ADSL 2+ and phone interfere

I'm having a problem getting the internet and the telephone to work properly together. Before I continue, I should point out that my knowledge of this is very limited so apologies if I ask any stupid questions I've also already posted about this once but I'm hoping if I post an update it might help someone figure out what could be the problem.

The problem is that when the phone rings, or a call is made, the internet disconnects. Also, the internet speed varies between about 80k and 1000k. Sometimes the internet disconnects for no apparent reason. You can hear the router syncing when you are on the telephone, to varying extents - sometimes it's an annoying background buzz, sometimes you can't hear the person you're talking to because of it.

I've taken the following steps to try to rectify it:

- Changed the filters
- Used more than one filter at once
- Unplugged all phones etc. and just had the internet plugged into a filter and into the master socket (it still disconnected intermittently)
- Changed the wiring from the router to my computer
- Plugged it into different sockets (it's now in the master socket)
- Plugged it into the test socket (no difference)
- O2 sent me a new router (no difference)
- A lift and shift has been carried out at the exchange (if anything, this made things worse - speeds dropped to 10k and I couldn't log on to an online game)

O2 have told me to 'leave it with them', but to be honest I'd rather have some ammunition to talk to them with next time they call, as last time they tried to tell me it was fixed - even though the guy on the phone could barely hear me for the noise! Any help would be much appreciated Thanks very much.

Sorry, I forgot to add, I had a similar problem when I was on Virgin ADSL broadband, so I don't think it's anything to do with either the hardware or the fact I've moved to ADSL 2+.

Stats? In and out of the test socket within the BT master socket.

http://www.dslzoneuk.net/adsl_line_stats.php

I think these are what you're after, please let me know if not:

Uptime: 0 days, 0:02:39
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 1,057 / 11,582
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 12.0 / 19.0
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 13.0 / 26.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 4.0 / 6.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 752 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 424 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 538 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 233 / 22,606
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 233 / 460
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 208,703 / 445

Hi

Sounds like a connection problem with your line. Apart from the modem noise do you hear crackles or other noise on the line?

Regards

Phil

Were those stats from the master socket? Do you get the same stats from the test socket?

With the number of errors you are getting on the upstream it's a little surprising that O2 haven't raised the upstream SNR margin beyond 6dB.

Phil,

I hear no noise on the line when I have just the phone plugged in. When I plug a filter in and plug the phone into that, I hear a slight crackle (with any of 6 different filters). This is without the router plugged in. I've also tried two different phones and have the same crackle on both.

John2007, those stats are with the router plugged into the master socket. I don't have stats for the test socket, but if it will help I can plug it into the test socket tomorrow and see what I get.

FYI, here are the stats I have at the moment - as you can see, I haven't had a disconnect in the past 7 and a half hours, I don't know why. The phone hasn't rung in that time though; however earlier today the internet was disconnecting for no apparent reason every few minutes (hence the low uptime on the earlier stats).

Uptime: 0 days, 7:32:29
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 290 / 918
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 11.5 / 17.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 39.5 / 78.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 7.0 / 7.5
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 31 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 48 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 115 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 67 / 2,851
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 67 / 12
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 235,805 / 9

My word, your line attenuation is showing at 78.5 - it has jumped 50db - there is clearly something very wrong with your line, especially as that is from the test socket.

What sort of filter are you using? Have you tried an adsl nation faceplate? A filter should not cause noise on the line.

In your case as the filter appears to be causing noise, I would try plugging in the router to the test socket without the filter (but you will need an RJ11 to BT wire, or an RJ 11 adapter) as adsl should work without a filter, the filter is only for the phone.

Then I would run it like that for a couple of days to compare stats and see how stable it is.

I would also take a screenshot of those stats - that is what I did when I had the same phone issue as you to show the BT engineer.

The first BT engineer I had was useless, I then wrote to BenV who had a top engineer at my door within a few hours - he checked everything and fixed the issue.

You need to take a few comparisons in screenshots each time it resyncs.

Edited by deleted (Tue 06-May-08 07:12:04)

Your upstream stats do look dodgy. I think the upstream uses lower frequency bands which are considered more stable.

It is worth getting the stats from the test socket - as that should help to rule in or out your internal wiring as the source of the problem.

Thanks for the replies. I've already tried running the internet without a filter using an RJ11 adaptor, same problem I'm afraid. I haven't tried a faceplate though. I'm using the filters sent with the O2 broadband package, and have tried with the filters Virgin sent me when I was with them too. I'll now go and change the wiring into the test socket and post later or tomorrow with some stats. The internet seems to have been stable throughout the night judging from the latest stats though, which I'll post below:

Uptime: 0 days, 19:59:26
DSL Type: G.992.5 annex A
Bandwidth (Up/Down) [kbps/kbps]: 290 / 918
Data Transferred (Sent/Received) [kB/kB]: 0.00 / 0.00
Output Power (Up/Down) [dBm]: 11.5 / 17.5
Line Attenuation (Up/Down) [dB]: 39.5 / 78.5
SN Margin (Up/Down) [dB]: 6.5 / 6.0
Vendor ID (Local/Remote): TMMB / BDCM
Loss of Framing (Local/Remote): 31 / 0
Loss of Signal (Local/Remote): 48 / 0
Loss of Power (Local/Remote): 0 / 0
Loss of Link (Remote): 0
Error Seconds (Local/Remote): 115 / 0
FEC Errors (Up/Down): 530 / 4,649
CRC Errors (Up/Down): 530 / 19
HEC Errors (Up/Down): 235,876 / 12

Edited by blox316 (Tue 06-May-08 15:42:04)