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Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?

Vstar
Dabbler
Posts: 12
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?

I wonder if anyone has any insight into the broadband problem I’m having currently.

Everything seems to work OK, I’m currently getting 48mb/s/17mb/s (which is a bit lower than the 59mb/s I used to get). The issue is that when an incoming phone call occurs, the internet drops out for a couple of minutes.

Calling into the landline (from my mobile) results in a single ring, then just noise on the line. In the house the phone doesn’t ring (it does sound a blip sometimes) and shows one missed call. Looking at the router, it seems to have rebooted, rather than just dropped the DSL sync. Which is odd.

The router is a reflashed BT HH5 with the latest OpenWRT firmware on it, it’s been in used for about 5 years, always with the latest version of OpenWRT. It’s about 5 metres away from the BTO master socket to get it more central in the house for the WiFi. It’s been rock sold for about 4.5 years, but this issue has been ongoing for six months. A BTO engineer came out to test the line and declared it all working, but replaced the master socket with a new one.

Since then I’ve swapped in another HH5 router (a friends, also OpenWRT reflashed), no change. I’ve changed the phone (it’s a single cordless base station plugged directly into the master socket, no other phone cabling in the house), also no change.

I’ve also tried an extension lead strung across the living room (to replace the cable to the router), it didn’t help. I bought some new phone cable (quality CW1308, with new RJ11 plugs, freshly crimped), it didn’t help either.

Unplugging the router cable from the BTO master fixes the issue with incoming calls, they work as they should, but then no internet Sad  Unplugging the phone cable doesn't help either.
Outgoing calls work fine.

Plusnet have checked the line again, but declare it working, and say the problem must be in my wiring. Which I can understand, except for everything has been changed and it's still not working.

Any ideas?

 

 

5 REPLIES 5
jab1
Legend
Posts: 16,815
Thanks: 5,339
Fixes: 248
Registered: ‎24-02-2012

Re: Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?

Quick question - I appreciate you have had an engineer, and your line checked remotely, but have done a Quiet Line Test yourself - dial 17070 and select option 2?

John
198kHz
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 5,730
Thanks: 2,773
Fixes: 41
Registered: ‎30-07-2008

Re: Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?

@Vstar 

You've been thorough in your fault finding, and it seems highly unlikely that the problem is in your premises.

Just one thing left to try - remove the faceplate from the master, and connect router and phone via a dangly filter into the test socket thus revealed.

If the problem persists, log into the Member Centre and raise a fault report following the procedure at

https://portal.plus.net/apps/kbdfaults

Murphy was an optimist
Zen FTTC 40/10 + Digital Voice   FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)
Vstar
Dabbler
Posts: 12
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?

Hi John,

So I've tried the Quite Line Test, and repeated it a few times. There does seem to a constant quiet hiss in the background. Muting the handset doesn't alter the hiss. Is this hiss normal?

Vstar
Dabbler
Posts: 12
Registered: ‎11-06-2007

Re: Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?

Hi 198kHz,

Handily I have a new filter, so I've removed the BTO faceplate and plugged it into the test socket, and reattached the cables.

Sadly, it didn't seem to help with the incoming call issue, i.e. the internet still drops out. 

However, the internet speed did jump back to where it used to be in the low 60mb/s range. Making more calls and using the 17070 callback seems to have pushed it back to the low 40's again Sad

I guess, it's back to PN Helpdesk.

 

198kHz
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 5,730
Thanks: 2,773
Fixes: 41
Registered: ‎30-07-2008

Re: Incoming phone calls cause internet to drop out?


@Vstar wrote:

Hi 198kHz,

Handily I have a new filter, so I've removed the BTO faceplate and plugged it into the test socket, and reattached the cables.

Sadly, it didn't seem to help with the incoming call issue, i.e. the internet still drops out. 


I was pretty sure it wouldn't solve the issue - the point of doing it is to prove that the cause of the problem is not within your premises.

You've tried another router, another phone, and a new filter, and the problem persists when connected to the test socket, so you can now report the fault safe in the knowledge that you won't be charged for an engineering visit.

Murphy was an optimist
Zen FTTC 40/10 + Digital Voice   FRITZ!Box 7530
BT technician (Retired)