Help using a preinstalled, but dead 2nd line socket..

[ukbeachbum]

Hello all,

I will try and explain this a well as I can. I have just moved to a house that seems to have a dead second master socket in the 2nd bedroom that is wired around the outside of the house from the master socket in the lounge downstairs. I have carfully opened both boxes to look at wiring.

Downstairs master is the BT master socket. Four wires going into box from the street, white, orange, green and black. White and orange go straight to BT side of master socket. Green and black are crimped/connected to orange and white cables that go to 2nd bedroom master socket where white and orange are connected to inside of master socket.

As of now, I have no working phone line in 2nd bedroom and computer is connected to internet thanks to a 10 meter cable running downstairs to the kitchen extension.

My questions are:

1. Is this box in the 2nd bedroom an old second phone line (a different number - say for a fax) previous owner had and is no longer used?
2. Could I change the 2nd bedroom box into a normal extension (plug orange and white wire into 2 & 5) and use the current wire around outside the house to create an extension to downstairs master, also using orange and white? As long as wires are the same at either end, it shouldn't make a difference, should it?

Simply put, I need a working phone box in my 2nd bedroom and there seem to be wires already in place that might work, instead of me having to run brand new wiring all around the house.

Sorry if this is long winded. Any ideas?

 

[bernardgreen]

1. Is this box in the 2nd bedroom an old second phone line (a different number - say for a fax) previous owner had and is no longer used?

As it is connected to the second pair in the in-comer (cable from street) the answer is YES it is a different line and almost certainly had a different number.

Strictly speaking the cable with crimped connections is BT property and you should not touch it. But if the ends of the wires are long enough to reach the front part of the master socket then you could use them by cutting them close to the crimped joints.

But replace the upstairs master with an extension slave socket as two Masters on one line is not good practise.

Good reference document on this page

http://www.solwise.co.uk/adsl-around-the-home.htm

 

[ukbeachbum]

But if the ends of the wires are long enough to reach the front part of the master socket then you could use them by cutting them close to the crimped joints.

Well that couldn't have been easier. Many thanks.

Plugged orange and white from upstairs line into 2 and 5 slots in front of downstairs master socket, then plugged black (of remaining black and green wires running in between upstairs and downstairs) into slot 3 of both boxes and presto!

Not often things go so well first timeout.

 

[saxondale]

disconnect the cable into 3 if your using broadband - not needed and creates all sorts of problems

 

[bernardgreen]

disconnect the cable into 3 if your using broadband - not needed and creates all sorts of problems

But will stop bell ringing if the phone up-stairs does not have internal bell capacitor and depends on wire 3.

 

[JOHNBOY42]

Take the black wire off this has nothing to with the line working as it is going back to the exchange and may act as a inducer affecting the dsl signal,the 2 wires are fine and your filter will make the phone ring ,but you now have 2 master sockets and 2 capacitors on the line which will also affect your dsl signal,replace the one in the bedroom with a slave.

 

[saxondale]

disconnect the cable into 3 if your using broadband - not needed and creates all sorts of problems

But will stop bell ringing if the phone up-stairs does not have internal bell capacitor and depends on wire 3.

the ringer is dealt with by the broadband filter, leaving 3 connected just "unbalances" the signal again

 

[bernardgreen]

Maybe it is not yet an ADSL connection and no filter needed.

 

[ukbeachbum]

Take the black wire off this has nothing to with the line working as it is going back to the exchange and may act as a inducer affecting the dsl signal,the 2 wires are fine and your filter will make the phone ring ,but you now have 2 master sockets and 2 capacitors on the line which will also affect your dsl signal,replace the one in the bedroom with a slave.

I have replaced 2nd bedroom socket with a slave socket, and sorry to cause confusion over wire colors, but I have only used the existing wire that was routed out a window and around 2 sides of the house. It connected the downstairs master to the upstairs (now dead) 2nd phone line. I'm just reusing the existing wire to change the (now dead) old fax line into a normal phone extension socket to plug my computer and a phone into, which is why i used a third wire, for bell. I also receive faxes to my computer through the phone line. Figured I'd need it for that as well. But don't worry Black is just the color of the wire.It only runs between 2nd bedroom slave socket (slot 3) to slot 3 of downstairs extension panel.

If it's true that the ADSL filter will make the phone ring on it's own, then I will try it without the third wire and get back to you.

 

[saxondale]

If it's true that the ADSL filter will make the phone ring on it's own, then I will try it without the third wire and get back to you.

I wouldnt post it unless it was true - so are you on broadband?

 

[ukbeachbum]

I wouldnt post it unless it was true - so are you on broadband?

Didn't mean to sound so doubtful. Just a suprise.

Yes, I'm on broadband... 2Mb. Have done speed tests and all seems fine. Would be curious to know what sorts of problems people have and what are the symptoms of an "unbalanced" broadband signal.

 

[saxondale]

I wouldnt post it unless it was true - so are you on broadband?

Didn't mean to sound so doubtful. Just a suprise.

Yes, I'm on broadband... 2Mb. Have done speed tests and all seems fine. Would be curious to know what sorts of problems people have and what are the symptoms of an "unbalanced" broadband signal.

thats just my sense of humour - fill yer boots

http://www.orangeproblems.co.uk/phpBB2/index.php

 

[JOHNBOY42]

WWW.ADSLNATION.CO.UK

 

[ukbeachbum]

If it's true that the ADSL filter will make the phone ring on it's own, then I will try it without the third wire and get back to you.

I wouldnt post it unless it was true - so are you on broadband?

For what it's worth, I disconnected the third 'ringing' wire from slot 3 in the new slave socket...

...the phone rings...


I'll never doubt you again.

 

[saxondale]

LOL



now go diss it at the first box too (it really is worth doing)