Hiss on internal phone wires

[alexp.1]

There's a permanent hiss on the internal phone wiring in my house, which also causes my broadband modem to hang up (especially in the evenings).

Had a BT engineer out. Checked BT master socket, which was fine, so he promptly left. Now the only way to get a reliable internet connection and hiss-free phone is to plug directly into the master socket (thus disconnecting all other phone points in the house).

I'd like to trace and fix the cause of the hiss so that I can reconnect the rest of the house via the master socket connection. Is there any obvious place to start to look for the source? I'm worried it's buried in a wall somewhere. Can phone cables short circuit?

There is an "OnQ" electrical box under the stairs, containing masses of wiring for the phones and tv. Anything worth looking at in here? The house was built 6 years ago.

Many Thanks.

 

[ebee]

There's a permanent hiss on the internal phone wiring in my house, which also causes my broadband modem to hang up (especially in the evenings).

Had a BT engineer out. Checked BT master socket, which was fine, so he promptly left. Now the only way to get a reliable internet connection and hiss-free phone is to plug directly into the master socket (thus disconnecting all other phone points in the house).

I'd like to trace and fix the cause of the hiss so that I can reconnect the rest of the house via the master socket connection. Is there any obvious place to start to look for the source? I'm worried it's buried in a wall somewhere. Can phone cables short circuit?

There is an "OnQ" electrical box under the stairs, containing masses of wiring for the phones and tv. Anything worth looking at in here? The house was built 6 years ago.

Many Thanks.

In my humble opinion, it may be the case that a house built 6 years ago has more potentialy unsafe wiring defects than one built 100 years ago. If you`d seen what I seen.

 

[alexp.1]

In my humble opinion, it may be the case that a house built 6 years ago has more potentialy unsafe wiring defects than one built 100 years ago. If you`d seen what I seen.

I quite agree. These things are thrown together and the amount of wiring is incredible. 8 phone sockets in my house.

 

[Steve]

A while ago, we had a lot of hissing on the phone line after we first got broadband, which was causing the modem to hang up. Using filters and everything. I put it down to our cheap digital cordless phones (i mean, bargain basement stuff!) but it eventually stopped. Also, we still get more interference when broadband is connected today.

 

[slippyr4]

water is a prime cause of hiss in phone lines, as is poor connections.

First step is to take every extension faceplate off and check the wires are well connected.

If it's possible, disconnect every extension that you're not using; only wire up the ones you really need. This will help bring your SNR down, which all helps for DSL.

 

[nstreet]

I had this problem at my last place or work. First BT said it was our internal wiring, so we got BT to install the internal cable. Then it was because the master socket wasn't a BT socket, so we got them to install one. Then it was the fax machine, so we unplugged everything except a POTS (plain old telephone system) phone. Then it was the ADSL filters, 'cheap ones' the BT engineer said, so we purchased them from BT. Eventually it was found that it was the DP (distribution point) half a mile up the road, it had damp inside the box Do you think BT said oops we got it wrong here's your money back for the unnecessary installs.? Did they hell, they then said it was a combination of everything that had been done that had eliminated the problem.

Keep plugging away at BT.

 

[alexp.1]

Thanks for the replies.

I will have a go at unwiring the extensions. The only upstairs room that needs a working phone is the master bedroom, anyway.

I don't have a problem with BT, since they've demonstrated the master socket is fine.

 

[plugwash]

thats why its important to maintain the proper seperation between your kit and thiers so you can demonstrate that your stuff is not at fault at minimum expense.

admittedly ADSL complicates this a little but it still pays to follow this principle where possible.

 

[slippyr4]

admittedly ADSL complicates this a little but it still pays to follow this principle where possible.

not if you get one of these:-

which fits into an NTE5 box, and allows you to distribute a filtered voice signal to all your extensions, and then you don't need silly microfilters.

 

[plugwash]

true ideally you wan't the one with two extra terminals on the back so you don't have to use an ugly plugged in extention for the dsl.

 

[MilindPuri]

admittedly ADSL complicates this a little but it still pays to follow this principle where possible.

not if you get one of these:-

which fits into an NTE5 box, and allows you to distribute a filtered voice signal to all your extensions, and then you don't need silly microfilters.

I've got one of these and I'm really pleased with the results.

Only issue though is when BT came last time to investigate a separate fault (hissy, scratchy line) which was nothing to do with my DSL, filters or extensions (it was the alarm) - the first thing the engineer said is 'oh you've got one of these old master sockets with a DSL socket and separate phone socket - I need to replace it with a normal faceplate and you should use microfilters on each phone'. Needless to say I politely declined this offer!