Loosing Broadband connections on in-outgoing phone calls

Good morning people, here then a problem from a newby regarding lost connections. Please bear with me, English is not my 1st language and I am not a Broadband wizz kid but an old boy from a foregone millenium....

We are again, and for some time now, experiencing this horrible effect of loosing connection when the landline is used, even just pressing for a dial tone knocks the broadband connection off. It will reset itself but since we work from home all our remote connections have to be re-made. It is not constant, there are periods of weeks where all is fine!?! only for it to reoccure.

The problem has happened before, about ~5 years ago, and BT resolved it in the end, with thanks. We have in the meantime moved on to TalkTalk and a few years into the contract the problem reoccurs. I am convinced it is not a TalkTalk fault, but they are naturally our contact point. I am also convinced (by BT engineer) that the problem is not inside our house but in the local exchange. he went on to explain about then-modern alluminium wires that are getting pushed about causing the problems.

The TalkTalk people I have spoken with so far all want me to re-do all internal tests and leave them to do line tests. We have had some missed links to finalise these line tests and also some times they have not called back.

I have noticed that the speed is forever increasing (as one of the operators told me he would arrange for that, even though I ensured him that that was not my issue) from about ~4 meg to ~8 meg/sec

I happen to have 3 routers, all tested and all with the same isseue.
¬ BT supplied Siemens sb5830 4-port and works well, but falls off
¬ TalkTalk supplied Huawei Echolife HG 521 1-port + wirelss, but fals off
¬ self purchased Draytek 2800vg 4-port + wireless, but falls off

Normally the setup is from BT point (since ~5 years with built in splitter) with 10 m extension cable (supplied by BT) and connction there is to our Draytek router. From there I link up 7 devices/computers via an small network of PCs, storage and printer.

We have done several times the linetests and now we are "forced" to use the TalkTalk equipment, missing the extra 3 cat5 ports. Don't get me wrong, this litle router how ever is doing the job as well as the Draytek or Siemens. They are all 3 ok in my opinion. (Only the Draytek I can monitor with your sugested software I downloaded, with thanks. This Echolife is not a supported model yet.

So, my questions are:
¬ is this a common problem?
¬ Am I correct in thinking this is a BT problem, ie outside my property?
¬ what solutions may there be?
¬ what steps do you suggest I take?
¬ your questions/requests ....?

Thanks for reading this and I look forward to your positive comments.
Spannerman

So, am I right that the problem is that the connection drops when using the phone?

If so, that sounds like a standard line fault that the ISP would need to pass on to BT to fix. Keep on at the ISP insisting that this seems to be a line fault - they are probably reluctant to call BT out as they charge if it turns out not to be a fault with the line.

Yes, that is the problem, the connection drops when the phone is used, and thank you for this confirmation of my thoughts about it.

Agreeing with ian72.

OK, so if the cause of the problem is most probably with the line connection and therefore to be sorted by ISP/BT and if I am to keep the pressure up, what is then the best next move for me to make?
I have left messages on their answer phones and replied to their text messages but so far with a nil result. Also re-logging the fault and receiving a new ticket has not helped.

Please advice.

With TalkTalk you may do better to join the TalkTalk Members forum and post there.

The fault is most likely a HR Disconnect, (High Resistance Disconnect) and may actually be the old one re-occuring

Thank you for that advice, I have now found that site and requested to be "let in".
I will keep you posted on the outcome for future reference.

Spannerman

+1 although always worth trying another filter first if this hasn't been done.

In reply to a post by MrSaffron:

With TalkTalk you may do better to join the TalkTalk Members forum and post there.

The fault is most likely a HR Disconnect, (High Resistance Disconnect) and may actually be the old one re-occuring

You are quite right there and last week I have already used a new "plug in" filter and this week an original new TalkTalk "short wired" filter, both bnib.
In short, all variants I could think of have not given a realable result, but I am sure there is a logical explanation/solution.

Thanks for the ideas people.
Spannerman

In reply to a post by ian72:

So, am I right that the problem is that the connection drops when using the phone?

If so, that sounds like a standard line fault that the ISP would need to pass on to BT to fix. Keep on at the ISP insisting that this seems to be a line fault - they are probably reluctant to call BT out as they charge if it turns out not to be a fault with the line.

Just a quick update:
In the end TalkTalk passed the issue on to BT and the BT engineer found the fault. She reported: Fault found on cable between exchange & street cabinet. Now testing OK.
If only TalkTalk would have listened to your advice that, I passed on at the time, straight away and contacted BT it could have been resolved in a week.

If you have a(n identical) problem with TalkTalk too, you could follow 5pannerman on the the TalkTalk forum too.

Thanks folks for the help.