Is this a DIY task or do you have to engage a professional?

Hi, my mother in law's phone line is dodgy, she can hear me, but her
voice is breaking up, the advantages are obvious, but I'm afraid it
needs to be reported. Done a line test from the internet and two from
the phone, and they all say the line is fine, the problem starts when
waiting to speak to a human to tell them whats wrong with the phone,
the longest we lasted on hold was an hour and a half this afternoon.

Tried phoning the operator, the second time Mohammed got faults, or
whetever the dept is called to phone me back. Funnily enough when I
talked to someone from faults, they ran a line test, and both times it
timed out.

Fault finally accepted.

Anyone know how I can short-circuit the process next time?

I've had a few line tests before, every time they said the line was
fine, the fault lay beyond the primary connection, or whetever BTs
term for it is, and I'd have to pay for a callout if the fault lay in
the house, the fault never has been in the house.

How reliable are the line tests in a rural area, about a mile and a
half from the exchange?

"misterroy" wrote in message
...
Is this a DIY task or do you have to engage a professional?

Hi, my mother in law's phone line is dodgy, she can hear me, but her
voice is breaking up, the advantages are obvious, but I'm afraid it
needs to be reported. Done a line test from the internet and two from
the phone, and they all say the line is fine, the problem starts when
waiting to speak to a human to tell them whats wrong with the phone,
the longest we lasted on hold was an hour and a half this afternoon.

Tried phoning the operator, the second time Mohammed got faults, or
whetever the dept is called to phone me back. Funnily enough when I
talked to someone from faults, they ran a line test, and both times it
timed out.

Fault finally accepted.

Anyone know how I can short-circuit the process next time?

I've had a few line tests before, every time they said the line was
fine, the fault lay beyond the primary connection, or whetever BTs
term for it is, and I'd have to pay for a callout if the fault lay in
the house, the fault never has been in the house.

How reliable are the line tests in a rural area, about a mile and a
half from the exchange?


I know the problem is with getting the fault reported to BT but before
getting BT in, I assume you have swapped the phone to rule that out plus
plugged the phone direct into a master socket and not an extension ? -Oh,
and disconnected any extensions to rule a problem there too ?

Gio

misterroy wrote:
Is this a DIY task or do you have to engage a professional?

Hi, my mother in law's phone line is dodgy, she can hear me, but her
voice is breaking up, the advantages are obvious, but I'm afraid it
needs to be reported. Done a line test from the internet and two from
the phone, and they all say the line is fine, the problem starts when
waiting to speak to a human to tell them whats wrong with the phone,
the longest we lasted on hold was an hour and a half this afternoon.

Tried phoning the operator, the second time Mohammed got faults, or
whetever the dept is called to phone me back. Funnily enough when I
talked to someone from faults, they ran a line test, and both times it
timed out.

Fault finally accepted.

Anyone know how I can short-circuit the process next time?

I've had a few line tests before, every time they said the line was
fine, the fault lay beyond the primary connection, or whetever BTs
term for it is, and I'd have to pay for a callout if the fault lay in
the house, the fault never has been in the house.

How reliable are the line tests in a rural area, about a mile and a
half from the exchange?


misterroy

If Mother in Law has the 'new' style BT box:

Try using the information given in the following link to ascertain whether
the fault is on the BT line or inside the property:

http://www2.bt.com/static/i/media/pdf/repair_guide.pdf

The results will (should) give you a better idea as to where the fault lies.

Cash

misterroy submitted this idea :
Done a line test from the internet and

That is one I have not yet come across - how do you do that?

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
k...
misterroy submitted this idea :
Done a line test from the internet and

That is one I have not yet come across - how do you do that?


Ring the number from Skype?

On 20 Dec, 23:29, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
misterroy submitted this idea :

*Done a line test from the internet and

That is one I have not yet come across - how do you do that?

--
Regards,
* * * * Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Go to http://www.bt.com/youraccount/ and select Faults, just below the
"Your Account" tab heading, then "Think you have a fault" beneath
"Phone line problems". You have to do it from another line. It's not
infallible -- last time I used it it said my line was OK and I might
have to pay for the repair, even though the line was completely dead
(0v at the master socket).

Chris

she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*
If it's a wired phone then the curley cable might be suspect.

Has she tried another phone? It's important she eliminates this
possibility because if Openreach come out and pove the fault
is due to her equipment they will charge a three figure sum on
her next bill.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

In article
,
misterroy wrote:
Hi, my mother in law's phone line is dodgy, she can hear me, but her
voice is breaking up,

That's likely the phone itself rather than the line. There isn't a send
and return on the phone line - the pair carries 'both ends' of the
conversation at once.

--
*What boots up must come down *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Graham. wrote:

she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*

Not necessarily, although getting BT to admit it can be bloody
difficult. I live in a rural area and we've had similar problems, most
recently last week. Each time it occurs it is because of water in BT's
cable ducts.

Although much of the phone network in the area is carried via overhead
cables, at some key points these are lead underground. Water gets into
connectors, corroding them and leading to similar problems.

she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*

Not necessarily, although getting BT to admit it can be bloody
difficult. I live in a rural area and we've had similar problems, most
recently last week. Each time it occurs it is because of water in BT's
cable ducts.

Although much of the phone network in the area is carried via overhead
cables, at some key points these are lead underground. Water gets into
connectors, corroding them and leading to similar problems.
The OP says that his MIL can hear him, only her outgoing speech
is breaking up. As both sides of the conversation are carried by the same
pair of wires, logic would suggest it was her phone.


--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

Graham. wrote:


she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*

Not necessarily, although getting BT to admit it can be bloody
difficult. I live in a rural area and we've had similar problems, most
recently last week. Each time it occurs it is because of water in BT's
cable ducts.

Although much of the phone network in the area is carried via overhead
cables, at some key points these are lead underground. Water gets into
connectors, corroding them and leading to similar problems.

The OP says that his MIL can hear him, only her outgoing speech
is breaking up. As both sides of the conversation are carried by the same
pair of wires, logic would suggest it was her phone.

And you sound just like the droid at BT. As I pointed out above "we've
had similar problems" and it has never, ever been due to our telephone.
It only happens when there's been heavy rainfall over several days, the
engineers clear the fault by pumping out the water and repairing the
connection outside the house. But no doubt you know far better than I
what happens with my own phone.

You may want to consider that the OP didn't say that his mother can hear
him perfectly. He simply said that she can hear him. My experience is
that incoming calls are audible, but may be subject to high noise
levels. Outgoing calls are broken up.

Although there are only two wires between telephone and exchange, at the
exchange the outgoing signal is compressed. If the line is
intermittently noisy, it's possible that the compression leads to the
voice being "chopped" as the noise is taken as the peak of the signal.
There's no such problem with the audio fromn the exchange to the phone.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:15:53 UTC, "Graham." wrote:

she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*
If it's a wired phone then the curley cable might be suspect.

Has she tried another phone? It's important she eliminates this
possibility because if Openreach come out and pove the fault
is due to her equipment they will charge a three figure sum on
her next bill.

Cordless phone with ageing rechargeable batteries? That's exactly what
happened with my mum's phone. I guessed that was the cause and sent her
new ones, and the fault went away.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
http://www.diybanter.com

she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*

Not necessarily, although getting BT to admit it can be bloody
difficult. I live in a rural area and we've had similar problems, most
recently last week. Each time it occurs it is because of water in BT's
cable ducts.

Although much of the phone network in the area is carried via overhead
cables, at some key points these are lead underground. Water gets into
connectors, corroding them and leading to similar problems.

The OP says that his MIL can hear him, only her outgoing speech
is breaking up. As both sides of the conversation are carried by the same
pair of wires, logic would suggest it was her phone.

And you sound just like the droid at BT. As I pointed out above "we've
had similar problems" and it has never, ever been due to our telephone.
It only happens when there's been heavy rainfall over several days, the
engineers clear the fault by pumping out the water and repairing the
connection outside the house. But no doubt you know far better than I
what happens with my own phone.

You may want to consider that the OP didn't say that his mother can hear
him perfectly. He simply said that she can hear him. My experience is
that incoming calls are audible, but may be subject to high noise
levels. Outgoing calls are broken up.

Although there are only two wires between telephone and exchange, at the
exchange the outgoing signal is compressed. If the line is
intermittently noisy, it's possible that the compression leads to the
voice being "chopped" as the noise is taken as the peak of the signal.
There's no such problem with the audio fromn the exchange to the phone.

Unlike you, I am quite happy to be proved wrong in what I say.
It's no big deal to me.

But surly Steven, given what we have been told, you would agree
that the phone should be substituted before reporting a line fault.

--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

In article ,
Steve Firth wrote:
You may want to consider that the OP didn't say that his mother can hear
him perfectly. He simply said that she can hear him. My experience is
that incoming calls are audible, but may be subject to high noise
levels. Outgoing calls are broken up.

Great. Alter what the OP says to suit their theory.

--
*I took an IQ test and the results were negative.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

After serious thinking misterroy wrote :
Is this a DIY task or do you have to engage a professional?

Your symptoms suggest it is most likely a fault with the phone itself
and unless the phone is part of the rental - BT will not only NOT
repair it for you, but will charge you a vast sum for telling so.

Before complaining about a fault to BT, always make as sure as you can
that it is a fault on their line or equipment.

Pull the faceplate out and plug a known to be good phone into the
socket behind it, then make some test calls. That makes certain it is
not the phone, nor an internal wiring fault, before committing yourself
to calling them out. It is not a bad idea even if your line rental
includes the extensions too.

Tried phoning the operator, the second time Mohammed got faults, or
whetever the dept is called to phone me back. Funnily enough when I
talked to someone from faults, they ran a line test, and both times it
timed out.

Fault finally accepted.

I would try to cancel that, if they will let you - tell them you want
to conduct some more tests yourself. The line test is not absolute - it
might fail due to your own equipment being faulty. Eliminate that
possibility as a first step.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Graham. wrote:
she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up
That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather
than her *line*
Not necessarily, although getting BT to admit it can be bloody
difficult. I live in a rural area and we've had similar problems, most
recently last week. Each time it occurs it is because of water in BT's
cable ducts.

Although much of the phone network in the area is carried via overhead
cables, at some key points these are lead underground. Water gets into
connectors, corroding them and leading to similar problems.
The OP says that his MIL can hear him, only her outgoing speech
is breaking up. As both sides of the conversation are carried by the same
pair of wires, logic would suggest it was her phone.


classic case of a dodgy microphone connection..

Graham. wrote:

Unlike you, I am quite happy to be proved wrong in what I say.
It's no big deal to me.

You're talking crap, I don't have any problem with being proved wrong.
What I don't do is agree with a bunch of sheep just because the sheep
all say "Baaaaa."

But surly Steven, given what we have been told, you would agree
that the phone should be substituted before reporting a line fault.

No, the phone line should be tested first rather than spending money on
the phone.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Steve Firth wrote:
You may want to consider that the OP didn't say that his mother can hear
him perfectly. He simply said that she can hear him. My experience is
that incoming calls are audible, but may be subject to high noise
levels. Outgoing calls are broken up.

Great. Alter what the OP says to suit their theory.

Perhaps you can point out where I have done any such thing?

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 00:15:53 +0000, Graham. wrote:

she can hear me, but her voice is breaking up

That sounds more like her *phone* is faulty, rather than her *line*
If it's a wired phone then the curley cable might be suspect.

Has she tried another phone? It's important she eliminates this
possibility because if Openreach come out and pove the fault is due to
her equipment they will charge a three figure sum on her next bill.

I sympathize, first my very elderly neighbour over the road had a problem
with the phone not ringing in. Given the run around about having to check
out all the phones in your house first etc.etc. It would not have been
possible for here to have got any service without paying a lot of money to
BT.

When the same thing happened to me a few weeks later I was ready. It still
took a couple of working days for them to act and then another day with
the line completely dead (broadband OK so voip calls OK) before it got
fixed.

They really don't want you to have a working phone line it would appear?



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:19:05 GMT, Ed Sirett wrote:

They really don't want you to have a working phone line it would appear?

Residential or Business? Residential fault repairing is at the bottom of
the list. Fault on the business ISDN is fixed by the end of the next
working day, fault on the residential POTS is fixed by the end of the next
working week.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:06:56 +0000, Steve Firth wrote:

No, the phone line should be tested first rather than spending money on
the phone.

Trouble is the line test will only pick up gross faults like either wire
short to earth or open circuit. It can't reliably tell if a short between
the wires is really a fault or just how that line is at the time of the
test. Intermittent faults or noise just pass it by.

You don't need to spend money on a phone, borrow one from a neighbour...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Paul Matthews wrote:

Steve Firth wrote:

No, the phone line should be tested first rather than spending money on
the phone.

Cost of NFF from BT - £128
Cost of cheap phone to test £5.

I know which I'd do.

Testing my phone line. £0, cost of phone £15.

Saving to me £15.

On 20 Dec, 21:16, misterroy wrote:
Is this a DIY task or do you have to engage a professional?

Do it mainstream UK office hours, 9-5, 5 days a week, not bank
holidays.

That way you get a UK (Scottish?) call centre with a clue, not their
abysmal Indian outfit.