fault detected...how long til BT get their finger out and investigate?

[#1]

Dear Plusnet Support,
    I have been suffering poor adsl2+ speeds (greater than on the old max product) and after going through all the usual 'please unplug all extensions and plug into master socket' etc, finally someone at the Plusnet end checked my logs and spotted a very high level of dis-connects (this probably explained why surfing was so painful sometimes).
I was advised to raise a Fault with the Fault Checker, and spent the next few days trying (as it would bomb out at the web-site) so I rang and spoke to someone about it (sure enough they had same problem when they tried).
It got passed over to faults dept. for manual testing...that was at the weekend and I havnt heard anything much..just wondered if and when it reaches BT, how long are their SLA's to look at it to see whats causing these dis-connections?
Many thanks in advance
Jamie

[#2]

Well it seems the answer will be never!
bloody annoyed as plusnet did their test and suprise suprise...nothing wrong with the line...and if BT are involved I could be charged 144 quid for their time if no fault detected.
No one even came close to explaining why the unusually high level of disconnections I am getting...as sure this is probably causing the automated systems to keep my speeds so low as Im not maintaining a long enough connection.
what a waste of time raising this ticket in the first place...had such high hopes that they might get to the bottom of it...dashed on the sharp stinky rocks of BT dom.

[#3]

Sounds about right - BT really dont seem to care about customers - if you've got a phone at home that works, thats all they care about and all they guarantee to keep in service.
They need some proper competition to kick their *********

[#4]

Yer properly fed up....although have done some research and seems various mode/router manufacturers use chipsets in their adsl hardware that doesnt deal with the line conditions very well and gets intermittent synch issues(netgear, linksys,zyxel) .Gonna do some surfing on those to see if I can see any recommended routers...as mine is old linksys WAG354G (firmware is old) and its adsl2+ compatible..
also always had noisy line regardless of phones used...as you say BT will come out..but more than likely would just turn around and charge me saying no fault...so might see if I can borrow a router to test from someone else before going down that costly route....

[#5]

Before you do anything else you need to sort out the noisy line - it's absolutely pointless doing anything with the ADSL side until that is done.
You need to find a wired handset that you know is good and gives no noise (test at a neighbours/friends?).
Plug that in to the test socket inside the master socket and check for noise on the line (quiet line test is 17070 option 2 - you should hear nothing).
If there is noise on the line report the fault to your telephone provider. If not, something inside your house is generating the noise and you need to track it down.

[#6]

Ahh well you see my master socket isnt actually a BT one...
When I had no ring tone a few months back the Engineer came out...took one look at it and went 'I was going to replace it, but its not one of ours..so cant touch it' and advised me to look around on local papers for ex-bt engineers to come swap it for something standard..so for all I know it might be that crappy old box...very tempted to do that..as would like to get an Iplate as well to help...
have also downloaded some router logging s/w so will install that and leave pc on running or a day to see if any patterns emerge....
oh what fun...the onus seems to be on us to sort it..not plusnet or BT...still if its bad wiring my end..cant blame anyone (maybe BT though as their tech is still running off hamsters and steam power in regards to wire quality)

[#7]

Hi there,
The noisy line absolutely will be causing the intermittency and the speed issue.
I'm concerned about what you've said about the engineer though, in my experience they'll generally replace everything back to the required standard, but would bill you if that was the cause of the problem.
If we pursue the fault and send an engineer the above is what I'd expect tbh, so maybe not a route you want to go down.

[#8]

Well I've tracked down a small company that uses ex-BT Engineers (in Hove) for all telecomms re-wiring/fault finding etc...so am going to ask them to quote me on installing a Standard BT Master-socket to replace this old 'odd' looking box I currently have.
Also as an upside to that, I would be able to get an I-Plate and put that in to improve potential speeds...
so although I will monitor my line for 24-48 hours with some router logging s/w, I will also see if the quote back from that company is any good...
hopefully just a crappy old master socket...

[#9]

You can sometimes buy openreach branded NTE5 boxes on eBay. Technically you shouldn't replace your box with one yourself as it is BT property but if they are refusing then what have you got to lose. Dead easy to connect, on the back are two screw terminals marked A and B.
Here is an example....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/openreach-master-socket-nte5-with-bell-wire-filter_W0QQitemZ250510400552QQcmdZ...
Once you have one of those on the wall the BT engineers should be fine. I fitted one (allegedly) for my in-laws as they had some horrible old junction box and didn't want to pay a possible BT charge. Some while later they had to get BT out for a line fault which was traced to a chafing on the drop wire outside. Of course the engineer checked in the house first and did a whole load of tests before finally agreeing that it was a problem with their side of things. He didn't bat an eyelid about the nice shiny NTE5 though, I guess he assumed that BT had fitted it.

[#10]

Well thought for 9 quid cant be any worse than the awful little pokey socket I have now (and as you say maybe BT will then be more likely to work on it if I do resort to getting them out to check out what is happening with my connection issues) so ta for that..
Also read some stuff on here about other people with WAG354G routers getting synch problems and hwo they switched over to PPPOE and sorted them out, so I've done that and all seems to be fine....gonne keep my eyes peeled though and have asked support to keep an eye on my logs to see if dis-connections still occuring as only made the change last night..need a few days of it up I guess to see if behaving or not....ooh the joys of telecomms support eh!

[#11]

Ok for anyone interested in my saga...I followed someones advice and got an NTE5 master socket (with bell filter wire) and it miraculously fitted itself somehow...so now have a normalised BT socket...
Leaving my modem on now in the hope that my horrible synching issues will go away and that the Evil monitoring systems of BT will slowly start increasing my speeds...well thats what PN say..as Im stuck on automated banding at a low speed...
I'll keep you all informed....seems this ADSL2+ malarky isnt as clear cut as the old Max-DSL....

[#12]

Quote from: monkeylover35

I followed someones advice and got an NTE5 master socket (with bell filter wire) and it miraculously fitted itself somehow...so now have a normalised BT socket...

Its amazing how they do that. I think you have to keep them locked away in a locked box or else they leap out and fit themselves.

[#13]

Ah, but does it say OpenRetch on it

[#14]

Ahhh well no it doesnt say OpenReich on it....perhaps I shall get an indelible pen and draw it on

[#15]

Just for anyone who can my original posts...the saga is ending with me being put back onto the old MaxDSL 8mb product...I laughed when I read that was the suggestion..as lets face it..not brilliant..but I was getting better speeds off the old product...looks like my lines are just not good enough for adsl2+....what a load of rubbish BT!!