bad line noises and how to find the fault

[billy50000]

Hi all

 

Ive been replacing my extension cable for the phoneline in the sitting room today due to thinking its been at fault for the rustling noises on the phone which inturn messes the modems connection speed capabilites.

 

this is usually 45296kbps

 

well ive been getting connection rates as poor as 960:(

ive put this down to bad winds and possible line damage along the route to the exchange or where ever:)

 

ive totally replaced the extension and box in the front room and after some fiddling to get a dial tone which was hearable i did it all and made a call.

 

still rustling!!

(comes and goes,but comes more:( even dropouts (56k dialup modem:(

 

im getting varied connection speeds again but not as low as 960

 

even connecting at 45 has still got issues by not being connected enough to load any webpage and sometimes its fine and displays(after reconnect)i also suspect ie7 of being buggy as sometimes the browser opens but wont display untill you open a new one and closing the other:(

 

and my final issue and this is tricky:)

 

if your not a BT customer like me who fixes/checks the line for faults:)

 

 

cheers all

 

 

steve

 

damn thing drops out allot!!!!!!!!:(*$%£&*^%ergggggggggggh

 

if i go BB will this come back and haunt me?

Edited December 14, 2006 by billy50000

[ColinW]

I had a bad line on my ntl dial up a few years ago (now on cable broadband). I figured they would blame my equipment so I just complained about the quality of phone conversations, no mention of modems etc. They fixed it straight away and after that the dial up worked perfectly. I only went cable because they re-jigged the pricing so it was almost as dear for dial up!

[billy50000]

Hi all

 

mine is very bad in voice calls and i told them of a fault today and i need to borrow someones house phone to rule out the phone i using but with my phone in the only socket(extension unplugged) the quality is still poor with noise like rustling comming back and forth like static type noises

 

they said they`d charge me £140 if its my phone as the line checks out apparently(talk talk)

 

not in my opinion it doesnt and its not the modem` as ive even diag`d it and resat it into the pci slot twice.

 

checked the wires on the mainbox and everywhere else so im not sure what they are thinking of checking if they do come out as its a fault from the main line not my modem or extension and the wires checkout in the mainbox????????????

 

i think it may have happend since the fixy men did a powerline fix a week or two ago (apparently they could smell something and it was cutting the mains power.

 

after banging holes in the path outside they found whatever it was up the top of my road and the power is fine.

 

shame the phones gone to shite:)

 

 

sg

Edited December 15, 2006 by billy50000

[ColinW]

Don't take any bull off them. When mine was knackered an ntl call centre wally gave me the same spiel about it "checking out" OK (how the hell can he tell from India?). When the proper oily rags came round they found out the gas workers up the road had crushed the conduit with the line in. Of course get another phone to make sure, but it sounds exactly like the same problem I had. If it sounds bad to you and your modem thinks it's bad then the chances are it really is!

[Paul_D]

Actually, depending on the Telco network you're being fed from, many lines can indeed be remotely checked with line test cards although I doubt if a call centre had the management platforms to do that.....

 

 

Anyhow, firstly borrow another phone and try it, if that doesn't cure the problem locate your main incoming socket. If it's got a 'split' front face your laughing. Carefully unscrew the two screws and pull out the half face. This will disconnect your extention sockets. All connections will possibly be made but you actually only need three wires. Disconnect the wiring connected to connections 2, 3 and 5. Substitute 3 of the other wires and re-connect them but make sure that you replicate the same colour wires to the numbered connections at both ends of the wiring i.e. at the extention socket too. If this doesn't cure the problem you've got either knackered wiring (it sounds like it is getting wet - does it run externally to the house?) or a knackered socket. Either way it's BT's to fix.

[Tog]

Sounds like water in a junction box connection , was it OK in the summer and up till Nov when the wet stuff started?

[billy50000]

Hi all

 

yep it started when the wet stuff turned up:)

 

and with these wangers working up the road not helping i can bet

 

i was plunged into total darkness today for about 1hr 30mins and when my sis went up to them and noticed all the other houses had power she asked how long it would take.

 

one scrote asked his mate after not realising they had left are row without if he had put the fuse back in!!

and worse when she first asked the guy (not realising he had left us out)said "have you check your fuses in your tripbox))

 

as you do!!

 

even if they had tripped they are not as simple as the old wire fuses so if its not tripped its good:

 

which they hadnt:

 

he turns and says it will be 30mins before he can do anything:0

 

what having ANOTHER teabreak:)lol

 

all in all its been great dialing up with terrible kps dispite it being dialup the connecting was always 45kps connect

 

one minute the explorer functions fine then it spases and display a couldnt connect to site stuff(which it did fine 2secs before)

close the explorer and its mostly fine but untill recent it will fail around 4 times to display,if it does then the connection jumps out which its been doing allot still(like just then:(

 

i figure either my modems dying which i doubt or soooooo much erratic noise(on the mainline) that the connection cannot asses fast enough

also the modem has been making higher tones(skreechy wines etc)which it didnt do before(i could hardly hear it before)

 

you can hear its not right!!

 

im gonna see if ive got another 56k lying about and test

and hopefully 2morrow i can borrow a mates housephone and test that theory(i bet the noise is still there)

 

other than that im outa ideas and i then can call the talk talk peps out(and hopefully ive check every dot)

 

 

ill get there if it kills me:)

 

 

sg

[corydoras]

I would just like to point out that if one interferes with the BT side of a NTE5 Line Box (your BT master Socket) one is breaking the law, and could face disconnection, with no hope of re-connection to BT again, ever and a large fine.

 

See here to read more.

http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/nte5.htm

Edited December 16, 2006 by corydoras

[billy50000]

Hi all

 

 

after trying 3 differant modems and checking the mainbox again(dont worry didnt replace it just checked wires where in firmly)

 

the guy has been out and found a funny little box outside which had got very damp and corroded(used to have a vine thing climbing up the wall but the neighbour since has cut it away

this vine was deflecting the rain away but since its crept in under the slant cover and done its damage.

 

all well now and my connection is puka again along with the nasty noises which were evident when the guy plugged in his porta phone thing(you could really hear the crackling)

 

20mins later alls fixed again and now i know where to keep an eye on for future purposes(no fiddling involved cough cough

 

saves calling them out again anyhow but for now its sorted.

 

argggggggg its soooooo good to stay connected for more than 3mins:)already patched my game this morning cos i could:):)

 

cheers all

 

steve

[ColinW]

Strange that the call centre guy said it checked out then