XNTE (external NTE) wiring

Hi,

I've just discovered my mother's woeful rural broadband connection problems may be down to a very old XNTE box - I had no idea she had one. It seems to be from the neolithic era. Pic of the outside here and wiring photo here.

Apart from the wildlife, it looks a bit of a mess. This feeds into the house and the NTE5 the other side of the wall (less than a metre from this XNTE), but surely this ancient setup can't be helping her ADSL.

So, presumably the orange cables are the old ring wires - can I cut those, or is it best to remove them? I'm fairly sure the NTE5 isn't even using the orange one as I checked this years ago.

There are two of each colour cables - I'm guessing this is for the (unused, bedroom) extension line. Is there an easy way to identify which set of cables are for the main NTE5 and which are for the extension?

And finally, would it be best that I simple ran these cables into the house myself, direct into the NTE5? I know xNTEs haven't been used in anger for a while, and I'm desperate to make sure her wiring is as good as it can be (FTTC coming this year), but only if there's a good chance my work will actually help.

The house was probably built in the 1980s, so I'm guessing that's the last time anybody looked inside. The wasp was perfectly preserved, almost mummified!

Thanks

Will

The picture is of a BT66, not an external NTE. It is simply an enclosure for the connectors, which (apart from the detritus) appears perfectly fine. The crimps used are jelly filled and suitable for external use.

Don't cut any wires. In fact, don't touch anything in there - The colour codes used on external cables differs from that with internal. Orange is not a ring wire on this scenario, it is one leg of an incoming pair (Green & Black is the other).

Although it's hard to be 100% sure from the picture, it looks like the incoming underground feed is simply crimped to another cable to extend it into the house.

Why do you think it causes a problem?

Thanks for the reply. I have no idea if it's causing a problem or not - I'm just desperate! Her stats are awful, and the line from the pole to the house takes a circuitous route over her neighbour's house, underground, back overground - and it's extremely long, hence the default attenuation figure of 63.5db. It's almost certainly higher.

I'll heed your advice though; I won't touch a thing. Not even the orange ring wire...?

Will

If you want to disconnect the ring wire to any extensions, do it on the rear of the removable faceplate of the NTE5 inside the house.
Just pull out the wire from the connector marked '3'.

That's not an XNTE. The insides of those look like this. If you scroll down this page to the external NTE5 section you see the outside of it.

There wouldn't, or shouldn't, be an internal NTE5 given one of those.

Several people here will know what it is, but to me it just looks like a type of junction box.

Don't make any assumptions about the orange wire. What colours arrive at the inside sockets, and how many are there - you've mentioned the NTE5 and a bedroom extension, but is that all?

By the time she gets FTTC I expect the default install will be as ADSLx is now, but engineer installs should be an option with most ISPs. I would plump for that unless you get some spot-on instructions here from the few who really know. Any mess-up by you could be very expensive.

I see. Thanks - and sorry for getting all the terms wrong! I just assumed it was an NTE5. Just taken the "main" internal box off and this is what it looks like. Just two wires - white and orange.

The extension socket, in the bedroom, is smaller (looks like an LJU1) but is using the connectors 2, 3, 4 and 5.

This all seems odd to me. Is the extension socket the "real" main socket?!

I don't even seem to have connectors on this faceplate - just two wires: orange and white. All very odd...

That looks like the other end of the cable from the BT66.

Does the extension socket in the bedroom work?
If it does, it must be connected by some unknown means and may need some detective work to find out how the cable to the extension is run.

If it is connected to the line before the NTE5, there may be some improvement if it can be removed or re-routed.

The extension socket has been unplugged. Next to the main socket is a wire with a traditional BT plug and this used to fit into a double adaptor at the main socket. I removed it ages ago which improved the SNR but only by a tiny amount.

So by that basis I think I've done everything I can and her internal wiring is as good as it can get.

Grateful for your help Panda. Thanks.

Ah. So the extension is served via a plug into the NTE5?
In that case then: Yes, you've done everything you can with the internal wiring.