Best course of action to take

A little background to my problem:

I was connected via ADSL Max @ 6816-7200kbps with an SNR Margin of 6dB and Attenuation of 31dB for days and days with no problems whatsoever.

However over the last month or so I have been having some severe problems:

1) Speeds have now dropped drastically during day and night to as low as 160kbps with several d/cs during the day and night. (With constantly fluctuating SNR Margin, i.e at 160kbps sync speed the SNR Margin was 22dB)

2) Broadband connection regularly disconnects when someone makes an call from the phone

3) Background interference is audible when just picking up the phone.

I have tried connecting to the test socket and ALL phones work fine individually when connected to it (i.e. no background noise) . When connecting the router directly to the test socket via a filter, speeds also seem to be back to near normal. However when connecting both phone (any) and the router to several different filters directly to the test socket, the same problem still occurs.

I would of thought that my ISP (Nildram) would have automatically logged a fault after my sync speed had dropped drastically below the Maximum Stable Rate? What course of action would you recommend for quickest and best possible solution. Contact my ISP or BT directly and log a voice fault?

Thanks in advance

Some quick replies would be greatly appreciated.

It sounds like that you have confirmed that the problem is with your internal wiring (unless I have misinterpreted your post).

Your ADSL is OK because it works from the test socket.
Your phone line is OK if you don't have ADSL kit connected.

Check your filters etc. Especially anything that has changed recently.

I thought the problem was not with my internal wiring as I have tried every filter I have (4 and they are pretty new) and when connecting up both the phone and router to any of these filters whilst in the test socket, the same problem still occurs.

I would have thought that the chances of all 4 filters being faulty would be severely unlikely? Besides absolutely nothing has changed in my house as regards to the internal wiring.

Any other suggestions? Would do other people think?

You say that using the test socket improves things, that points directly at your wiring. As connecting the phone seems to cause a problem, can you try another phone? What filters are you using - the quality does vary tremendously. Do you have a Sky box, if so is it connected to the phone line normally? What happens if you disconnect it.

I have tried all 3 house phones and the problem occurs with all of them. They cant all be dodgy can they?

The filters I have tried are the ADSL Nation XF-1e (4 different ones) ones and some Fujitsu FDX100 (2). Both are filters are SIN346 BT compliant.

I do have a Sky box, it is connected to the phone line via a filter. The Sky box would have been disconnected when I was testing via the test socket. It is connected to an extension socket.

I have a filtered master socket (XTE-2005) as well, dunno if that is causing any problems, it shouldnt be as the problem is still there when bypassing it and using the test socket.

If you have a filtered master socket, you shouldn't need any plugin filters. Can you keep the router connected to the test socket for a while with nothing else connected. If you do this and all is well, then repeat the exercise using your normal socket. If the problems return, then there has to be a wiring fault. If all remains OK, start plugging other items back in, one at a time, until you find which is causing the problem.

Is it:

1] The incoming line? No, you get good results from the test socket

2] Your router? No, see above

3] Your faceplate filter? Disconnect your wiring from the faceplate filter and try from there.

4] Your wiring? Possibly. You get reasonable results from the test socket. Reconnect the wiring to the faceplate filter, and ensure that no other filters or phones are connected. Try from the faceplate filter again. and if that is OK, try from you normal socket

5] Your XFie filters? Add them back 1 at a time and try again

6] Your phones? Add them back, 1 at a time and try again

I know I dont need any plugin filters when I have a filtered faceplate, I was just using them as a test (double filtering) to see if it would stop some of the interference that I'm getting .

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Can you keep the router connected to the test socket for a while with nothing else connected

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How long do you mean by a while?

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3] Your faceplate filter? Disconnect your wiring from the faceplate filter and try from there.

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I have got the same problem when using several different filters when going straight to the test socket with both the router and phone (any) connected to it. This would suggest that it isnt the faceplate filter surely?

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5] Your XFie filters? Add them back 1 at a time and try again

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I have tried using all my XF-1e filters and my Fujitsu FDX100 Filters (individually - one at a time) and the same problem still occurs when they are connected directly to the test socket with both router and phone connected.

I'm thinking of 12-24 hours to establish a pattern.