Problem with landline only rings once

[#1]

Let me get this straight: The router is normally plugged in to the master socket (via a filter).
Which socket is the phone base station normally connected to and if it's not the same socket as the router do you have a filter on the phone?

[#2]

Hiya, yes the router is connected via a filter to the master socket, like wise so is the base phone.
Regards.

[#3]

Just thought I would say that you are not alone with this issue.  My wifes grandmother started having the exact same issue on Wednesday and it is still going on.

[#4]

Have you noticed whether the adsl cuts out when the phone rings (even momentarily)? If so, .... Courtesy of Kitz...
Identified from the Quiet Line Test (Dial 17070 and select option 2). Possible causes:-
HR Fault - One or both wires not making proper contact. Worn cable or oxidised joint.
Earth Contact - Line is going to earth, possibly caused by tree branch rubbing through the cable.
Battery Contact - Line is in contact with another. Could be worn isolation or water on the line.
Rectified Loop - Phone rings once then line cuts out. Problem could be in the home or water on the circuit.
And this might be a daft question, but when people are saying plug it into the master socket, they mean take the front plate off the master-socket and plug everything into the socket behind that plate. Are you doing this or just using the front socket?
Take a look at the link below, especially items 3, 5 and 10...
http://btbusiness.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8554/~/my-phone-doesn't-ring,-or-rings-once-t...

[#5]

Something else to try. Have you got or can you borrow an old wired telephone to try instead of the cordless base station? Although it only fails when the router is plugged in it could be the combination of the two that is the problem.
Is the phone usable when the router is plugged in (any background noise)?

[#6]

Quote from: nozzer

Rectified Loop - Phone rings once then line cuts out. Problem could be in the home or water on the circuit.

Keep asking Openreach guys what is a rectified loop. They have looked it up on their systems and there is no other information forthcoming unlike other fault conditions. To rectifier need a semi-conductor device and I can't see water doing that.

[#7]

Grandmother only has a wired phone so its not a cordless issue.  The Socket in the house is an older style one that doesn't have a removable faceplate and the microfilter is pluged direct into it.  The wire then passes directly out through the wall to the black/grey BT box on the house wall.

[#8]

Courtesy of a friend....
Ringing voltage is AC (alternating current). Talk path voltage is DC (direct current). A telephone ringer uses a capacitor in series across the line. A capacitor will stop DC voltage but let AC current pass through. This allows the AC current to ring the ringer with out shorting the telephone line. In normal operation once you answer the phone you short out the line stopping the ringing and the DC voltage passes through the telephone network, dial and handset providing talk path.
You probably have a bad capacitor in your telephone ringer that is shorting out the telephone line once ringing voltage is applied. This is known as a rectified loop, meaning that current is being allowed to pass in one direction when it shouldn't.
It is called a "pre-trip" when the phone rings once and then gets cut off...  99 percent of the time it is caused by a defective phone, and the cause of the phone becoming defective is normally lightning or some other sort of power surge on your phone line... or dampness in a phone itself, or a socket.
If it still happens with a fully working wired phone, you have what is known as a rectified loop on your line. One of your sockets is probably wet or corroded inside, remove the front panels and look at them, if they are a nice shade of green, there is your fault. If not, have you done anything in your house that could cause moisture in the cables or sockets, plastering etc and check around this area.

[#9]

Hiya Brabus well at least I am not on my own  Please let me know if your wife’s grandmother get the problem solved as I will do likewise.
Brabus has your grandmother rang BT for line check  0800 789456 or 0800 800 151
Yes  Nozzer plate off plugged into test socket because of this problem. Normally my base phone and router are plugged into master socket as this is the only socket.
Tried a corded phone but could not get a dialing tone, think the phone might be faulty as reason I bought digital cordless couple of years back.
I am going to leave it a couple of hours as getting really annoyed about it now as don't know what to do next. Calling out a BT Engineer I think would be very expensive about £130.
Regards to You All For Now

[#10]

The OP phone is working fine when plugged into the test socket with the router or when plugged into the faceplate without the router. They only have a problem when the phone and router is plugged into the faceplate via the filter. To me it point to a bad connection between the faceplate and filter.

[#11]

Quote from: wattsy

Yes  Nozzer plate off plugged into test socket because of this problem. Normally my base phone and router are plugged into master socket as this is the only socket.

If it's the only socket and it working fine when plug into the test socket leave it like that. The faceplate is only there to allow home owners to do their own extension wiring but for it to be easily disconnected by BT when there's a fault.

[#12]

Quote from: wattsy

The only way I can get the phone and router working properly  is through the filter in the test socket

This actually points to a problem with the faceplate - either between the faceplate and the test socket or the faceplate and the filter
looking at a standard faceplate there are two obvious things to check
Connection to the test socket - are all four copper strips in good condition
Connection to the filter - there should be 4 connectors sprung open - are they all there and at about the same angle - see picture

[#13]

Quote

I am going to leave it a couple of hours as getting really annoyed about it now as don't know what to do next. Calling out a BT Engineer I think would be very expensive about £130

You won't have to pay anything to get a simple line test done by BT. Ring 150 and follow the links, and eventually (   ) you will get to nice person who will do a check. If it's something in your socket it'll show up. If not, buy a wired phone for a tenner and try that, and have a look at the other sockets in the house for dampness, spiders, mice etc.

[#14]

Quote from: nozzer

One of your sockets is probably wet or corroded inside, remove the front panels and look at them, if they are a nice shade of green, there is your fault. If not, have you done anything in your house that could cause moisture in the cables or sockets, plastering etc and check around this area.

Sounds familiar. I've had more or less this exact problem with the phone on two separate occasions/properties, albeit pre internet. On both occasions it was during the winter in single glazed houses with plenty of condensation. The phone would ring once only and then peter out. If you picked up to dial out, the line would crackle only for a few seconds. On both occasions the box on the windowsill where the line entered the house had got damp over a period of time; one was a simple junction with the master socket elsewhere, the other was the actual master socket, and in that one I dimly recall a capacitor being the issue. Took the BT engineers 10 minutes to find and fix, in both cases replacing the box.

[#15]

Hi wattsy,
As long as the fault is still there with a single phone plugged into the test socket your phone provider should be able to raise a fault for you straight away. As above also it's best to advise it's a ring trip fault (that's what it's called in the system we have access to for fault raising) and that the phone rings once then stops.
Hope that helps.