Ian Pearson
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 03:56 PM |
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BT LINE PROBLEMS
Hi All,
My Dad has lost his phone connection. The line is completely dead. They've had a bad line on and off for years, but it has finally given up the
ghost. There is no "MASTER" socket as BT haven't been into the house for decades. There is no dial tone, and if you call from
outside, there is a constant engaged signal. However, Broadband does seem to be working intermittently. BT are coming sometime tomorrow, but I wanted
to ask if any of you guys who are Telecoms Engineers, might be able to give us some advice in advance of the visit. BT are very keen to blame any none
BT equipment for the problem, and charge a fortune for callout, plus about £90.00 an hour. The line test indicates that there is no problem, and as
there is no master socket, we're unable to test BT's point of entry into the house.
Many thanks,
Ian.
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mangogrooveworkshop
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 04:02 PM |
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the b leg is disconected.
The broadband will still work even on one wire......
The overhead or a joint further down the line may have been disturbed
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paul the 6th
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 04:12 PM |
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Afraid I can't help you on this one matey...
We signed upto bt a year ago in our first flat. 125 quid to connect then 25 quid a month for broadband only. Oh and by the way, the broadband service
in your brand new block of apartments (around 5 blocks in total) has a maximum speed of 512kb/s... Mint.
Then when we moved house, I called and told them - "That'll be 125 pounds please"... I told them I already paid that 6 months ago
and they said the property didn't have a line. What they actually meant was "it doesn't have a BT line"...
It worked out cheaper to pay off the remaining 6 months line rental and a cancellation fee (80 quid in all) and start a new contract with virgin media
for £30, than it was to pay and stay with bt. I explained this to the guy on the phone at bt, and he said "There's nowt I can do about
it"...
Virgin on the other hand: 30 quid to connect, 8mbbroadband then upgraded to 10mb for free after one month (because they were doing maintenance in the
area)... we had a problem with our virgin media box for the tv - they sent a guy round within an hour of the call with no questions asked and replaced
the tv box free of charge... When we moved house, it was £30 to get the line activated again and to have an engineer sent out... Virgin media's
service is amazing & I would recommend them to anyone
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dave1888
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 05:53 PM |
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I disagree i think there is an intermittand short circuit on the line, And yes it is your fault cos BT says so. I deal with this everyday in life and
bt will not accept responsability even if you phone them on a crackling line (earth fault) they still insist its ok.
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andrew.carwithen
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 06:01 PM |
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There will be a master socket somewhere - otherwise your phones wouldn't ring! If BT haven't had access to the property for decades, then
it won't be the modern NTE5 (with the removeable faceplate) but will be smaller and look the same as the extension sockets. The only way to
tell the difference is by removing the front covers until you find one with a large yellow capacitor on the back. This will be your master socket
(extension sockets do not have this)
Similarly, assuming the property is fed by an overhead 'dropwire' then its likely to be of the type that looks like a thick grey twin
'bell wire'. These can become faulty due to the insulation becoming brittle over the years -allowing water ingress leading to corrosion
of the conductors and ultimately their fracture. (Possible symptoms are intermittent loss of dial tone especially when its windy or a noisy line when
its raining)
However, since you have a permanent engaged tone when trying to ring in, it suggests that there is a'short' rather than an 'open
circuit' somewhere in the line/network. A possible cause is corrosion. Look for a green deposit ('verde de gris' ) on the contacts
where the external wire terminates/joins with internal wiring.
[Edited on 2/12/08 by andrew.carwithen]
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Ian Pearson
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 06:21 PM |
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I have found a cover with a large capacitor. The house is fed (we think) by a buried cable that drops down from the telegraph pole a few yards from
the house. Whenever there are high winds, and heavy rain, the symptoms are very much as you describe. I have found what can best be described as an
armoured cable downstairs in with the fuse boxes. This is connected via some transparent resin looking type connectors to the cable that joins up with
the capacitor type socket. I haven't seen any green deposits, but thanks to you all for the input and ideas.
Looks like it could be an expensive visit.
Regards,
Ian.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 06:59 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by paul the 6th
Afraid I can't help you on this one matey...
We signed upto bt a year ago in our first flat. 125 quid to connect then 25 quid a month for broadband only. Oh and by the way, the broadband service
in your brand new block of apartments (around 5 blocks in total) has a maximum speed of 512kb/s... Mint.
Then when we moved house, I called and told them - "That'll be 125 pounds please"... I told them I already paid that 6 months ago
and they said the property didn't have a line. What they actually meant was "it doesn't have a BT line"...
It worked out cheaper to pay off the remaining 6 months line rental and a cancellation fee (80 quid in all) and start a new contract with virgin media
for £30, than it was to pay and stay with bt. I explained this to the guy on the phone at bt, and he said "There's nowt I can do about
it"...
Virgin on the other hand: 30 quid to connect, 8mbbroadband then upgraded to 10mb for free after one month (because they were doing maintenance in the
area)... we had a problem with our virgin media box for the tv - they sent a guy round within an hour of the call with no questions asked and replaced
the tv box free of charge... When we moved house, it was £30 to get the line activated again and to have an engineer sent out... Virgin media's
service is amazing & I would recommend them to anyone
If you put a new phone line in you don't have to use BT Broadband, Our new line went on to Be ADSL2 broadband and is now on O2 ADSL2*. (ADSL2
is twice as fast as the old ADSL over the same distance)
The O2 broadband offer particularly good deals especially if you use an O2 (even a PAYG) mobile.
The other line is on Plusnet ADSL (now part of BT but run seperately) cost is much the same as O2 but only normal variable rate ADSL speed.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
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splitrivet
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| posted on 2/12/08 at 07:48 PM |
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The transparent connectors are jelly filled crimps. Disconnect any extension wiring from the main box (with the capacitor) note which wire goes
where.Ring the number if still busy its down to BT if not its an internal dead short.
Nine times out of ten this type of fault is an underground short.
Dont worry too much about BT's call out charges this is just scare mongering to make sure youve checked your end thoroughly.
We get an average of 5 calls a week with the above problem or no dial tone.
The BT test means nothing half the time the monkey thats doing it doesnt know how to interpret the result anyway.
Cheers,
Bob
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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