Any BT engineers on the forum?

[mick miller]

I live in a pretty rural location, and as such have a pretty shocking broadband connection (2mbps d/l max). None of the sockets in the house appear to be genuine bt sockets and I suspect that they were replaced by the builders who renovated the property 16 years ago.

 

Frequently throughout the day I lose my broadband altogether for short periods (usually when it's windy) and at night just after midnight the service often drops altogether for hours. I suspect a fault somewhere.

 

Now, I have booked an engineers visit tomorrow, however, as the only people I can talk to when reporting a fault appear to be based in Rangoon or Delhi, it's a little difficult to get any sense out of them, so I am resorting to along the Oracle that is PW once again as generally I've found out that it is full of just about everyone from all walks of life.

 

Here's hoping some of you are bt engineers.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Can I request that my socket is changed to the latest bt socket and the wiring replaced?

 

2. If I do this can I then have a broadband accelerator fitted and will this even remotely improve the signal/ download speed?

 

3. Given that the small primary school down the road and on the same exchange appears to enjoy a much better speed, I'm guessing that there is some sort of priority given to schools and business users and therefore, if I were to change my line to a business one would I get better service?

 

4. Would having a second line be of any benefit, in other words, could I pay for a second line and double the speed somehow?

 

Thanks in advance to the PW massive.

Edited May 26, 2014 by mick miller

[TIGHTCHOKE]

Watching this one with interest!

[88b]

Have you tried taking the face plate off of the socket where the line comes into the house. Plug the router straight in there if things are better your problems are probably in the internal system of the house. I have overhead telephone lines to my house, next door have Virgin , there internet speed is about three times mine.

[12borebanger]

You can have the master point/first point changed to a bt one, they will prob insist on this as they will test up to this point and Fix any probs for free. Any points or wiring onward from this point is down to you and therefore chargeable if a fault is found. Hope that helps a little

[HDAV]

I'm not a by engineer but have done a lot of comma stuff inc rural adsl, there is a limit to what can be done.

 

I'll add more info but you could be in for hefty bill from openreach.....

[mick miller]

If I take the faceplate off you just expose the wiring, as I mentioned, its not a bt socket just a generic one probably from Wickes. I almost want them to replace the socket as then, hopefully, I can run one of the bt broadband boosters, any improvement on either stability or download speed is good.

 

I still wonder whether a business line would not be as badly capped, given that the school enjoys 20mbps?

The call out charge is £129.99, I can live with that if it improves either the reliability or speed.

[mossy835]

i work for (bt, openreach,but cant tell you what you want to know, because im in charge of a under ground cabling team,we pull in optic fibre cables.for broad band,now if there is a fault on you line and its not bt boxes you could be charged for it,bt is not cheap could be a few things that is slowing you down,all the best.

[HDAV]

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Can I request that my socket is changed to the latest bt socket and the wiring replaced?

Yes but you will pay massively, best bet is getting the master changed to an NTE5 http://www.clarity.it/telecoms/nte5.htm

2. If I do this can I then have a broadband accelerator fitted and will this even remotely improve the signal/ download speed?

Never heard of one...........

3. Given that the small primary school down the road and on the same exchange appears to enjoy a much better speed, I'm guessing that there is some sort of priority given to schools and business users and therefore, if I were to change my line to a business one would I get better service?

they maywell be on another service not plain old ADSL (ask their IT guy)

4. Would having a second line be of any benefit, in other words, could I pay for a second line and double the speed somehow?

YOu can have bonded ADSL (expensive)or a load balancing router running 2 lines

Thanks in advance to the PW massive.

No worries.

 

 

Best way to improve speed is connect router direct to BT master via a filtered faceplate and ideally ditch all the extensions. then upgrade router and reprofile the SNR settings.

 

 

Good explanation for you here http://www.smithit.co.uk/microfilters.html

Edited May 26, 2014 by HDAV

[HAMMER189]

I work for bt a new skt should be fitted on visit .The so called accelerator is part of the new skt

There Is no difference in speeds between business or residential bb . They may be paying for fibre to the school many around my way have this .

Yes their is a system where you can have up to 8 lines combined to increase speed but only ever seen them in commercial settings

[mick miller]

Do I change the socket to an nte5 or ask them to do it?

 

can bt supply a balanced router do you think if I had a second line?

[HDAV]

Do I change the socket to an nte5 or ask them to do it?

They should do it but probably wont supply a filtered faceplate (unless this is the "accelerator")

 

can bt supply a balanced router do you think if I had a second line?

Possibly but unlikely?

 

http://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/review-sharedband-ADSL-bonding

 

BOnded and load balance are different. There is another option http://www.tooway.co.uk/

Edited May 26, 2014 by HDAV

[mick miller]

Thank you hammer189, do you know if it will be the type of socket that HDAV mentioned?

[houlsby]

Can't believe no one's mentioned how far away you are from the exchange.. and how busy is the exchange?

 

Big factors when Internet speeds involved..

 

I work for yorkshire water.. big fish in the comms world (there's bloody thousands of pumping stations all having a telemetry system).. having fitted a few hundred telemetry systems over the last few years I can safely say adsl lines are ****... i now work in the me ica dept looking after these systems and the amount iv seen locked up because of comms failure is bloody crazy! They don't pass large amounts of data and there still super slow!

[HDAV]

Can't believe no one's mentioned how far away you are from the exchange.. and how busy is the exchange?

 

Big factors when Internet speeds involved..

 

I work for yorkshire water.. big fish in the comms world (there's bloody thousands of pumping stations all having a telemetry system).. having fitted a few hundred telemetry systems over the last few years I can safely say adsl lines are ****... i now work in the me ica dept looking after these systems and the amount iv seen locked up because of comms failure is bloody crazy! They don't pass large amounts of data and there still super slow!

 

I thought you boys did all your telemetry over sat links?

 

Domestically internal wiring is the easy fix and will improve speed and stability as much as possible i have a client who has had major issues and its an overground cable thats at fault but Openreach wont replace it. Nothing he can do without paying serious money which he doesn't want to do.......

[mick miller]

So can I fit one of those faceplates myself hdav, without incurring the wrath of bt?

 

I heard about the satellite broadband but heard that pings times can be terrible and that it is very weather dependent. Maybe that was all bull?

[mick miller]

Bear in mind, I would ideally like to replace the wiring from the point it enters the property, and run it to a new point so that I can be sure that there is no damage to it. The run is pretty straightforward, through the ceiling following the run of the aerial cable I have already replaced.

 

I guess, once the bt socket is in place, I can run one of the sockets you mention hdav to another point in the house? I really am a little out of my depth on this one.

[mick miller]

I'm just over a mile from the exchange.

[houlsby]

 

I thought you boys did all your telemetry over sat links?

 

Domestically internal wiring is the easy fix and will improve speed and stability as much as possible i have a client who has had major issues and its an overground cable thats at fault but Openreach wont replace it. Nothing he can do without paying serious money which he doesn't want to do.......

Na. There's a few hundred gsm sites but there absolutely ****. There only able to dial out on the forth Tuesday of the second trimester of the eclipse.

 

Yes you can mess about with it.. but unless you actually know how to test for 48 - 52 dc and how to test the ma there's no point.. and no you don't just stick a multimeter on it....

 

The BT man may drool when he talks.. (bit of banter for the BT lads) but he gets paid lots of pennies for a reason..

[HAMMER189]

Yes the new skt fitted should be the latest version of the nte5 . this has a bell filter built in . Also if the internal wiring in a house is old or star wired this can drag your speed down

[houlsby]

I'm just over a mile from the exchange.

Lol. There you go.

 

Move house.

 

You may as well use morse code to connect to the Internet.

Edited May 26, 2014 by houlsby

[HDAV]

OK you can fit an NTE5 but best idea is get BT to move your Master socket to where your router is. I would DIY it but i know what i am doing and have done it loads of times with both BT and Cable connections (they really are nothing special at the house end, but i would not have a clue at the exchange end!) you want to minimise the run of copper from the exchange to your house and maximise the cable quality i would use Cat5/6 cable not "telephone cable" remove any unnecessary extension sockets (i.e. all of them) as this extra coppe rwill introduce noise, also use one master filter not lots around the house.

 

Once you have done all of this then its down to the distance and quality of the cable to the exchange and the hardware at the exchange, a better router (cisco or dreytek etc) can tweak the signal by manipulating the SNR range (basically better quality router can work with more noise and up your speed, no guarantee though)

 

some used alu cable not copper to save money and this is a disaster for ADSL dont let openreach joint from current incomer (overhead line?) to new socket you want a complete new link from pole minimum...... If underground your stuck with the route but may find new cable better as they can and do degrade especially if duct is wet.

[HDAV]

Na. There's a few hundred gsm sites but there absolutely ****. There only able to dial out on the forth Tuesday of the second trimester of the eclipse.

 

Yes you can mess about with it.. but unless you actually know how to test for 48 - 52 dc and how to test the ma there's no point.. and no you don't just stick a multimeter on it....

 

The BT man may drool when he talks.. (bit of banter for the BT lads) but he gets paid lots of pennies for a reason..

 

Round here (wales) they pretty much all have sat dishes (not for sky TV for the engineers on site either) isn't yorkshire water the worst utility in the country?

 

I should go work BT/Openreach..................

[Piebob]

I fitted an NTE5 myself - it was very easy to do but probably best to get a cheapo punch-down tool. I'm a long way from the exchange and was getting 0.5 Meg.

 

Did all the cabling work and also bought a new router. I used the site HDAV has already linked to and read their recommendations. I got one of the Billion routers which hangs on to dodgy, long lines better tha most other routers, so much fewer disconnects. I tweaked the SNR settings as per the web site and now get about 1.8 Meg. Still poor, but enough to get things like YouTube and catchup TV services running. Any postcode / BB checker website says that the max I'll get is 0.75 Meg. so I've gone well beyond that.

 

So, definitely worth doing. Unfortunately, I did all the work at the same time so I'm not really sure if the NTE5 did the trick, or the router, or a combination of both.

[mick miller]

So, in summation, given that it was likely a builder that replaced my sockets, and likely also, the wiring, its worth paying the bt man to do his job?

 

Can I request a filtered socket like hdav advises?

 

Sorry, I am missing the replies as I type (thank you for your advice gentlemen by the way), I should also mention that the cable outside droops massively, has been hammered by the tractors as they drive past, and goes through branches of trees.

 

I thought a mile from the exchange wasn't too bad!

Edited May 26, 2014 by mick miller

[houlsby]

 

Round here (wales) they pretty much all have sat dishes (not for sky TV for the engineers on site either) isn't yorkshire water the worst utility in the country?

 

I should go work BT/Openreach..................

Nope Thames is. Yw are alrite in the grand scheme of things and spend LOADS on keeping everything up to date. Haven't seen any sat dishes on the side of our kiosks.. radio links have tv antenna type Aerials. Iv not seen any sat dish looking ones tho.