Bt broadband and phone wiring

Boxman

Hi guys,

We've switched from Eircom to BT to avail of BTs broadband offer and have been trying to get it working for the last two months
The problem is I cannot get a DSL connection - no solid DSL light appears on the Zyxel presitge 660 router.

They say that the line has been activated, and has been tested by Eircom twice .
Theyve also sent out an extra router and filters. Ive tested the leads and router
on a neighbours line and it works fine. I get a solid DSL light.
They then say that I have to get a technician at my own expense to check the wiring, but I have no additional wiring. Ive been plugging the router straight into the master socket/NTU. There are no extra extensions etc.
Ive replaced the master socket myself and still no DSL light/connection. The voltage on the line is 45.2v. One of the support guys had said previously that it wont work if the voltage is under 46v. Is this true?
Has anybody experienced this problem? Anybody got any advice or can anyone suggest what I could do next as this is really driving me mad.
In the meantime of course we've been billled and the money taken from our a/c. They say they will credit our account later.

Thanks for reading!

watty

42V is neither here nor there.

If it worked (BB) with eircom reliably all the time and now doesn't and you changed nothing, then the fault is outside your house. If it doens't work with NO phones, modems, phonewatch, fax, dect, digibox nothing plugged in except DSL and ordinary phone calls are clean with no crackle and good volume it is very unlikely to be your wiring.

Really it sounds like an eircom or BT problem.

Boxman

Thanks for the reply,

We never had broadband on the line with Eircom. When I said 'switched over' I just meant we switched operator from Eircom to BT. This is the first time getting
broadband on the line.
There is nothing else plugged in anywhere - no extensions, no digibox, no phonewatch etc.. and I have a good clean dial tone.

nicelives

If it is a recent phone connection or if you had just moved in and moved to BT soon after getting the phone activated by eircom then they made have activated the wrong line. This happened to me when I ordered broadband too soon after signing up to eircom. Whatever about the burning ball flying across their broadband ads, their records department sure doesn't update as fast.

vibe666

same here. eircom activated the line and then gave BT a different number starting with 919 instead of the 909 it should have been.

took me 3 months total in the end to get it sorted.

when i first got DSL here i was having problems getting a DSL light initially and was told I'd need an engineer to come out at my expense if it turned out NOT to be their fault. i accepted, fairly certain it wasn't the line given that I'd previously been getting a solid 52kbps connection via dialup on the same line (indicating to me and my way of thinking that the line was of good quality).

they sent out an engineer and lo and behold it wasnt the line inside the house, but something they'd cocked up further down the line. it was working perfectly 24 hours later.

Boxman

The line isn't new, its been there for years, working fine.
It seems possible then that Eircom may have activated the wrong line or given BT the wrong number seeing as the line seems fine otherwise if 45.2v is ok for DSL. I'll suggest this to them. Thanks.

Who is responsible for the master socket anyway? I understand it is Eircom's property and they're responsible for the line up to this point. BT say that this isnt the case. Basically they weren't going to arrange with Eircom to send someone out.

Thepost

This may sound silly but i could not connect to BT when the Modem arrived.
It turned out that when setting up the Modem the Username has to be followed by @btbb.

Is anyone out there getting replies from customer care all i get is a receipt saying they will respond within 4 Days. They never mention what Year.

Boxman

But did you have a DSL connection - a solid DSL light on the modem?

I havent been ringing customer care but Tech support are answering - within a record 10 minutes yesterday.

5euros

Don't talk to me about BT and line problems. I had a perfect 2MB line up to Tuesday 2 weeks ago. Since I cannot get a stable DSL connection. I've checked everything inside the house - its fine. I've checked the router - it's fine also. I've been on to technical support and customer service with no luck. Tech support eventually confirmed that my line could only support 0.25MB. However, they don't seem to have the whit nor the will to sort it out.

All I want is a broadband service but this seems to be beyond BT's comprehension. They would rather fudge the issue than solve it. The sad thing is I would happily stay with BT but they just couldn't care less.

Boxman

I agree. If there's a problem, it seems BT don't want to know.

I have just received a call from them saying that Eircom have checked the phone line for the fourth time and its ok.
They agree that the line voltage reading I supplied to them is ok.
The router and leads are ok as Ive tested them on a neighbours BT line.
I have no additional wiring in the house and am working off the master socket which I also had replaced. I have a good clean dial tone.
So in conclusion they tell me today, that they are unable to provide the service.

What do you make of this? Is this an acceptable level of service given that I switched over from Eircom to BT to avail of their offer.
Is this an issue that Comreg should be concerned with because as a result of my switching operator I have received an unsatisfactory level of service and no technical explanation for their inabliity to deliver the broadband service other than we've tried everything.
Any suggestions what I might do?

dub45

5euros wrote:

Don't talk to me about BT and line problems. I had a perfect 2MB line up to Tuesday 2 weeks ago. Since I cannot get a stable DSL connection. I've checked everything inside the house - its fine. I've checked the router - it's fine also. I've been on to technical support and customer service with no luck. Tech support eventually confirmed that my line could only support 0.25MB. However, they don't seem to have the whit nor the will to sort it out.

All I want is a broadband service but this seems to be beyond BT's comprehension. They would rather fudge the issue than solve it. The sad thing is I would happily stay with BT but they just couldn't care less.

Have you checked your line stats? How exactly did you check the router?

Certainly the symptoms you describe sound as if your line has deteriorated dramtically this can happen and it is not necessarily anything to do with BT.

Start with your line stats and find out exactly what they are.

lucernarian

I have to say that 45.2V for a line does seem unusual... My own line is 4 miles long, too long for broadband, yet I measure 54V even with the voltage drop caused by the distance.

A minor short on the line, probably caused by moisture in a wire join or water leaking into the cable or junction box is a possibility.

Older lines in particular may be served by older cabling with older junction boxes which might be damaged with age or weather exposure.

Boxman

Thanks TBC.

Yeah, the normal operating voltage I was told is 48-52v. One of the BT tech support guys said if the voltage was less than 46v it wouldnt work. Yesterday when they said that they couldn't provide the service they said 45.2 was actually ok.

Anyway I dont think there's anything I can do now about the wiring myself.
BT wont do anything and Im not a customer of Eircom so Im stranded.

gerryo

To_be_confirmed wrote:

I have to say that 45.2V for a line does seem unusual... My own line is 4 miles long, too long for broadband, yet I measure 54V even with the voltage drop caused by the distance.

If you measure line voltage by sticking a DVM (or high quality VOM) across the line, you don't draw much current, so the voltage drop will be insignificant. You should get a high reading with this method, even on a long line.

What's really important is the current available to power the phone when you go off -hook. If you are on a pair-gain/dax/carrier line, the voltage might be generated locally by the splitter box.

GitzyMaher

Boxman, did you get anywhere with BT on your problem? I'm in the same boat as yourself as I'm at the advanced stage where they are now telling me that I need to get a electrican out (at my own expense) to check my phone wiring in the house even though I tell them that all I have is the single installed drop point socket in the hallway, that is owned by Eircom.

Incidentally, Eircom sales rang me during the week and once I explained my story to him the guy said that all BT have to do is to request Eircom to send out a tech to check my socket in the hallway. He said that Eircom own this line right upto where the wires finish their journey inside the main socket in the house. I'm going to ring BT tomorrow and see if they play ball after what I heard from the Eircom guy.

At this stage I'd be quite happy to get away from BT now as they are worse than terrible, and frankly don't seem to give a hoot once they get the DD from my bank. I've only transferred over to BT Oct 3rd and asked for 2Mb BB then from them (First DSL BB experience). 175 euro DD later and one month in time and I still don't have DSL BB... DSL light stays on solid for 20 seconds and then off for 5 seconds and then flashes for 20 seconds and goes through the cycle again and again. Been troubleshooting this over the phone with BT for a month now and no change. have gone through all the checks and tried new CPE also. BT can't find anything wrong with my line.

I feel a right mug !!! A complete idiot for going this far with them. Someone make the pain go away!:mad: :mad:

Pissed off,
Chris.

dak

Hi . I got broadband last week . Lost the DSL signal on the My Zyxel 600 box after pressing reset button while trying to change freq channel for wireless on 2nd computer . After reading about BT customer service I bit the bullet - threw Zyxel out and bought some Netgear Rangemax kit for 120 euro including usb adapter . Might seem extreme but was up and running including second computer for kids in half an hour. Worth every penny as getting 100mbps ,no hassle ,no waiting or grief . When you think does anyone know a provider is going to give you a decent top end router ? I'm not impressed with Zyxel 600 box!

i_kenefick

My ZyXel was DOA also. I stuck in my own modem. I switched form Eircom to BT in the past 2 weeks.

P.S. Your LAN is 100Mbps - not the DSL.

watty

You'd have to pay more to get installed.

How do you define "top end"?

dak

BT might have better customer satisfaction ratings if they didn't supply the router at all - let people choose there own . You get the quality you pay for . "Top end" may have been the wrong words - I meant really a better quality product!

Boxman

GitzyMaher, No we didnt get anywhere and are moving back to Eircom.
However in order to switch back to Eircom we have to get the UAN number from BT to give it to Eircom. BT said they'd send it out but after a week waiting for it there was no communication. We rang them again and they hadnt send it out.
We're waiting again now....

Sponge Bob

dude its written on the top of your last eircom bill and going back to eircom will not improve anything anyway .

Pikasso

Any chance you have a wireless router? I was having awful probs with initial connection until I found out you have to plug the lead from the Prestige into one of the outgoing connections on the router, NOT the internet connection!!
I know, I know, but it works!!!
Let me know....

stanley1

Whats a good replacement for Zyxel router (not wireless).

Foxwood

Pikasso wrote:

Any chance you have a wireless router? I was having awful probs with initial connection until I found out you have to plug the lead from the Prestige into one of the outgoing connections on the router, NOT the internet connection!!
I know, I know, but it works!!!
Let me know....

You might want to read section 10 of the Wireless FAQ in the Wireless forum - it explains how to configure the Prestige modem to work properly with your wireless router.