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BT broadband keeps dropping

My broadband keeps dropping ,it drops randomly during the day but drops almost every time I get an incoming phone call. I rang BT and spent ages on the phone to them, the call was escalated and I was told that a BT broadband engineer would call but if they found a problem in the house they would charge me £130. I have replaced the ASDL filter , in fact the only thing not replaced is the telephone socket. I am now in a position where I am paying them my hard earned money for a shoddy service but don,t want to risk a bill for £130 if they come out to me. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Comments

  • force_ten
    force_ten Posts: 1,931 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    sounds like you have got a high resistance fault on the line also known as HR Dis, this type of fault causes the broadband to drop out when ringing current goes down the line

    this is normally an external fault but there is a possibility that it is something in the house that is causing it

    Have you taken the front plate off the master socket and disconnect all extensions and tested the router in the master socket, if the broadband still drops out with the router plugged into the test socket then chances are it is a line fault

    they have to advise you of possible charges because if the problem is being caused by the customer's own equipment or if they are doing something wrong then you will have to pay for the engineers visit

    google high resistance fault causing broadband to drop out
  • force_ten
    force_ten Posts: 1,931 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    meant to say in the other post

    take the front plate off the master socket plug your new microfilter into the test socket plug your router/hub into the filter but do not connect a phone, wait for the b/b to synch up and then ring the line from a mobile if it is a HR/Dis fault on the line the b/b should drop out

    that is pretty much all you can do without the help of an engineers visit
  • 0161a
    0161a Posts: 43 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    thanks I will try that
  • 0161a
    0161a Posts: 43 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    What if the broadband does n't drop when I do that? What is it likely to be ?Do I really need to unscrew the socket?
  • espresso
    espresso Posts: 16,448 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    0161a wrote: »
    What if the broadband does n't drop when I do that? What is it likely to be ? Do I really need to unscrew the socket?

    Do you really want to pay £130 when you can easily eliminate your own internal wiring etc.
    :doh: Blue text on this forum usually signifies hyperlinks, so click on them!..:wall:
  • 0161a
    0161a Posts: 43 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    espresso wrote: »
    Do you really want to pay £130 when you can easily eliminate your own internal wiring etc.
    Of Course not! That was the whole point of my post but as I have replaced everything. I intend to try the advise given by the others. My BT sockets are ancient -when are they supposed to renew them?
  • cajef
    cajef Posts: 6,283 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    0161a wrote: »
    My BT sockets are ancient -when are they supposed to renew them?
    They don't unless you are willing to pay them £130.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I'd be happy to pop round and undo them for only £50 a screw... Your master socket will be replaced FOC when it ceases to work, not before.
    All the other sockets are yours, not BT's, so you can change them any time you like, but at your own expense. Get OR in to do that and it will cost you £130 minimum.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • force_ten
    force_ten Posts: 1,931 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    www.exbtengineers.com/line-fault-broadband-speed-test

    have a look at that site for some useful info

    if your master socket is ancient then it may not be an NTE5 where you can access the main socket

    all the extension wiring should should be wired off the face plate of the NTE 5 and by removing it you should eliminate all your wiring and sockets that are not the responsibility of openreach

    if you plug your router into the master socket and it is fine then you work out where your problem is by a process of elimination
  • Op,

    You have some very good advice so far,and also advice from others who unfortunately arent reading everything.

    You cannot remove a plate from an ancient socket so you are unable to do the test as advised.

    I have had exactly the same problem for many months. Sky escalated it and eventually a broadband engineer attended.

    He found 2 faults on the line in the street which were undetectable using a usual line test. He also gave me a new master socket as mine was ancient just to cover any possible problem there.

    Total charge?..nowt

    Brilliant service from Sky,it has to be said(although it took many complaints of drop outs and advice from sky to change microfilters/change router channels etc)
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