Old style (pre 1980?) wiring to NTE5

[rb5227]

Hi all, 1st post on the forum and i'm looking for information on how to get correct telephone wiring in my situation.

I recently had my flat renovated. During this the builders kindly removed the original BT master socket and replaced it with, what I assume, was an extension socket. When I moved back in after completion there was no working phone or broadband so I changed the wiring around to get a dial tone, which gave me telephone and broadband service. This was over two months ago now. Prior to the renovation, the service was stable.

Around three weeks ago I noticed my broadband was disconnecting intermittently. The phone service is fine.

I checked my router settings which were all as per TalkTalk spec.

A TalkTalk engineer came and checked over my computer/router installation which he found to be ok. Though he felt I should be getting closer to 24Mb than the current 15Mb. (The TalkTalk webby shows the exchange as giving around 15Mb to my area.) He looked at the extension socket, noting it wasn't an NTE5, but didn't comment on whether the wiring was correct and said he couldn't touch it. He went away saying the line would be checked from the exchange (less than 1/2 mile away), to the flats. This was reported ok. This, I guess, leaves the socket as suspect #1, as it is the only thing that has changed.

I've put in a new NTE5 master, and while the number of broadband disconnections are fewer, disconnections still occur.

The wiring in the flat appears to be pre 1980. From the wall there are four solid core wires coloured Blue, Brown, Green & Orange.

I've found that connecting Green to terminal A and Brown to terminal B on the NTE5, give phone & broadband. They can be swapped and still give a service. Blue & Orange are not connected.

Can anyone advise on:

1. Is my current wiring correct? If not please advise what the connections should be.

2. Should the Blue & Orange wires be connected anywhere?

I have searched the web for solutions, and while there has been the odd result which deals with a similar situation, I'm not sure if the wiring is correct from the distribution box elsewhere within the flats, to my flat.

Thanks for reading, sorry about the length of the post, and I look forward to any advice available.

Martin

 

[TicklyT]

It sounds like the cable feeding your phone line is the old internal 4-wire cable that was common in the '70 and '80s. It would be more usual to find the line connected to the blue and orange wires, but there's nothing wrong if it is on the green and brown wires. The other two wires are not connected to anything.

That cable, with either a grey or cream sheath, was constructed as a single twisted quad, rather than the more usual white sheathed twisted pair cables used today. What effect that could have on ADSL signals is anybody's guess, as that type of cable went out of common use years before broadband was even thought of.

If the cabling is looped through another flat, supplying another telephone service on it's way to you, that may have an adverse effect, as that type of 4-wire cable was never intended to carry two seperate telephone lines. It usually worked OK for telephony, but again, that was before ADSL was invented.

The correct polarity of the line is with the +ve wire connected to A and the -ve wire to B, but that usually makes little, if any, difference.

Strictly speaking, all the wiring up to, and including the back half of the NTE5 is the telephony suppliers' property and responsibility. Only the removable front plate, and any extension wiring connected to that is your responsibility.

 

[FLIPPINeck]

try "bobs telephone file"