This evening we pruned back some Ivy on the side of the house taking as much care as possible to prevent any damage to the telephone cable which was routed through it. Although we didn't cut it we now have some crackling on the phone line.
This section of the line is an external extention of the line after the BT line comes into the house. A section was replaced a few years ago by a BT engineer, but they charged us somewhere around £500 as it was our apparatus that was faulty and not theirs.
Can I simply buy a kit and do it myself. Any tips as to what to get and go about it?
I've seen this kit on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/3M-Telephone-Waterproof-Repair-Kit-With-Black/dp/B007FB331K
And some cable
First thing i would try would be swapping the cable pair over on the extension cable presuming it is a modern cable the same as you have linked to. If you have 2 pair 4 core or 3 pair 6 core cable you may have a spare pare of cables that will work fine.
If that is not successful I'd just re run the whole length of cable from where ever it its tied in to your house to it's destination. I am presuming this is an out building of some kind. If so Telephone cable is not the most robust of cables so you may wish to consider running it through something to give it a little protection from the elements.
if it's an extn do you really need it?.The waterproof joint is the same as openreach use,but the cable is internal,will do the job but will degrade with weather and uv over time.
not the best idea to swap pairs in cable,always replace you will only have to do it later
Do you have a link to the cable BT would use?
It's on the exterior of the house. Common sense says to reroute the cable indoors through the house but that would mean fiddling with the BT line. It's a silly set up that was put in sometime in the 50s or 60s
As far as I am aware anything after the BT junction box is the home owners responsibility.
If it is a daft set up an you can reroute the cable inside then that would be the best option.
Phone cable is pretty simple stuff, you have a pair of cables come in to the BT junction box then go to the BT master socket from which you can take your additional extensions from.
If it's after the Linebox then you can do what you want with it; if it's before the linebox then it's illegal to fiddle with it as it's BT's property.
Personally I'd get a pair of DECT cordless phones and disconnect the extension completely, TBH. Your broadband will thank you, too.
no idea never had to buy it,but look for single core external cable.still run extn's externaly can be easier,don't want interior cableing.double check it's clear of noise with extn disconnected at main socket/nte.again if it's an extn for voice only get rid.
What sort of range do DECT cordless phones have? Moont Towers is a rambling old house with thick stone walls.
Our broadband is rubbish. I have the router in the kitchen which is a fair distance from the BT linebox along the dodgy extention. Any improvement would be most welcome.
http://www.cablemonkey.co.uk/telephone-cable/288-cw1128-external-phone-cable.html
It will give you more pairs than needed, but it is proper external cable. Do the joints inside the building.
Mcmoonter I've just been out to the shed and I've got about 20m of BT spec outdoor cable if you need it, easy enough for me to drop it off some evening.
Try moving the router nearer the line box as well as a test to see if that improves your internet. If it does then you can always extend the wireless round moont towers
Mcmoonter I've just been out to the shed and I've got about 20m of BT spec outdoor cable if you need it, easy enough for me to drop it off some evening.
Perfect. I'll drop you an email.
EDIT = no email in profile.
Try moving the router nearer the line box as well as a test to see if that improves your internet. If it does then you can always extend the wireless round moont towers
Rik, I'm thinking this is the way forward. The line speed in the kitchen is woeful. I'm thinking of a couple of cordless phones, router at the line box and an router booster to get to the other side of the Hoose. A quantum leap in technology for the Luddites here.
E-mail in profile now Mr M.