could this be a filter problem?

I have recently noted that if I unplug one of my phones, my adsl connection drops.

all phones are filtered and the filters are all around 3 years old.

do filters go bad over time or should I be looking elsewhere?

What happens if you unplug the filter rather than just the phone?

the filter is on the end of a short extension

socket-- extension--filter-- phone

I unplug the extension at the socket and the synch disconnects.

Odd, though I do find plugging a filter in my master socket, which is normally unused, but not connecting anything to that will cause a big rise in noise, and often a drop.

Poor filter??

Yep, sounds like dodgy filters. Try ones from ADSL Nation which are well reviewed. I have two and they work fine.

I use the ADSL Nation one, I've tried several, they all do it - but only since Max has it become an issue.

Could it be the electrical noise of unplugging the filter, ie does it stay disconnected or does it reconnect within a few seconds ?

I have managed to achieve this by taking off a faceplate with the router still in sync and one of the wires was not properly attached to the terminal. I assume it cause noise on the line and the router disconnected and reconnected at a lower sync.

the synch is re-established about a couple of minutes after disconnecting the phone (using a netgear DG834G V3 router).

I always seem to reconnect at the same 7616 d/l speed. On that note when I first got MAX, I was constantly synching at 8128 but now over the last couple of months my sych has dropped to 7616.

I've ordered a couple of new filters from adsl nation so I'll just have to see if this sorts it.

thanks to all for the input so far.