Help replacing old master telephone scoket with NTE5 master

[drkdeath5000]

Hi all,

I've been investigating my phone line connection and sockets / boxes as broadband is especially slow and constantly disconnecting. Theres also static on the phone. I believe its down to bad wiring and the age of it all. Looking at it id say the boxes are from around 1970 / 1980, the wiring alone is that bad im suprised its working at all and then theres the added corrosion.

So considering the above i've set out to install my own NTE5 master and some new CAT5E wire. The new nte5 master arrived yesterday and i fitted it to the old wire, still awaiting the new CAT5E cable to arrive.

So currently i have the old wire connected to A and B on the new NTe5 master socket. Broadband and phone is working fine, same speed but less disconnects. However, the NTE5 also comes with some sort of a faceplate which currently isnt connected up.

Reading up online i'm under the impression that there should be two cables coming to the new NTE5. One of which should be the drop cable from outside that connects to A and B. And another cable which connects to the faceplate. I only have the one cable which comes from outside so i'm not sure how to go about this now.

Am i simply missing something here or am i actually missing a cable ?

To explain further i have attached photos of the new and old equipment aswell as a diagram showing my proposed connections. Just bear in mind i may have some of the terminology wrong so the boxes may be named incorrectly etc.

Drop box from outside



Drop box internal wiring





Old junction box (now removed)



Old master socket (now replaced with NTE5)



New NTE5 with A and B connected (faceplate not connected)



Diagram



Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated and if anyone needs any further info please ask.

Thanks

 

[TonyW2]

The face plate simply fits into the back plate. (It has a connector on it that pushes into the master socket on the back plate.) There is no additional cable involved. Your new NT5 splits into two.
NB You have been naughty---you are not supposed to remove the old junction box. BT should have undertaken this job, for free, if you were experiencing interference noise. The back of the new NT5 should belong to BT and you should be responsible for everything fromthe front half.
You would appear not to have any additional extension sockets, but if needed, these can be wired from the connectors on the rear of the front plate section.

 

[BigRobCanUFixIt]

Looks good to me.

You say you are waiting for CAT5 cable, some will say it can reduce speed using CAT5 instead of CW1308 although I havent noticed using CAT5 myself.

i would probably use some greas filled crimps in the drop box instead of the exposed terminals to protect the joints.

And if BT ever question the NTE not being "theirs" just play dumb... lol

 

[lee2009]

id of recomended a filtered face plate, had you came for advice first mate.

if you dont know what that is, it basically has a built in micro filter, so you can do away with the filters for your broadband.

 

[drkdeath5000]

Thanks for the replies. I know i've been a little naughty in doing this myself but i didnt want to risk having bt round as they may blame me for the bad wiring and charge me the £120 fee. Seemed much more sensible to try it myself and call for help if i needed it .

So i take it the NTE5 is okay with just the 2 wires connected from outside and i dont need to connect anything to the detachable frontplate ? For some reason i was under the impression that this detachable faceplate filtered the connection to reduce static.

I have noticed that connecting the adsl filter i used to use results in the phone not working so again presumed the filter was built into the nte5.

Btw this is the NTE5 i have fitted http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003TQXJ82

As for the CAT5 i'll see how it goes, its solid core so should be better. If not i'll try the CW1308. Also, going to cable tie the wires at the nte5 side to make it more secure. I'll get some crimps fitted too, thanks for the advice.

 

[TonyW2]

That's strange. You do still need a filter, so perhaps try another.
With your DIY savings, have a read here and treat yourself to an adapted front plate.
http://www.clarity.it/acatalog/ADSL_Installation.html

 

[drkdeath5000]

Cheers Tony, i'll try another filter later then.

I think i'll opt for that modified faceplate aswell, would look so much neater without that filter dangling.

Also, im just wondering how would i go about extending the connection into another room. I'm thinking of sending another solid core cable through the loft and down into another room. Is it just a case of fitting another nte5 on the end or is there something else i can use. I spotted this on clarity http://www.clarity.it/acatalog/adsl_extensions.html

 

[lee2009]

go for the filtered faceplate mate (its the done thing lol)

why not treat your self to a set of cordless phones rather then run cables to a extension, that way you have (with the filtered face plate) this best possible way of reducing interferance on your bb conection, as extension leads can act as aerials bringing problems to your bb conection.

 

[drkdeath5000]

I wish it were that simple but i need the extension into my office where all the internet and computer equipment is. Basically my office is where the dsl router is and i have ethernet connections coming off this into the loft and into the various rooms around the house.

I suppose i could move everything into the front room so its closer to the master but to do so would be an absolute pain as id have to drill all the holes again ! Besides that id still need a long wire into the office.

Another option im considering is moving the router into the front room and serving a long ethernet cable through the loft into the office and finally into an ethernet switch which would then handle all the connections for existing wires coming through the loft.

So i either have the option of moving the router into the front room and serving a long ethernet cable to a switch in my office. Or i can fit an extension off the master into the office which would be much tidier and easier.

Is either method going to be quicker ? I'd be using the same cable throughout so when i say ethernet its going to be same solid core cat5e. Currently my ethernets are stranded but i'm going to upgrade them to solid core for that small gain.

 

[TonyW2]

This jobs getting bigger by the minute.
If you do fit that adapted front plate, you can use your Cat 5 cable.
From the back, use one pair in connection 2&5 for the phone (now filtered), and another pair in A&B for the adsl.
In your office connect these to an extension socket with an adsl and a phone socket (available from Clarity and elsewhere in modular form if not ready built) NOT another NT5.
Connections 3 and 4 are not needed for modern phones.
One cable, no filters, nice and neat.

That kit is the same principle, but has a messy jack into the front of your NT5 before trailing upto the office.

 

[drkdeath5000]

That's strange. You do still need a filter, so perhaps try another.
With your DIY savings, have a read here and treat yourself to an adapted front plate.
http://www.clarity.it/acatalog/ADSL_Installation.html[/QUOTE]

Thanks again Tony, tried another adsl filter and the phone is now working. The other filter must be busted.

Also, something of interest - after fitting the working adsl filter i've noticed my bb speed has gone up some more. I'm now getting 5mbps opposed to 3mbps. This is all good but a slight concern is that my ping has also increased, im getting a 54 ms ping with the working filter opposed to a 42 ms ping with the non working filter.

I need to check my line stats aswell so i'll report back later.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[bernardgreen]

First comment is that any DIY work that OpenReach detect on their cables can result in cancellation by BT of the contract. You lose your land line.

Almost all lines are tested automatically on a routine basis. Your DIY work may have caused a change in line charactoristics that could be detected by the automatic testing. That alone could results in an inspection visit. If you get a line fault that involves an OpenREach technician calling at your house then corss your fingers and hope he is not a jobsworth.

The second comment is that the noise on your line would have been a valid reason for OpenReach to call free of charge and up-grade your connection to an NTE5

 

[drkdeath5000]

This jobs getting bigger by the minute.
If you do fit that adapted front plate, you can use your Cat 5 cable.
From the back, use one pair in connection 2&5 for the phone (now filtered), and another pair in A&B for the adsl.
In your office connect these to an extension socket with an adsl and a phone socket (available from Clarity and elsewhere in modular form if not ready built) NOT another NT5.
Connections 3 and 4 are not needed for modern phones.
One cable, no filters, nice and neat.

Haha its been like this since i moved in so figure i may aswell get it all sorted now. Definately gonna go for it, i'll get that extension ordered from clarity along with the adapted faceplate and some more cable.

Cheers

 

[bernardgreen]

CAT5 cable is not the best for the ADSL signal. This is because the junction between the telephone cable ( with few twists per metre ) and the CAT5 (many twists per metre ) creates an impedance mis-match which will cause a percentage of the signal to reflect backwards. On a short line ( from the telephone exchange ) with a strong ADSL signal this reflection will not significantly affect data speeds but on a weak signal the effect of speed is significant as error rates increase.

EDIT the mismatch is in the charactoristic impedance of the cables. This is not the resistance along the cable but the impedance to signals caused by the capacity between conductors in the cable and other parameters of the cable's construction.

 

[drkdeath5000]

First comment is that any DIY work that OpenReach detect on their cables can result in cancellation by BT of the contract. You lose your land line.

Almost all lines are tested automatically on a routine basis. Your DIY work may have caused a change in line charactoristics that could be detected by the automatic testing. That alone could results in an inspection visit. If you get a line fault that involves an OpenREach technician calling at your house then corss your fingers and hope he is not a jobsworth.

The second comment is that the noise on your line would have been a valid reason for OpenReach to call free of charge and up-grade your connection to an NTE5

Unlikely i'll ever get a visit here, its been terrible from day one with static on the line and i've been here 8 years now. Not a single visit from bt and yes i have tried to get them out before. Personally i think the problem is the wiring to the pavement and even as far as the exchange as its really old style (the boxes say 1971). So to be honest id welcome an inspection in hope that they would fit a new wire to the street. If i do get an inspection i can always play dumb and besides i sincerely doubt they would cancel my line. Its just to put people off doing it the diy way .