wear and tear?

[Steve]

Just been on to BT to get a new master socket. When you lift the shutter on the socket, the actual socket inside has come away from the face plate. Consequently, the broadband connection is sketchy at best, and the dial tone is intermittent due to the bad connection.

The socket is a compact one, at least 20 years old, its faded to cream, been painted a few times, and theres a chip in the edge of the socket hole.

Should BT fix this for free? Because we were warned on the phone that if the BT engineer decides its not wear and tear due to age, we will be charged.

Strangely, BT replaced ALL their wiring around here a few years ago (right down to the master sockets), but like all good things round here, they MISSED OUR STREET

Any opinions. Also, this socket has been moved about 10 years ago, by us. Will they know this? The cable from the overhead run is stretched tight down the wall so the socket could be moved (not by me) . I'm beginning to think they will charge us for replacing the socket and re-clipping up the wall.

Any opinions?

 

[systemtek]

I deal with BT on a daily basis. BT dont normally bother, a engineer will have a idea where the socket might have been if you was lucky, all you have to say is you dont know you been there 10 years and it always been like that, they wont moan over a socket, its the first thing they tend to replace no matter what fault you report these days anyway. fair wear and tear is not a problem, ive seen them replace smashed sockets for free ! knowing someone has bashed them with a hoover or whatever.

I be honest and say if i have had strange broadband problems at a customers site I have been known to tell BT it keeps cutting out etc, depends who you get on the day if you say its intermitant ive known them replace socket, and line back to pole or whatever in the past.

 

[securespark]

Explain you missed out on their free "replacement" spree, and grovel a bit. Lots of biccys & tea work too!

All the BT guys I've ever met have been sound. Willing to install most things they shouldn't really in order to keep the customer sweet.

 

[Steve]

The GPO man cometh! He changed the socket and he even gave us some advice on speeding up broadband (ditch the flat lowprofile ultraslim 4-core and hook up some cat5). The cat5 is already there, i think he knew why i'd put it there. So at the next opportunity i'll hook it up and see what my attainable line rate is then.

 

[bernardgreen]

The GPO man cometh!

The GPO man came........Must have been an outstanding call from the last century........

 

[plugwash]

while CAT5 is probablly better than the ultraslim stuff i still believe you are best using BT spec cable and avoiding branches on the broadband side of the filtering (and dont connect a ringer wire on the broadband side either) to minimise signal reflections.

i suspect all this will only make a difference if your setup is already marginal though.

 

[bernardgreen]

Put a single filter at the NTE5 by replacing the front plate with a filtered plates and from there wire phones and ADSL completely separately.

Out of CAT 5 and BT spec single pair the BT cable does seem to carry ADSL with less signal attenuation.

 

[Demonic]

ADSLNation do a replacement for the NTE-5. It has both filtered and unfiltered connections so you can keep your ADSL and telephone signals on separate wiring.

I've used them for a while and they have never given me any problems.


http://www.adslnation.co.uk/products/xte2005.php

 

[karatedragon]

My mum and dad had BT out because they kept having iterferrence on their line. Despite trying different handsets in the master test socket the crackle was still there but intermittent.

A BT engineer called on the house when my mum was there and could not hear the crackling - intermittent fault - My mum was badgered into signing for the job as chargeable.

My dad went ballistic on the phone to BT and said he wouldnt be paying them a penn and if they didnt fix the problem he would leave BT that week.

They sent another guy out for free and he fixed it and was freee.

 

[plugwash]

was there a local cableco?

if not then there is no way to completely leave BT. You can avoid using them as your call carrier but you can't really avoid them for the local loop. BT must be aware of in which areas a threat of leaving is crediable and in which areas it isn't.

 

[karatedragon]

it is an NTL area they live in. My dad would have left out of principle. what was worse was how the BT man bullied my mum into agreeing it was chargeable.

Wish I was there. I would have told him to get out or id chuck him out.

I mean she knows nothing about the telephone apart from it rings at dinner times, tea times, she answers it and its never for her!