Telephone cable demarkation

peteb74 · 18 Oct 2010

I've read quite a bit about how much of the telephone line BT own, some people have said if there's a problem with the cable in your property then they will charge for repairs and others have said that the cable is BT's up until the master socket box. Can anyone clarify this?

and does previous owners of the property moving the cable muddy the waters any?

Note · 18 Oct 2010

BT own all wiring up to the NTE. if it is faulty through normal wear and tear they will replace with no charge. if it goes faulty by it being damaged or moved by a non-BT engineer then you will be charged to fix it.
you could try saying it was the previous owner but it would still have been adjusted without their consent and you could be charged

Richard C · 18 Oct 2010

peteb74 said:
the cable is BT's up until the master socket box.

Correct; strictly speaking it's also illegal to move or change it & they can get very stroppy about it if they choose to.

peteb74 said:
some people have said if there's a problem with the cable in your property then they will charge for repairs

If it's dodgy extension wiring the other side of the master socket that's causing problems then probably but not always.

peteb74 said:
and does previous owners of the property moving the cable muddy the waters any?

Not really; they may take sympathy on you & maybe not!

What's the problem anyway, telephone extension wiring is hardly rocket science!

peteb74 · 18 Oct 2010

Richard C said:
peteb74 said:

the cable is BT's up until the master socket box.

Click to expand...

Correct; strictly speaking it's also illegal to move or change it & they can get very stroppy about it if they choose to.

peteb74 said:

some people have said if there's a problem with the cable in your property then they will charge for repairs

Click to expand...

If it's dodgy extension wiring the other side of the master socket that's causing problems then probably but not always.

peteb74 said:

and does previous owners of the property moving the cable muddy the waters any?

Click to expand...

Not really; they may take sympathy on you & maybe not!

What's the problem anyway, telephone extension wiring is hardly rocket science!

our dial tone is either none existant or very noisy. A BT engineer has been out and replaced one taped up section of cable going into the master socket but reported it as 'fault not found' to Orange (our supplier). I'm assuming there's another break in the cable; it's not been chased into the wall and it's not actually held down on top of the door frame

Richard C · 18 Oct 2010

Have you tried connecting the phone directly to the master socket?
Also have a look here first;
http://www2.bt.com/static/i/microsite/help_and_tips/faults/troubleshooting/no_dial.html

Best option may be to buy yourself some telephone extension cable & run a new line from the master socket to your extension socket.
http://www.wppltd.demon.co.uk/WPP/Wiring/UK_telephone/uk_telephone.html

It could also be a faulty phone I suppose.

TicklyT · 18 Oct 2010

In BT / Openreach language, FNF (Fault Not Found) acknowledges there is a fault, but it is somewhere outside the engineers remit to repair. Maybe it's inside an exchange, or requires input from another part of BT or another supplier (Orange?) to remedy it. The fault report remains 'live', with someone other than the original engineer it was assigned to working on it.

The alternative, RWT (Reported without Trace) would have meant the line was functioning correctly when the engineer visited, with no further action required, and the fault report closed.

So it looks like the engineer has passed the fault report on to Orange to deal with it.

peteb74 · 19 Oct 2010

thanks everyone, I'm sure the engineer said fault not found though he could have said the other. My broadband is also off which suggests that both wires in the cable are severed or not connected properly. Also, everything is run from the test socket in the master, there wasn't a cover on the master box when we bought the house and the master is right next to a radiator; but that hasn't made much difference for the last two years

simonpolly · 19 Oct 2010

TicklyT said:
In BT / Openreach language, FNF (Fault Not Found) acknowledges there is a fault, but it is somewhere outside the engineers remit to repair. Maybe it's inside an exchange, or requires input from another part of BT or another supplier (Orange?) to remedy it. The fault report remains 'live', with someone other than the original engineer it was assigned to working on it.

The alternative, RWT (Reported without Trace) would have meant the line was functioning correctly when the engineer visited, with no further action required, and the fault report closed.

So it looks like the engineer has passed the fault report on to Orange to deal with it.

RWT - (right when tested) can only be used if no faulty line tests have been stored and charges will apply. FNF -(fault not found) on the day but has tested faulty can still be closed off.The fault only remains live if the engineer does not sign it off.

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Telephone cable demarkation

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