BT Master Socket Not Wired - Bizarre

We have a generally slow connection (less than 1mbps most of the time) which periodically annoys the hell out of me, so looking around online I found that removing the ring wire from the BT master socket can improve speeds.

We have two phone sockets in the house, the master in the living room (with a removable face plate) and an extension in the bedroom. I removed the face plate from the master socket to remove the ring wire, only to find that there is no wiring connected to it. The wires are all tucked back into the hole behind the socket.

I can only assume that the connection we have been using (broadband and voice) has been running through the test socket all this time (over a year).

A) who is responsible for connecting the socket up correctly?
B) would it make any difference to our broadband speed (we have a long, noisy line, 59db attenuation) if it was connected correctly?

Just a quick update. For ages we have had a crackly line when using the phone, BT say there is no problem with it. After just trying the phone in the bedroom socket (which we normally never use), this crackle has gone. I have plugged the router in and the sync speed has improved a little, but then it usually does when it's been restarted.

Thanks in advance for any help.

A) You are. Only you have a problem in that you are not supposed to go behind the backplate cover. Someone before you obviously didn't know that.

B) Hard to tell. Assuming you do try to correct things, which I would do, you will find there is no ring wire attached, as there are only the incoming A/B terminals.

What you might find is that the extension cable is cheapo stuff, possible burglar alarm wire, or true bell wire that is used for the doorbell.

That would be bad news and could be causing trouble. What are the colours of the wires, and how many are there in that extension cable?

OK, it's a mess. There are two cables, both white sheaths. 6 wires in each:

Blue & Blue Striped
Orange & Orange Striped
Green & Green Striped

One cable has all the wires but the green and green striped connected up somewhere in the top of the socket; I can't see where but they are hooked up to something.

The other cable has the blue, blue striped and orange wires connected up to the same place, leaving the orange striped, solid green and green striped free.

Ummm .

The good news is it is the right sort of cable, and everything should be fixable.

The bad news is, (I'm guessing), that whoever did this started with the master somewhere else and has replaced it by a junction box there. Probably very near to where the line enters the house.

Any chance of finding it and seeing what is on there?

It sounds as though the ring wire is connected, and in one case also perhaps T4. We could do with knowing what is connected at the extension as well.

Edited by RobertoS (Wed 02-Mar-11 15:28:03)

We're actually in a flat; god knows where the master is. There're no other sockets in our flat so I can only assume it's elsewhere in the building.

As for the extension in the bedroom, it seems all the wires are connected, or were; I've just disconnected 3 and 4 (orange and orange striped) which were hopefully the ring wires!

Anon,

From the cabinet I have 2 pairs entering an external box: orange & white and green & black. The orange & white are the "live" pair.

Connected to the incoming orange & white pair are blue with white stripes and white with blue stripes rigid wires - orange connected to blue with white stripes and white connected to white with blue stripes. The cable containing the blue with white stripes and white with blue stripes wires connects to the back of the internal master socket - within that cable there are two other pairs that are not used, i.e. orange with white stripes & white with orange stripes and green with white stripes & white with green stripes.

Then I use a filtered faceplate with an extension phone line connected to that using only two wires, i.e. no bell wire.

Hope this helps

4M2.

T3 is the ring wire, T4 is unused and in theory has no effect, but others have found removing it helps.

1 and 6 are useless as well. I would reduce the connections in the master to 2 and 5, including the incoming, and run the extension off the back of the faceplate, as per 4M2's post.

To connect to the faceplate you will need an IDC/Krone tool. The cheapo one will be fine, or from B & Q, Maplin etc.

Good advice Bob,

But if the incoming connections at the back of what is believed to be a master socket are wrongly wired isn't that really a job for BT/OR? Tampering with those connections BT/OR side could cause a few problems perhaps - or did I misunderstand your post?

4M2.

I was working on the basis that they have already been tampered with, possibly by the landlord, and that putting it right can't do a lot of harm.

I would certainly have a go in the poster's position.

There is the possible problem of identifying which is the incoming and which is the extension, but that's minor really. Detach one pair and see if the test socket works. If it doesn't swap to the other pair and try again.

And of course, normal care is needed, for example not to get a screwdriver across the A/B terminals and short the line.

Sure, personally I would also do what you suggested

Thanks for the suggestions fellas. It seems a little complicated for me, especially as socket is quite hard to get to. I think I'll just struggle on with good old 530kpbs.

One supplementary question: what does an upload speed significantly higher (e.g. 2x) than the download speed indicate?

Anon,

If you are certain that the master socket in your flat is truly the master socket and it has been previously wrongly wired at the back, on the BT/OR side, then I would assume it's BT/OR's responsibility to fix it. Maybe you could report a voice fault to BT, not mentioning anything about broadband issues, and they may be able to sort out the wiring problem free of charge...if you are persistent!

4M2.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

what does an upload speed significantly higher (e.g. 2x) than the download speed indicate?

That you are on Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) like most people.

I always assumed the download speed was meant to be higher, considering they advertise 'up to 8meg download, 1meg upload' or whatever...

I'm not certain of either of those things unfortunately!

Because the upstream uses lower frequencies which are attenuated by distance less.

i.e. it is not unusual to find the upstream is faster than the downstream on long lines

Ah, I see. Thanks for the explanation.

If x < 8 & y < 1 does not imply x > y

You assume wrong or "meant to be" is not "is". With long enough or noisy lines it could be the reverse and still be asymmetric.

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

I always assumed the download speed was meant to be higher, considering they advertise 'up to 8meg download, 1meg upload' or whatever...

Yes, downstream is meant to be higher than upstream - there is far more bandwidth available downstream, many more data bins.

Sounds like your line has got a problem, could be some sort of low pass filter trying to eliminate some noise.

For shorter lines that can be the case, but if there is noise or its a long line, then you can fit more bits into the few upstream bins that are there

It could be aluminium extension wiring - that has peculiar characteristics.

It would be nice to see some tone graphs.

what does an upload speed significantly higher (e.g. 2x) than the download speed indicate?

that your wiring is a mess ?