adsl line syncs during phone call only

Strange problem:

Adsl netgear router, aol line, provisioned by BT, no extensions in house
(pulled out faceplate on master, no wiring), thus directly connected to
line.

Adsl light will not sync at all, just adsl contineous flashing. However, as
soon as a regular phone is picked up , the line syncs and broadband works
fine, put the phone down and it looses sync.

Checked obvious such as filters etc. It took me about four times of
repeating the problem to AOL, however convinced them to send out BT.

Anyone else come across this problem???

Gaz

On 16-May-2007, "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Adsl light will not sync at all, just adsl contineous flashing. However, as
> soon as a regular phone is picked up , the line syncs and broadband works
> fine, put the phone down and it looses sync.
>
> Checked obvious such as filters etc. It took me about four times of
> repeating the problem to AOL, however convinced them to send out BT.

As you can get sync it sounds like an exchange or cable fault.
Are phone calls clear and no crackling?
What happens if you unplug the phone?
Are you on a long line?
I ask because when you pick up the phone the line impedance
and other parameters like loop voltage changes. On a long
line this can make all the difference.
Also of importance is what your router stats/log shows when
connected and not working. Noise, s/n ratio, levels etc.
They may indicate your router is struggling to cope with
a bad line.
Personally though I'd suspect a cable fault, waterlogged
or bad joint, again more likely on a long line.
Is this a new install, having never worked, or has worked fine
and the fault has just appeared?

(E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> On 16-May-2007, "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>> Adsl light will not sync at all, just adsl contineous flashing. However,
>> as
>> soon as a regular phone is picked up , the line syncs and broadband works
>> fine, put the phone down and it looses sync.
>>
>> Checked obvious such as filters etc. It took me about four times of
>> repeating the problem to AOL, however convinced them to send out BT.
>
> As you can get sync it sounds like an exchange or cable fault.
> Are phone calls clear and no crackling?

No, quite noisy, as if listening to an am radio, when synced, the
attenuation was in the fifties and the noise margin fluctuated between 2 and
8.


> What happens if you unplug the phone?

Line loses sync

> Are you on a long line?

Well the line isnt that long, maybe 4-5km from exchange.

> I ask because when you pick up the phone the line impedance
> and other parameters like loop voltage changes. On a long
> line this can make all the difference.

Ah, right, excellent. Well hopefully BT can sort it out,is it something they
can do without a visit?

> Also of importance is what your router stats/log shows when
> connected and not working. Noise, s/n ratio, levels etc.
> They may indicate your router is struggling to cope with
> a bad line.

The router seems to manage incredibly well on a dreadful line it seems, with
a noise ratio of 2 and 3, it was still allowing an internet connection
(netgear) when phone active.

> Personally though I'd suspect a cable fault, waterlogged
> or bad joint, again more likely on a long line.

Something i suspected as well, but hopefully BT can sort it out now.

> Is this a new install, having never worked, or has worked fine
> and the fault has just appeared?

Never worked, new install.

Thanks for your advice, i ahve been 'fixing' peoples broadband for a few
years now (obviously, by fixing, i mean sorting out problems on the
customers end of the master socket), first time i had come across this.


Gaz

Gaz wrote:
> Strange problem:
>
> Adsl netgear router, aol line, provisioned by BT, no extensions in house
> (pulled out faceplate on master, no wiring), thus directly connected to
> line.
>
> Adsl light will not sync at all, just adsl contineous flashing. However, as
> soon as a regular phone is picked up , the line syncs and broadband works
> fine, put the phone down and it looses sync.
>
> Checked obvious such as filters etc. It took me about four times of
> repeating the problem to AOL, however convinced them to send out BT.

Taken from a BE forum post (https://www.bethere.co.uk/forum/)

"Plug only an analogue telephone into the test socket dial 17070 select
option 2 if you can hear any noise on the line i.e.. crackling pops
etc.. then there is a fault on the line and you need to dial 151 and
report this"

Reading around on the BE forums your problem with the line synchronising
only during phone calls seems to be symptomatic of a line fault.

I'll see if I can find one of the posts for you.

regards

Alan

"Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>> On 16-May-2007, "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>
>>> Adsl light will not sync at all, just adsl contineous flashing. However,
>>> as
>>> soon as a regular phone is picked up , the line syncs and broadband
>>> works
>>> fine, put the phone down and it looses sync.
>>>
>>> Checked obvious such as filters etc. It took me about four times of
>>> repeating the problem to AOL, however convinced them to send out BT.
>>
>> As you can get sync it sounds like an exchange or cable fault.
>> Are phone calls clear and no crackling?
>
> No, quite noisy, as if listening to an am radio, when synced, the
> attenuation was in the fifties and the noise margin fluctuated between 2
> and

We've had exactly the same here a couple of times.
The fault will progressively get worse, until you lose the lot.
Report the fault as a noisy line - once the cabling is repaired your
broadband connection will be fine.

Gizmo. wrote:
> "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
>>> On 16-May-2007, "Gaz" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Adsl light will not sync at all, just adsl contineous flashing.
>>>> However,
>>>> as
>>>> soon as a regular phone is picked up , the line syncs and broadband
>>>> works
>>>> fine, put the phone down and it looses sync.
>>>>
>>>> Checked obvious such as filters etc. It took me about four times of
>>>> repeating the problem to AOL, however convinced them to send out BT.
>>>
>>> As you can get sync it sounds like an exchange or cable fault.
>>> Are phone calls clear and no crackling?
>>
>> No, quite noisy, as if listening to an am radio, when synced, the
>> attenuation was in the fifties and the noise margin fluctuated between 2
>> and
>
> We've had exactly the same here a couple of times.
> The fault will progressively get worse, until you lose the lot.
> Report the fault as a noisy line - once the cabling is repaired your
> broadband connection will be fine.

That was the advice i ended up giving to her, if the first visit from the BT
wholesale adsl engineer doesnt sort it (report it as a noisy line, and under
no circumstances mention adsl)...

Gaz