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FTTC not installed to master socket?

edgold
Dabbler
Posts: 13
Registered: ‎17-06-2008

FTTC not installed to master socket?

My FTTC was installed over a year ago, and it has been working great. However I am starting to think that it was not installed on the master socket. Is this possible? Will FTTC work at all when not installed to the master socket? Or is the the performance just reduced if its installed on an extension?
When it was installed the engineer asked me where my master socket was. I had no idea, so  told him I was not sure, but suspected it to be the socket in my lounge, as it was closest to the front door. I expected him as the expert to tell me if I was wrong. He took a look, appeared happy, so I did not question him. He then proceeded to changed the face plate, and installed the FTTC equipment.
Now this weekend  after moving around some furniture in one of  my upstairs rooms I found another phone socket. This socket has the BT Openreach logo embossed on it, and I am starting to suspect that this is in fact my master socket.
What is the best way to check? I have opened it up, and it looks the same as this photo.
http://www.lowercall.com/BTmastersocketlarge.jpg
If this is my master socket, should i get the FTTC equipment moved to this socket?
5 REPLIES 5
Peter_Vaughan
Grafter
Posts: 14,469
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: FTTC not installed to master socket?

Yes, the picture is your master socket.
Did the Openreach engineer change what you thought was the master socket for a master socket like the one you have found? If so, he would have also changed the lower removable section for a filtered faceplate giving you a separate phone & ADSL socket, with the FTTC modem connected to the ADSL socket.
If the socket he replaced is the same as your newly found master socket and you want to move the FTTC modem to the real master socket, just swap over the lower parts of the two sockets and see if it still works.
FTTC will work in any non-filtered socket (it does not have to be the master but it normally is) so as it is working now I would not worry about moving anything.
edgold
Dabbler
Posts: 13
Registered: ‎17-06-2008

Re: FTTC not installed to master socket?

Peter. Thanks so much for the quick reply.
You are exactly right the Openreach engineer did replace the existing socket in the lounge with a 3 part master socket.
I have moved the FTTC modem part of the socket, to the true master socket and it works perfectly.
Now my wife is really happy that all those boxes that were stuck behind the sofa are out of the lounge.
Thanks again for your help.
knowdice
Rising Star
Posts: 381
Thanks: 19
Registered: ‎25-04-2008

Re: FTTC not installed to master socket?

Not sure that sounds right...
Incoming wires from BT should be punched down or screwed down on the back of the top section of the master socket.
Any extension wiring should come off the punch down terminals on the detachable lower section.
It sounds like your extension wiring is just paralleled off the incoming BT connection which is not correct.
edgold
Dabbler
Posts: 13
Registered: ‎17-06-2008

Re: FTTC not installed to master socket?

I'm not exactly sure how the internal wiring is or what the engineer did when he installed my FTTC. What i do know is that currently I have two socket with the detachable lower sections. One upstairs which was installed when i moved into the house, and one in the lounge which was installed by the Openreach engineer when my FTTC install was done, which also has a second detable section for the modem to plug into.
All I did was move the detachable section with the RJ11 modem port (I did not have to disconnect any punched down cables, as they are still connected to the other detachable section), from the socket downstairs, to the socket upstairs. My FTTC is still working correctly if anything, I am getting slightly better download speeds now.
WWWombat
Grafter
Posts: 1,412
Thanks: 4
Registered: ‎29-01-2009

Re: FTTC not installed to master socket?

Aha - so the "detachable bit with the RJ11 socket" is a separate thing that goes between the backplate and the half-size faceplate; you just moved that from downstairs to upstairs. The half-sized faceplates (that sit at the front-most of each socket) didn't move... right?
If so, then I also suspect that one of these "half-sized" faceplates has wires attached, and the other doesn't.
If so, then the one with wires is probably the real master.
Another way to check... Remove *all* faceplates. That should result in you having 2 of the (normally-hidden) test sockets visible, one on each socket. If you plug a wired phone into those, only one of them should have dial-tone. *That* is the master. If both of them get dial-tone, then they are definitely wired wrongly.
Plusnet Customer
Using FTTC since 2011. Currently on 80/20 Unlimited Fibre Extra.