In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

"I'm guessing this is due to issues further down the E side"

An implication from this statement - happy to entertain other descriptions

Just my interpretation, an intermittent loop or a condition on one of the legs could possibly cause frequent disconnects, may not reveal itself as noise.

The OP hasn't said how often the frequent disconnects actually are.

But other than for line testing as witchunt pointed out, does FTTC >> VDSL2 require any input from the E-side copper? Surely if that were broken it would just output VDSL2 back to the PCP and user?

In reply to a post by dect:

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

"I'm guessing this is due to issues further down the E side"

An implication from this statement - happy to entertain other descriptions

Just my interpretation, an intermittent loop or a condition on one of the legs could possibly cause frequent disconnects, may not reveal itself as noise.

The OP hasn't said how often the frequent disconnects actually are.

Just to clarify, I am not saying the OP's friend has a D or E side issue, I'm purely saying it may not reveal itself as noise (some have assumed it is noise on the line without confirmation from the OP).

Edited by deleted (Tue 12-Feb-19 13:48:33)

Fiend - I spotted that earlier. It was a typo, but it kinda fits

The connection has always been unstable, especially under ADSL. It drops out most with wet/cold weather, which makes me think it's a connection somewhere. And I make my fiend test with a cabled connection first. I've had enough grief over that connection to jump to any conclusions!

I'd fitted a BT mk3 VDSL filter on her socket. The ISP made her take it off recently and use a dangly filter. Le sigh.
Nothing else is used on the line - purely the router plugged directly into the socket.

Oddly, when the line drops, it stays dropped.

ISP is Zen, with one of their Fritz routers.

Agreed, it was more of a theoretical question. I've no idea where the fault is, though I suspect it's not the internal wiring, as there isn't any (other than the DSL patch cable!)
There's no phone connected, which is a pain when trying to diagnose the fault!

Thanks all

The original question was more of a theoretical one, and an engineering one. Other than testing (and OR mandating it's existance) is there a technical need for the E side if the phone line isn't needed.

My 'guess' at the location of the fault is purely based on probability due to line length. The E side is much longer than the D side, so higer probability. And yes, thats completely ignoring that junctions/connections are more likely to go wrong than a solid run of copper.

The disconnects are pretty intermittent - more frequent in cold and wet weather, but it can be fine for days or weeks, and then will start misbehaving for a few days.

As I think I said originally, there's no phone connected, and no internal wiring. Which is a pain to test, but it means it's hard to blame anything other than the line or the router.

If I was a proper friend, I'd get a wired phone and go listen to the line. But as she's more of a fiend....

In reply to a post by gromit69:

My 'guess' at the location of the fault is purely based on probability due to line length. The E side is much longer than the D side, so higer probability. And yes, thats completely ignoring that junctions/connections are more likely to go wrong than a solid run of copper.

The E-Side is not part of the xDSL circuit so is not the cause of the disconnections.

As others have said the line test heads are located at the exchange so the E sides will have to remain even after 2025 (when BT's PSTN gets switched off) to allow for remote testing. The only way the E sides could go would be if they found a safe way to move the test heads to the cabs.

This was the only thing I could think of - plus all the admin/line ID stuff will be at the exchange end.

Do we know yet how OR will provide a voice service post PSTN? Will it be based at the cabinet with the DSLAM?

The E-Side is not part of the xDSL circuit so is not the cause of the disconnections.

Whilst the E side isn't part of the VDSL signal path, it's still connected to the line and so can cause interference - whistles, pops etc.