Bt Line Fault

[OnOff]

So tonight I pick up one of the quad cordless home phones and there's no dial tone. Tried the other three ditto. Dug out the "emergency" corded phone for use during power cuts and the same thing. The Broadband however is working fine. Reported it online to them and took a scree dump of the chat too. One of their responses:

[SIZE=7.5pt]": I can see there is a fault on your line.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=7.5pt]There is no charge for us to fix this unless the engineer finds our network has been damaged within the boundary of your property by things like trees, building works, corrosion or damp. In these instances, a charge of £129.99 will be applied to your BT bill.

Shall I go ahead and report the fault?"[/SIZE]

Standard response? Coming into the house from the pole is only 2-cores in the JB on the wall and as the Broadband is working I'm guessing the issue is further down the line.

Have had quite a few issues lately with phones being out locally and "new poles". Just got a lovely email backing up the online chat:

We're sorry you're having a problem with your BT service. Our engineering team is investigating it for you. If we need to visit your home or ask you to do any more checks, we'll let you know.

To find out how we're getting on, to change your contact details or to choose how you'd like us to update you, go to bt.com/faults.

Note: we'll provide a working service up to and including the main socket in your house. If your problem isn't with your BT service, you might need to pay a £129.99 repair charge. So it's worth checking your own equipment before the visit and cancelling it if you fix things yourself.

Thanks for choosing BT

Libby Barr
Managing Director, Sales and Service

Please don't reply to this email - it's been automatically generated by our computer.

If you need to get in touch, please use the contact links below.

Must be standard spiel it just doesn't seem to compute with them that the two cores into the property must be good for the Broadband to be OK!

 

[ProDave]

It's standard stuff.

Their obligation is for one corded phone to work when plugged into your master socket.  If they find it works at your master socket but not at some extension socket they will charge you for fixing internal wiring.

You have checked your corded phone in the master socket so you know the fault is not in your house so you have nothing to worry about.

There are probably plenty of people who will have the router plugged into one working extension and the phone plugged into another faulty extension and don't understand that it is their own problem.

 

[OnOff]

It's standard stuff.

Their obligation is for one corded phone to work when plugged into your master socket.  If they find it works at your master socket but not at some extension socket they will charge you for fixing internal wiring.

You have checked your corded phone in the master socket so you know the fault is not in your house so you have nothing to worry about.

There are probably plenty of people who will have the router plugged into one working extension and the phone plugged into another faulty extension and don't understand that it is their own problem.

Cheers. Amazing down here that we've never had our own phone go down that I can remember! Leccy all the time and they cut the water off yesterday without informing anyone (yes, the bill's paid).

The missus just popped over her Mum's and tried phoning home. The phone rings & in-laws number comes up but picking it up and you just hear a muffled ringing tone. Put the phone down and it rings again this time saying "External Call" but nothing when you pick it up!

Just had the face plate off and tried a corded and the cordless direct into the master socket (we only have the master) and still no dice. So roll on the 24th which is the date I've been given. Tried saying that the mobiles don't work & we have elderly neighbours / relatives who may need to call in an emergency (it was my Dad hemmorhaging in the middle of the night recently so quite genuine) but they're not interested!

Just been Skyping them all..........wonder if BT'll pay for my time?  :lol:

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

I have to ask can you blame BT for asking?

Yes is the standard off the shelf reply, but would you want to go on "wild goose chase" just to find some one has left a phone off the hook or similar? (It does happen)

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

I have known customers with external faults  both ways  Internet no phone & phone no internet. I  didnt realise until recently  they also can cut you off for non payment, either service leaving just one running.

 

[OnOff]

I have to ask can you blame BT for asking?

Yes is the standard off the shelf reply, but would you want to go on "wild goose chase" just to find some one has left a phone off the hook or similar? (It does happen)

No I guess not with people adding their own kit to the BT line etc which would never have happened in the old GPO days.

But, generally their service is appalling to be honest all round. Took literally months to add a neighbours line then about 10 engineers visited each blaming the other. All you get is some Indian girl who doesn't understand the nuances of the English language although she may speak it. Using their online contact system and I waited 25 mins for an "agent" tonight. When I ordered a new router it was so fraught I thought about ending it all!  :lol:

I have known customers with external faults  both ways  Internet no phone & phone no internet. I  didnt realise until recently  they also can cut you off for non payment, either service leaving just one running.

Direct Debit so hopefully they took it!

..but I have just checked and all up to date. It'll be the rain! The road junction where their "box" is is next to a huge soak away which regularly overflows so the roads about 18" deep. Never used to be so bad until someone decided to clear all the trees from inside the fenced off area. Just a huge pond now!

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

I will also "stick up for Open reach" I recall one Saturday, had a knock at the door, O.R. bloke there said,

"Your phones not working, just letting you know we will be fixing it shortly and I will come back to test it"

Sure enough, phone dead as as dodo. About an hour later he came back and said all done, roadworks down the road cut the main cable and you and your neighbours lost their lines.

I didn't even know the line was dead. (until he knocked)

 

[NozSpark]

We had a fault about 6 months ago,,,, took us a fortnight to realise it and then another 3 weeks for them to fix it :|

 

[batty]

I think broadband runs down one core that is possibly why its working. We had the same thing a few years back. They had to fix something in the box at the bottom  of the road.

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

I have always been under the impression that Broad band needs 2 wires to work, not one.

I believe it works in some situations because its a higher frequency so it "overcomes some problems" a bit like using a normal multi meter to check insulation resistance, the voltage is so low it will find nothing, but use a "meggar" and at 500 v it "overcomes some problems"

 

[OnOff]

Cheers all. We phoned and complained last night (well the wife did).

Seems they're supposed to come out within 3 days but were quoting the 24th as so busy. Did get their written agreement in the online exchange that "it's not really good enough". Spoke to a "real" person. Even tried that we're at the bottom of a valley and need it for flood warnings! No dice still, they'll get there when they can. They did confirm that "the fault is between the exchange and us". Well no .... Sherlock!

Here's a thing.........when the neighbour was having his new line installed which took a couple of months. First off they (BT) refused to run the new overhead line across the lawn as it was deemed unsafe/they would need a cherry picker/the ground was slippery etc. They did leave a roll of "Drop Wire-9" I think it was called. My neighbour and his father in law then ran their own draw wire in and BT used that to pull in the drop wire. A surveyor came down and said he couldn't see what the issue was. I spoke to one of the succession of engineers. He'd prop his ladder against a pole and climb up with his meter then move on to the next pole all the way back to the magical box down the road. I asked what he was doing and he was apparently "Looking for an unused pair". I said "Are they not labelled up?"...........the answer was "NO!"

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Probably not marked as the Bt engineer will pick any pair to get a line and swap around till its back to the exchange.   I even know several times where a line is dead due to people moving or a fault, but an engineer has been in & pinched that 'dead' pair for a new job. The original  user of that line now cannot get his phone/internet back quickly.

 

[Bruspark]

FYI Broadband is effectively a short wave radio signal and a one strand aerial is pretty much as good as a two strand aerial. 

Generally you'll get 60% - 80% of your normal download speed with one wire broken.   If you have infinity broadband with a new big cabinet close to your house that 'injects' the broadband onto the exchange wire at the last minute the wires before that can both be cut (or even stolen as happened  . . ) and the broadband will still be there.

It is not hard to find unused pairs.  Used pairs have a DC voltage across them and return dial tone on a test set.   Tea and biscuits often helps re-locate stolen pairs I hear

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

A blue queen also helps  to get the stolen line back to its rightful owner  :innocent

 

[steptoe]

A blue queen also helps  to get the stolen line back to its rightful owner  :innocent

surely it would take red,?  :C

 

[OnOff]

Well the Broadband died yesterday too much to my kids displeasure!

Did dive out and check the continuity from their box on the house wall to the master just in case and all good. My boy even helped as the internet was down which got him out of the house at least!

Out of interest I stuck a voltmeter across the line and was seeing about 3.5VDC........thought it should be up in the 40/50V region and that it "changes" or something when you pick up? Google time!

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Its broke 

 

[Steve3948]

Yeah 50V across pair.

We had a small job yesterday, customer had tried to put Homehub in bedroom BT outlet but it would not work so called BT out who said the cable was faulty and it was indoor cable not outdoor where it went up wall outside, it had split outside and shorted hence why it did not work, he advised they get the cable changed.

Now the odd thing is its a Master in the bedroom with openreach socket, so who did the work ?

The socket in the kitchen is also a Master and is also openreach which the client says has been working with the Homehub plugged in.

Yesterday we run in new cable outside using exterior cable connect up and test socket, dial tone, ring in and ring out.

Go downstairs and check the other phone, dial tone, dial in and dial out.

Noticed router/modem not plugged in, asked for it and plugged it in upstairs, not working, take it downstairs and plug in and not working !!!!!!

Interesting client asks for password off the Homehub for her phone, surely if it had been working she would already have this.

So we now have two working phone points with no broadband and being told well it worked before you started.

Another point is they have been in dispute over this for a few weeks with BT, and this morning the lad I sent round said he could hear no typical broadband noise when he plugged in phone without filter, so I'm now thinking they've disconnected her.

You try to help because they say they cannot get BT to help, but then you wonder are they telling you the whole story.

 

[kerching]

Customer of mine rang before xmas.......crackling voice line and no broadband. Intermittent PDQ machine on voice line and none over the ADSL

They had contacted their provider who said they tested the line and it showed NFF ( No. Faults found)

I went to site plugged in my tester ( google. JDSU HST300c ),.... It is same as BT use . It is the dogs back wheels of testers

Found 5 faults , all external, from master socket to Exchange 3000m away

They contacted there provider again who insisted there was NFF.

THEN they told them where the faults were and to get it sorted. BT turned up, I always find the F helpful as I work with them a lot.

Took 2 engineers 5 hours to rectify the faults

Moral of the story........never trust the twonk on the end of the Phone who says they have tested it!

Just saying

 

[OnOff]

Fixed!

Engineer tuned up at 9am and determined the fault was "1.9km" from us - i.e. local exchange. He wasn't from the area so couldn't then get into the exchange etc. Had to get another out to open up for him. Asking the wife "where the green box was" etc. Explained it had been run over so many times it is now in effect a slab! Fair play to him he left at 3pm.