BT NTE 5 Linebox Socket - should it work?!

[JackyDanny]

Hi Folks.
My new ADSL2 broadband connection is very unstable. I checked my BT NTE 5 Linebox Socket and upon opening the front plate found just ONE wire connected - the orange wire in socket 2. There was a blue wire not connected and two other wires bent back out of use. My phone works both when connected to the test socket & when the front plate is put back on. My understanding was that wiring was required to sockets 2 and 5? Could this be why my connection drops?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[plugwash]

Do you have any extentions and if so do you use them.

Are there any connections to the two large screw terminals on the back of the top peice if so how many.

 

[JackyDanny]

Plugwash- thanks for responding. There are no extensions - I plug direct to the master socket. As for the top piece I've not actually removed that section. My original aim was to remove the bell wire as apparently that can interefere with ADSL, but maybe that's only relevant if an extensions is connected?

 

[blondini]

If you remove the top section you should find that the wiring for the incoming line is connected to the two screws that plugwash mentioned. The terminals on the removable faceplate are meant for extension wiring, I would try disconnecting the orange wire.

 

[JackyDanny]

Great, thanks for the tips. From what's been said I'm thinking that I could disconnect all wires from the removable faceplate and I'd still be able to use the master socket - those wires are only needed if you want an extension?

Someone suggested I buy a BT i-plate which is designed to reduce noise from the bell wire. Do you know about this? I'm now thinking this might only be useful if you're using extensions. If I connect my router direct to the master socket there's no bellwire to worry about right?

 

[plugwash]

Great, thanks for the tips. From what's been said I'm thinking that I could disconnect all wires from the removable faceplate and I'd still be able to use the master socket - those wires are only needed if you want an extension?
correct.

 

[Lectrician]

If your not using the extensions, just completely disconnect them from the removeable lower half.

It is true that on some longer lines or 'dirty' lines that the ringer can cause issues. When ADSL first became available it was not a customer install, and part of the BT procedure was to disconnect the ringer at the NTE. This is why the spec for the microfilters calls for the microfilter to produce ring current to connected phones. When ADSL began to shoot off in popularity, BT could not keep up with demand and decided to produce an "out the box" customer fit, and would only attend sites when there where issues.

These days you are lucky to get anyone out if you cannot get a connection.

BT has produced a new face plate adaptor which allows the ringwire to remain connected but does filter out anything that can cause issues with the ADSL. IMO, each new NTE fitted should be of this type and include an RJ11 for the ADSL.

 

[blondini]

The iPlate is only of benefit if there are wired extensions.

Also worth noting that the latest NTE5, i.e those which carry the Openreach brand, already have a bell wire filter. The iPlate is of less benefit on one of these, but may still make a difference as it also has an RF filter which the OR NTE still lacks. Earlier NTE5 have non of these filters.

 

[GoingDigital]

Agreed an iPlate just isolates the ring wire on extensions. So if you don't have any extensions the iPlate will be useless and a waste of money.

 

[drgl]

Agreed an iPlate just isolates the ring wire on extensions. So if you don't have any extensions the iPlate will be useless and a waste of money.

The I Plate also has an RF filter which is nothing to do with extension wiring. According to BT this can influence line stability.

 

[Lectrician]

So does the 'master filter' replacement lower halfs include the components that are in the I filter?

You cant fit both!

 

[drgl]

So does the 'master filter' replacement lower halfs include the components that are in the I filter?

You cant fit both!

Latest NTE5's have the bell wire filter

The I Plate has this AND an RF filter

A BT 80A RF2 AND latest NTE5 would do the same as an early NTE5 with I Plate!

 

[GoingDigital]

The I Plate also has an RF filter which is nothing to do with extension wiring. According to BT this can influence line stability.

An RF filter can do nothing to help line stability, if BT claim this then it is a false claim. The RF filter is simply to stop interference to the telephone from high powered radio signals.

The I-Plate is nothing more than a bodge for people who are not capable of doing some simple wiring. The marketing that has gone with it has lead to it being touted as the miracle cure for everything from slow broadband to flu. The problem is so many people have been taken in by it.

There is one reason and one reason only why anyone should fit an I-Plate. If you have a BT NTE-5 master with extension(s) running off it and are scared of touching the wiring.

If you experience noises from radio sources then it is BT's responsibility to fix it by installing an RF2 filter on the line as part of their standard fault finding procedure. Including it in the I-Plate is simply a way of BT saving money by making the customer buy something that will save them having to visit.

In reality very few people have problems with RF interference but a tiny minority who think they have a noisy line because of broadband are in fact experiencing RF interference and the RF filter will help in those tiny minority of cases.

 

[GoingDigital]

So does the 'master filter' replacement lower halfs include the components that are in the I filter?

You cant fit both!

To answer your question, no a service specific faceplate does not contain the components that are in the i-plate as they are unnecessary. What makes the I-Plate necessary is that the telephone circuit is a 2-wire balanced system all the way from the exchange to the master socket in the house.

Once the line reaches the master socket the wiring turns into a 3-wire system having a capacitor in the master socket that provides a dedicated ringing signal. The trouble is that the ADSL signal is happy the travel down this extra wire causing interference problems and this wire is also happy to pick up all sorts of interference and feed it back onto the line.

By fitting a filtered faceplate the filter removes the ADSL signal at the master socket so the ADSL signal will not be present on the ring wire, also the filter will prevent any interference picked up on the ring wire from being fed onto the line.

So in essence fitting a filtered faceplate completely negates the need for an I-plate even if they could both be fitted to the same socket.

Even if you run extensions for an ADSL connection from the filtered faceplate you will be using only two wires so once again the ring wire will not be an issue.