Pick up the handset and BT ADSL dies

I was a very happy BT Broadband (wires-only) customer for 18 months with a
Thomson Speedtouch 510v4 who wanted a fixed IP. No-one at BT could tell me
definitively whether the down-time was going to be an hour or two weeks,
so I got a second line installed (business) and Business Broadband with
fixed-IP, then cancelled the original domestic line + ADSL (it's only
money :-\ ).

Anyway, old service = dynamic-IP but rock solid connection (almost never
dropped in 18 months), new service = fixed-IP, OK for a week or two, then
for a week the ADSL dies for upto 30 minutes day or so.

One day I could hear white noise on the line through the handset at the
same time as the ADSL connection died. Soon as the ADSL connection was
back, the line noise had gone (related?). I phoned BT next day and they
said they'd get an engineer to look at it and call me. He never did, but
the connection was faultless for about a month.

Till yesterday. Down for almost an hour, modem blinkenlichten in various
states of "no WAN connection" (no modem, connection pending, etc), lots of
audible noise on the line and also in the background a faint "digital"
sound like "beeeeeep-beep-beep" every ten seconds or so. After almost an
hour, the ADSL connection came back on, but the line noise is still
audible. Problem is, if I keep the handset off the hook for 10 seconds,
the ADSL dies.

Before I phone BT again, near to tears, does anyone have any suggestions?
Can I buy some top-of-the-line ADSL filters to see if that makes any
difference (I don't know enough about wiring or electrics to fit a
faceplate)? Anything else you can suggest? Thanks!


--
Aidan Whitehall

> Before I phone BT again, near to tears, does anyone have any suggestions?
> Can I buy some top-of-the-line ADSL filters to see if that makes any
> difference (I don't know enough about wiring or electrics to fit a
> faceplate)? Anything else you can suggest? Thanks!
>
>
> --
> Aidan Whitehall
If your haven't already, try plugging the modem directly into the master
socket with no filter.
Does the connection still drop out??
I suggest getting a more expensive filter, some of the cheap ones are ok but
some are useless.
If it doesn't improve, get bt out to fix it.
Had problems with mine recenlty, turned out to be a duff card at the
exchange.

You do not need any wiring knowledge to fit a proper faceplate -
unless you have anything complicated in the way of extension wiring.
See http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/adsl_faceplate.htm . The engineer
who tried one out on my (failed) ADSL installation said that they were
brilliant at getting rid of line noise.


On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 16:45:30 +0000 (UTC), Aidan Whitehall
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>I was a very happy BT Broadband (wires-only) customer for 18 months with a
>Thomson Speedtouch 510v4 who wanted a fixed IP. No-one at BT could tell me
>definitively whether the down-time was going to be an hour or two weeks,
>so I got a second line installed (business) and Business Broadband with
>fixed-IP, then cancelled the original domestic line + ADSL (it's only
>money :-\ ).
>
>Anyway, old service = dynamic-IP but rock solid connection (almost never
>dropped in 18 months), new service = fixed-IP, OK for a week or two, then
>for a week the ADSL dies for upto 30 minutes day or so.
>
>One day I could hear white noise on the line through the handset at the
>same time as the ADSL connection died. Soon as the ADSL connection was
>back, the line noise had gone (related?). I phoned BT next day and they
>said they'd get an engineer to look at it and call me. He never did, but
>the connection was faultless for about a month.
>
>Till yesterday. Down for almost an hour, modem blinkenlichten in various
>states of "no WAN connection" (no modem, connection pending, etc), lots of
>audible noise on the line and also in the background a faint "digital"
>sound like "beeeeeep-beep-beep" every ten seconds or so. After almost an
>hour, the ADSL connection came back on, but the line noise is still
>audible. Problem is, if I keep the handset off the hook for 10 seconds,
>the ADSL dies.
>
>Before I phone BT again, near to tears, does anyone have any suggestions?
>Can I buy some top-of-the-line ADSL filters to see if that makes any
>difference (I don't know enough about wiring or electrics to fit a
>faceplate)? Anything else you can suggest? Thanks!

Aidan Whitehall <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news(E-Mail Removed). co.dot.uk:

> One day I could hear white noise on the line through the handset at the
> same time as the ADSL connection died

Sounds to me like you were actually hearing the ADSL signal through the
phone and therefore your filter has an intermittant fault so as
recommended get a new one.

--
Colin
*Drop DEAD from the email address to reply*

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:44:51 +0100, Chris wrote:

> You do not need any wiring knowledge to fit a proper faceplate -
> unless you have anything complicated in the way of extension wiring.
> See http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/adsl_faceplate.htm . The engineer
> who tried one out on my (failed) ADSL installation said that they were
> brilliant at getting rid of line noise.

Thanks for the link.

Does anyone know if that faceplate is the same width as the "standard"
domestic telephone socket?


--
Aidan Whitehall

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 20:31:44 +0000, cw wrote:

> Sounds to me like you were actually hearing the ADSL signal through the
> phone and therefore your filter has an intermittant fault so as
> recommended get a new one.

Thanks for the suggestions, cw and Swiss Tony.

As it's the easiest thing to try, I'll buy some decent filters first --
are there any that the group recommends frequently?


--
Aidan Whitehall

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Aidan Whitehall <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 19:44:51 +0100, Chris wrote:
>
>> You do not need any wiring knowledge to fit a proper faceplate -
>> unless you have anything complicated in the way of extension wiring.
>> See http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/adsl_faceplate.htm . The engineer
>> who tried one out on my (failed) ADSL installation said that they
>> were brilliant at getting rid of line noise.
>
> Thanks for the link.
>
> Does anyone know if that faceplate is the same width as the "standard"
> domestic telephone socket?

Depends what you mean by "standard domestic telephone socket". If you mean a
BT NTE5 Master Socket (with removeable faceplate), the answer is YES.

The Clarity faceplate replaces the BT faceplate - and is the same width.
However, when fitted, it increases the *depth* (thickness from wall) of the
socket - because it extends up in front of the non-removeable top section.
[You can see from the photo on the Clarity site that it has a step in side
view.
--
Cheers,
Tim
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Aidan Whitehall <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news(E-Mail Removed). co.dot.uk:

> As it's the easiest thing to try, I'll buy some decent filters first --
> are there any that the group recommends frequently?

I personally have used the faceplates from Clarity (They cost about £15 for
the standard one). I should have one or two still bagged up at home if
you're interested (could do you £5+postage). Drop me an email if that suits
you.

--
Colin
*Drop DEAD from the email address to reply*

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 15:00:03 +0100, Tiscali Tim wrote:

> The Clarity faceplate replaces the BT faceplate - and is the same width.
> However, when fitted, it increases the *depth* (thickness from wall) of the
> socket - because it extends up in front of the non-removeable top section.
> [You can see from the photo on the Clarity site that it has a step in side
> view.

Yeah, must confess that at first I thought it was wider (due to the
skirting board in my house, anything wider than a BT NTE5 Master Socket
wouldn't fit), but when I was showing that page to a colleague a few
minutes ago I realised that, as you say, side by side they appear to be
the same width.

Thanks for the info, all the same.

--
Aidan Whitehall