Ah, good re the engineer - let's hope he knows what he is doing .

I'm still not entirely clear what your setup is. If you have the extension cable plugged directly into the test socket, presumably you then have an ADSL microfilter fitted at the other end of the extension lead (where the router and phone are connected). Presumably that is what you mean by splitter?

Anyway, if you have tried with only the extension cable connected to the test socket, and a phone (not DECT) plugged in to the other end (no filters or splitters connected), if there is still no dialtone then it could well be the extension cable that is the problem. Unfortunately, depending on the quality, they can detioriate over time and become brittle - espeically the cheapo flat white cables (e.g. Argos). I had such a cable once.

The only other explanation I can think of is that the card in the exchange is not sending enough current up the phone line, which could explain why it works at the master socket, but not powerful enough to reach the end of the extension cable (especially if the cable is not brilliant). That said, although I've experienced that, the dialtone was not affected - the phone just didn't ring sometimes (TT solved this by swapping me to another card at the exchange).

Why not have the router connected at the phone line and then use a cat5e to the skybox?

The OP's problems only started after he switched to TalTalk and had the qube people visit - prior to that his home setup was quite satisfactory as far as he was concerned.

It's possible that the problems developed with the extension due to the what the qubes were doing or it might simply have been a coincidence.

Without doubt the current extension and the associated connections need testing for any conductivity issues...

I had the same issue years back using an extension with Wanado BB didn't like it but worked with Tesco BB

Thanks for the replies peeps,

Yep issue is my setup was fine and no issued before talktalk took over

Where my master socket is no power socket and all my wires are currently hidden so unless the current extension is fixed to work as it was with orange until last Thursday there is going to be a load of hassle getting everything setting up. + likely expense when part of the reason swapping was to save money

where is your microfilter?

edit: oh, splitter is the microfilter.

is the cable under the floor pressed tight or does it have space to move? You could make an extention for the modem 12v power lead and pull it through, run the modem at the master socket.

Get your wife into some kind of streamed HD video programme and then she'll want the 13mbit instead of the 3.5

Edited by deleted (Tue 04-Jun-13 15:32:16)

Now only getting 3mb from master socket sync at 3800 download rate hopefully just an issue with the initial testing in the first fee days solid 12mb with sky and orange.

Engineer came at 3pm was booked for after 6

Had it down as a tv Job so couldn't physically fix anything

He tested the lead and its broke, can't explain why it was workin 1 day (and still for data) and not the next - said it may have been the by exchange sending a power surge down the line when they where fixing my initial problems??

Anyway conclusion is new appointment for Saturday, proposal to put a new ext point in upstairs (avoid cables going through my living room, I'll then use power line adapters and spare
Router to connect the Ethernet on the sky / ps3 and tv.

Speeds seem back up to 10mb not the 14+ I was getting with orange but seems acceptable for my needs

In reply to a post by David_lfc:

He tested the lead and its broke, can't explain why it was workin 1 day (and still for data) and not the next - said it may have been the by exchange sending a power surge down the line when they where fixing my initial problems??

Highly unlikely I would have thought - a case of the "engineer" not knowing what he is talking about, perhaps? And even if it were the case, it would only prove that the extension lead was substandard/damaged/faulty all along.

Without physically seeing your setup, it's hard to say for sure - presumbly the cable was touched/moved/disconnected by the Qube engineer and he may have triggered the failure of the cable then? Also could be a dodgy connection at one of the ends, like the cable coming away from the plug, for example, or dirty pins on the connectors.

My guess is that the extension list was substandard/damaged/faulty, and the Qube engineer's actions, by physically messing with the cable, just made it worse. You could argue that he broke it, but equally you can't really blame him if unplugging the cable caused the cable to break .

I thought it might be a conductivity issue with the extension when you said that the phone didn't work but you were never-the-less getting a broadband signal.

Hope the proposed new setup works out OK