Phone line - whose responsibility?

gym11

We are renting privately. Our LL previously lived in the property before us - we are the first tenants here.
We've had a lot of internet problems the last few weeks - initially just thought it was increased demand due to more home working in the area etc but it got so bad we could barely use it at all. TalkTalk have investigated and run tests on the line they say we have a problem with our internal wiring and wanted to send an engineer. However they would charge us £65 if the it was found the master socket has been tampered with.

The master socket is in the hallway. At some point someone (not us) has 'tampered' with it and run an extension cable from the socket, drilled through the socket, round the outside of the house and back inside into the living room. I assume this was done because there is no power socket near to the master socket at all, so it's tricky to have your router connected.

We have plugged our router directly into the master socket and this has solved the internet problems. To do this you have to run an extension lead for power across the hallway, blocking the downstairs loo and front door. Clearly the problem is the telephone extension lead. 

As we've moved the router the WiFi signal now doesn't reach all parts of the house, as it did previously. I fully appreciate in the circumstances this may not be deemed urgent or essential, but I am required to do a fair amount of video calls as part of my job and so I need a good, steady internet connection.

We're very happy to buy a new phone extension cable ourselves and just run it internally across the house, not fixing it down. But should we be asking/expecting the LL to replace/fix the existing extension cable? 

Slithery

Is having a working telephone line mentioned in your tenancy agreement?

HampshireH

Not aware of any requirement on a landlord to provide a telephone line/extension cable.

Id probably do it yourself

Sensei_Annmarie

Routers don’t tend to work their best when plugged into a plug in extension lead, have you spoken to your landlord about the issue, you never know they may just get it fixed

Falafels

You'll need to check your tenancy agreement, but over the last ten years I've been both landlady AND tenant, and in each case internet has been the responsibility of the tenant.

[Deleted User]

Instead of relying on wifi or a long power cable get a 20m (or less depending on how far it has to travel) cat 5e cable and connect your computer directly to the router through that.  I have never used wifi, always hardwired as wifi has never been as good as this sort of connection.  I know a lot of people don't do this but it works for me. You can discretely drill a hole (floor level or ceiling level depending on where its going) in relevant walls if you need to but be prepared to fill them before you leave.  I have a pc downstairs where the router is, and two upstairs for the children.  All hard wired.  All much faster than wifi alternatives. You can buy plastic clips to keep cables against the wall or direct them where you want them to go.  

As an alternative, if you really want to leave router where it is, I bought a very long power extension that allowed me to drape it around doorways and place the two socket end where I needed it.  Using plastic clips as above.  There's no need to have it blocking doorways off.

Or you could look online for how to improve the wifi signal, maybe you just need a new extension.., or a wifi extender (I never found them to be much help).

Norman_Castle

Check the current extension for poor connections, they're not ideal but improving that might be easy.

My router is screwed to the ceiling to avoid cables across doorways or extensions. Originally a temporary measure but I've left it as it out of the way and being high help the wifi signal.

da_rule

An alternative option may be to seek the landlords permission to relocate the master socket. There will be a cost to this but it’s quite clear that the current positioning isn’t really suitable (and it seems the landlord also knew this hence running the extension cord). 

unforeseen

Sensei_Annmarie said:

Routers don’t tend to work their best when plugged into a plug in extension lead, have you spoken to your landlord about the issue, you never know they may just get it fixed

Only because telephone extension leads tend to be cheap crappy quality. A decent extension works fine. Remember that the drop wire from the pole to the house is just an extension cable in reality.

The main problem with the existing extension I would guess is that if it is a normal extension then they aren't designed to be run outdoors and subsequently it has degraded.

Advice to op would be to buy a new extension and run it indoors only to where you want it. You may see a slight drop in speed compared to plugging directly into the incoming box but it won't be that noticeable. 

AdrianC

gym11 said:

We are renting privately. Our LL previously lived in the property before us - we are the first tenants here.
We've had a lot of internet problems the last few weeks - initially just thought it was increased demand due to more home working in the area etc but it got so bad we could barely use it at all. TalkTalk have investigated and run tests on the line they say we have a problem with our internal wiring and wanted to send an engineer. However they would charge us £65 if the it was found the master socket has been tampered with.

Not quite. Anything on the inside of the master socket is the property owner's problem, and is not the responsibility of the telephone network - BTOpenReach.
The master socket usually has a removable front to reveal a test socket, which would disconnect any internal phone wiring. Plug the router and a phone directly into that, and leave it for 48 hours. That'll allow the line time to recalibrate.

The master socket is in the hallway. At some point someone (not us) has 'tampered' with it and run an extension cable from the socket, drilled through the socket, round the outside of the house and back inside into the living room. I assume this was done because there is no power socket near to the master socket at all, so it's tricky to have your router connected.

We have plugged our router directly into the master socket and this has solved the internet problems. To do this you have to run an extension lead for power across the hallway, blocking the downstairs loo and front door. Clearly the problem is the telephone extension lead. 

As we've moved the router the WiFi signal now doesn't reach all parts of the house, as it did previously. I fully appreciate in the circumstances this may not be deemed urgent or essential, but I am required to do a fair amount of video calls as part of my job and so I need a good, steady internet connection.

We're very happy to buy a new phone extension cable ourselves and just run it internally across the house, not fixing it down. But should we be asking/expecting the LL to replace/fix the existing extension cable? 

You can ask...

Does your tenancy make any comment about a guaranteed minimum standard of connectivity in the property? No, thought not...

macman

No need to run long ethernet cables. Just use a pair of Powerline Networking plugs, and hardwire a power socket near the router via a surface run, in mini-trunking. A reasonable LL would pay for the latter, but it's not an expensive job anyway.