Filtered faceplate improved speed

Possibly not unexpected for TBBers to see such headlines!

But my o2 BB speed had been slowly getting worse over the last few weeks. It would normally be 5200-4700-4500 that sort of speed and I'd tolerate it at 3600. But 2400 was taking the you know know what. Phone line is occasionally noisy so I let that clear and I didn't have the best setup see http://sdrv.ms/K5jzyf but it is capable of better.

So I called o2, who got me rebooting the router (made it worse) then connecting to the test socket - result 5400 or so. I reconnected as was and speed went down again, then the splitter into the test socket with some degradation. I had bought a ADSL Nation Filtered Faceplate, not yet fitted. So fitted that and without the wired extension reconnected and was as good as in the test socket. So I then wired the extension back and only got a tiny speed drop.

So well happy!!

What's that oblong box plugged directly into socket?

Is it a splitter or some sort of Sky Box connector?

If so, it should be after the filter not before. That's cause of your problems.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

What's that oblong box plugged directly into socket?

Is it a splitter or some sort of Sky Box connector?

If so, it should be after the filter not before. That's cause of your problems.

That is almost certainly a telephony splitter ... often found on the end of fax leads or modem leads.

Given that the ADSL is plugged into the filter on that socket it would be better to plug the extension lead that is currently direct into the socket into the filtered side of the ADSL filter. That way the OP would ensure that everything on the other end of the extension is filtered.

Even better still, get a filtered faceplate.

I have the same from Kenable. It basically replaces the NTE5 face plate with a plate that has the filter already fitted. There is a separate ADSL and Phone socket incorporated. You can also connect a filtered phone extension to back of plate at pins 2 and 5 which negates a separate filter on extension. There is also a unfiltered connection at back if you want an adsl extension. Works well and no danglies to worry about.

Assuming his wiring with the XTE-2005 is ADSL cable into the faceplate ADSL socket, phone into the socket of the extension cable, all should now be fine though . In effect he will have done what you suggest.

As a few of you have said, the original setup was clearly going to make a mess of things.

Agreed, just a little tidier with a faceplate - no more horrible dangly boxes ...

Sure, by spending money he will have improved things cosmetically, but he could have improved his actual connection just by swapping a couple of boxes.

If somebody had Sky installed and the installer fitted a splitter with attached extension lead to near the sky box from a non-filtered faceplate, then put a filter for the phone and router on the splitter and put another filter on the end of the extension lead to which a "modem type" cable is connected to the sky box would that cause any serious problems? When making up the extension + splitter for the sky box he probably wouldn't connect the bell wire...

If what you are saying is that maybe there is/was an ADSL filter at the far end of that extension cable then fair enough. (Assuming there is a Sky box there. Has that been established?). In which case the switch to an XTE-2005 shouldn't have had any significant effect on the broadband unless it was simply a dead dangly at the master, and the Sky box would no longer be talking to the internet.