Hi,
Just had a phone line and internet activated in my new house. Looking at the outside of my house I have two phone lines coming to my property - one going in on the first floor which is the new style master socket (this is next to an unused virgin media connection) and another going into the ground floor which is an older style BT box with two socket connections in the front.
I was surprised that my connection was linked to the old style box and when making/receiving calls the phone line is very crackly. The broadband speed is about 7-8mb/s and I live approximately 350m from the telephone exchange.
My supplier say they will send an engineer out but if it turns out to be my fault or my phone then it will cost me £160 charge. Is there something obvious I can do and what are the likely causes of the problem?
What's going on with the upstairs socket?
Ie, can you plug in a phone and make outgoing calls? Does it receive calls? Is it the same number?
The new style BT box upstairs is dead - no dial tone.
We had bad crackly line for ages,had bt boys out time after time ,but eventually got new line from pole to house,problem solved.
But we had same comments, took out all extensions etc to prove my point then they relented and installed new line,
been excellent eversince
You can be sat on top of the BT exchange, it still has to go down some crappy copper pair into your property. Go fibre if you want speed and reliability.
we had a really crackly line, due to water and damp shorting it, then somebody cut the cable outside so we got a brand new cable from pole to box and a new box.
Go fibre if you want speed and reliability.
and how do I encourage BT to fit that to my property?
So forget the broadband and the upstairs line (for the moment). Your issue as far as BT are concerned is "the line is crackly when I'm on the phone." They can and will deal with that.
How will they deal with it and will it cost me?
They'll send a man with a screwdriver, and it shouldn't cost you anything unless you've neglected to tell us that the socket is actually made of Lego and connected with bell wire to your central heating system or something.
My only concern is... actually, better yet, can you take a photo of the socket in question? That would help.
first of all ensure your phone is working ok, .try in a known problem free line. plug the phone directly into the socket no filter or plug in extensions.did you have a visit from openreach or was it done remotely.if you would prefer one line working upstairs ask the engineer nicley he may do this for you and will also replace the double socket downstairs with nte5(can't leave them in anyway unless asked too).it may be a fault outside if so it will be replaced f.o.c.
fROM THE bt FORUM PAGES.
Sorry to say, I think you may be in for the long haul on this one and will need to persevere. The symptoms you describe are unfortunately common, and are a classic sign of a damaged cable somewhere. If the engineers have checked the line from your house to the telegraph pole / pavement box and you still have the crackle when they check at the pole, then the problem is most likely to be in the underground cables. The intermittency is caused by partial damage to the cable / junction box allowing a short circuit between the wires and earth - [b]and the usual culprit is water (damp)[/b]. Broadband goes first, dropping out, and if the short is bad enough the phone goes too.[b]As the damp dries out the phone may come back, or if it is a broken cable the shorts can be very fast and regular as the two end of the cable spark against each other.[/b]
What can you do.
1) Keep a written log of your cals to BT, any engineer visits / sightings, and be prepared to explain over and over again to BT call centre staff.
2) Insist that the problem is NOT on your property and that engineers have identified the fault in the road and it needs repairing
3) Persist, and try not to get too downhearted. You are in the hands of BT Openreach who will have to repair this, and it may take a lot of time and calls. Report it every day if needs be, or try emailing BTs CEO, as this can sometimes have a dramatic effect!!
.
Engineer.. Technician or would you prefer deja-vu
Looks like this:
[img] 
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Thats not a picture of my actual one by the way.
it is a double master socket ,i presume the socket is fitted on an exterior wall and the dropwire goes directly into the rear of the socket,if it is constanly noisy it is straight forward to locate problem.if it is proved underground the engineer will swap onto a different pair of wires in underground cable to exchange,unless there are no good spares to use then it will take a little longer for an underground engineer to resolve.just double check all your kit....i am still suprised how many people dont, and are shocked when they receive a charge.and openreach charge your service provider not you..
I'd go with Virgin media if you have it!