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Oh what a fool was I??!!

huntylch
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎26-02-2009

Oh what a fool was I??!!

Read an idiot's story (it has a good outcome):
To cut a very long story short, I made a very stupid decision about 1 month ago based purely on saving £5 per month!  We have two phone lines in our house, basically my line which is a BT line with PN and the second line which is a T*lk T*lk line.  I don't really know how but my folks somehow persuaded me that ditching BT and PN and getting TT Broadband on their line was the way to go.  I'd never had a problem with PN in fact any little query I've had has always been dealt with well.
Moving on, we received a go live date of the 7th, so I arranged for my PN a/c to be cancelled  Cry and BT line to be ceased. BIG MISTAKE!
TT went live just fine, but the line is so unstable it's unbelievable and speed was a joke promised 15.7mb could only manage 4mbs (neighbour has it and gets 14mb).  I've spent most of the last 7 days trying to get through to them that it's down to the 30 year old Bell Wire/RF1 Filter combination on the line throwing the attenuation (PN line attenuation down is 24db Talk Talk line 54db!!!) and SNR out of whack with the possible added bonus that water has got into the DP box thats open, and an engineer needs to come out.  Will they listen, no will they heck, currently having to go through 1001 questions to get there and they put a different profile on the line which dropped the speed even further and still isn't stable!
Anyway the upshot is, I hastily rang PN & BT to stop cancellations on my line (which were done absolutely no hassle whatsover).  I'm sticking with you guys I know where I am here, I even think my exchange it's due it's 'upgrade' soon.  I also decided to switch my phone over to PN at the same to keep things together. 
My parents can keep Talk Talk!  Although I'm still going to fight to get the equipment sorted through them, which should be a fun fight!
The morale of the story: Think before you act!!!  Cheesy
Cheeky question to end with, should I not be able to get anywhere with TT, I would still have an issue with the open DP junction box. My PN/BT line also goes through this, would I be able to raise this as a fault with PN (assuming my phone will be switched over by then)?
3 REPLIES 3
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Oh what a fool was I??!!

With regard to your last question, if you look at page 5 of the BT phone book, there is a section on how to report a fault on BT equipment such as poles, cabinets etc.
With regard to the Talk Talk situation on the other line, the bell wire is totally the End User's problem unless you wish to pay a very large bill for BT OpenReach to come and sort it! That said, if it's not a modern NTE5a Master Linebox on that line AND/OR the RF1 is between the BT cable and the Master, I'd get onto TT's forum and point out you've been banging your head against a wall on their help line and as they are your line rental provider it is their responsibility to get BT Openreach to remove the RF1.
If there is an old style master Openreach will update that automatically when they visit. If it is definitely an RF1 it has NO place whatsoever on a broadband line, an RF3 is the only one that may be appropriate but as I can't recall the spec. for an RF3 of the top of my head, it may be inappropriate on an ADSL2+/LLU line.
Are you sure it is an RF1 and it doesn't say RFI - (leltter I) - then it could be anything, but should still removed.
If your also have an old style master on the PN line, if it's a decent engineer that turns up to sort the other line, if you ask nicely and ply him with suitable cups of tea/coffee and biscuits, you might be able to persuade him to update your master as well. He might have to do this anyway depending on were/how the 2 services are fed.
If there are RFI problems on your PN or other line, I think I'd prefer a raw line and put any suitable filtering down stream of the master - unless the problem is that complex that it requires specialist action to resolve - in which case it would be OpenReach's problem to sort, to provide satisfactory service. That said, unless you have major interference on the phone service, it's possible Openreach may say tough luck if an ADSL (as opposed to ADSL2+/LLU) service provides an acceptable service - within the current definition as regulated by OFCOM - this isn't of course what we as customers would consider as acceptable Sad
Lastly FYI, if any of that internal wiring on your PN line or the other line, is old colours (ie solid colours Blue, Orange, Green & Brown - 4 wire) then it needs replacing with modern twisted pair cable to spec.CW1308 - 2 pair (BT use this), only 2 wires (1 pair) should be connected Blue-white on 2, White-blue on 5 throughout. Again this is the enduser's responsibility. There are plenty of posts by me around the forum, quite a few recent,  about bell wire & re-wiring issues. If you can't find the information you need, PM me and I'll post you some links or specific information.
HTH.
Mand
Grafter
Posts: 5,560
Thanks: 2
Registered: ‎05-04-2007

Re:Oh what a fool was I??!!

Sounds like you had a rough time, good luck getting the Talk Talk stuff sorted.
Worth reporting the DP as a fault, though if it's not affecting service Openreach may decline to fix it until it is. That needs to be done with your phone provider, so may be worth waiting 'til it's with us.
Anotherone
Champion
Posts: 19,107
Thanks: 457
Fixes: 21
Registered: ‎31-08-2007

Re: Oh what a fool was I??!!

I'd rather hassle BT before I have a problem with my phone service, which could have given major headaches with the broadband before then Wink
(You don't have to be a BT customer to report a DP, Pole, cab etc).