Dodgy BT drop line

[4ndy]

I have had bad internet and a noisy phone line for a long time now, but on a rather intermittent basis, when I have complained in the past, the BT engineer comes round it is deemed fine.

This week I have run my own cable to replace the drop line, it goes through a window and to my master socket (not a permanent solution).. Now I get fantastic internet and phone service.

So I'm at the dilemma of what to do.
Do I contact my phone provider and try to convince them to replace my drop line, or do I do a more permanent rewire job myself

Obviously I can't tell them I have rigged up my own drop wire, and that I KNOW what the problem is as you're not allowed to mess with it yourself

So what should I do?

 

[bigzed]

I'm presuming that if it IS actually a Drop-Wire ( From a Pole ) that you haven't actually climbed the pole to replace the Drop from the Block Terminal up there !!!!

I'm guessing that it's actually an underground feed that you have or there is a Block terminal fitted in between your Drop-Wire and the Lead-In at your house on the wall. If you have replaced the Lead-In from the BT on the wall and it has improved the Broadband etc etc I would suggest just get around to tidying it up to make it look half-decent and don't tell anyone about it.

I've been on plenty of installations etc where it is plainly obvious that some third-party has done some of his own work but without proof, there's not a lot that can be done, unless a reported fault can be put down to some diy work.

 

[4ndy]

Wow, thanks for the fast reply bigzed!

No, I've not climbed the big pole in the road.. guessing I'm using the wrong words (my bad!). Please correct any further mistakes, as I am not good with wiring terminology.

Here are a few pictures to help explain:

Where the phone line comes into my bungalow from the pole in the road:

My very temporary bodge: Black wire from pole in road; white wire is my bodged connection to master socket; grey wire is BT's cable that I want replaced

Where it enters the house from loft (note this wire is different, I assume there is a junction box somewhere in my loft?).

Questions:

1) Currently the grey BT wire seems to take an overly long route, all the way round the back of my house under the guttering, to then enter the loft and go back to the front of the house. I would probably enter the loft at the front of the house to reduce cable length to minimize external cabling that is exposed to the weather. Do people agree with me, or should I just re-wire the same route BT did it?

2) The 2 strand grey wire must join the 4 strand that goes to the master socket, will it just be a simple junction box in the loft somewhere?

3) What should I replace the grey BT wire with, and where can I get it?

Thanks in advance for any advise.

 

[4ndy]

OK, I have now been crawling around in the loft to see what the wiring does in there. I found that the wire goes through two boxes that I am unsure of what they do, this is one such box.. any ideas what it does?

 

[sparkwright]

You should be able to run a new cable from that outside box, straight into the loft, then staight to the master socket. Just run the cable the neatest most direct way. Don't go diagonally. Cable clip it in the loft so it looks professional. Forget those two old junction boxes. They don't do a lot. I would recommend using round telephone cable, rather than that flat extension lead you have. If you can get the tougher weatherproof cable, even better. This is a little harder to strip the sheath though.

The next question is will you do the connections yourself?

If you do I would recommend you leave the wires a little longer at the junction, in case a BT enginneer decides to fit their own connectors. I imagine you would use 2 or 5 amp connectors.
When you carefully strip the wires, double the ends over, as BT wire tends to break when you screw it down in a terminal.

Neatly coil up all unused cores.

It is usual for BT to use
Blue/white and white/blue
or
Orange/white and white/orange.

They don't seem to use the greens on the incoming cable so much, or at least that what it seems.

 

[LoveRocket]

OK, I have now been crawling around in the loft to see what the wiring does in there. I found that the wire goes through two boxes that I am unsure of what they do, this is one such box.. any ideas what it does?

Is it some kind of lighting suppressor or summat?

 

[flameport]

For a proper job, you need this:
http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Cable_Index/Telephone_Cable_External/index.html
in a single length between the box on the outside and the master socket inside.

To join the new cable to the old, use jelly crimps. (These can be obtained on eBay in small quantities).

Screw connections should not be used, because as already pointed out, the wire will fracture and cause the exact problem you are trying to fix.

 

[bigzed]

Sparkwright and flameport have given you the best advice andy. That would definitely be the way to go.

The connector you have shown in your photo is known as a "Connector Dropwire No 1A" and is basically a scotch-lok with a little grease inside. They are used when connecting the old Dropwire No6 ( the grey flat-twin cable in your pic ) to the newer Dropwire No10 ( Black cable from the pole in your pic ).

They are supposed to be used on ALL dropwire connections but I only use them with dissimilar dropwires as the grease-filled 8A crimps we use are perfectly OK when used inside a Block terminal.

Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with m8.

**EDIT** When you do the connection inside the Block on the outside wall, be VERY careful with the yellow suspension wires in the dropwire from the pole, they are like bloody needles........don't ask me how I know this

 

[TicklyT]

OK, I have now been crawling around in the loft to see what the wiring does in there. I found that the wire goes through two boxes that I am unsure of what they do, this is one such box.. any ideas what it does?

Thr box in your piccie contains a pair of dummy fuses (the two pieces of tube with flattend ends) and a pair of voltage surge or lightning protectors (the two black blocks about half an inch square). They were originally fitted where several spans of overhead wiring were needed to connect the line, or where phone and electricity distribution shared the same poles.

With several changes in cable construction (Twisted copper pair from pole, copper plated steel 'figure of 8' lead-in, and twisted quad internal wiring) I'm not at all surprised the ADSL performance was somewhat limited!

 

[OwainDIYer]

OK, I have now been crawling around in the loft to see what the wiring does in there. I found that the wire goes through two boxes that I am unsure of what they do, this is one such box.. any ideas what it does?

Especially if you've got the lid for that, it's ebayable.

 

[simonpolly]

The grey cable is called the lead in,that type of cable is now obsolete,the square black box at the eaves is a bt 16,this is also obsolete,the lightening protection in the loft is no longer needed as the line is protected in the exchange and on the new type block terminals on the d.p(pole).The cable from the pole(dropwire 10) should also have a sleeve on it.(p.s you should`nt really be playing with the cable as it is openreach property upto the master socket