OK, course of action.

Very similar to earlier proposals in the thread. On the back of that master faceplate it looks as though there may be four wires. That is two pairs, Blue/white + white/blue and orange/white + white/orange.

Please tell us what connector numbers each wire goes to. And anything wrong in what I think I see from the pictures.

We will first confirm they are wired technically correctly. If they are we will tell you what to do, which should be simply removing a specific one or two of them.

That is the quickest and simplest solution for now. As previously advised, just suck it and see when your FTTC arrives.

If you are happy with the performance you don't need to do anything further. If you aren't, then there are ways to improve it, but possibly not a lot and everything would involve more upheaval than your parents are likely to want.

Edited by RobertoS (Sat 11-Jun-16 17:07:58)

I was referring to the right, not the left. Mixing up my rights & lefts. A good job I don't drive. Wait, I do....

Just make sure you wear your seat belt. So you don't fall out when changing gear.

So had you got fibre a couple of years ago, BT would have installed an MK3 filter on the master, and that would have been the only socket which would have worked with fibre optic.

TBH I even had this setup just 2 months ago when I got a new line.

You say there is no way to use the master, can you not drill a hole through the wall for example, run a cable through and have the router in the next room?

Using those extensions is very poor practice, especially as it appears 4 cables are connected (not just 2) which suggests bell wire etc are in use which can cause havoc.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Sun 12-Jun-16 02:31:22)

Once he tells us exactly what wires are connected where at the master, it's easy to clean it up. The only complication is if there is a split pair, which is unlikely. Sometimes we find the pair of the ring wire connected to Pin 4 rather than cut off or curled away.

It appears we have some comedians on the board!!

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

Once he tells us exactly what wires are connected where at the master, it's easy to clean it up. The only complication is if there is a split pair, which is unlikely. Sometimes we find the pair of the ring wire connected to Pin 4 rather than cut off or curled away.

Photos attached.
I hope you can decipher where each is going and what means what - as I'm sure you do!

http://s33.postimg.org/ozqj1iv9r/IMG_6076.jpg
http://s33.postimg.org/qlya6jbnz/IMG_6074.jpg

Cheers folks!

You only need to remove number 3.

Keep 2 and 5 connected.

Then the speeds should be relatively good.

Number 3 is the bell wire and no longer used but adds interference for broadband on extensions.

That's brilliant.

It is showing your two extensions are both wired direct to the master socket.

You have two options. Read the whole post before doing anything.

First, you could remove the orange wires as follows:-

The two orange ones on the middle connector, numbered 3, are the ring wire for each. I haven't seen that type of connector before, with the little cord bit flopping about in the slot. I'm used to straight IDC connectors, so see if you can work out how to remove them gently. It is preferable not to cut them in case a later owner needs them connected.

I would do them one at a time. It is important not to disturb the connections on the outer terminals, numbers 2 and 5, though it looks as if you might need to move the outer section of one to get at the bottom orange one.

If in doubt, wait for someone who knows the connector type. Or, see further down for the other option.

Once done, if you are on ADSL Max/IPStream Connect and not on maximum sync, you are likely to get a considerable increase in connection speed, with the IP Profile rising within a few days to give you and actual throughput increase.

If you are on ADSL2+, the speed should rise even more and the IP Profile should adjust immediately and throughput rise.

It's a good job we've found that, as the effect on FTTC at an extension with those two ring wires attached could be dramatic - far worse than on ADSLx. That's the sort of thing the "Impacted" B estimate range is all about.

Re what I said earlier about "further down", here it is.

Your second option is to buy a Mk3 Openreach/BT VDSL2 filter which you insert between the faceplate and the back of the socket. It has slots for the cables to fit through. For most installations, and your isn't one of them people simply plug it into the test socket then plug the faceplate into the into the socket that is straight through to the test socket. (Note for future reference, that socket does not act as a test socket. The broadband is filtered within this additional filter plate). You then normally don't need to worry about the ring wire - it is supposedly filtered out.

You could use it like that, but the router would almost certainly need to be next to it, which you don't want. I say "almost certainly" because I think someone has run a CAT 5 cable from the top socket that you would have gained to where they want the router but that isn't a good idea in case someone unplugs it without you knowing. Also there would be no phone signal at the router end. At the moment you don't have one anyway, but needs can change.

The advantage your parents would see if you fit an interstitial faceplate is that the socket that currently has a phone would no longer need a filter.

In one front corner of this "interstitial filter plate" are a couple of connectors, labelled A and B. Those are what a CAT5 cable would be connected to that you would then feed to your remote router.

However that connection would be unfiltered and you would still need a filter at the router end if a phone was to be used there at any stage. It wouldn't be possible to use a phone there even if the router was removed, as the filters remove the broadband from the line so you can hear what is on the phone. They don't remove the phone signal from the broadband side, the modem (standalone or built into the router as in the Home Hub), does that.

I think you will gather why we are advising you to suck it and see before doing anything major, but I would very strongly advice you to remove the ring wires anyway. They can affect ADSLx by up to 2Mbps, and FTTC by more.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

You only need to remove number 3.

Keep 2 and 5 connected.

Then the speeds should be relatively good.

Number 3 is the bell wire and no longer used but adds interference for broadband on extensions.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

That's brilliant.

It is showing your two extensions are both wired direct to the master socket.

You have two options. Read the whole post before doing anything.

First, you could remove the orange wires as follows:-

The two orange ones on the middle connector, numbered 3, are the ring wire for each. I haven't seen that type of connector before, with the little cord bit flopping about in the slot. I'm used to straight IDC connectors, so see if you can work out how to remove them gently. It is preferable not to cut them in case a later owner needs them connected.

I would do them one at a time. It is important not to disturb the connections on the outer terminals, numbers 2 and 5, though it looks as if you might need to move the outer section of one to get at the bottom orange one.

If in doubt, wait for someone who knows the connector type. Or, see further down for the other option.

Once done, if you are on ADSL Max/IPStream Connect and not on maximum sync, you are likely to get a considerable increase in connection speed, with the IP Profile rising within a few days to give you and actual throughput increase.

If you are on ADSL2+, the speed should rise even more and the IP Profile should adjust immediately and throughput rise.

It's a good job we've found that, as the effect on FTTC at an extension with those two ring wires attached could be dramatic - far worse than on ADSLx. That's the sort of thing the "Impacted" B estimate range is all about.

Excellent guys thanks for your help! I will go ahead and remove the bell wires and post results.

Also, as I shall probably stick to connecting my router via the extension in the next room, will it have any noticeable impact on the speeds I will receive when I switch over to FTTC next week?

In the next room? Unless the extension cabling goes all the way round the house via the loft, negligible once you get rid of the ring wires.

Let us know what happens to your ADSLx speed . Is it ADSL or ADSL2+?