Complex situation. Is this a master socket?

I didn't think moving homes would be so complicated but here it goes.

I have moved into a house that's been converted into accommodation or separate rooms. Now I am currently locked into a 6 month contract with sky which I had no problems with at my old address; I have now moved into a new property and sky are telling me it's impossible for me to get broadband installed.

They are telling me that the phone line is already activated to this property so they can't help me in anyway apart from paying over £150 to leave the contract early.

I have been reading and researching and have found the only solution is to go with BT and have a new phone line installed as part of the installation deal but the downside is ofcause the monthly cost is high.

This is what the socket looks like in my room, is it an extension or master socket? I have asked on the sky forums but seem to be getting no where.

Picture here

Yes, it's an NTE5. See here: http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm

But is it live? can you get a dialling tone?

As I understand you, you can't use it as it's someone else's BT line.

EDIT: Sky Forums must be dumb if they couldn't find this out

Edited by XRaySpeX (Tue 22-Jan-13 19:08:18)

Hi! Someone responded so quickly! Seriously, I have been waiting days for an answer on the sky forums and nothing.

There is no dialing tone at all - I have tried the test socket too and its dead.

So 2 sky agents told me it's not doable because the line is already active by someone else.

I am thinking of leaving sky and going with BT and just pay the bail out early fee from sky as BT say they can install a new line if needed in a shared flat for free... would that work?

Or im not sure if the previous guy to me had a new line installed then it was disconnected.

Thanks

BT have a Universal Service Obligation (USO) to provide you with a working phone line.

As you have no active telephone number it is likely Sky are doing a telephone number check and it is showing an active line at the address, as the conversion into flats has probably not filtered through the royal mail and other databases.

Sky should be able to order a second line with no problems, apart from a Sky rule that you can only have one phone line from them at a property. BT and most other phone line providers will not have that rule.

The Sky databases can only cope with one account holder at a specific address, it is there to stop people registerign a sky box to a uk address and then taking it abroad.

I see, but i take it sky would charge for the new line install?

Also the master socket on the wall, I take it as there is no dial tone it could be easily reconnected?

I have to say it seems alot easier to pay to get out my sky contract early and just go with BT infinity.

Even with the socket on the wall like you have, there would be a charge for a new line install anyway.

The socket may be easy to reconnect, as we do not know where the wire going it is impossible to give a reliable answer.

Sky may refuse the new line provide because of the address issue.

when you go to sign up with BT (or other ISPs) using your address opting for new line install....what happens?

this will be almost impossible to sort out with sky - I've seen countless similar situations on Sky-Forums and they are pretty much useless when it comes to unregistered lines/addresses etc, they will tell you its up to you to get the address registered as a separate 'flat' (e.g 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d etc) and then come back to them. As far as im aware, Sky check against BT Openreach's database for registered addresses/lines etc so you need to get your 'new' address on that database so that it will work with sky - but how to go about that is a mystery.

you need to find out if the NTE-5 in your flat is the 'registered' one for the old 'house' address, or if each flat had their own wired into a junction box outside in preparation for future use.

the problem is that Openreach deal with all this but they dont deal with Joe Public, they only deal with ISPs, so it makes it difficult to sort these types of issues out.

you will have to pay for a new line install regardless, even if its just activation of the currently installed line, we had too, BT charge the most at £129 - you may want to look at an ISP with cheaper or FREE line installs... Talk Talk was free last I looked.

good luck anyway

Hi,

I just put the order for BT infinity through and on the order form it said "Free line installation -£130" so they have wavered the fee

how does the USO work when people rent out multiple rooms in one house I wonder ?