Well. if you are bored Bob ........ check it out.

My reasoning for suggesting the QLT is that effectively, it costs nothing to do; and is a quick, simple action that the person can carry out, without fancy test equipment etc.

I would also ask why it is provided as part of the "BT Line Test Facilities" and does not require to be "authorised" (Option 3), if it has no relevance?

I think that you would agree that the state of the phone line is important to the delivery of most Phone and Broadband facilities, as very few have FTTP etc; but many are unaware of the relationship, that generally xDSL Broadband is as dependent upon the Phone Line as any Phone Call from the same connection.


To pose the question the other way, would you advise that the QLT should never be used; or only after other avenues have been explored?

I would also ask why it is provided as part of the "BT Line Test Facilities" and does not require to be "authorised" (Option 3), if it has no relevance?

Of course it has it's uses, but the same affect can be achieved by simply pressing 9 once. One might argue if it's so essential why can it not be done on Talktalk LLU voice services ?

I think that you would agree that the state of the phone line is important to the delivery of most Phone and Broadband facilities,

Yes, but there are plenty of issues a pair may suffer from which might affect phone and/or broadband which cannot be identified by a quiet line test. Unbalanced, low AC balance, battery and earth contacts, rectified loops, etc, etc.

To pose the question the other way, would you advise that the QLT should never be used; or only after other avenues have been explored?

My proposal was that maybe your advocation of it's use in a such high percentage of your posts was not always required

As someone with a reasonable knowledge of current Openreach working practices, your advice of ringing to report a voice fault is, unless a 'hard' fault is detected, going to end in charges being passed to the CP from Openreach, and from the CP to punter. All that, and you'll still have a broadband fault.

Did you see this ?

Edited by Zarjaz (Tue 22-Jul-14 23:03:08)

In reply to a post by eckiedoo:

without fancy test equipment etc.

I'm shocked these days by the no. of peeps who don't own a basic landline handset and don't realise they could be invaluable for diagnosing BB. So there is often a few pounds cost involved.

In reply to a post by Zarjaz:

Of course it has it's uses, but the same affect can be achieved by simply pressing 9 once.

That test only lasts 16 seconds on my line

Morning Zarjaz

Agreed fully that the QLT is not a "cure-all" for all xDSL Broadband problems.

And I have not intended to imply this, just that it is a simple test, fairly readily understood, not requiring fancy test equipment and technical knowledge; and may guide the person towards ensuring that the problem is "not of their own making" etc, ie that the problem source is possibly some of their own or local devices, as the QLT has shown the external phone line to be "Quiet"; but that as soon as the internal wiring is re-connected ...

In the latter case, tending to steering them away from incurring such charges, rather than potentially incurring them.

Otherwise, what would you recommend such persons to do?

Simply accept a poorer service?

Possibly incur costs by moving to another ISP with possible additional costs and continuing to get a poor service?

Clearly incur further costs by buying a "super-duper" modem/router, to continue getting a poorer service?

-----------------------------------

What initial route would you advise "Joe Public" to follow in such situations, to avoid or minimise costs, whilst achieving Broadband services of the quality he is already paying for?

Agreed XRaySpex.

I also have been surprised by that, showing the ingress and replacement by mobile/cell phones.

And with (almost-) simple fixed hand-sets being so cheap, apart from "inherited" ones.

Similarly it is interesting to note how many "local tradesmen" etc display mobile numbers on vehicles, advertising etc, rather than a fixed land line "traditional" number.

I have noted that the local Phone Book has shrunk back to approaching the size of the 1970's Phone Directory, yet containing at least two additional sections, so a fair proportion of multiple entries for businesses, compared to back then.

Morning 4M2

Agreed that the "9" lasts 16 seconds, just checked on my own phone.

To be effective, the BT QLT is around 25 seconds; but does not cut-off in the way that the "9" does, so could be held open for longer, thinking of intermittent faults.

But does "9" do exactly the same as the QLT?

the BT QLT does not directly give additional information that I have heard; BUT the SKY Option 4 QLT does give at least one additional item, whether there is an Echo on the line; and the level of that Echo.

I came across this when doing the QLT on a SKY Land Line with Broadband etc.

Another SKY installation simply reported that there were no problems.

I did not hear any echoes or pulses on the first SKY line, suggesting that there may be an ultra-audio component to the SKY Test, along the lines of a TDR.

The first time I tried that SKY line, the result was that the line was "Quiet but I can hear an Echo" or similar.

The next time some days later, the result was "Quiet but I can hear a slight echo." or similar.

Does the BT QLT have such an additional component?

Sorry don't know much about quiet line tests but '9' did seem a little too brief for hearing intermittent crackling etc. However my neighbours did have a continuous humming on their line and I guess �9� would be OK for testing that

Afternoon 4M2

I have just finished working through the full range of digits, getting exactly the same result from each digit, 16 seconds of a very slight hissing, followed by a three note chime and "The number you have dialled has not been recognised. Please try again" etc.

Trying the proper QLT Option, there was a similar hissing, with the occasional announcement "Quiet Line Test".

I used the speaker facility on my phone, to maximise the volume in each of the tests, so the very quiet hissing may have been locally sourced in that phone.

Whilst your neighbour did hear a continuous hum with his specific fault, the single digit in my opinion, is clearly not intended to be a substitute for a proper QLT, otherwise why did BT (and SKY) provide the 17070 facility?

Do you know what the actual cause of the humming?