Well Done Open Reach Engineer & Plus Net

My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I raised a
ticket with PN.

They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests then
monitored my line.

They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house and
discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He replaced then with
gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to 8128.

A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is back up to
where it should be.

So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so promptly, and
thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get a chocolate biscuit
because I didn't have any.

--
Jeff Gaines Wiltshire UK
By the time you can make ends meet they move the ends

Jeff Gaines wrote:
>
> My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I raised a
> ticket with PN.
>
> They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests then
> monitored my line.
>
> They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
> conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house and
> discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He replaced then
> with gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to 8128.
>
> A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is back up
> to where it should be.
>
> So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so promptly,
> and thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get a chocolate
> biscuit because I didn't have any.
>
My connection continues to puzzle. Two engineer visits remade all joints
and gave me an entirely new section of line to the exchange. Lots less
attenuation, but the intermittent noise remained.

Then after two episodes where it was so bad that I couldn't get a PPP
sessions set up, despite having decent synch, and one occasion were I
couldn't dial out on the land line at all - though broadband still
worked, suddenly, mysteriously, with nothing changed here at all, the
whole thing has stabilised.

My tentative guess is that there was something going on at the exchange,
that got bad enough for Openreach to finally take a look. But tehse
things are nmever reported it seems, they 'just happen'

Anyway, the line that could barely handle 2M, is now sittiong rck solid
on a 15dB margion at 3.6, and when the BT algos decide I have been a
good boy I reckon is good for 4 and a bit plus..maybe nearly 5Mbps.

Incidentally, a fresh FAT cable for the First mile and as half netted me
*6dB* more signal. Remaking all the joints in te last 3/4 mile netted
me about half a dB to a dB improvement.

I.e. I was 55db, then got 54.5 db, after second visit its 48.5 dB
attenuation.

I dunno if any ex openreach engineers a lurking want to comment on how
exchange faults are detected, rectified and notified...but there does
seem to be a conspiracy of silence on my line, and why its suddenly
improved, and why it was shit in the first place.

Jeff Gaines wrote:
> My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I raised a
> ticket with PN.
>
> They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests then
> monitored my line.
>
> They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
> conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house and
> discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He replaced then with
> gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to 8128.
>
> A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is back up to
> where it should be.
>
> So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so promptly, and
> thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get a chocolate biscuit
> because I didn't have any.

What are blue beanies Jef? Forgive my ignorance please.
--
Heard melodies are sweet, but those Unheard are sweeter
(E-Mail Removed) FN 2°°9 +, Mungo Brandybuck of Buckland

"Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°11 + on netbook" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Jeff Gaines wrote:
>> My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I raised a
>> ticket with PN.
>>
>> They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests then
>> monitored my line.
>>
>> They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
>> conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house and
>> discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He replaced then
>> with
>> gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to 8128.
>>
>> A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is back up to
>> where it should be.
>>
>> So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so promptly, and
>> thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get a chocolate biscuit
>> because I didn't have any.
>
> What are blue beanies Jef? Forgive my ignorance please.

"Blue beanies" are the old-fashioned crimps used to connect the individual
conductors in underground joints. They were in daily use when I first
started as a cable jointer on Post Office Telephones as it was then, back in
1978. They were superceded by the current 'insulation displacement'
jelly-filled crimps some time later - but my addled brain can't remember
when :-)

"Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°11 + on netbook" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Jeff Gaines wrote:
>> My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I raised a
>> ticket with PN.
>>
>> They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests then
>> monitored my line.
>>
>> They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
>> conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house and
>> discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He replaced then with
>> gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to 8128.
>>
>> A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is back up to
>> where it should be.
>>
>> So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so promptly, and
>> thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get a chocolate biscuit
>> because I didn't have any.
>
> What are blue beanies Jef? Forgive my ignorance please.

I'm guessing it's none of these...

http://www.google.co.uk/images?q=blu...w=1264&bih=573

I'd like to know too. Some sort of cable cannector? Were these "yours" or otside your house?

Tim

'blue beanies'
What and where are they?
Regards
David

"David" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:iltla9$2mr$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
>
> 'blue beanies'
> What and where are they?


Probably a form of jelly filled crimp connector used to join telephone wires
that are exposed to the weather.

Peter Crosland

"Manticore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°11 + on netbook" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Jeff Gaines wrote:
>>> My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I raised a
>>> ticket with PN.
>>>
>>> They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests then
>>> monitored my line.
>>>
>>> They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
>>> conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house and
>>> discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He replaced then
>>> with
>>> gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to 8128.
>>>
>>> A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is back up
>>> to
>>> where it should be.
>>>
>>> So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so promptly,
>>> and
>>> thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get a chocolate biscuit
>>> because I didn't have any.
>>
>> What are blue beanies Jef? Forgive my ignorance please.
>
> "Blue beanies" are the old-fashioned crimps used to connect the individual
> conductors in underground joints. They were in daily use when I first
> started as a cable jointer on Post Office Telephones as it was then, back
> in 1978. They were superceded by the current 'insulation displacement'
> jelly-filled crimps some time later - but my addled brain can't remember
> when :-)

Modern crimps in current use:

http://www.hall-fast-direct.com/bt-c...ed-20027-p.asp

At the bottom of this page you'll see a joint (last photo). Although you
can't see them very well and it's a black and white photo, they are the
"blue beanie" old-style crimps - I'll see if I can find a better photo but
for now:

http://www.britishtelephones.com/gpo/jointbox.htm

Manticore wrote:
> "Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°11 + on netbook" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
> message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Jeff Gaines wrote:
>>> My synch speed dropped from 8128 to under 4,000 recently so I
>>> raised a ticket with PN.
>>>
>>> They steered me to a self help 'wizard' to run a series of tests
>>> then monitored my line.
>>>
>>> They decided to send in an Open Reach Engineer who was really
>>> conscientious. He tracked the signal from my green box to the house
>>> and discovered my 'blue beanies' were causing a problem. He
>>> replaced then with
>>> gel-filled connectors and the synch speed immediately jumped to
>>> 8128. A re-boot of the router this morning and my down-load speed is
>>> back
>>> up to where it should be.
>>>
>>> So thanks Plus Net for being willing to send an engineer so
>>> promptly, and thanks to the anonymous engineer who didn't even get
>>> a chocolate biscuit because I didn't have any.
>>
>> What are blue beanies Jef? Forgive my ignorance please.
>
> "Blue beanies" are the old-fashioned crimps used to connect the
> individual conductors in underground joints. They were in daily use
> when I first started as a cable jointer on Post Office Telephones as
> it was then, back in 1978. They were superceded by the current
> 'insulation displacement' jelly-filled crimps some time later - but
> my addled brain can't remember when :-)

Thanks for that. We live and learn.
--
Heard melodies are sweet, but those Unheard are sweeter
(E-Mail Removed) FN 2°11 +, Mungo Brandybuck of Buckland

On Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:28:41 +0000, Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°11 + made love to the
words:


>> "Blue beanies" are the old-fashioned crimps used to connect the
>> individual conductors in underground joints. They were in daily use
>> when I first started as a cable jointer on Post Office Telephones as it
>> was then, back in 1978. They were superceded by the current 'insulation
>> displacement' jelly-filled crimps some time later - but my addled brain
>> can't remember when :-)

And in times of the bean counters complaining at the cost of the blue
crimps, they produced white beanies - the same thing, but without any
waterproof grease within.