BT-installed ADSL master socket

[SSK]

Hi all,

I'm new here and to forums (fora?) in general, so please excuse me if I mess up.

On Thursday I migrated to ADSL2+ with IDNet and I wish I'd found this forum sooner because searching here would have probably prevented me from  screwing up.

It appears  I misunderstood something I read elsewhere and (thinking my profile was stuck) I messed up  by rebooting my router a couple of times. That seems to be how I got myself on a banded profile - my SNR jumped overnight from  6dB to 27dB. I think it's unlikey there is a problem with the line as I'm very close to the exchange and always get Loop Att between 27 and 30. For years I had rock-solid connections with 'stndard' ADSL and got downloads as fast as ADSL can go with SNR 6-9.

Anyway, email support  told me to plug my router into the test socket and hence my request for help here...
At the moment I have a wall socket fitted by BT some years ago. It actually has 'ADSL' on the bottom right of the front panel, along with two sockets, left for ADSL and right for the phone. Just one phone, no extensions, and nothing else is plugged into the phone socket The router is connected directly by a short (2 m) lead to the ADSL socket.

I've seen photos of taking off the face plate of another type of master socket (NTE5?) but mine doesn't look like that. Isn't the ADSL socket on the one I've got equivalent to the test socket? Is there a test socket somewhere inside? (I'm a very non-technical person!).

Also, I've been told not to reboot or disconnect for the next 10 days of  'training', but how can plug into a test socket without disconnecting.

Thanks for any help,

Sean

[Glenn]

Hi Sean  

Take a look at http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/socket.htm as you will see, the test socket should be behind the faceplate.

Do you have your router stats and a BT Speedtest available?

[Simon]

Can't add to the above, Sean, but 

[Ray]

  Sean.

[Rik]

Hi Sean and welcome to the forum.

It's always possible for faceplates to fail, hence the advice to move to the test socket, albeit the slightly contradictory wording. The test socket, not the master, is BT's demarcation point.

[SSK]

Hi,

Thanks for the link and the 'welcomes'.

Yes, I was wrong - the master socket is indeed the ADSL NTE5.
So I will have to disconnect the router to get to the test socket.
Also, it seems that using the test socket means disconnecting my phone. As that is my business phone I can't have it disconnected during business hours.

Sorry this is a long post....

As I mentioned, I think it was my own stupidity rather than a line fault which caused my problems - a case of 'a little knowledge being a dangerous thing'! For over 12 hours after the ADSL2+ connection this was a typical bt test:
Download speed achieved during the test was - 7298 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speeds is 1000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :18324 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 1152 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 7150 Kbps

and these were typical router stats:
Up Speed   1152000
Down Speed   18325000
SNR Margin   6
Loop Att.   27

So with no change in IP profile I thought it was 'stuck' and looked for a solution. e.g.  BT's own document (Broadband Max –Myths and Legends) I read that  "No, currently the end user will have to force a retrain by turning the modem off and back on, or via the GUI to retrain to a higher speed."

Foolishly, I thought that meant that if I rebooted it might 'unstick' the profile. That didn't work, so I rebooted again. Of course, now I realise that I'd misunderstood everything and that it probably made the BT equipment decide I had a bad connection and it put me on a banded profile.

Here is the latest bt test:

Download speedachieved during the test was - 5572 Kbps
For your connection, the acceptable range of speedsis 1000-7150 Kbps.
Additional Information:
Your DSL Connection Rate :6656 Kbps(DOWN-STREAM), 1132 Kbps(UP-STREAM)
IP Profile for your line is - 5500 Kbps

Here are the lates router stats in short form:
up speed 1134000
down speed 6656000
SNR 25dB   
Loop Att 28dB

Here are the latest router stats in long form:
Running Mode            : ADSL2+(G.992.5)       State                : SHOWTIME
   DS Actual Rate          :  6656000 bps   US Actual Rate       :  1134000 bps
   DS Attainable Rate      : 10356000 bps   US Attainable Rate   :  1374797 bps
   DS Path Mode            :  Interleave    US Path Mode         :  Interleave
   NE Current Attenuation  :       28 dB    Cur SNR Margin       :       25  dB
   DS actual PSD           :    12. 8 dB    US actual PSD        :    18. 4   dB
   ADSL Firmware Version   : 211011_A
  -------------------------------- ATU-C Info ---------------------------------
   Far Current Attenuation :        4 dB    Far SNR Margin       :       11  dB
   CO ITU Version[0]       : 00005453       CO ITU Version[1]    : 00005443

Anyway, to conclude:
support informed me that if I keep a stable connection and don't disconnect for 48-72 hours then the banding may be removed. Hence my concern about disconnecting again to plug into the test socket.

Thanks again, and apologies for the long post!

Sean

[Rik]

So I will have to disconnect the router to get to the test socket.
Also, it seems that using the test socket means disconnecting my phone. As that is my business phone I can't have it disconnected during business hours.

You can just plug the phone in to the 'soap on a rope' filter, Sean.

support informed me that if I keep a stable connection and don't disconnect for 48-72 hours then the banding may be removed. Hence my concern about disconnecting again to plug into the test socket.

They want you to use the test socket to maximise your chances and to eliminate your internal wiring in one hit.

Thanks again, and apologies for the long post!

They're all welcome, long or short.

[SSK]

You can just plug the phone in to the 'soap on a rope' filter, Sean.

They want you to use the test socket to maximise your chances and to eliminate your internal wiring in one hit.

Sorry if I seem dense, but...

From what you say, I presume that internal wiring is eliminated even with the phone plugged into the 'soap on a rope'?

Sean

[Rik]

Yes, the phone is, in effect, plugged into the test socket. The internal wiring is connected to the faceplate.

[SSK]

Okay, now I feel really, really stupid...

I took off the face place, found the only socket, which the face plate actually plugs into. Presumably that is the test socket?

That socket appears to be a standard phone socket and not the smaller socket for the smaller (RJ11) ADSL plug.

The Kitz link above says "To test your adsl connection from this point either use either an inline adsl filter or one of the cables that is normally used with a 56k modem."
Surely if I get an inline adsl filter it will no longer be eliminating internal wiring?
Also, if I can find/get a cable that will connect the router directly to the test socket, where is the 'soap on a rope' for the phone?

Sean

[.Griff.]

Okay, now I feel really, really stupid...

I took off the face place, found the only socket, which the face plate actually plugs into. Presumably that is the test socket?

Yup that's the test socket.

Surely if I get an inline adsl filter it will no longer be eliminating internal wiring?

Removing the front plate from the NTE5 disables the internal extensions. You can see the extension(s) connected to the back of this plate.

[Rik]

What Griff said, Sean. You need the soap on a rope to give you the phone connection. With ADSL, it's the phone which is filtered, not the DSL, that passed straight through the filter.

[SSK]

Yup that's the test socket.


Removing the front plate from the NTE5 disables the internal extensions. You can see the extension(s) connected to the back of this plate.

Thank you for your patience.

Maybe I misunderstand you, but there is no internal extension wiring on the ADSL line. It was a brand new line installed specifically for my personal ADSL and my business phone. There is also a previous line (with a different number), which comes into the house at a different master socket in a different room, and which does have extensions and is used for fax and personal calls.

The BT line used for ADSL comes from outside the house and connects directly to the master socket. There are absolutely no other extensions in the house connected to that ADSL line. When the engineer installed the ADSL line he just put in the master socket without any extensions so the master socket on the ADSL line has no wiring apart from the incoming line. Only one phone, used for my business, plugs directly into the faceplate.

So with no internal extensions to, isn't the adsl socket on the face plate the same as the trst socket? Do I really need to connect to the test socket?

Sean

[Rik]

You do, filters can fail, Sean and contacts can wear. Once you go to the test socket, and prove the fault exists there, you've done it at BT's demarcation point, so it's a BT fault from there - no £160 charge.

[SSK]

You do, filters can fail, Sean and contacts can wear. Once you go to the test socket, and prove the fault exists there, you've done it at BT's demarcation point, so it's a BT fault from there - no £160 charge.

Okay, thanks.

I'll have to go and buy a modem lead that fits anto the test socket and also one of those 'soap-on-stick filters' so I can use the phone while the router is connected to the test socket.

Sean

[pctech]

Sean, most routers come with this kind of filter so have a look in your packaging.

[Rik]

You only need the soap on a rope, Sean, if you get the lead, there will be nothing to plug the phone into.