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Phone call slows broadband speed?

  • 24-10-2009 6:31pm
    #1
    Stevie Dakota
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,817 ✭✭✭


    Do you know if using a phone line for a call (shared line between phone and broadband) at the same time as using the internet slows the internet speed by any discernible amount? Or is it negligable. This one a 1mb line.

    Just curious. Cheers.


Comments

  • #2
    Sponge Bob
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    dodgy filter


  • #3
    Stevie Dakota
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,817 ✭✭✭Stevie Dakota


    Just to clarify, I'm not having any problems, was just wondering if it is best to stay off the phone while surfing if it improves the speed?


  • #4
    Sponge Bob
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    It should make no difference if the filter is working and installed correctly , phones use about 8k of bandwidth while BB is minimum 800k


  • #5
    Stevie Dakota
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,817 ✭✭✭Stevie Dakota


    Many thanks Sponge Bob, you've told me exactly what I needed to know!


  • #6
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭probe


    Aside from what Sponge Bob says, it is not the making of the phone call that might lead to a slower broadband connection - if anything it is to do with the spec of the phone devices sharing the phone line with your broadband modem. It is irrelevant whether they are in use or not at the time.

    If you have got lots of phones plugged in, or even one or two phones or other kit (fax machines, satellite TV receivers etc) that aren't to the Irish network specification, you will have problems - even if they are not actively in use on a call.

    The specification for British PSTN phone equipment is very different to the Irish spec. I have a friend who is seriously into Bang & Olufsen kit. They added to their collection with a B&O phone which was bought in Harrods in London (customised for the British market with a non-standard plug etc). The B&O phone turns down the HiFi when a call arrives. A must have..... (I'm not into B&O myself - style over substance stuff).

    They bought an adapter to plug it into the eircom RJ11 socket - and noticed their broadband getting seriously slower. They assumed it was an eircom problem, and wasted time reporting it to some eircom moron and got nowhere.

    When I found out, I got an identical B&O phone in a shop in Barcelona and sent it to them. It worked out of the box - Spain uses the same RJ11 plug, and their broadband connection was fine with it.

    The things that slow down DSL broadband are the number of devices, where they come from, and the quality of your home wiring, and whether or not you are using adapters and other crap. And of course the distance between your home and the RSU.

    I've seen several postings on boards regarding people who use Sky television receivers connected to their phone line - and I have no doubt that the same problem arises in many households as a result.

    Keep the phone line you use for broadband as clean and free of devices as possible. If you need phones all over the house, get a small PABX or DECT phone system if you don't mind the em radiation from the base station in your home. And make sure it is suitable for the Irish PSTN.


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  • #7
    Sponge Bob
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    There is a further factor now probe kindly reminded me of it , if there are 4 devices (google REN Number 4) on a line it can lead to a current drain even if only one is in use .

    One Irish phone and one modem on a line should not cause any slowdown .


  • #8
    probe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,055 ✭✭✭probe


    Phone lines are so cheap* in Ireland, there is no excuse for not keeping a dedicated line for DSL. No phones. No faxes. No TV boxes. No in-house wiring strung through door openings etc.

    Get an eircon line wired directly through a window with an RJ11 termination inside and plonk your PC next to it. Don't use WiFi. While you are at it, make sure you buy a house close to your eircom RSU, preferably in a hilly area, to ensure the line plant doesn't get flooded with rain which might reduce the performance of the line....

    [*black lie - the monthly subscription for an eircom phone line is the most expensive in Europe and probably the entire world] on top of which you have to pay for broadband at rip-off prices. A double rip-off to pay for an over leveraged almost defunct hedge fund called eircom.


  • #9
    Sponge Bob
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 25,234 ✭✭✭✭Sponge Bob


    probe wrote: »
    the monthly subscription for an eircom phone line is the most expensive in Europe and probably the entire world] on top of which you have to pay for broadband at rip-off prices. A double rip-off to pay for an over leveraged almost defunct hedge fund called eircom.

    Most expensive in the entire world , confirmed, and the best quality as you would expect at those prices.:cool:


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