Phone suddenly stopped working but internet fine...

Hi,

I have been trying to resolve a telphone problem for a relative but without success and I wonder whether anyone can throw any light on what the cause of the problem might be.

My relative has a domestic phone and broadband contract with TalkTalk.

The internet works fine but the phone has recently stopped ringing and there is no dialing tone at home - this is the case with or without the filter. Prior to this sudden, unexplained issue with the phone, everything had been working fine for several years with no phone or internet problems at all.

TalkTalk insist that there is no problem with the line.

Things I have tried so far without success:

(1) I have removed the front plate of the NTE5 Master Socket and tried the phone and the filter in the internal 'test socket' (together and separately) but the situation is the same - i.e. the internet is fine but the phone does not ring and there is no dialing tone.

(2) I have checked the wiring connections in the NTE5 Master Socket (A and B) and they were fine - both the blue and the orange 'live' wires were connected securely (the unused green and purple(?) wires are unconnected and don't seem to be an issue).

(3) I have checked both the phone and the filter on another line elsewhere and both of them work fine elsewhere, just not at the address in question.

(4) I have tried the phone with 2 other filters at the address in question but still the problem is the same.

(5) I have also temporarily replaced the existing NTE5 Master Socket with one of my own and re-attached the wiring just as it was before but still the situation is the same - i.e. the internet works fine but the phone does not ring and there is no dialing tone.

(6) I have also checked the connections inside the small, rectangular green junction box just inside the front door where the external drop wire meets the internal drop wire before leading off to the Master Socket about 5 metres away. All that wiring seems to be fine too.

I am puzzled as to how the internet can be fine but the perfectly good phone and filter (as tested elsewhere) have suddenly stopped working.

Surely both the phone and the internet rely on the same two orange and blue live wires that come in from outside?

Any ideas on the possible cause of the problem and a DIY solution? (Naturally, we want to avoid any extortionate call-out charge from the phone/internet company).

Thanks

David Corkindale

Is the broadband connection through that master socket or is it tapped off elsewhere? EDIT a quick re read answers that one.....

Have you tried calling their home number from your mobile (while you're in their home- dial their home no, wait til you hear the ring tone on your mobile then pick up their home phone and see if you are connected).

And finally, have you tried disconnecting the house side of the network from that green box and connecting a master socket at that point?

Thanks for the quick reply and your helpful suggestions.

1) yes, the broadband connection is through the Master Socket
2) yes, tried calling their number many times whilst present in their home. I hear the ringing tone on my phone but their phone doesn't ring and there is 'nothing' when I pick it up to answer my own call
3) good idea, no, I haven't tried that yet but will do.

If a known good phone did not work when plugged into the test socket on the master socket then one wire of the pair from the exchange has gone open crcuit.

The phone requires that both wires are intact. Broad band can work when one wire is open circuit.

Remote line testing by a service provider's "help desk" agent can often fail to detect an open circuit line.

Often the break is in a street cabinet after work has been carried out and jumpers ( patch cords ) on lines other than than the lines worked on have been disturbed. This will be repaired free of charge

Get back to Talk Talk.

Make sure anything you do (did) to the incoming line is put back the way it was. If there is a break there then you would be likely to be charged if it can be seen that you have meddled with the cable.

Thanks bernardgreen - very informative reply - will do as you suggest.

@bernardgreen how does broadband on a single core work? Is it due to the (presumably) high frequencies of the signal meaning the cable is acting more as a waveguide than an actual conductor or is it something else? Very intrigued by this......

Had a similar scenario last week, broadband fine phone not working.
Openreach found that my cable had been trapped in the door of the green cabinet at the top of the road and was the cause of the phone fault.
I questioned why the broadband was working and he said it was because my phone line is on the copper wires and the broadband on fibre.

oldbutnotdead said:

how does broadband on a single core work?

Click to expand...

The return path for the (as you say high frequency) signals on the single wire is via straycapacitive coupling to the ground nost often via power supply in modem / router.

SandyLyon said:

because my phone line is on the copper wires and the broadband on fibre.

Click to expand...

That would be true if you had fibre to the house, The broad band signals are take to street cabinets by fibre and then coupled to the copper pairs for onward to the houses. Bear in mind that many of the "engineers" that work in street cabinets are told what to do on the work sheet and may have have little if any knowledge of the science ( more accurately black art ) od broad band data transmission