Need help with phone cables / sockets

dntbloodshot

dntbloodshot

dntbloodshot

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Joined
9 Jan 2008
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177
Having read around a little about how connecting to the test socket and removing the ring wire could help improve adsl connection speeds, I had a look at the wiring in my house. It looks different from most of the pictures I've seen online, so I'm lost and need your help / advice.

There are 2 sockets I can see. The first one is below a window, inches after the cable enters the property. This is what it looks like:

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The next one is about 4 feet away and is where I currently connect my phone / filter / dsl modem.

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Any cables I should be disconnecting? Am I missing the test socket? Any advice on how to improve things? Thank you.
 
Hi,

The top picture is of a 78A box. This is a joint box and has been used to join the cable that comes into the room, by the window, to the internal wiring that leads to the socket.

Second picture is of a 4/1A Master socket. This is NOT the standard BT socket you would have in your house (BT Socket is an NTE5). This explains why there is no sub-faceplate on the socket to expose the test jack.

I'd guess someone just either done this themselves or got a mate in Telecoms to do it, which is why there is no standard BT kit installed there.

Hope this helps
 
What you have there is a double master, at some point there were two phone lines into your property.

BT do fit these kind when installing the two lines together, as a result there is no space for the standard type which includes a test socket.

Really you should not be even touching this socket or the junction before, (BT says no) and seeing as how you don't really know what you're doing you had better leave it alone.
 
In agreement with all the above, one suggestion is to ask BT to move the master socket somewhere else (with a charge of course). Be there when the engineer comes and explain about ADSL etc, he'll probably fit an NTE5 for you and remove the junction box.

To be quite honest though, if your ADSL is working fine with no dropouts/errors, then 'if it ain't broke dont try to fix it' :)
 
If that socket is the only one you've got then you don't need to touch anything. The ring wire only comes into play when you've got extensions wired into a master socket but as your wiring is only making use of a single pair, it doesn't look like you have any extensions anyway. Your wiring looks fine, albeit slightly confusing due to there having been two lines installed at one point. Without extensions, it's highly unlikely you'd gain any advantage by paying for a BT engineer to come out and fit an NTE5 for you.
 
Looks a mess. If you have no natural ability leave alone. A bt master socket is needed with the BT emblem - I have bought several at from boot sales - leftovers from exhibition stands etc.. Bt charge for moving maybe £150 - they should have course keep their gear up to date but they spend so much money on lobbying MPs that they don't need to! You would benefit by having a master socket giving the advantage of using the adsl socket direct -it is always an advantage to remove the 3rd wire.
 
Yeah but you're only going to have the 3rd (ring) wire if you've got extensions wired into your master. If you just have a master socket with no extensions, there's just two wires - the pair that come into your house.
 
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