BT I-Plates, Master Sockets and the Broadband Acceleator?

Major_Disaster

Major_Disaster

Major_Disaster

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2 Nov 2007
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488
Hey all,

Just heard about this BT Broadband Accelerator, and thought i would check it out. As it stands we have two BT telephone lines coming into the house (which is also used as a home office).

The first line is Microfilter > Phone and Broadband.
The second line is Fax > Splitter > Telephone and Credit Card PDQ Machine

Ive just had a look, and the second line has, what im pretty sure is an NTE5 socket, with the BT logo in the top left (ala: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/images/iplate/bt-nte5-piper-200px.jpg) Would it be worth putting an I-Plate on this? I know it is meant to improve broadband speeds, and obviously there is no broadband on this line, but will the improved wiring make any difference as i note it helps when you have many extensions coming off the master socket (which we do with the fax, telephone and PDQ). Is it worth a go for £12?

While we are on the topic, anyone tried these I-Plates, im defeinately going to try them out on the first broadband line (assuming i have a suitable master socket - need to check). Im currently around 2.5meg with ADSL24, think ill see any improvement?

Cheers
 
No, an iPlate or "broadband accelerator" (they're the same thing) won't improve the voice side of your line (which is all the phone/fax/PDQ are).
They only have any real value if you have long, poor quality, extensions and they pick up a lot of noise. The majority of lines should see no change at all (because they should have been wired properly in the first place).
 
Thanks for the quick response.

Just a general question then, with the second line, does that seem to be set up ok? I do believe in "when its not broke, dont fix it", it just seems like an odd setup and order of connections.

Also, again if this makes any difference, we have transfered the number of the first line to a VOIP provider. Does this matter in anyway?
 
Major_Disaster said:
Just a general question then, with the second line, does that seem to be set up ok? I do believe in "when its not broke, dont fix it", it just seems like an odd setup and order of connections.
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If it works, and there's no ADSL service, it doesn't really matter.

Also, again if this makes any difference, we have transfered the number of the first line to a VOIP provider. Does this matter in anyway?
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So you're not using the voice service on the first line at all, but a phone attached to the internet connection?
 
I've been looking into these iPlate's as well as my O2 connection is currently connected at 6meg, 44db attuention & 5.5db SNR. I've read up though that the iPlate only cuts out the interfearance that comes through the not needed "Ring Wire - orange/stripey orange white" cable. If you disconnected the ring wire which is not needed then apparently there is not much point in installing an iPlate as there would then be nothing for the plate to filter out. I've looked up and I should be sync'ing at around 7.5meg at least but the highest i've only seen on a good day is 6.8meg and there is a high possibility that there could be some interfearance on my line or poor adsl wiring my end. I will definately upgrade to one of those Belkin single shielded modem to splitter RJ11 phone cables but still deciding about the iPlate.

Liam
 
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So you fed in your attenuation and it said you should be getting more? It's based on a lot of horrible guesswork and I wouldn't put any stock in it.
 
tolien said:
So you fed in your attenuation and it said you should be getting more? It's based on a lot of horrible guesswork and I wouldn't put any stock in it.
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Well a lot of other website's & graph's based on ADSL2+ stats also say that I should be sync'ing slightly higher than what I am now but that website I posted on my previous posts also suggests what could be causing the lower syncs which is what I am looking for and how I can fix it.

Liam
 
The graphs aren't remotely accurate and a lot of sites use exactly the same attenuation/loop length approximation that's completely worthless.
 
tolien said:
The graphs aren't remotely accurate and a lot of sites use exactly the same attenuation/loop length approximation that's completely worthless.
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Fair enough, After I have installed a better RJ11 cable, ADSL splitter & a BT iPlate if I do get one then lets see if there will be an improvement :)

Liam
 
Alternatively you could get a filtered faceplate for your master socket and need neither filters nor the pointless iPlate. There's also the matter of spending ~£30 for an extra 600kbps :confused:
 
Did originally think about getting a filtered faceplate but the master socket is in our living room and the phone & router is in the computer room, 5 metres away and so the router and phone is running off a 5 metre extension cable.

Liam
 
As Tolien says, the iPlate is completely pointless and only purchased by people who do not have the wits to remove the faceplate front and check that the ring wire is not in place.

An XTE-2005 Faceplate with decent RJ11 cable is all you need.
 
LEK-89 said:
Did originally think about getting a filtered faceplate but the master socket is in our living room and the phone & router is in the computer room, 5 metres away and so the router and phone is running off a 5 metre extension cable.
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So run a 5m extension? If you use cat5e you'll have two pairs, run the filtered phone down one side and the ADSL down the other. Simples.
 
tolien said:
So you're not using the voice service on the first line at all, but a phone attached to the internet connection?
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Ive been checking out how the phones are set up, its pretty confusing.

We have two previously used numbers ported to a VOIP company. We then use remote call forwarding to forward them to the two lines we have at the premisis. Line one, with the broadband on it, receives calls forwarded to the physical PSTN number. Line two, with the fax on it, receives forwarded faxes from the previous number to the new fax line. But i think thats irrelevant.

Very oddly, i cant find the master socket for line one. As i said before, i have found an NTE5 socket for line two.

The line that comes in from outside, into what i thought was the master socket for line one, is actually LJU4/5 - however, only one of the sockets works, and it is line two.

The router for the internet on line one is connected to an LJU3

Whats going on? What would you recommend i do? I am really confused as to how i have identified the master socket for line two in one corner of the room, and then in the other a wire is fed in from outside and terminates in a LJU4/5, that only half works - and again is line two. It should be the master socket for line one!

Whats an XTE-2005 Faceplate? Is this equivilent to an Iplate? Does it remove the bell wire as well? Should i stick these on both master sockets (assuming i find them)?

Sorry for all the questions and (needless) information. The wiring in this place is terrible. Cheers.
 
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The XTE-2005 is a filtered faceplate which would disconnect the bell wire (like the iPlate) but (as the name suggests) also supplants your ADSL filters. There's no need for one (again, like the iPlate) if you don't have an ADSL service.
 
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