Test socket on Master Socket not working

Hello all

I have been having problems with slow speeds on my 7616kbps Broadband
connection and as a test I took the user panel off the Master Socket to try
to connect to the Test Socket to see if I had any better speeds through
that.

Problem is, the Test Socket does not seem to work.

Even stranger is that there are 3 sets of cables connected to the IDC
connectors on the back of the user panel.

We only have three sockets in the house, the master socket, one in my
bedroom and one in another bedroom.

It must have been connected like this since the house was new, 18 years.

Who do I need to contact about this at BT?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

Kevin Cowans wrote:
> Hello all
>
> I have been having problems with slow speeds on my 7616kbps Broadband
> connection and as a test I took the user panel off the Master Socket to try
> to connect to the Test Socket to see if I had any better speeds through
> that.
>
> Problem is, the Test Socket does not seem to work.
>
> Even stranger is that there are 3 sets of cables connected to the IDC
> connectors on the back of the user panel.
>
> We only have three sockets in the house, the master socket, one in my
> bedroom and one in another bedroom.
>
> It must have been connected like this since the house was new, 18 years.
>
> Who do I need to contact about this at BT?

If the master socket has a fault then BT faults - get a test done online
first - then track that.

With regard to the three connections from the panel - just disconnect
each set in turn to see which isn't being used and leave that one
disconnected for now.

Richard Oliver wrote:
> Kevin Cowans wrote:
>> Hello all
>>
>> I have been having problems with slow speeds on my 7616kbps Broadband
>> connection and as a test I took the user panel off the Master Socket
>> to try to connect to the Test Socket to see if I had any better speeds
>> through that.
>>
>> Problem is, the Test Socket does not seem to work.
>>
>> Even stranger is that there are 3 sets of cables connected to the IDC
>> connectors on the back of the user panel.
>>
>> We only have three sockets in the house, the master socket, one in my
>> bedroom and one in another bedroom.
>>
>> It must have been connected like this since the house was new, 18 years.
>>
>> Who do I need to contact about this at BT?
>
> If the master socket has a fault then BT faults - get a test done online
> first - then track that.
>
> With regard to the three connections from the panel - just disconnect
> each set in turn to see which isn't being used and leave that one
> disconnected for now.
>
If the socket is incorrectly wired the "spare" set could be the incoming
pair.


--
Old Codger
e-mail use reply to field

What matters in politics is not what happens, but what you can make
people believe has happened. [Janet Daley 27/8/2003]

Old Codger wrote:

>> If the master socket has a fault then BT faults - get a test done
>> online first - then track that.
>>
>> With regard to the three connections from the panel - just disconnect
>> each set in turn to see which isn't being used and leave that one
>> disconnected for now.
>>
> If the socket is incorrectly wired the "spare" set could be the incoming
> pair.

That might explain the lack of dialtone on the master socket - good thought.

"Kevin Cowans" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:ejd874$9ld$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hello all
>
> I have been having problems with slow speeds on my 7616kbps Broadband
> connection and as a test I took the user panel off the Master Socket to
> try to connect to the Test Socket to see if I had any better speeds
> through that.
>
> Problem is, the Test Socket does not seem to work.
>
> Even stranger is that there are 3 sets of cables connected to the IDC
> connectors on the back of the user panel.
>
> We only have three sockets in the house, the master socket, one in my
> bedroom and one in another bedroom.
>
> It must have been connected like this since the house was new, 18 years.
>
> Who do I need to contact about this at BT?
>
> Thanks in advance
>
> Kevin
>
Try unlpugging the frontplate with the 3 wires on and then plug into the
front of it rather than the test socket. If you have dialtone then the mail
incoming pr has been terminated on the front plate rather that the socket!
Was it a new build 18 years ago. May have been done by the builders?

Hello

If I connect to the front of the user panel whilst removed I am still able
to use the socket on the front of user panel.

The house was a new build 18 years ago but the line was put in by a BT
engineer.

Bye for now

Kevin

"SJP" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Kevin Cowans" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:ejd874$9ld$1$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Hello all
>>
>> I have been having problems with slow speeds on my 7616kbps Broadband
>> connection and as a test I took the user panel off the Master Socket to
>> try to connect to the Test Socket to see if I had any better speeds
>> through that.
>>
>> Problem is, the Test Socket does not seem to work.
>>
>> Even stranger is that there are 3 sets of cables connected to the IDC
>> connectors on the back of the user panel.
>>
>> We only have three sockets in the house, the master socket, one in my
>> bedroom and one in another bedroom.
>>
>> It must have been connected like this since the house was new, 18 years.
>>
>> Who do I need to contact about this at BT?
>>
>> Thanks in advance
>>
>> Kevin
>>
> Try unlpugging the frontplate with the 3 wires on and then plug into the
> front of it rather than the test socket. If you have dialtone then the
> mail incoming pr has been terminated on the front plate rather that the
> socket! Was it a new build 18 years ago. May have been done by the
> builders?
>

Then it has to be wired wrongly! Ask BT to sort FOC.

Peter Crosland

Kevin Cowans wrote:
> Hello all
>
> I have been having problems with slow speeds on my 7616kbps Broadband
> connection and as a test I took the user panel off the Master Socket to try
> to connect to the Test Socket to see if I had any better speeds through
> that.
>
> Problem is, the Test Socket does not seem to work.
>
> Even stranger is that there are 3 sets of cables connected to the IDC
> connectors on the back of the user panel.
>
> We only have three sockets in the house, the master socket, one in my
> bedroom and one in another bedroom.
>
> It must have been connected like this since the house was new, 18 years.

Weird, but not particularly unusual given the cackhandedness of many
installers out there...

My guess is that with the face plate disconnected, your extension
sockets are still live, but may not ring, because the incoming pair is
connected to the front panel, and not the A+B connectors on the back of
the main part of the socket.

BT Faults could examine it; you are likely to be charged for a visit to
rectify it.

If you can identify the incoming pair (it will be connected to pins 2+5,
but not to anything else) and connect this to terminals A+B on the back
of the socket, then it will be a 'normal' linebox.

Normal colour scheme is Orange to 'B' and White to 'A'; or if the cable
is Blue and Blue/White, then Blue to 'B' and White to 'A'. You will
need to strip the end of the wire to wrap it around the screw terminals.

The volts across the pair will be ~ 50V dc, but will be significantly
higher when ringing. Just avoid shorting the pair together and you
should be fine.

Of course you should not be doing this. It is BT's problem, and they
should fix it if there is a fault; convincing them that there is a
fault is likely to be difficult...

Slow speeds do not indicate a line fault, unless you are getting VERY
slow speeds; you didn't quantify things. Everyone is getting slow
speeds around here, with no changes to line conditions. When I changed
to Max, my line pegged at 8128k for three weeks, but courtesy of BT's
BRAS logic, it tends to get whacked down to 5.5M even though the current
line speed is 7488k. The 'blip logic' fix was supposed to help this,
but I get the general impression it didn't help as much as it could do.

The other problem with BRAS is that it does get stuck, and it takes a
prod (of BT) by your ISP to get it unstuck at times.

On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:00:45 +0000, Jim Howes
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Normal colour scheme is Orange to 'B' and White to 'A';

I was told the opposite by a BT engineer who didn't need to look it
up. Now I'm confused.

Which way round should the voltage be - is A the earthy one or B ?


Phil
--
http://www.notspot.info/ - if you can't get the Broadband you want.

Hello all

Thanks for the replies.

Contacted BT about this and they asked me to remove the front plate and try
connecting a phone to the test socket to see if that works.

I did this and there is no tone of any kind so it looks like the test socket
is in fact disconnected.

BT is contacting me again tomorrow for the results of this test so
hopefully, since it was wired by a BT engineer they will fix it free of
charge.

Also, I noticed that the wires in the socket are twisted together, is this
normal?

I know when wiring Network Sockets it is good practice to twist the pairs
together as it reduces interference/noise on the line. Is it the same for
phone lines?

Thanks in advance

Kevin

"Phil Thompson" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:00:45 +0000, Jim Howes
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>Normal colour scheme is Orange to 'B' and White to 'A';
>
> I was told the opposite by a BT engineer who didn't need to look it
> up. Now I'm confused.
>
> Which way round should the voltage be - is A the earthy one or B ?
>
>
> Phil
> --
> http://www.notspot.info/ - if you can't get the Broadband you want.