Landline problem

[30-6]

I think I'm correct in saying all landlines are BT supplied and rented out to various companies Sky etc.

Intermittently for weeks but getting more frequent, when I phone landline to landline or mobile to landline , a message sometimes says, " this number has not been recognised ", this involves sky, bt, landlines and mobile, Tesco in my case to landlines. Either by direct dialling or using the phones phone book, so landlines seems to be the common factor, and is happening on outgoing and incoming calls, with people phoning me getting the same message.

I phoned BT for my brother and they said they found a fault, I phoned Sky for myself and they could not find a fault but would monitor my line for 1 week.

Is it a possibility that there is a problem for my area where I live that is affecting the telephone landlines of many people ?

[Bigbob]

If theres a problem in your area they normal know about  and will tell you when you call 

[Windswept]

Most lines are owned and operated by Openreach, which is owned by BT. You're meant to raise problems with your provider, e.g. Sky, and they can test your line and report any problems to Openreach. Sadly, some providers arent good at this, I've sorted a problem for someone where the provider tested their line and declared everything is fine. I checked the property and the phone line was cut in half so I managed to go direct to Openreach to fix the problem.

[udderlyoffroad]

Openreach is not owned by BT.

They have been split up at the behest of the regulator and are 2 separate entities - and yes it is Openreach who will investigate faults on their network as instructed by your provider, which could be BT or anyone else.

[Rim Fire]

I am trying  to phone  my mate  in Caerphilly and keeps saying no such number 

[Windswept]

6 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Openreach is not owned by BT.

They still claim they are a "wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group" (See https://www.openreach.com/about/our-company ). I don't know all the ins an outs but have previously found getting your phone and internet direct from another BT company can help with resolving problems.

Having said that you may be able to go direct to Openreach, worth the OP trying that.

[enfieldspares]

Hello. Assuming the fault is not with the 'phone or the router faults can be inside the house, that is between the 'phone or the router and the wall socket. Or they can be between the house and the telegraph pole or "main cable". They can also be on the green roadside box, or between that and the exchange or in the exchange. So that's quite a few places.

Like diagnosing an engine fault back in the old days of spark plugs, distributor caps and coils you need to check the fault from inside the house out to the exchange. Landlines may still be old copper wire or fully optical cable or "landline via internet". The test is when you dial a "local" number in your same village, town or city do you just dial the number or do you have to dial the area code (even though it's the same as your area code) or just the local number? 

[discobob]

Is it a Fibre line?? If it is you are using VOIP feature generally (as that would have replaced your legacy twisted pair.. But then you said BT tested it and found a fault...

The last point that your number exists in the telephone network is at the equipment at the exchange/box. after that you are effectively a long length of wire. If you disconnect that wire at your end people calling you would still get the ringing at their end...or if you had the phone off the hook - the engaged tone.

Just giving some information that may help with your troubleshooting

[30-6]

I am pretty sure into my house is just copper. The annoying part is it's intermittent, and Rimfire says in his post above he's getting similar and he lives far away from me.

My brother's fault with BT could be totally different from mine, but I'm with sky and they said they found nothing wrong.

Like I mentioned above, if I use my landline to landline or mobile to landline ( I have Tesco mobile ), I sometimes get the message " this number has not been recognised ), this can happen once, twice then next time will go ok.

Next Thursday I have a Sky engineer coming to upgrade to Sky Q as my HD+ box has broke ( the telephone problem existed before this happened ), I'll pick his brains. Also, to throw into the mix my faster broadband which is part of the deal I had is being switched on today and I have a new router to change.

 

[30-6]

Well update for this, seems to have rectified itself, or no one has contacted me about anything anyway.

Did go through another little phase where when I tried to phone out on landline phone just displayed line busy, which it wasn't.

Anyway, all seems ok at the moment. Happy Days, or we'll see.🤞

[Minky]

Yesterday we lost the line but because our mobile signal isn't very good I  couldn't determine if it was the landlines or the  mobiĺe signal or what had happened. I went to the daughters house and they were out as well but they had some mobile signal and had got through to BT who said that it was a problem with the green box down in the village next to the exchange.  An hour later the problem was sorted and we had full transmission again.  Perhaps the rain had gotten into the system. 

[30-6]

I think water ingress is a big problem. Years ago I needed 3 engineers to find a fault on my line between house and pole.

Was told expansion in hot weather and contraction in cold weather breaks the insulation on the wire, and allows water in.

The same with TV aerial if it's on the roof and water runs down to your equipment, I once had water into VHS recorder.