Openreach have messed up my phone

[#1]

So Openreach (or their sub-contractors) have been working on our local cabinet for around 2 weeks now and, this morning, I found I have no dial tone on my landline.  It's obviously connected to the work and I'm a pretty angry.  I reported the fault and it's recorded as a 'loop in the network' but the ticket gives a completion date of midnight on the 6th - that's 4 days for a fault caused by them!

Just venting - I doubt there's anything I can do (or is there?).  I nearly stopped on my way back from an appointment this morning to tell the 4 blokes (3 just standing around, 1 busy working down a hole) to get it fixed!  

[#2]

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@Profiterole wrote:I nearly stopped on my way back from an appointment this morning to tell the 4 blokes (3 just standing around, 1 busy working down a hole) to get it fixed! 

Probably not the best tactic.

If you see them again, you might approach casually and remark about the weather, and gauge their mood.

If it seems good, give them your number and politely ask whether it's possible they could have a quick look.

Good luck!

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[#3]

I agree! Politely ask, i've done this when mine's gone dead, and i do check for local OR bods and ask them to check if they've knocked the line off

[#4]

Sorry to hear your phone line isn't working.

I've checked with our suppliers and they've advised it's being treated as a 'common fault' so it's not just your line affected

I'm afraid I can't see any other updates but fingers crossed it gets fixed as soon as possible

[#5]

Thanks all - still not fixed.  I walked past the crew today - one OR engineer pulled up and I chatted to him about it, but he said he couldn't help as it hadn't been assigned to him...  And I tried the 1 of the guys working on the cabinet - he directed me to the other one, and the OR guy was dealing with him.  I got the feeling they weren't too bothered tbh.

So I walked away - I can live without a phone for a bit (as long as it doesn't go on for weeks), but if they messed up my fibre from trying to fix the phone, I really would be VERY unhappy as at least I can keep in contact with most people that way.  

I did think of moving away from a land line - but with only fibre to cabinet looks like I need it

[#6]

Hi @Profiterole ,

Thanks for your post.

We've received word from Openreach that the next update that's going to be available is going to be the 16/11/2018, due to the nature of the fault.

As of yet they haven't provided us with any further information (I've just e-chatted the OR team) aside from the response time being pushed back to 15/11/2018.

Unfortunately, we aren't able to expedite or put any pressure on OR to get the repair done any sooner.

We fully appreciate the inconvenience this issue is causing you and are sincerely sorry for this. Rest assured, as soon as the fault is repaired we will be able to look at crediting your downtime back to you.

Please don't hesitate to get back in touch should you need further info.

[#7]

Thanks for the update but that's atrocious service from OR.  I'm convinced they (aka their sub-contractor) has caused the fault and they're showing no urgency to fix it?  There were 5, yes 5, engineers standing round the 2 cabinets when I just drove past.

Obviously I would expect the credit so thanks for mentioning that, but what do I tell my 86 year old disabled and blind mother when she needs to reach me?  I'm one of her contacts for her emergency button and, because I have to pay for a landline, I don't have a contract mobile phone.  Believe me, over the past couple of days I've looked at moving away from a landline and paying out for a contract mobile - but apparently I can't get internet without the line (no FTTP was found nor Virgin to my road).

I know others have had similar experiences - I really do wonder if I were a BT customer if I would have to wait at least 2 weeks to get my phone back.

Very unhappy about this - I really need that line back just for my poor old Mum's sake.

[#8]

So my phone came back (on the Tuesday but the line was awful for a day or so) - now my fibre is dropping periodically and is very slow.  I'll raise a new thread under the appropriate forum section.

[#9]

I've changed my mind - even though I have my phone back, it was incredibly noisy the next day, then fine when I next used it, now noisy again.  I've just spoken to Plusnet Support and they aren't closing the ticket because they could hear how bad it was.  She thought this was likely causing the issue with my internet as well (FTTC - so copper after that).

[#10]

Did the pn staff member did a line test?

if not i'd register a fault at https://portal.plus.net/apps/kbdfaults

[#11]

@krusty yeah Support did a line test (called me on my mobile whilst she did so).  She's adamant that, even though OR have said the issue is fixed, it's not.  I have my dial tone back but the line is intermittently unusable due to the noise on the line and (if Support is correct) interrupting my internet.  I've lost count of the times I've been told 'no internet' when I've been browsing today.  Going to a new page almost always means a constant refresh until it will load - I'm getting "Connection timed out" then "DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NO_INTERNET" errors.  Sometimes the page will load a minute or so later, sometimes it's taking router interaction to connect back in.

[#12]

@Profiterole the GEA Test Detail may actually not pick up on the issue, especially if the line sync is ok. The radius logs may show more information.

Can you do a speed test at https://www.thinkbroadband.com/speedtest

can you do that via Ethernet if possible, so that we know wifi isn't causing issues.

Hopefully a pn staff member will bounce onto this thread..

[#13]

@krusty Getting varying results with the speed checker - worst was:

Best was (although very erratic connection):
 

Internet is still dropping every few minutes so this has taken me a while to get this info (tested via Ethernet - my PC that I use most of the time is hard-wired)

[#14]

@Profiterole Ok thats a huge variance. sorry to ask you do further tests but 3 more

can you do a line test at

http://www.dslchecker.bt.com/

Remember to remove your phone number

Can you go to the master socket, remove the front plate (by removing the two screws on the face plate) and this will reveal the test socket (apologies in advance if you know what the test socket is) and do two tests

1) just plug a phone in and dial 17070 and press 2 (quiet line test) - do you still hear crackling ?

2) plug one of the microfilters in and the router and try the tbb speed test again .

What i'm doing here is helping you diagnose if the noise is internal or external. but to be honest that low upload speed is an indicator that theres an external issue.

[#15]

@krusty thanks for all the help - it's really appreciated.  First the DSL checker results:

Dialling 17070 from the master socket, option 2 (using a corded phone rather than cordless which I usually use) - noise is still there

I'll run the TBB test from a different browser with no other windows open and post the results in a new reply