is it Network or is it phone?

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

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Ok, bear with me here...

My internet is fine, everythign about it, is great, and Linux torrents download at a near flawless 780K on an 8MB Line, so its as near as dammit to perfect

However, my phone is having issues.

Wheather I phone them or they phone me, I have found that they can hear me just fine, but they are cutting out on me.

I have tried 4 different phones, and they all do the same.

For a trial run, I fully disconnected my PC from the internet for a whole day, and then I even plugged a corded phone into the master socket ( Inside the socket ) and it still had the same problems.

I eventually phoned up the Post Office ( Thats my provider for everything by the way ) who eventually sent out a guy, who ran some tests on his little laptop tester program.

He said that its all checking out just fine. ( Even though I saw red blocks on occasion and green when he re-run the tests )

Now, he did waffle on about how its my PC and the fact that I am using flat cable etc, but I fail to accept this for many reasons :-

1 - Its been perfect on that cable with BT ( 3 years ), XLN ( 5 more ) and only went iffy after moving to Post Office.

2 - It does the same whether I have any cables in or not.

3 - It was randomly failing even on the master socket



Anyway, this has gone on for over a month now and its got to the point where we cannot use the phone.

Now, this is where it gets possibly interesting...

The internet as I said is 100% perfecly fine yes, Streaming videos are flawless and quick, you tube and google and other site videos are all perfect and quick, however...

My mother asked me to help her with SKYPE and so, I installed it on both mine and hers, setup a webcam on both mine and hers, and a headset etc, and when we cal leach other over skype... Guess what happens?

She can hear me just fine and she is breaking up exactly the same as it does on the phone?

Is there a link in these 2 problems?

Can it even be possible?

Can anyone suggest anything at all?

Thanks in advance
 
It seems unlikely that there's anything wrong with your line. If there was lots of interference then you probably wouldn't be getting an 8MB connection, and I can't see how it could affect one side of a phone conversation - both sides travel down the same wires in the end.

Does this only happen when you speak to your mum, or does it happen with other people? Does it happen with other Skype contacts?
 
No, thast just it... Its confusing.

When Im on the phone, it does not matter who I am talkign to or if I phoned them or they phoned me, me talkign to them is perfect, butthem talking to me is breaking up.

And then the internet side of it... Perfect in every way, I can talk to anyone on skype just fine and they hear me just fine but they break up like hell.

Weird
 
it does sound like a bit of a strange issue this one. you've performed all the manual checks that we would have asked and the issue persists?

does the calls breaking up/cutting off happen when only the phone is connected to the test port of the master socket?
does it happen consistantly on every call?
what exactly did the engineer say was the problem?

also, i assume it happens to more than just one destination number too?
 
Can't disagree with your logic, FatRakoon.

If the fault is present when you've unplugged everything but a phone into the test socket, then it excludes your PC and ADSL modem from being anything to do with it (I can't see how it could only affect speech in only one direction anyway). As you get the same fault using different phones and with different parties on the other end, it points to the problem lying with the Post Office/BT.

A stable internet connection does suggest that the line back to the exchange is probably OK, which leaves an exchange fault of some sort. I'd get back onto the Post Office to re-report the fault and hope you get someone more useful to fix it.

I can't see how your skype problems could possibly be related (unless you've got a hearing problem you haven't mentioned :D), but it is a bit of a spooky coincidence.

Good luck!
 
Yes, as I said, everythign has been taken out, and the only thing left was a wired phone into the master socket, and of course when Isay this, I mean the one phone socket thats coming into the house, and with the front off that and the phone directly into the socket there.

Again, different phones and to different people.

And what I do, because I can talk just fine to others, is tell them straight as soon as I get connected ( They or I pick up the phone ) that there is a fault and that I cannot always hear them... They all say that they can hear me just fine.

And, the Skype and the Telephone can be linked, because its the same thing thats happening, however, this should also be happening with everyhting too! - So, Ishould be dropping off with things like Downloads, but they stay at a constant speed... Confusing.

Oh, and this only started happening when I moved to the Post Office and it was fine before this.
 
From a quick search of posts on other forums, the Post Office deliver their voice service via BT. If that is correct, and you didn't previously have an unbundled line, then it may just be coincidence that problems started as you swapped over to them.
 
Previously, for the last 5 or so years, I have been with XLN

Before that I was with BT

I dot not have more than one supplier of the phone and Broadband and I only want one bill, so when I was with BT, I got a single all-in-one bill, the same with XLN, they were providing the Line rental etc adn I had nothing to do with BT and again, when I moved to the post office, I have everythign through the post office.

Of course what goes on under the carpet, is up to them not me.

I do know however, that XLN have NOTHING to do with BT.


Post Office yes, probably so, but not XLN.
 
OK, fair enough, so it wasn't a coincidence if your line was transferred back onto BT equipment when you swapped to the Post Office...
Either way I hope it gets sorted quickly for you.
 
Unless XLN have a significant LLU operation that I haven't seen, the voice service was still provided via BT to some extent.
 
I dont know how little or how much XLN have to do with BT, but when I got a new line for my shop, I went with XLN and they came, and provided me with a line ( BT wanted £160 ) and so as far as I know, they have nothing to do with BT.
 
Yes, I think you are right, but thats almost a given since almost every single telephone cable is owned by BT.

But thats neither here nor there.
 
Well no, if you moved from one BT-reseller to another, it probably wasn't something BT did that caused your issue.
 
No no no I never said that. I never once blamed BT because I ahve not been with BT for over 5 years, so how could it.

Im not even blaming XLN ( I moved from these and have had a perfect service with them for all that time until the last few months ) and surprisingly enough, Im not even blaming the Post Office either.

I have an issue with my line thats not easily solvable and Im not blaming anyone.

I hope not anyway.

But, the facts do still remain...

I have an issue that they say does not exist, and yet they have not charged me for the call out and when the guy did tests I saw some tests showing up as RED on oen test and then green on another proving that its intermittent.

I had hoped that he would go back to the office or whatever and they could sure it over the next few days, but alas, its been a few weeks now and there is no change???

Just as a kind of "You never know" idea, I am going to move the router next to the phone line, and I will use the Netgear that the Post Office provided and I will use an ethernet cable through to the main PC.

Right now I have a Phone line stretched up and over and across to the router, but thats been like that for years.

So, its just a suggestion that may help it over time?
 
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