Extension wiring

Hello,


Quite behind on Broadband after all these years, despite the fact that in the past I used to work at an ISP!

After all these years I finally own a house that can get FTTC. I ordered "BT Fibre Unlimited", which was connected on Tuesday. I then had to ring them and get them to send me a hub, as they'd failed to do that. Hub arrived yesterday, but no cables or filters. Still I found an old ADSL microfilter and cable and plugged it in. In the extension socket it didn't sync, but synced and connected fine in the Master socket - at 36Mb down (and 9Mb up).

I'm believe the product I've ordered can go faster than that (although they don't actually tell you the maximum speed anymore) and the DSL checker at https://www.dslchecker.bt.com/adsl/ADSLChecker.address indicates I might be able to get up to 59.3Mb on Range A (clean) or 49Mb on Range B (impacted), so wondering if removing the extension wiring will help. The master socket is a standard NTE5 with removable faceplace, but the extension wiring appears to have been wired to the back of the NTE5, rather than onto the faceplate. (it comes out the bottom of the socket)

So question is:
What is Range A and Range B on the checker? How do I determine which range I'm in?
Should I take the back of the NTE5 off to disconnect the extension wiring (I believe not)
Should I just cut the extension wiring as it comes out the bottom of the socket?

Thanks!

What is Range A and Range B on the checker? How do I determine which range I'm in?

Range A is the speeds they think you get if the line is behaving and no impact from extensions etc, Range B is a more worst case scenario.

Should I take the back of the NTE5 off to disconnect the extension wiring (I believe not)?
What do you mean by back? The small front plate the extension wires are connected to should come off and the extensions are then disabled, so you can check your speeds at the test socket that is subsequently exposed.

In your case though you say the wires seem to go to the back of the master, which if the case sounds like a duff install (i.e. DIY bodge) and best advice is to take pictures while dismantling carefully and get advice on what to do.

NOTE: If it possible for the extension wiring to be the faceplate, but the wire to exit the master socket box in a manner that suggests it is connected to the rear A/B incoming wires.

It is also possible that the master socket is actually receiving the phone signal over the 'extension' wiring.

Should I just cut the extension wiring as it comes out the bottom of the socket?
Don't cut, as doing that you cannot put them back, also there will be a small voltage on them and you may be shorting things when cutting

Thanks Andrew,

Yes it does sound like dodgy extension wiring. I'm pretty sure that its not the source of the signal from outside, as it snakes all over the house. There's been so many dodgy things and bodge jobs that we've discovered as we've been doing up this house that this would just be one more!

Yes - it it definitely comes out of the bottom of the socket, and is wired to the back, the removable faceplate has nothing attached to it. I'll add some pictures when I get home later

As Mr.S says, can you get some pictures and link to them in a post ?

"Hub arrived yesterday, but no cables or filters. Still I found an old ADSL microfilter and cable and plugged it in. In the extension socket it didn't sync, but synced and connected fine in the Master socket - at 36Mb down (and 9Mb up)."

Nobody's mentioned yet that with FTTC you shouldn't need microfilters as the hub is supposed to connect directly to a dedicated, filtered, part of the master socket (if it's a newish type) and you wouldn't then expect, or be able, to connect the hub to an extension socket.

That is making assumptions, not everyone gets/has an SSFP fitted on their NTE.

Exactly.

Hi again, I took the faceplate off the NTE5 again, and found the extension wiring disconnected! It was definitely connected (at the back) prior to the installation, so I think the engineer must have seen it miswired and disconnected it when he came to test after installing it (I wasn't home at the time, but my decorator let him in)

Faceplate off

Faceplate on

Well that makes it easy I guess! Looks like 36mb might be all I can get. Should be fine for now, but might end up switching to Virgin when the contract ends, as the street is cable wired I believe!

Cheers all

I�d be interested in seeing those two screws undone and a shot of the rear terminations to the NTE ....

Unless that cable coming in from beneath the NTE is traceable directly back to the incoming feed for the line ...

Still might be two pairs terminated on the rear.

Looks like you're tight,

2 of the wires do seem to be terminated at the back

Wires to back

If I take the back off, is it fairly easy to disconnect them?
Thanks!