Q re phone extension lead and first 10 days

[#1]

Quote from: HPsauce

One possible way to deal with this is to break off the relevant metal contacts in plugs/sockets to ensure no connection. But it's tricky to do effectively. Remember BT plugs/sockets are designed for 6 contacts, but typically only the central 4 (2,3,4,5) are used. The phone/ADSL signal only need 2 and 5 so it's the central pair (3 and 4) that need to be eliminated.

Quote from: DaveRiley

Okay, I see, sorry for being dense :-). Hmmm, it's not easy to do anything about this then, other than to break the connection on the back of the faceplate between the socket and  the circuit board. Though I guess that would be very naughty :-(.

Or snip the correct two wires within the extension lead, near to the master socket. Here's the guidance I received (as yet untried by me: you're on your own if your house falls down and your dog emigrates) :-

As far as which wires to cut in your existing cable - well this can be tricky as the colours used can vary from cable to cable. The 4 colours in cables may be Yellow, Green, Blue, Red or Black, Red, Green, Yellow being 2 of the most common. They may not be connected the same with all sources and other colours have been seen.
The only reliable way is the look at the plug with the contact side uppermost, so that the spring-side is to the right. Often, if you look with a good light and perhaps a magnifying glass, you can see the colour of the wires going to each pin. It is the middle 2 pins that are of interest. 
You will need to carefully break through the cable sheath close to the plug and cut those middle 2 colours close to the plug. Snip a bit off in each direction so that can't touch together again if you wrap a bit of tape around the sheath after.

Quote from: DaveRiley

I shall have to do some thinking to decide what the easiest way round this is. Though as I said before, I have heard from a few other people (on another forum - CIX) who have pretty much the same setup with a cheap and long extension cable between their master socket and the router and they get good speeds, almost up to max ADSL2+ levels, so before I do anything drastic I'll see what happens with it as it is.

Again, I'm just re-gifting some wisdom :-

 [...] one can't guestimate at the effects of the bell wire combined with non-twisted pair wiring, except that the combination will have a devastating effect on noise margins and hence the achievable speed.
The best way to indicate the effects that certain things can have is to tell you about one of my direct experiences. 
A line ~3km long had it's potential speed reduced by more than a half as  result of a combination of "untwisted pair+bell wire" cable (old telephone internal wiring) and cheap (solid block looking like a socket splitter ie. no rat's tail) filters. Using quality filters upped the speed to around 2/3rd of the potential even though faster speeds were seen during the day . However this was limited by the 4dB+ swing in average SNRM between day and night plus additional SNRM variation during the night causing drops in connection if a high daytime sync speed had been achieved.
Disconnecting the bell wire reduced the night time swings and day to night variation, but full benefits were not seen until the cable was replaced with twisted pair and no bell wire.
Even with twisted pair wiring, the additional of a bell wired will reduce the noise margin (and so the achievable speed), but the extent will depend on length of cable and location.
With the 3km length line achievable speed on 20CN is now 74xx-76xx compared to an original 32xx or so.

But I'm with you on waiting to see first. If you later decide to improve your wiring setup, and your stats improve but your speeds don't (as they should), if necessary you can always ask PlusNet to do a full reset so that training starts again.

[#2]

Thanks mplusnetuser. I knew that Dremel Multitool I bought before Christmas would come in handy one day - it does look quite straightforward to butcher a plug and remove one of the metal contacts. Or, as you suggest, removing a bit of outer insulation from the cable, close to the plug, and snipping the relevant wire(s) seems just as easy, and as I wired up one end of the cable, I know exactly what colour core(s) to snip.

[#3]

Just make sure to snip at both ends. 

[#4]

Quote from: HPsauce

Just make sure to snip at both ends.

I see the winky: that was a joke, right?

Quote from: DaveRiley

Thanks mplusnetuser. [...] Or, as you suggest, removing a bit of outer insulation from the cable, close to the plug, and snipping the relevant wire(s) seems just as easy, and as I wired up one end of the cable, I know exactly what colour core(s) to snip.

Saying it to you has finally spurred me to do it myself.
My sync speed instantly jumped from 9810 (itself the highest rate since switching to ADSL2+) to 11923, and BT Profile from 8.4 to 10.52
The ADSL2+ speed calculators suggest :-
http://www.coolwebhome.co.uk/calc/calculator.php
"Normal speed range at 35dB attenuation is 10500 Kbps to 13900 Kbps"
http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/max_speed_calc.php
"BT 21CN WBC & adsl2+: 11712 kbps ; IP Profile: 10330 kbps"
http://www.skyuser.co.uk/adsl2_checker.php
"We estimate your line is capable of between 10mb to 12mb broadband on an ADSL2+ service."
So that seems pretty good (even without a proper twisted pair cable) :). I wish I'd bitten this bullet sooner :(.
My actual throughput hasn't increased yet, presumably because PlusNet's Line Speed hasn't caught up yet. (I can't even check because the PN site is down at the moment). How long before that is supposed to happen automatically?

[#5]

Quote from: mplusnetuser

I see the winky: that was a joke, right?

Er, no!
The idea is to disconnect the bell (and 4th) wire at both ends, that way they can't connect to anything so there is no path for interference.
Remember they act as aerials so either end can feed disruption.
Ideally use a 2-wire (and twisted and/or shielded) extension cable, but that's not what you have.

[#6]

Oh, okay, thanks. Everything I've been told and read only say to cut at or near the master box(es), and they report results having only done that. But, well, might as well: it's not as if those wires have any proper function any more. I'm off to do more surgery ...

[#7]

It will all depend on what's at each end.
In many cases disconnecting at one end will suffice or give "most" of the potential improvement.
If you read most recommendations about disconnecting the bell wire (usually relating to permanently wired extensions) they will say to disconnect at both ends to be sure. 

[#8]

I honestly don't think I've seen a single one which spells it out like that - but maybe it seems obviously implied to all but a dumbass like me ;).
Anyway, the proof of the pudding: I snipped t'other end too, and my sync speed instantly jumped further from 11923 to 13245, and BT Profile from 10.52 to 11.69.
The only caveat is that I took the opportunity to simplify the wiring near the router at the same time (I didn't realise it could be simplified, but following the rats nest to find the other end revealed some old and unnecessary detours!, so that may or may not have helped too.
In any event, this little exercise has boosted my sync speed by 35% and BT Profile by 40%. Hopefully download speed will follow soon once my PlusNet Line Speed climbs from 8MB.
Thanks for your help :).

[#9]

Result.  And some info for DaveRiley to ponder on. 

[#10]

Pondering is almost complete  :). I'm going to pop to the shop tomorrow to get some proper CW1308 and I've ordered some plugs and a crimp tool from Amazon. I'll be running an unfiltered signal upstairs with it and will be wiring the upstairs end into a 2-socket filtered box (also ordered) up there. When I crimp the plug onto the cable (which will go into the master socket) I'll only connect the wires of one of the twisted pairs. Hopefully that will give me the best I can get without having the router downstairs.
Thanks all!
Dave

[#11]

That sounds like a good course of action to me in your situation, saves messing with your old style BT Master socket which OR might have got touchy about 
@mplusnetuser
I would imagine getting rid of the "rat's nest" will have helped 

[#12]

Quote from: Anotherone

getting rid of the "rat's nest" will have helped

That wasn't DR, it was mpnu. 

[#13]

Quote from: DaveRiley

When I crimp the plug onto the cable (which will go into the master socket) I'll only connect the wires of one of the twisted pairs.

I'd just put it straight onto 2 and 5 on the back, using a Krone tool.
That's the "traditional" way and BT can't really complain, though technically I suppose you should plug in as you describe.

[#14]

I know I need to, but someone should have gone to specsavers HP 

Quote

@mplusnetuser I would imagine getting rid of the "rat's nest" will have helped

[#15]

Quote from: mplusnetuser

Everything I've been told and read only say to cut at or near the master box(es), and they report results having only done that.

Read this:
I visited a house once with a huge problem with excess 'noise'.  I disconnected the bell wire (and other extraneous wires) at the master socket but it did no good.  Unfortunately the extension sockets were 'luxury' type with the retaining screws concealed (or the faceplate was attached by some other means) so I could not get at the wiring.  Eventually I fixed the problem by fitting a vDSL interstitial plate to the master socket.  So whilst 'cutting' at or neat the master socket may suffice, it absolutely definitely is not enough in every case.