BT Drop Cable

[studentspark]

BT chap came to fix a fault on the line.

When he left master socket worked but no extensions would.

I found that the extensions ran around the outside of the property to the btbox on the outside wall.

The new drop cable (Brown) as you can see from the photo has the orange connected to top left screw and the white to the screw directly below.

The BT chap connected the extension cable to the remaining two cables from the drop cable green to white blue and black to orange white.

As I understand it orange and white are the active pair (A and B)

So, would connecting to green and black to the extension ever work?


Also could someone please explain the numbering system on these boxes it looks like the top two screws on the left must be A and B but numbering is 1 -4 and they are 8 connections?


Thanks

Untitled

• studentspark
• 10 Jun 2010
• 2

Connecting the extension back to A and B all works fine.

Is it allowed to do this though, how should extension be wired in.
BT refused to come back as the master socket was working, they said the extensions were our problem

 

[wingcoax]

BT responsibility ends at the master socket in your house. Any extension should be connected to this box, via the connections inside the front plate (not behind the main cover)

 

[ericmark]

BT have for many years used these

sockets and the whole idea is you can un-plug all local extensions to test the BT part of the phone line.

BT is only responsible up to this socket and any call out for faults after the socket will be charged for.

Early houses did not have this arrangement my house built 1980 did not have a socket fitted and the phone was directly hard wired to the BT line and the phone belonged to BT. As a DIY'er I fitted sockets and returned the BT phone and bought my own. In theory I broke the rules by fitting my own socket and as a result there was no official point to which BT responsibly ended. When I had broad band problems they came and finally fitted a official BT socket.

If you haven't got an official BT maybe you should talk to them about having one fitted?

Because spikes on the line could damage your phones and the master socket has all the protection required to stop these spikes to connect phones to system before master socket would not be a good idea plus I am sure it would contrive the agreement with BT and could result in fine or charges.

 

[TicklyT]

The numbering in the box represents the number of twisted pairs iterminated in the box, each pair having A & B wires. External cable colour codes use Orange/White as the first pair, then alternate blue/brown and red/grey pairs around each layer of the cable, ending in a green/black pair. The numbering starts in the centre, and works outwards around each layer in turn. Naturally, each piece of cable has a clockwise and an anticlockwise end, hence the need to identify both the first and last pair in each layer.

The wiring in the DP (Distribution point) is solely BT's responsibility, but some older installations, carried out before NTE5s became the demarcation point may have been wired differently. Bringing these older installations into line with modern practise seems a bit of a grey area.

To comply with modern practises, your extension wiring should run from the front plate of the master socket installed by BT, it should not run via the DP, or share a cable with the network service.

The split pair crimped to the green/black pair is a little worrying, and would do little for the quality of either speech or ADSL signals. The choice of blue & orange may be the work of an 'old skool' engineer familiar with twisted quad cable that was common many years ago.

 

[securespark]

It's not a good idea to break into the line for extensions prior to the Linebox.

It makes it difficult to disconnect any faulty DIY extension wiring for one.

Two, that external enclosure looks like it has seen better days. Any joints are best made internally.

 

[Lectrician]

Can you mark on the picture which cable goes were?

You can take the line from the Or/Wh pair to the master socket on the blues, and then bring the extension wiring back on the other pairs in the cable the master socket. Joint them to the outgoing extensions. Use jelly filled IDC's as in the pic for the joints outside.

If you mark which cables go where I will ammend the pic as required.

 

[AndyPRK]

If the extension sockets have a T or BT logo on the outside then they are BT's responsability.

And as far as you know the extensions were not fitted by a DIYer?

It is not always practical to run extensions directly from the master.


If it works connecting the extensions to orange & white I would just get on an do that (particularly if BT are playing silly buggers)

This will not mean you have any less protection.

The only issue you may have it that the extension phone may not ring.
If this is the case you may need to use a 3rd wire to connect from pin 3 in the extn box back to pin 3 in the master socket.


Maybe the engineer thought there were two different lines and hence why he wired it this way.

 

[TicklyT]

If the extension sockets have a T or BT logo on the outside then they are BT's responsability.......

Careful there! They may have been installed by BT, but most won't be maintained by BT, unless you have a maintenance contract specifically covering your internal extension wiring.

The wiring from the network to the first socket / NTE is maintained as part of your line rental, but other wiring usually is not, hence the 'maintenance boundary' socket within the NTE.

Wiring connected to the 'line' side of an NTE, or directly to any other part of the network wiring may be considered an 'unauthorised attachment' by an engineer, who may then charge you for the time they spend untangling the spaghetti rather than just pulling the front plate of an NTE to seperate the line from the internal wiring.

 

[wingcoax]

BT responsibility ends at the master socket in your house. Any extension should be connected to this box, via the connections inside the front plate (not behind the main cover)

 

[AndyPRK]

We don't know if the OP has a dual cover master socket though.

 

[studentspark]

Thanks for the excellent replies

We do have an NTE5 master socket however only the bt cable is connected no extensions come from it. I guess this was done externally as it was easier to do than run cable through the house.

I will run new extensions from this to protect from 'spikes'

have attached another photo, the items marked are active, I have no idea what the other cables are for (right hand side) it may be nextdoors

Thanks again

Untitled

• studentspark
• 12 Jun 2010
• 1