Broadband Problem

Benidormqueen

Templeton_Peck wrote:

I have the same problem having to hook up through my test socket. My ISP have 'closed the case' since they are fulfilling their contrcatual obligations, meanwhile I have wires pouring out of my phone socket.

I called the BT fault switchboard but was disconnected when I chose the broadband option since they weren't my supplier. I went through again and chose the 'calls only' option and got an operator who was actually very helpful. She said BT could send out an engineer but if the problem was the wiring and not the socket I'd be subject to a £111 call out fee and £99 labour + parts if they did the job. It wouldn't cost anything if it turned out to be the socket, but apparently the wiring belongs to the houseowner and not BT. This is where it gets confusing, "isn't the wiring part of the socket?". Apparently, the wiring that attaches the front plate on to socket is 'not owned by BT', and since the test socket works it is highly probable that the problem is in the wiring.

I elected not call out out a BT engineer (£210 for what is probably a 20 minute wiring job?). I dug out the yellow pages and am getting in a telephony engineer as I suspect it's a common problem and I can probably get it fixed for half the BT charge if that.

Templeton Peck,
You sound like you are having the same problems as me, best part about it BT put the wires in my socket, confusing it is, I'm still using the test socket but it is so annoying. please keep me informed how you have got on. thanks.

Templeton_Peck

We have two extension sockets and if I disconnect the wires connecting them into our main socket then I can get a broadband signal out of the socket. It seems that the extensions (even when nothing else is plugged into them!) cause interference. All our sockets are from 1995, and I suspect even if the signals are filtered at the extensions they are merged back together in our main socket.

I found if I plug the front plate into the internet part of filter (courtesy of a UK-US modem adapter - £8 from PC World) and the filter into the test socket, and the telephone base unit into the telephone part of the filter then I can get a broadband out of any of the three sockets (by plugging the modem directly into the socket without a filter) provided nothing is attached to the other two sockets. It's not ideal, but I can at least get broadband out of the bedroom extension and still take calls since my phone handset is radio.

Getting an electrician in is pointless because the wiring is obviously fine, what I need is a new front plate that keeps the signals separate. I have seen ADSL front plates that have two ports (one for broadband and one for the phone) like on the filters, but I suspect the old style extensions would be incompatible so I would need ADSL sockets on each of the extensions too, which would mean basically starting from scratch. I'm not sure it's worth the expense since I have it working more or less as I want now even if it is messy - at least I don't have extension leads running all over the place now. If you have an extension socket I bet that's why it isn't working.

GuessWho_2

You are talking about a ADSL faceplate filter.

If your connection works ok from the master socket but gives trouble from extensions, then there's a good chance it will improve things.

But it really depends where you need to site the router because you can only plug the router into the master faceplate or an adsl lead running from that ADSL socket.

When using an ADSL faceplate, you cannot plug your router into any of the extensions because they are already filtered by the faceplate and have NO ADSL signal!!

With a wifi router, this shouldn't be much of a problem. Just plug the wifi into the ADSL faceplate master and keep the router close by.

http://www.broadbandbuyer.co.uk/Shop/ShopDetail.asp?ProductID=3306
http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php

or the ones i use which are slightly more expensive, and you have to also place an order at the same time for the slightly longer screws (only a few pence) to accommodate the bulkier faceplate.
I can vouch for the clarity ones (i haven't tried the others).

http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/adsl_faceplate.htm

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There is an alternative approach which may well work, using standard filters.
That is to remove the ring wire that runs from the master to the extensions
and also remove it from each of the extensions.
It can work like an antenna and produce noise.

The ring wire is not needed as long as a faceplate filter is used, OR a filter is plugged into the extension and the phone then plugged into that. It will still work (ring).

The ring wire is on pin 3 and will normally be coloured mainly orange with a streak of white.

The mainly blue plus white and mainly white plus blue are the main wires that are used for the phone.

If you open the sockets, just make a note of where the wires are and the colours before you start.

If the sockets are very old, then the colour coding may be different, with wires using just one colour.

But it's worth pointing out that this can only work as long as the connection works when plugged directly into the master test socket (faceplate removed). If it doesn't work there, then removing the ring wire would be pointless really.
In the two cases in this thread, it does work from the master, so it would be worth a try.