My Fail of a Phone Line

tntcoder · 20 Sep 2010 at 10:44

Hey,

Ok so 2ish years ago my line had a stable 3mbit sync for a good 2 years, i never did anything when things went wrong as ive been at uni. These days however it's hard to get a 1mbit sync and today its a 0.5mbit sync, which is a joke.

I've tried different routers, filters with nothing else on the line and I live ~ 2.58km from the exchange. On a reboot, the router gets a sync of 4544kbps, this never lasts long enough for the bras to change, and 9 times out of 10 it holds in the day but drops down to ~ 1mbit at night, hence screwing the bras profile.

Here's a summary of how unstable the line syncs are:

The other potential problem is that dsl is on my 2nd line. This line only has a single socket with 1 ports in the whole house. Im no expert with BT wiring, but in my house the master socket on line 1 is maybe 90 meter's from the second line, and I think its just a straight 'split' through a BT junction box to get the second line. (http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/2863/housem.png).

The bell wire is cut on the 2nd line socket, but it doesn't seem to be a master socket, just a split second line faceplate?

2nd Line Faceplate (1 port is 2nd adsl line, 1 port is main line): Click
Main Line Non-DSL Master (I think) Faceplate: Click

Is there anything I can do to resolve these issues?

- Move ADSL onto Line 1 and run it off the master socket, this will be maybe 85% closer to where the line enters the building. Cost/Benefit for this?

- Get BT out to test the line? - £150 if im wrong and there's no fault... Something's definitely not right though.

ISP is Zen ADSL-MAX, same problem was present on previous ISP UKFSN/Entanet.

Current (but variable) line stats:

Code:

	Link Information
			
Uptime:	0 days, 1:35:53
DSL Type:	G.992.1 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]:	448 / 1,440
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]:	0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]:	12.0 / 17.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]:	31.5 / 59.0
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]:	16.0 / 9.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote):	TMMB / TSTC
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote):	3 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote):	1 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote):	0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote):	0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote):	9 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down):	0 / 4,120,561
CRC Errors (Up/Down):	0 / 2,337
HEC Errors (Up/Down):	1 / 1,570

Thanks a lot for any help.

marmalade · 20 Sep 2010 at 21:08

I would say your wiring needs - rewiring. The only way to check this line is to disconnect all of the lines to the first BT box - fit a master socket in its place and then try connecting to the Master socket with nothing connected.
However if you know nothing of telephone wiring then its off to good old BT. Here are some wiring guides:
http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/adsl_bits.htm

Doughnut007 · 20 Sep 2010 at 21:18

Try it in the master socket if this works then its your wiring.

tntcoder · 20 Sep 2010 at 22:14

Ok thanks a lot guys I'll get Zen to move it over to the primary line, then use the master socket and see how it goes. Don't think it's a good idea for me to start playing with the wiring

Doug · 24 Sep 2010 at 16:11

You have two phone lines with two numbers? The ADSL is on the 2nd of those lines?

Or do you only have one line with one number and an extension running into the second room?

I ask because the picture you call the master is definitely the master socket, but the one you refer to as the second line is only an extension socket.

What you want to do is get you hands on a microfilter, unscrew the bottom part on the main socket (which will remove that faceplate and the extension socket from the equation) and plug the microfilter and your router into the socket that was hidden behind the faceplate.

If you've contacted Zen about your connection this should have been the first thing they would suggest (unless the guy on the other end of the phone was in a hurry to get out to lunch

).

Give that a go and check out your line stats. Hopefully your downstream attenuation will come down a fair bit, and you'll have more margin to play with.

tntcoder · 24 Sep 2010 at 16:23

Doug said:
You have two phone lines with two numbers? The ADSL is on the 2nd of those lines?

Or do you only have one line with one number and an extension running into the second room?

I ask because the picture you call the master is definitely the master socket, but the one you refer to as the second line is only an extension socket.

What you want to do is get you hands on a microfilter, unscrew the bottom part on the main socket (which will remove that faceplate and the extension socket from the equation) and plug the microfilter and your router into the socket that was hidden behind the faceplate.

If you've contacted Zen about your connection this should have been the first thing they would suggest (unless the guy on the other end of the phone was in a hurry to get out to lunch ).

Give that a go and check out your line stats. Hopefully your downstream attenuation will come down a fair bit, and you'll have more margin to play with.

Thanks a lot, it is 2 lines with 2 numbers and ADSL is currently on the extension socket (2nd line). So in order to use the master I need to change the DSL onto the other phone number/line. Going to get it moved asap and hopefully that will give some improvements.

garnhamr · 25 Sep 2010 at 06:48

As far as i'm aware, all you need is a micro filter on your 2nd line socket outlet for you to plug your router into. If that doesn't work then theres a problem with the line.

The master socket on your 1st line has a capacitor or smth that amplifies the signal to all the other sockets on that line, treat that as a seperate line. There is something wrong with line 2, it could be in the junction box outside, in the back of the outlet or somewhere unreachable to you.

if you get the dsl swapped to the 1st line it may fix your problem so do you want to bother trying to find out what the problem is with line 2 or just try swapping to line 1?
Does swapping it cost anything?

Also, you could ask your isp if interleaving is on or off (BT is actually in control of it though). Interleaving smooths the data flow to create stability but it also increases ping times. If its off then ask them to turn it on...

garnhamr · 26 Sep 2010 at 19:58

Any joy?

tntcoder · 26 Sep 2010 at 20:03

garnhamr said:
Any joy?

Zen are moving it over for me so I can make use of the master socket, cost me £47 even though it's an internal move, grrr

Also have to wait till Oct 4th for BT to do the switchover.

Shall post back with results then though, hopefully with good news

It should in theory be significantly more stable as it's a large property with numerous extensions, and im currently using the furtherest faceplate/extension point in the house so fingers crossed

garnhamr · 26 Sep 2010 at 23:41

Hmm, i think all the master socket does is amplify the signal to the other sockets so its irrilevant if you use that one or not. It might fix it though because its going to be on a different line which has a different connection in the exchange.

Doug · 27 Sep 2010 at 14:30

tntcoder said:
Zen are moving it over for me so I can make use of the master socket, cost me £47 even though it's an internal move, grrr Also have to wait till Oct 4th for BT to do the switchover.

Shall post back with results then though, hopefully with good news It should in theory be significantly more stable as it's a large property with numerous extensions, and im currently using the furtherest faceplate/extension point in the house so fingers crossed

It costs £47 because BT treat it as a new ADSL activation, which means work at the exchange and possibly your local cabinet.

Looking at you wiring diagram again, what does that "BT Box" look like? That looks like it's where both lines come in, but with any luck they might have made it the master socket for the 2nd line (it would make life easier if they did, but I wouldn't count on it). If that were the case you'd be able to plug into the test socket there and see if there's any improvement. I doubt they did it like that, but one can hope.

tntcoder · 27 Sep 2010 at 14:56

Doug said:
It costs £47 because BT treat it as a new ADSL activation, which means work at the exchange and possibly your local cabinet.

Looking at you wiring diagram again, what does that "BT Box" look like? That looks like it's where both lines come in, but with any luck they might have made it the master socket for the 2nd line (it would make life easier if they did, but I wouldn't count on it). If that were the case you'd be able to plug into the test socket there and see if there's any improvement. I doubt they did it like that, but one can hope.

This is the BT Box(s): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8241926/IMG_20100927_144904.jpg

The installer left an instruction book behind which names it as a "BT Linebox - Makes it easy to install extension telephones". The bottom white box had the number of the 2nd phone line in the top right, I guess the grey box maybe splits the primary phone line for the extension :confused:

I'm pondering actually if there could be a master socket in that white box? Hmm, even if there is the location makes it too hard for me to wire the dsl router up there.

Doug · 27 Sep 2010 at 21:42

From the looks of it, the grey box is where both lines will enter the premises. That box below it will be the master box for the second line.

If you pop the front off the wiring for the extension should be wired into the faceplate and there should be a test socket in there.

If you could get the router hooked up there, even if just to test, you'll get a better idea of what the line is capable of.