the speed to 135kbps - 'we will escalate it to our engineers' and indeed a week later my speed increases to around 900 kbps, stays that way for a couple of weeks and then it all starts again. They have very kindly offered to send out an engineer - but if it's my wiring then I get to pay £200 - Im not tight, but I honestly wouldnt trust BT not to charge me even if it is a fault at their end.

Now, when my speeds run at 43kbps - my telephone line is as clear as a bell, when the speeds do increase to 900kbps my phone sounds like a fax machine and everytime someone rings me the internet disconnects.

I realise that I should probably phone the broadband people again and inform them of this, but I cant face going through the same damn thing every time, so I decided to escalate the matter myself this time and emailed the BT complaints department, got an automated response saying how seriously they take complaints and that someone would contact me within two working days.

Two working days pass - nothing, so I emailed a further complaint, this time about my original complaint being ignored. Again an automated response told me how seriously blah blah blah and they would contact me within two working days - NOTHING, not a sausage.

GRRRRRumble:mad:

Now if anyone can offer any suggestions to help me keep my sanity I would be extremely grateful.

espresso

benjo wrote: »

Now, when my speeds run at 43kbps - my telephone line is as clear as a bell, when the speeds do increase to 900kbps my phone sounds like a fax machine and everytime someone rings me the internet disconnects.

How many sockets do you have?

Do you have ADSL filters on all used sockets? If you can hear any noise on your line, the ADSL filters are not working correctly.

Anything else connected to the line - alarm, extra bell etc.

Anything that could be interfering with the broadband signal - cordless phones etc.

How far are you from the exchange? see here

What are your modem/router stats? see here

benjo

2 sockets.

Hallway - main socket (I think), filter fitted.
Kitchen - not used, filter fitted anyway.

"If you can hear any noise on your line, the ADSL filters are not working correctly."

I bought new filters on 2 different occassions. The sound on the line is no better with or without them, no different with new or old filters (all bought from BT) - however when the broadband speed is low - there is no noise on the line.

Sky TV is plugged into the microfilter, telephone and broadband, no alarm, no extra bell. Tried unplugging sky - no difference.

I have a cordless phone for the last week, prior to that I had a very simple BT phone that plugged into the microfilter, the phone prior to that was corded and prior to that was cordless. 4 new phones, two cordless, two not - no difference in terms of line quality.

You are approximately 3.18km from the exchange. Note that this is the straight line distance - the actual cable length will be longer!

^^ I always knew we were at the end of the line, so I didnt expect the 8mb, but was told to excpet 1.5mb, 1000 kbps (or there abouts) is as good as it ever gets and I can live with that - but 43 kbps????? its quicker to go to write a letter and get it sent by snail mail than use email.

Stats are

dsl connection downstream 1504 dbps (has been as low as 224kbps)
dsl connection upstream 448 kbps - never changes
IP profile of the line 1000 kbps - is very often only 135 kbps
IP throughput 920 - is very often below 100 kbps

(hope this is what you meant).

espresso

benjo wrote: »

Stats are

dsl connection downstream 1504 dbps (has been as low as 224kbps)
dsl connection upstream 448 kbps - never changes
IP profile of the line 1000 kbps - is very often only 135 kbps
IP throughput 920 - is very often below 100 kbps

(hope this is what you meant).

You should be able to get more line stats info e.g.

~ Sync Speed (Connection Speed)
~ Attenuation (atten)
~ SNR Margin (Noise Margin, Margin)
~ Details of any CRC/HEC errors or errored seconds may also be helpful

What speed does the samknows site estimate that you should get?

If you are getting noise on the line with nothing other than the phone connected, then report this to BT.

benjo

ADSL is available in your area
Your exchange is also enabled for ADSL Max services
According to BT Wholesale, your line is very unlikely to be able to support ADSL, although a 256kbps service may be available.


Standard ADSL RAG results

You cannot receive 2Mbps ADSL
You cannot receive 1Mbps ADSL
You may be able to receive 512kbps ADSL
(Engineer visit likely)
You may be able to receive 256kbps ADSL
(Engineer visit likely)

You are approximately 3.18km from the exchange. Note that this is the straight line distance - the actual cable length will be longer!
However, there is another service on your phone line (e.g. ADSL, LLU, DACS, etc) that would prevent you from ordering a new ADSL connection.

Where would I find

~ Sync Speed (Connection Speed)
~ Attenuation (atten)
~ SNR Margin (Noise Margin, Margin)
~ Details of any CRC/HEC errors or errored seconds may also be helpful What speed does the samknows site estimate that you should get?

(sorry, I had a hunt around samknows, but dont see that information, Im not familiar with the site)

espresso

The line stat info can be found in the second linked site in post #2

James123_2

Hi there
I've had similar problems to your own, although the designated speeds in my area are better than yours. However, a few tweaks to my wiring certainly have made a huge difference to my speeds - doubled them in fact. The cabling in your home will include old wiring to support the bell function on old phones. This can generate interference on ASDL lines. Essentially, this is the orange wire on terminal 3. You're allowed to meddle with these on your side of BT's wiring. Takes five minutes and the results can be astounding. Feel free to google, or check here: http://www.jarviser.co.uk/jarviser/broadbandspeed.html
BT do sell a faceplate (as they recognise the problem) called a T-Plate. However, this will only work on new master sockets ... NTE-5, I think they're called.
Try the wire trick ... you can always pop it back if you're not sure.
Please note that modern phones with filters DON'T need the function of the bell wire.

Lampom

I tried the bellwire trick detailed on the Jarviser site and it worked a treat - doubled my connection speed!!

James123_2

PS ...
Any improvements won't be instant as it takes your ISP a day or two to upgrade your IP profile - the limit they impose on your line on the basis of any limitations on your line, such as interference etc. Of course, this will never be greater than the maximum speed for your area.
Anyway, give it a go. Oh, as the link says, don't use those cheap extension flexes for linking your router.