Dropline Query

bigbadbrit101 · 10 Apr 2011

How much would it cost to get my dropline replaced as it is old and the seath flaking due to it being 30 years old and Scotland having crap weather. I replaced my master socket a few months back and the cable running from the inside junction box to the socket. This boosted my broadband but it is still not as good as it was years ago. I know it is the dropline being the problem because my neighbours all get much faster speeds than me and they had theirs replaced, so how much would it cost? Also do you think a BT engineer would care much that I replaced the socket with the one showed below.

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xtf.php

Thanks for the help, a rather annoyed 17 year old ****ed off at the lack of action by my ISP.

digdilem · 10 Apr 2011

BT own it to your master socket, and should replace it free of charge if it's faulty.

Establishing that it is, and getting them to do something about it, is not always the most enjoyable or speedy thing in the world. Report a fault, mention pops and crackles on the line during voice conversations and you're more likely to get action than saying your broadband's crap. That said, if they do turn up and test and find it fine, you could be billed. (Although, just say it's worse during bad weather and they'll have a job to call you a liar)

Will the care about the master socket being replaced? If you get a jobsworth engineer, maybe. It is illegal to replace it, but most engineers are happy to overlook such things if you give them tea and biscuits. If you're worried, put the old one back before they visit.

Most ISP's are crap btw, but then most people want to spend as little as possible. Pay more if you want customer serivce, I'm afraid.

bigbadbrit101 · 11 Apr 2011

Thanks for the reply. Ive started to say what you suggested about the voice being poor during bad weather, and my new master socket was installed pretty well with the wiring pretty much tidy so I might just leave it on, or would I have to switch it for a BT engineer to carry out their tests? Mine has no test socket as it is pre-filtered. Although they will not just take my word for it that the inside wiring and equipment is not the problem I know myself that the external cable or exchange is the problem.

mattylad · 11 Apr 2011

I go my old dropline replaced last year - it was the twin grey one.

Had all sorts of nicks in it where it had rubbed on stonework and cut into the cable.
eventually broke an inner core.

bigbadbrit101 · 11 Apr 2011

mattylad said:
I go my old dropline replaced last year - it was the twin grey one.

Had all sorts of nicks in it where it had rubbed on stonework and cut into the cable.
eventually broke an inner core.

Did BT do it for free? and how did you get them to check it in the first place

Lectrician · 12 Apr 2011

Complain about an intermittant noisey crackling line - the first thing they will do is change an old drop wire.

bernardgreen · 12 Apr 2011

bigbadbrit101 said:
Mine has no test socket as it is pre-filtered. Although they will not just take my word for it that the inside wiring and equipment is not the problem I know myself that the external cable or exchange is the problem.

If there is no test socket at the demarcation point ( end of BT owned cable ) then BT will charge you for fitting an NTE 5 ( or equivalent ) so they can test their cable up to the demarcation point.

You may get away with it if there is tea / coffee and biscuits avialable but if you get a jobsworth technician then it might be expensive.

It doesn't matter if the fault is in the external BT owned cable having tampered with BT owned equipment they can invoke the terms of the contract and bill you for the house visit. Without a test socket how do you know for certain that the fault is external. Croc clips onto BT drop wire are in themselves noisy.

bigbadbrit101 · 12 Apr 2011

bernardgreen said:
bigbadbrit101 said:

Mine has no test socket as it is pre-filtered. Although they will not just take my word for it that the inside wiring and equipment is not the problem I know myself that the external cable or exchange is the problem.

Click to expand...

If there is no test socket at the demarcation point ( end of BT owned cable ) then BT will charge you for fitting an NTE 5 ( or equivalent ) so they can test their cable up to the demarcation point.

You may get away with it if there is tea / coffee and biscuits avialable but if you get a jobsworth technician then it might be expensive.

It doesn't matter if the fault is in the external BT owned cable having tampered with BT owned equipment they can invoke the terms of the contract and bill you for the house visit. Without a test socket how do you know for certain that the fault is external. Croc clips onto BT drop wire are in themselves noisy.

Because there is only a 0.01 mbps drop in speed between my master socket and computer. That means it is my dropline which has started to shed it's seath, or the exchange which was down for a week not too long back.

bernardgreen · 12 Apr 2011

bigbadbrit101 said:
Because there is only a 0.01 mbps drop in speed between my master socket and computer. That means it is my dropline which has started to shed it's seath, or the exchange which was down for a week not too long back.

That test has no value when testing a telephone line for quality and condtion of the wiring. ADSL ( broadband ) can work with one leg ( one wire ) being high resistance due to poor connections. It can even work with one leg open circuit. Telephone service cannot work with high resistance joints as it requires up to 20 mA to flow.

Noise on the telephone and "noise" in ADSL are very different type of noise.

You could have a poor joint in your internal wiring that has no adverse affect on the ADSL signal but creates a lot of noise when you are using the phone.

bigbadbrit101 · 12 Apr 2011

Ill just be happy if BT start to replace everything. Tea biscuits and the offer of a good bottle of whiskey from my mums cupboard might help there^^

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Dropline Query

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