bt master socket

[dibs1975]

i recently had broadband install using a bt line. im getting a lot slower speed than my neighbour who is with the same network as me. my bt line comes into my house to a small connector box before the mastersocket. where next door dosent have this, it looks like his wire goes straight to mastersocket. i am thinking of moving the master socket and should the outside wire be wired straight into the mastersocket or should there be something before it. im not going to call bt themselves but a ex-bt engineer. its just i need to know so if he just changes the wire from the connector box and this is affecting my speed, i will ask him to move the outside wire pinned to my wall.

 

[dhutch]

Its uncommon to have an connection before the master socket, but if the installing engineer cut the wire a little short i suppose anything is possable, else its been tampered with before. As far as im aware its only BT who are allowed to move the master socket, although its not unheard of for it to be moved without infoming them, but it will be live and creating a short will cause issues.

Before you move it, have your tried a new filter, or plugging the filter directly into the test socket. Ringing BT to ask why you are not getting what you understand you have paid for?


Daniel

 

[Space cat]

Broadband speed can also be affected by what lies on your side of the master socket. The basic problem is that it uses cables that were not designed for the purpose; it's a bit of a kludge. The telephone system was designed to carry audio frequencies (and also DC to power the phones) and, as long as that's all you use it for, you can have multiple extensions branching off to as many sockets as you like and the only restriction is that you don't try to plug in too many devices (REN number).

When you start pushing the high frequencies used for broadband onto the same cables, things aren't so simple and transmission line effects come into play. When the broadband signal runs along an extension lead to a slave socket, it finds a mismatch at the end and some of it reflects back, now out of phase, and degrades the original signal. Having a filter on that slave socket doesn't help; it only keeps the broadband signals out of the phone.

So what should you do? I'm sure most on here will agree that the best solution puts a filter directly after the master socket, thereby excluding the broadband signal from all of your internal phone wiring. (As a side benefit, you won't need any other filters.) This device does the job nicely:

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php

You should also keep the cable from the filter to the modem short because broadband signals are susceptible to interference. The modem converts them into the much more robust TCP-IP which can then be routed all around the house - through cable or wireless - with relative ease. Also --

Before you move it, have your tried a new filter, or plugging the filter directly into the test socket.

Plugging a filter directly into the test socket also isolates all your internal wiring. Why not try it to see if a master socket filter will have the desired effect.

 

[dhutch]

Plugging a filter directly into the test socket also isolates all your internal wiring. Why not try it to see if a master socket filter will have the desired effect.

I does, but its a good test to see what the problem is, without having to pay and wait for the above master filter, and is about the first thing BT tell you to do if you are having problems with slow speed.


Daniel

 

[dhutch]

Plugging a filter directly into the test socket also isolates all your internal wiring. Why not try it to see if a master socket filter will have the desired effect.

I does, but its a good test to see what the problem is, without having to pay and wait for the above master filter, and along with trying a new filter is about the first thing BT tell you to do if you are having problems with slow speed.


Daniel

 

[TicklyT]

Has the small connection block you have been used to tee an extension socket from? It's not unheard of, especially if the wiring dates back to when having a distinct service provider / customer responsibility demarcation point (NTE5) wasn't an issue.

There are still some old school dropwires out there with just two wires in a flat 'figure of 8' profile sheath. They have been around since well before ADSL was even thought of. Modern round multicore dropwires are much kinder to ADSL signals.

Older dropwires had very springy steel cores so it was almost impossible to dress them neatly. It was usual practise to terminate the dropwire soon after it entered a house and continue the wiring with internal cable if the master socket was any distance from the cable entry.
That junction box may remain even if the original dropwire has been replaced.