Migration from ADSL2 to FTTC

FTTC should be available in my area very shortly, BT OR have been saying �in the next month� for a couple of weeks.

I�m now reviewing my hardware & would appreciate advice.

I live in an ancient house, according to the previous owner the wiring in the house was installed when the telephone was installed �probably in the 1950's�.

I believe the overhead wire to a pole close by was probably renewed in the last ten years due to �problems�.

This is the FacePlate which was installed, possibly by the previous owner�s son, at the same time as the external wiring was renewed.

The �phone wire from the faceplate goes to an autodialer for the intruder alarm, and to a single �phone socket, to which DECT 'phones are connected.

Some questions:-

Am I right in thinking that the faceplate needs to be replaced with, I assume, an Openreach VDSL2 Mk3 interstitial filter plate? I gather that this reduces or eliminates noise from the phone wiring side being fed back onto the line.

If this is so can I do this work, or do I have to ask my ISP to arrange this? In this case will the work be done by BT OR? If BT OR are working in the house at my expense I assume it might be a good time to move the location of the incoming line?

Is there any better faceplate than the OR VDSL2 Mk3?

Final question, for the time being, I am currently using a DrayTek Vigor 2860 N router, I assume that this will be OK for FTTC whoever provides the service?

My apologies for the long post - thanks in advance for any replies & advice.

Where is the BT MASTER socket? And what type is it?

If there is not one, you need to have the installation "regularised" by BT as that is an illicit installation. That will give you a new master complete with filter. The Alarm will then be hardwired to the back of that. You can then run your own voice extensions from the new faceplate and conect your modem there - or extend it elsewhere if required.

The configuration will probably work as it is. The filtered faceplate may have been or ADSL, but they are simply low pass filters (for the voice circuit) with direct passhtru for the DSL side. It might be that a newer VDSL filter will have some better filtering, but that is probably marginal.

What I think you have is one of these (see link) which is an ADSL faceplate fitted onto an NTE5 master. To prove this, you could remove the two screws and see if it unplugs (which will disconnect the voice extensions). If so, I don't think you have any particular issue with the "legality" of the setup as it connects after the OR demarcation point. By removing the faceplate tests can be performed from the test socket revealed by removing the faceplate.

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/GPNTE5ADSL.htm...

There are similar faceplates marked as VDSL (like this), but it's debatable if it would make any difference.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Solwise-ADSL-VDSLFACE-SOL-S...

The official Openreach Interstitial filter only works if you have the original phone mini faceplate, and if that is no longer around, then it's not of much use.

So my advice is leave it as it is unless you get problems. I would, however, check that you do have an NTE5 master under that faceplate by temporarily removing it and looking to the test socket underneath. Be careful, as there will extension wiring attached to the faceplate.

I'm not sure filtered faceplates of that age all contained ring wire filters. I think at the time the OP does as you suggest that it is gently disconnected if present, just in case.

The ADSL Nation one does, but I'm not sure about anonymous ones. As we know, most danglies don't.

True, there were some poor ones out there, but you'd hope a filtered faceplate designed for the hardwiring of extensions (unlike danglies) would filter the ring line.

The picture the OP shows is of a very cheap and nasty faceplate filter from way back when. I would seriously look into having that replaced.

Firstly thank-you everyone for your input.

MHC - The master socket is in the hall - see the image in my original post & below as to type.

TheEulerID - Yes the master plate looks like the the TLC-Direct item to which you have linked, it looks as if the original faceplate is attached below the top one.

Zarjaz - I think the faceplate is the TLC-Direct one; is this "cheap & nasty", and if so would the Openreach VDSL2 Mk3 be the best replacement. Frankly if I am going to change the faceplate I might as well go for the best available.

Nobody has directly commented on my DrayTek Vigor 2860 N router, so I assume that this will be OK. Will this still connect directly to the faceplate when FFTC becomes available, or will an ISP insist on their modem being interleaved?

NJSS

That is NOT a BT master it indicates that the connection has probably been tampered with by an unauthorised person. Is there a BT master behind it?

Edited by MHC (Fri 15-Jul-16 08:24:51)

Replacing the faceplate on an NTE5 with a non-Openreach one is not tampering. It is perfectly normal, common, and legitimate.

That's incorrect. The master socket is the part behind the faceplate and the demarcation point is the test/interconnection socket. As long as the faceplate can be removed and there has been no tampering with the wiring in the master itself then it is in no way illegal (although it ought to meet the required SIN standards).

OR's responsibility is up to the demarcation point (which is under the faceplate). After that demarcation point, the responsibility (and any incurred costs) are all down to the customer.

To quote the OR documentation

"The demarcation point or Network Termination Point (NTP) as it is referred to in contracts is the end of the Openreach network. It is the point at which Openreach can test to see whether the line is working and to which the end users can connect their wiring and equipment"

That point is the test/interconnect socket, not the faceplate socket (as that can have extensions attached to it).

And the last two of that style of faceplate I have seen have been connected direct to the line with just a back box behind.

I have taken the faceplate off.

Behind it is a white BT master socket, so should I change the faceplate to an Openreach VDSL2 Mk3 interstitial filter plate, or is there a better alternative please?

Whatever the answer where is the best pace to purchase - "best" in terms of getting a genuine product not a copy?

Thanks again.

NJSS

So, that now answers my question from yesterday morning.

Yes, change it to a better quality faceplate. The BT Openreach one will be fine and when you purchase it, get an IDC tool too (if you do not have one already).

A few years back I did some testing of the frequency characteristics of a few ADSL and VDSL faceplates. Whilst they would work, the ADSL faceplates started to present nasty impedances at the higher frequencies and could cause phase shifts, impedance mismatches and large attenuation spikes - all of which would cause problems for VDSL. They would work, however they would not be of te optimum performance.

And?


I asked where the Master was - not what the faceplate looked like.

In reply to a post by MHC:

... it indicates that the connection has probably been tampered with by an unauthorised person.

It
Does
Not.

You are getting confusing replies here, particularly from MHC.

That ADSL faceplate you have originally replaced a standard NTE5A faceplate. As well as the interstitial Openreach Mk3 VDSL filter plate you will need one of those.

On this page you can see what you will end up with, and as you scroll down it you see on the right the stages of dismantling it to get at the test socket.

The first item removed is the standard faceplate I'm referring to. The next is the filter plate, leaving the master wall unit with the test socket.

Your existing ADSL faceplate cannot be used with the interstitial one, and that doesn't come with one.

I gather there are extensions, or at least one. We need to know how many wires are attached to your faceplate - preferably with a photo showing them uploaded somewhere . This is so we can give you best advice on what to do. There could be other complications to do with getting the best possible result.

In particular if there is more than one physical extension socket in the house. Whether or not you use it.

Clearly if that's the case then it would be tampering, but that looks very much like the ADSL nation faceplate which simply screws onto the front of an NTE5 and replaces the smaller inset faceplate with a phone socket. There used to be a BT version that did that too, but that seems to have disappeared and you can only get the interstitial plate (which isn't much use if the OP no longer has the smaller inset faceplate.

I did post the OP to check that.

In reply to a post by TheEulerID:

but that looks very much like the ADSL nation faceplate which simply screws onto the front of an NTE5 and replaces the smaller inset faceplate with a phone socket. There used to be a BT version that did that too,

I think the two faceplates you are talking about - the ADSL Nation one, and the original BT-installed one - can be found on this page:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/tools/bt-master-socket...

The second image within "step 3".

I had one of the BT-installed faceplates fitted by BT in 2000, in the original ADSL trials. I used one of the ADSL-Nation ones for my parents in Hull (KC use the same split NTE5's).

I had the ADSLnation one too, but when I had a line problem I just put the original inset faceplate back and disconnected the extensions when the engineer arrived. I knew full well that it was nothing to do with the domestic wiring, but it was easiest to keep thinks simple.