Problem with iplayer and telephone

[#1]

I recently changed from BT to Plusnet because the price was going silly with BT. I know Plusnet is a BT company and that is probably, why problems are occurring, BT want the Monopoly.

Anyway, the problem started happening the day I cancelled with BT, even though it was a couple of weeks before the change over happened. The internet started dropping out regularly, for a few seconds, even though I was still with BT and using their Hub (never happened in the ten years prior).

The problem I have now everything is switched over (since the 24th January), is that when I use the landline, the internet drops out, also I cannot now use the Freeview channels, iplayer etc, on my TV, without constant buffering and screen freezing. Amazon Video works okay, just the Freeview programs. I have checked the filter and even changed it back to the BT one and I have checked the 'quiet line', which is okay. I am on Fibre from the cabinet, which is 200 yards away and a Broadband speed check shows a download of 38mb/sec.

Any ideas?

[#2]

If you still have it try using your BT router. Setting instructions are here https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Using-the-BT-Smarthub-6-on-a-Plusnet-Account/m-p/1587673#M85... or here https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Router/Use-a-BT-Hub-2-3-4-or-5-on-a-Plusnet-connection/m-p/1192234#...

[#3]

Yes I still have my BT router. I tried leaving it attached when the plusnet one arrived and I noticed it was the same thing, only white. I will try it. Should not really have to as Plusnet should supply the parts that work in the first place. 

[#4]

Baldrick, I am just having a read of the links you sent. I am not sure which hub I have, also it states needing an Openreach modem on all but %. If all I had was a hub, with no modem, do I have a Hub 5?

[#5]

The Hub One is a Home Hub 5a but with Plusnet's firmware. You should not need a separare modem with any of the later models. Look for a label on it as this will you what you have. Alternatively log into it, the header page will also probably tell you.

The Plusnet router should work fine but it's worth checking with the BT one just to see if it's a router problem. In my opinion the BT ones look better and if you have a Smarthub 6 perform better.

[#6]

Hi @ronecc

Thanks for getting in touch.

I've taken a look at the last seven days of your connection and you can see the results here:

As you can see, there have been some drops but the last 36 hours have been clear and stable. Your line is currently in sync at around 76mb/s.

If you connect the phone and broadband to your test socket as shown here, does the broadband still drop out when you use the telephone? Do you get the buffering issue if JUST the broadband equipment is connected to the test socket, rather than both the phone and broadband?

Let us know - this definitely warrants further investigation.

Best wishes

Dave

[#7]

Hi. I fitted the old BT microfilter yesterday and it seemed to put an end to the phone problem. I am going to check the iplayer problem shortly, so will let you know. The tv problem still occurred last night even after swapping the filter

[#8]

OK, thanks. Please let us know when you've been able to check it today. 

[#9]

Hello. I stated a couple of days ago that the problem was solved, unfortunately it happened again tonight withing two minutes of opening iplayer. It paused, buffering and did not start again, so I closed iplayer after 30 seconds.

[#10]

Hi @ronecc 

I see you swapped microfilters, can I just check if you are connected to the test socket as per the instructions in the post @adamwalker left on this thread? 

I can see there have still been one or two drops

We'd need to know if being connected in this way helps at all. 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#11]

Hello. I did reply to the question whether the main socket worked okay, but it seems to have vanished somewhere. When connected, it worked okay, so I put the socket back together and it appeared to have cured the problem, as iplayer worked okay. However when trying to play today, it had stopped working again.

[#12]

Hi @ronecc 

If your connection worked correctly when in the Test Socket, but not when you replaced the faceplate, then this is most likely the cause of the issue. 

Luckily, you do not need it to be connected at all (it's more an aesthetic feature than performance).  

You can remove this and set up in the way in which you had the connection working correctly and everything should be fine for yourself. 

Thanks, 

MoR

[#13]

'Luckily, you do not need it to be connected at all (it's more an aesthetic feature than performance).  

You can remove this and set up in the way in which you had the connection working correctly and everything should be fine for yourself.' 

Sorry, I am not quite with you there. What can I remove? The only way it would work was with the hub connected to the test socket. If I leave it connected to that, it means I have the front of the wall socket hanging off the wall on the telephone wires.

[#14]

Hi there, 

Removing the Faceplate from the master socket actually disconnects any extensions that might be wired in to the same line. So if you do have any extensions it would be worth getting those looked at independently as it would point towards an issue there. 

[#15]

Hello again. The only thing attached to the socket is the phone, in the micro filter. I have used your filter and then swapped back to the BT one, because yours appeared to be causing the phone problem with the internet. The TV iplayer problem has omly occurred since changing to Plusnet, so I find it rather a coincidence. Somebody earlier suggested trying my old BT hub 5 to check if that fixed it, but whatever I tried to do, I could not configure, or even figure out how to do that, as the instructions were rather confusing. So, if as you say, the problem could be caused by an extension, the only extension is the hub, when it is fastened through the micro filter