Before you let a telephone engineer into your home- read this

AndyPK

1990 is not old wiring!

thorganby

Mister_G wrote: »

By the way, the phone requires both wires, the broadband comes down one.

Absolute rubbish!

Broadband will usually work with one leg high resistance or disconnected due to the high frequency but it is definitely sent down both wires of the line.

Retrogamer

AndyPK wrote: »

Ok so it may not be law, but you (customer) aren't meant to connect wires into the old style master sockets. Only plug extension wiring into the front

I'm afraid that's not true. The old style master sockets before the NTE5 type which has the test socket were often called LJU type master sockets.

The LJU type master socket has a block inside for the purpose of hard wiring in extension sockets. The problem only arises for providers that may decide to charge customers for a fault with their internal wiring, as unless the customer pulls out the extension wires they have no way of isolating their master socket.

thorganby wrote: »

Absolute rubbish!

Broadband will usually work with one leg high resistance or disconnected due to the high frequency but it is definitely sent down both wires of the line.

Indeed. A "dis one leg in the network" fault will cause no dial tone and broadband will still work, but the performance will normally be impacted and it's definitely better to utilise both pairs.

MsNikkiB

Thank you to everyone for the helpful posts. The socket is certainly not a 50 year old socket- it has the Openreach logo on the front! I believe it was installed by previous owners who were BT customers so I would imagine it has all been done through BT/Openreach

If the advice is that it is simple to reconnect ourselves than perhaps this is the answer. Can't believe that Plusnet customer service are insisting WE have to make a claim against Openreach for ' damage to property or personal injury' -have told them repeatedly no-one got hurt, my home is not damaged - he just hasn't done the job properly. All we asked is that Plusnet request the engineer comes back to return it to working order.

Thank you again for your help - it's been 10 times more helpful than anything Plusnet have offered ( £20 off our next bill 'forthe inconvenience' Thanks but no thanks- would prefer a working phone line!)

AndyPK

Retrogamer wrote: »

I'm afraid that's not true. The old style master sockets before the NTE5 type which has the test socket were often called LJU type master sockets.

The LJU type master socket has a block inside for the purpose of hard wiring in extension sockets.

I'm an afraid you are wrong. While obviously there are connectors in the back for connection (and its technically possible) BT/OR don't want you in there messing with the connections, as it's the identical same connections of the incomming wiring.


This is why extension kits were produced to plug into the front of the master socket

Retrogamer

AndyPK wrote: »

I'm an afraid you are wrong. While obviously there are connectors in the back for connection (and its technically possible) BT/OR don't want you in there messing with the connections, as it's the identical same connections of the incoming wiring.

Openreach and BT are separate entities entirely.
Back when BT used to only use LJU master sockets their own engineers would wire in extension sockets on request and although Openreach might "not like" people hard wiring in secondary sockets to older LJU master sockets themself they don't do anything about it when they do, and it's also not a problem if they're wired incorrectly.

It's more a problem for the service provider or customer than it is for Openreach as there can be potential charges for them if the secondary socket and / or wiring is the cause of the problem.

Also, it doesn't share the same connectors as the incoming wiring. There are two block connectors in the old sockets. One is for the lead in cable and the other is specifically for hard wiring in secondary extension sockets. Seems strange for BT (it was them back in the day) to pay a company extra money to design and provide parts inside a socket with no intention of using them.

AndyPK wrote: »

This is why extension kits were produced to plug into the front of the master socket

Those were introduced to make it easy as not many people had the skills or knowledge to hard wire in a secondary socket.

woody2234

This is a helpful Youtube video that shows you how to do it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaKTUF4UoEI

But you will need a punch down tool like this for example

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IDC-INSERTION-PUNCH-PUSH-DOWN-TOOL-BT-TELEPHONE-SOCKET-NETWORK-RJ45-CAT-3-5-6/322510674295?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D55149%26meid%3D2ef7fa9de0c2439e8b71205c9f2e4d67%26pid%3D101006%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D322510674295&_trksid=p2045573.c101006.m3226

AndyPK

Retrogamer wrote: »

Also, it doesn't share the same connectors as the incoming wiring. There are two block connectors in the old sockets. One is for the lead in cable and the other is specifically for hard wiring in secondary extension sockets. Seems strange for BT (it was them back in the day) to pay a company extra money to design and provide parts inside a socket with no intention of using them.

So here is a early type master socket (or very similar).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LJU2-1A-LATEST-MODEL-BT-Master-Socket-Wiring-Tool-Surge-Protection-2018/221612544427?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CASSINI%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20151016114640%26meid%3De3661f1066524cb3b22d4e96b84dad76%26pid%3D100507%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26%26itm%3D221612544427&_trksid=p2045573.c100507.m3226

There are no extra connectors.

2 & 5 are used for both incoming and outgoing connections

littleboo

Retrogamer wrote: »

Openreach and BT are separate entities entirely.
Back when BT used to only use LJU master sockets their own engineers would wire in extension sockets on request and although Openreach might "not like" people hard wiring in secondary sockets to older LJU master sockets themself they don't do anything about it when they do, and it's also not a problem if they're wired incorrectly.

It's more a problem for the service provider or customer than it is for Openreach as there can be potential charges for them if the secondary socket and / or wiring is the cause of the problem.

Also, it doesn't share the same connectors as the incoming wiring. There are two block connectors in the old sockets. One is for the lead in cable and the other is specifically for hard wiring in secondary extension sockets. Seems strange for BT (it was them back in the day) to pay a company extra money to design and provide parts inside a socket with no intention of using them.



Those were introduced to make it easy as not many people had the skills or knowledge to hard wire in a secondary socket.

The extension kits were introduced because you were not allowed to hard wire to the BT LJU . At the time BT would hardwire to the LJU to provide an extension and you would be charged rental. The homeowner however should have been using a plug in kit for the first extension if they did their own wiring.