broadband puzzle

[oldles]

HI
Any suggestions welcom for intermittent problem which has defeated 3 consultants, tesco and BT

Have had tesco broadband for couple of yrs without problem. Now occasionally when I try to dial up, message is 'no dial tone'
When this happens, there is always flashing light on speedtouch modem3330 and usually crackling in the phone dial tone.

When this happens I can sometimes dial up by making a phone call at the same tine, and usually the PC connection remains OK when the phone call is finished.

I have already replaced phone lines in house, modem,filtrs for phone and burglar alarm, phones ( all this not cheap)

 

[DeadJoe]

1. Broken speedtouch modem?

2. Possibly a conflict of some sort - do you have a soft modem/dial-up modem installed on your PC as well as broadband?

 

[Igorian]

What tests have you been instructed to carry out? It will save us going over old ground.

 

[oldles]

Hi

Thanks for ideas- faulty modem or old modem seem unlikely( but not impossible )- modem has been changed and change did notmake things better or worse. Earlier p modem was internal. It is probably still there, re-broadband modem was internal and is still present but all software has been removed from PC.

Re 'tests'- I have little knowledge of PCs- (I just want them to work), and have no interested family members.

Of the people I have talked to, both BT and Tesco claim to have tested line and rated it excellent.

I was frustrated that everyone else did not do any kind of test, but only made the suggestions for all the changes listed by me ( plus remove and replace all software)

Problem is unfortunately intermittent. I go on line once per day, and on average I have trouble two days. per week One one of these days the 'phone trick' is ok, On other day there is no way I can suceed.

 

[Spark123]

Do you have an NTE5 master socket? When the line is crackling, can you unscrew the front lower portion and plug a known working phone in there to see if the line is still crackling?
If you have the older socket type just unplug the extensions and plug the phone in directly.
If it is still crackling then it is a BT problem.

 

[breezer]

some one / thing has changed your settings, broadband you do not need to dial up. which is why its saying no dial tone, becuse there isnt one.

 

[Igorian]

Breezer, USB modems use PPP and will respond in that manner.

 

[Estrella]

These problems are usually very easy to sort out if approached logically. I used to do loads of these.

Unplug absolutely all extensions / phones from the house with the exception of your master socket. This includes any Sky lines you may have plugged in to your phone system.

Plug a known working router into the master socket (via a filter obviously) and one known working phone.

If the problem is solved, reconnect every other phone/extension until the symptoms reappear. Change the faulty extension/filter or indeed modem if that is the culprit.

I would also consider binning the Speedtouch modem for a router that will give you far more information on exactly what is going on with your line/connection.

 

[tim west]

Had bad crackling on line some time back, turned out to be old grey bt cable to house, called engineers out and cable was replaced with new black one, problem sorted.
Check your outside cable to see if its black or not.

 

[DCC]

Sounds like the problem I had a while back - Noisy crackling phone line but really only noticable when the modem was connected, it was seasonal being fine in the winter months and much worse in the summer, some days terrible others absolutely perfect.

First BT engineer could find no fault (it was behaving itself that day), risking having to pay for another callout I managed to get an engineer on a day when it was in full crackly glory. He was very baffled as it only crackled with a modem connected and everything else in the house disconnected.

After much prodding around, using a long pole to whack the incoming cable to my house and fiddling with the stuff out in the street he eventually decided to climb the pole and 'just in case' he reterminated the cable connection there - problem instantly disappeared and has been perfect ever since.

Quite how a dodgy connection can show up as a crackling but only when a modem is connected escapes me (and him) but that was the cause.

 

[oldles]

Thanks for all info/ideas.

This problem is also seasonal.

The thread made me remember that the intermittent 1571 'message' dial tone also gives problems - and this is kind of crackling.

The 1371 info line suggests problems can be solved by disabling a setting on the control panel - 'do not dial until there is a dial tone'

It was difficult to find this as it was in the administratir part, but I have reset and for a couple of days have had no problem. No negative side effects yet - should I expect any

 

[chrisfoster1971]

Not being funny or anything but why not purchase a cheap router like a netgear for £20 off ebay and use that instead of the old speedtouch modem.

I just got one for my father in law the other day brand new for £25 and it works a treat.

Also check the NTE5 master socket and remove the wire connected to pin 3 as this is no longer used and can affect the adsl single into the home.

I'd also suggest taking a look at http://www.clarity.it or http://www.adslnation.com for a replacement nte5 front plate with a proper ( not bt ) properly attenuated microfilter this will cost £15 ish and takes second to fit, or alternatively a proper micro filter to simply plugin..... and dont forget all other phones (sky) need filters also.

I have carried out all of the above despite having a good line and managed to gain an additional 1.5mb onto of my old line sync speed.

hope this helps !

 

[turningtim]

i'd guess its either one of two things bad NTE 5 socket or bad overhead incomming bt line, I'd head over to adsl nation -just goggle it and buy the best filter\NTE replacement they have on offer\you can afford. If thats not the cure I'd check any overhead cable (if you have one) and trim any trees that might br rubbing or stretching the cable. Or leave it till after a windy night and see if there has been any "accidental" damage!!!

If it underground report the fault to BT as a flooded chamber, and that might help to0

 

[jaysta]

sheesh, i'm so glad i'm in a virgin cabled area