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they've just connect my phone and...

alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

they've just connect my phone and...

Hello,
They've just connected my phone but only one telephone point works (the one the engineer came and worked on).
I'm in a new build flat and there are phone points in every room. I want my phone in the living room but the only phone point that works is the one in the hall that bt came and tested. I had to go out and buy a phone so I didnt check until after the engineer had gone.
Who do I need to speak to about this? Surely if one works they should all work?
Thanks...
17 REPLIES 17
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
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Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

The phone point the engineer worked on will be the master socket and that's the limit to BT's responsibility.
The others will be extensions and are your responsibility (or maybe your landlord's if you rent the property) unless you wish to pay BT to come and connect them.
A good supply of tea and biscuits may have helped here Wink
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alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Thanks for your answer,
That explains why she ran off so fast...
Whats involved in connecting them? Can I do it myself?
If not... who do I ask to do it? An electrician?
How much does it cost?
Thanks...
Strat
Community Veteran
Posts: 31,320
Thanks: 1,609
Fixes: 565
Registered: ‎14-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

It depends on how confident you feel in your ability Wink
You could remove the lower half of the master socket and see if the extension wiring is there but unconnected.
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To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead - Thomas Paine
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

The BT responsibility ends at the test socket inside the master socket. The removable lower half plugs in to the test socket to give you the connection on the front, there are also has connection terminals on the back of the removable lower half - this is where the user is allowed to connect extensions. If as Strat says the wire for the extensions is coiled up inside the socket and not connected to anything it is a simple job to connect them up, you just need a special tool to push the wires in to the connectors.
You haven't said where you want your router to be - depending on your answer to that there may be other advice we may give (having the router plugged in to the master is preferable).
TEST SOCKET
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Ok thanks, i'll try that
You'd think though, for £50 i'd have it all sorted out. Less than 5 minutes she was there for all she did is test that the number was active, i thought at the time it was a rip off but now i'm angry.
I know how much they get paid £10.49 per hour, so work it out:
£49.99 minus 5 minutes @ £10.49 per hour = a HUGE profit for BT and Plusnet just for the privilage of being able to use their service which I will pay for anyway, and I still need to work on it myself or pay someone to do it!
outrageous... No wonder our society generates so many criminals and outcasts... you cant do a thing without getting shafted... its everywhere you go.
These companies are no better than bag snatching hoodies on mountain bikes...
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

There's a good chance she was doing work on your line in one of the cabinets or at the exchange before she came to your house.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Hello,
Thanks for your help...
I dont blame her, when I talk about her hourly rate i'm just thinking of the profits being made by these companies. I'm sure she, like most other working people is actually under paid and worth every penny of her wages.
I would like to have the router with the phone in the living room, but its wireless so doesnt really matter...
I think I can get my hands on one of those insert tools so I just hope the wiring is in...
Otherwise can I use cat5?
thanks again...
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

If you have the router with the telephone there is a chance that the internal extension wiring may stop you realising the full speed of your line, that's why using the master is preferable.
If the router is in the master don't forget you will need filters both for the router and in the extension socket where you have your phone unless you replace the removable lower half with a filtered faceplate: http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php Then you don't need a filter for the phone and you don't have a filter dangling out of the master.
Running CAT 5e (use 5e not 5) is fine unless you live in some sort of mansion and the cable will be more than 100m long!
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
alanf
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 1,931
Thanks: 78
Fixes: 1
Registered: ‎17-10-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

You say that the flat is a new build. Doesn't that make it the responsibility of the builder to ensure that the wiring is in place?
Buying a cordless phone would almost certainly be cheaper than paying someone to do the wiring for you.
Although I have read that routers give best results plugged into a master socket I have very satisfactory results with mine plugged into 10m of extension wire that I ran from the master socket myself.
alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Hello,
Thanks for your help everyone.
Yes, perhaps its (another) defect and I should contact the builder (another multi-million pound, international, bag snatching hoodie).
I considered a cordless but bought a fixed because I will want to talk in the living room nowhere else. Also, as it is now if I use the hall for a phone, there is nowhere to plug the router? (i still dont have the router from plusnet)
I spend all this money...
new home, broadband, telephone etc and I have to run around chasing these people just to get them to do what they've been paid for.
thanks again for your help.
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Quote from: alexlowe12000
Also, as it is now if I use the hall for a phone, there is nowhere to plug the router?

That's not the case. With the router you will get a filter which will look something like this:
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)
alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Just talked to the builder...
They only connect the main point... apparently I have to ask BT when they come if I want the others connected (why would I NOT want them connected?)... except I didnt know they werent connected (she knew) so I didnt ask. Also I didnt get any option to request this when I ordered from Plusnet.
£128,000 for a flat, £50 for an engineer and I still have to roll up my sleeves and do things myself.
Plusnet
BT Openreach
David Wilson Builders
BAG SNATCHING HOODIES
alexlowe12000
Dabbler
Posts: 11
Registered: ‎07-02-2011

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

and I take that back about the engineer being worth every penny
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
Thanks: 971
Fixes: 10
Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: they've just connect my phone and...

Did the builder run wires back to the master from the extensions?
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
Mobile: iD mobile (£4/month)