Broadband drop-out when phone rings

[Jimbo]

Hi,

90% of the time, when our home phone rings, the ADSL connection is lost. BT have eliminated a line fault so I started some diagnostics...

I've extended from the master socket (old type, not NTE5) to a combined ADSL and phone wall-mounted socket. I disconnected the router from this and connected it directly (well, with an OEM phone extension) to the master socket. The problem seems to have gone away (unless I'm suddenly hitting a purple patch when the problem doesn't occur).

So it looks like when I extended the circuit I did something wrong. I'm guessing either a short or loose connection, rather than a fundamental problem like connecting the wires wrong - otherwise it would fail consistently.

I can open up the socket(s) and check the connections, but can anybody tell me theoretically which specific wires I should be looking at, that might have caused this problem?

Thanks
Jim[/i]

 

[SeanT]

You might have hit across the problem with having two master sockets here, especially if one is an adsl master splitter - do you use the bt master socket at all? Have you just connected 2 and 5 to the input terminals on the splitter socket, and nothing else?

 

[Jimbo]

I haven't got two masters, I've got a master and one of these: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=45725&doy=22m4&C=SO&U=strat15

The wiring on the master socket is as follows:

Pin 1 Empty
Pin 2 Orange from Exchange, Blu/Whi to extension
Pin 3 Green from Exchange, Or/Whi to extension
Pin 4 Empty from Exchange, Whi/Or to extension
Pin 5 White & Blue from Exchange, Whi/Blu to extension
Pin 6 Empty

Pin/colours on extension are as per above. The master socket to exchange wiring is as I found it when we moved in.

 

[Steve]

Q) How can I connect this to an old NTE5 linebox that has Orange to A and Blue to B connections (Green and Brown not connected)? Or can I replace the linebox with this item? - pakefield
A) This will replace the old unit.

If this is the case, this may well be able to function as a master socket (I seem to remember reading somewhere that a filter contains the circuitry nessecary for a master socket). You need to make sure you've not wired it as a duplicate master. I have one of these sockets and and NTE5 - the broadband splitter is wired to the face of the NTE5 as an extension.

BT replaced the old linebox socket with an NTE5 free of charge (the old linebox was "falling apart" (dont know how that happened gov) so we got them to fit a new one. Its nessecary for the service they provide so they do it FOC. The old one was going on 20YO anyway)

And also, the master socket only needs two wires from the exchange. Something's not right there. Its normal to have a load of spare wires on the incoming exchange cable - this is when a property has several lines these are used, one pair per line. Common in shops and other commercial premises.

 

[Spark123]

Pin 1 Empty
Pin 2 Orange from Exchange, Blu/Whi to extension
Pin 3 Green from Exchange, Or/Whi to extension
Pin 4 Empty from Exchange, Whi/Or to extension
Pin 5 White & Blue from Exchange, Whi/Blu to extension
Pin 6 Empty

You are not meant to tinker about in the back of a BT master socket!
I don't follow what the green from exchange is doing in there, the voltage for pin 3 (ring) should be generated by the master socket. Do you have any more phones plugged into your system? Do these all have ADSL microfilters installed (bar the new extension one)?

 

[Jimbo]

Also should have clarified, that when I wrote 'White and Blue' from exchange (which I've since learned is called the Drop Line) - I meant that two wires, the white and the blue, are connected into the same pin, pin 5. Not sure what impact this has.

I'd be happy to rewire with a new NTE5 and just use pins 2 and 5 (or A and B) - but worried about what the other wires from the drop line are supposed to be doing.

Also not sure how I'd make sure the extension socket isn't wired as a master - I just wired pins 2, 3, 4 and 5 from master socket to extension. What else could I do? The instructions for the extension socket are long since gone.

No other phones are plugged in - the master is empty, I just have one DECT base unit plugged into the extension. There's another empty socket in the master bedroom - again, not used.

 

[breezer]

You only need 2 wires coming in to the master, to 2 & 5

remove the others


going out you need 2 3 & 5 which should be the same throughout all sockets

the others are spare, since they dont seem to make 2 core drop wire any more

 

[SeanT]

I haven't got two masters, I've got a master and one of these: http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=45725&doy=22m4&C=SO&U=strat15

Which is a master. Disconnect pin 3 at all points, just leave your first incoming socket and this new master socket connected (rip the other extension wiring out of the master socket, leave it coiled up in the backbox) - just pins 2 and 5, nothing else, common from where it comes into the house, through the first socket, into this maplin pos.
If it still happens, try a different pair in your extension cable - maybe that pair is faulty.
If it still happens after this, take the bt master socket out of the loop - just choc block / crimp your incoming phone line onto the extension that is connected to the maplin pos - but I never told you to do this, and don't tell BT - if you have to have them round, put it all back as it was.
TBH, you should probably spend a little more time on the net finding out how to wire telephone circuits, or get a professional in anyway.

 

[mikeyd]

Jimbo, you haven't mentioned any filters in any of your posts apart from your Maplin socket which has one built in. Are all of your outlets which have a non-broadband device connected (Phones, faxes, sky boxes etc?) ran out of the phone side of this filtered socket? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DSL_filter

EDIT: Sorry just noticed you have answered this already but the symptoms you describe do suggest a filtering problem.

 

[SeanT]

He's only got one phone - it's plugged into a filtered socket - so if it is a filtering problem it's a fault with the brand new filtered socket - they don't usually go like that though, so it's more likely a wiring problem. If he has an exchange (or other) ground connected to the ringer terminal, or a wire off a spare pair from u/g (which could go anywhere), he should remove that to start with!

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks for all the replies, I'll have a crack at sorting out the mystery drop wiring this weekend. At my previous property there were only two wires coming into the house, so why there are 4 in this place (built early 80s), with two of them connected to the same terminal on the socket, is anybody's guess.

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[plugwash]

What terminals are there on the new filtered socket?

 

[Jimbo]

There are six terminals on the filter.

I didn't get the chance to play with it this weekend

 

[Jimbo]

Well, I finally got round to looking at this

I disconnected all but terminals 2 and 5 between a new NTE5 and the filter plate. The NTE5 now connects just to the orange and white wires from the drop line.

The phone just rang... and my broadband dropped out.

Anybody got any more clues?

 

[Lectrician]

Have you just got the master socket, and then your splitter? No other wiring?

Anything plugged into the main master socket?

I would suggest disconnecting all your extension wiring, and trying a standard plug in filter direct to the master socket, with just the single orange and white connected.

If you still get dropouts, it is a BT issue. Either a dodgy master socket (difficult to see how), or a dodgy line.

Try this to eliminate BT, and we can take it from there.