How to achieve best possible ADSL speed

[blueagle78]

I've got my telephone line and broadband with O2. I'm just loving the speed. At the moment the modem/router is connected with the BT master socket. However once the house is sorted I would like to move the modem/router to the home office or at least have a switch setup in the home office which would be connected with the modem/router. My question really is how could I setup the modem/router in the home office? Shall I run a telephone wire from the master socket to the modem/router? I'm worried this might reduce the speed of my broadband. The problem I've is BT master socket is downstairs and the home office is on the other side of the house upstairs.

 

[Paul_C]

If the modem needs to be located somewhere other than where the NTE is, then the best solution is to install a DSL filter at the NTE (BT master socket) and use a separate pair for DSL to a single jack where you want the modem. All other extension wiring will then be connected via the filter.

So if you ran a 3-pair cable from the NTE to your office location and installed a faceplate filter at the NTE (which plugs into it in place of the original lower panel), you could then connect the blue/white and orange/white pairs to the filtered output for the telephone extension as normal, and use the green/white pair on the unfiltered side to run to a dedicated jack which is used solely for the DSL modem. Any other telephone extensions would be connected to the filtered side, of course, either by extending from the voice jack in the office or from the same set of filtered terminals at the NTE. Do not make any other connections on that unfiltered pair which runs from the NTE to your modem jack; the key point is to use one good filter, and have the unfiltered DSL pair run directly to the modem with no other taps to other outlets.

Alternatively, if you want to locate the modem by the NTE, use the same faceplate filter so that all telephone extensions are filtered properly, but as the modem will plug into it directly, there will be no need to extend the unfiltered side. You would then need to run Ethernet wiring from there to your office or other required locations, of course.

 

[bernardgreen]

The advice Paul_C gave is the best way to go. Separate phone and ADSL as close to the incomer as possible.

The only comment I would make is to use a separate telephone type single pair ( CW1308 ) cable for the ADSL pair rather than the third pair in a three pair cable.

 

[blueagle78]

Paul_C thanks for your detailed answer. Its really appreciated. Let me see if I've got this right.
So I should install an NTE Faceplate filter like this at the BT master socket.
http://www.shopmania.co.uk/network-...filter-nte5-plug-in-faceplate-lj5203-14564350
Then I should run a telephone cable (Phone would be going to the second room) from the NTE to the office. One end plugged in the filter and the other directly into the modem? Do I need to plug in a DSL filter before plugging in the modem?
The telephone cable would have one end in the faceplate filter and the other in the phone. Again where should I plug in the DSL filter here?
I think the cable distance from master socket to modem would be about 30 meters . Would you suggest running telephone cable or going for ethernet option? I've got switch so either way I'll have to just buy the cables.

 

[Paul_C]

So I should install an NTE Faceplate filter like this at the BT master socket.
http://www.shopmania.co.uk/network-...te5-plug-in-faceplate-lj5203-14564350[/QUOTE]

That's the type, although be careful because some of those faceplate filters do not have extra terminals on the back for an unfiltered connection. In other words, once it's installed you can connect your DSL modem only by way of the jack on the front, not by running an extension cable from the rear terminals. To do the latter, you need a unit which has unfiltered terminals as well, for example:

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

On the back of that unit, terminals 2 - 5 are the usual ones for wiring to a telephone extension and are filtered; terminals A & B connect directly to the incoming line and would be used to run an unfiltered extension to wherever you want your modem to be located.

Then I should run a telephone cable (Phone would be going to the second room) from the NTE to the office. One end plugged in the filter and the other directly into the modem?

For fixed wiring you want the CW1308 cable that Bernard mentioned. It's the standard internal telephone cable with solid cores and paired: blue/white, orange/white, green/white etc. Connections at the filter at the NTE are to the terminals as described above, then you can fit jacks in the office into which the modem and phone can be connected.

Do I need to plug in a DSL filter before plugging in the modem?

The replacement unit you linked to or the one I referenced above is the filter. You connect the modem to either the ADSL jack on the front, or by way of your extension wiring to the A/B terminals; you connect telephones to the voice jack on the front, or by way of extension wiring to the 2/3/4/5 terminals which are the filtered output. No other filters are then necessary.

I think the cable distance from master socket to modem would be about 30 meters . Would you suggest running telephone cable or going for ethernet option? I've got switch so either way I'll have to just buy the cables.

Either option would be fine. Unless you happen to live almost top of your telephone exchange, an extra 100 feet or so of telephone cable against the hundreds (or thousands) of yards already running to your house isn't going to make a whole lot of difference to your ADSL so long as it's installed and connected properly.

I would let other considerations dictate which course is the better one to suit your needs, such as if it's a combination modem/wireless router and one location or the other is better for the wireless side, or whether it's more convenient to have the modem/router in the office than using space where the NTE is, etc.

 

[bernardgreen]

Another source of all things and information is

http://www.solwise.co.uk/telesun-extension-sockets.htm

http://www.solwise.co.uk/adsl_splitters.htm

One common "fault" is to use CAT5 or CAT6 for the ADSL signal from NTE5 to the modem / router socket instead of telephone cable. Using CAT cable can reduce the ADSL quality because it has a different charactoristic ( impedance ) to the phone cable along which ADSL is "designed" to travel.

 

[Paul_C]

One common "fault" is to use CAT5 or CAT6 for the ADSL signal from NTE5 to the modem / router socket instead of telephone cable.

Not helped by the fact that you'll find many misguided recommendations to do that, since some people seem to think that CAT5 cable is "better" so it must improve the ADSL side of the system. They are confusing the requirements of Ethernet wiring with those of ADSL wiring, which are quite different.

 

[blueagle78]

Thanks Paul_C and bernardgreen. I must admit I was one of those "ignorants" who thought ethernet cable was better than the telephone cable. OK, I'm going ahead with what Paul_C has suggested. Would run a telephone cable. I've got this feeling there's a long telephone cable lying around somewhere.

 

[Paul_C]

Would run a telephone cable. I've got this feeling there's a long telephone cable lying around somewhere.

Make sure that it is the proper cable for fixed internal wiring, and not flexible "flat" extension cord with stranded conductors.

 

[blueagle78]

I decided to sort out the cabling as I intended to but it seems the previous owner really complicated things. I'll try my best to explain exactly what's going on and please advise me what's the best way of taking telephone cable for broadband modem in the home office.
It seems like the main overhead BT cable is coming into a BT junction box. The junction box is then connected to an old styled and a new styled master socket. The new style master socket has got one cable coming out which I think was used for alarm system. The old styled master socket however is quite complicated. It has got two cables coming out. One is going in the living room. The other is going round the house externally into an external junction box. From that junction box two cables are coming out which are going to two different bed rooms. The external junction box is only couple of meters from the office. So my question is can I run a cable from there and then take it into the office? I can disconnect one or both cables which are coming out of that junction box. If that would affect the speed of the broadband then please advise what should I do?
If needed I'll scan and upload the drawing I've drawn to make sense of how cables are running.

 

[Paul_C]

A drawing might help to visualize it, but I think I've got the general layout. It's not unusual to find wiring like that where things were connected wherever was most convenient at the time.

What you really need to in order to enable your ADSL to work at its best is to rearrange things so that you have just a single cable running from the incoming line to the point at which your filter is fitted. If the DSL modem is not to be plugged in at that point, then again you want a single pair which extends the unfiltered line to the jack where the modem will be located. The extensions for your telephones connected to the filtered side can then be in any sort of topology without causing problems.

 

[blueagle78]

Paul_C thanks once again.
As for re-arranging cables, if I contacted O2 (my service provider) to sort out the main cable that's coming into the house (so it goes to a BT master socket rather than junction box) would I get charged? Is this something I could do myself? I don't want to touch anything that would breach the BT terms and conditions.

 

[Paul_C]

if I contacted O2 (my service provider) to sort out the main cable that's coming into the house (so it goes to a BT master socket rather than junction box) would I get charged?

Quite probably, since O2 would call upon OpenReach to do the actual work, and OpenReach would almost certainly charge O2 for it.

Is this something I could do myself? I don't want to touch anything that would breach the BT terms and conditions.

Strictly speaking, everything on the exchange side of the NTE (master) is the responsibility of your provider/OpenReach, and there will probably be something buried in O2's terms and conditions about it. The problem comes with these older (pre-deregulation days, when BT did everything) systems which have multiple master sockets and extensions run from outside junction boxes, as the demarcation point can become a little "fuzzy." There are still installations around which don't have the modern-style NTE (with the removable bottom section) and with extension jacks wired "backwards" via a junction box from a master jack, so the dividing line is very unclear, and many of the service providers these days don't really seem to know how to deal with such situations, since they just assume that it's a straightforward system where the NTE is the clear demarcation point.