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[curt_swift]

Hi,
I tried last week to help a friend of mine out with her adsl connection.  She is with plusnet and using a voyager 105 modem.  Everything has been fine for over a year but in early september they couldnt get a connection anymore.  They spoke to tech support at plusnet and were told it was a faulty modem.  3 weeks later a new modem arrives but they have same problem. 

I went along and had a look at it and the modem will not sync at all.  I tried it at 2 different phone points using 3 different filters in their house but got the same result.  I was unable to test the master socket as it has a blanking plate on it and no way of connecting into it.  However there are 2 extensions hard wired into the back of this socket which were done by a bt engineer 10 years ago.  Plusnet have run all there various tests and they have also contacted bt at the exchange and everything as reported back normal.

I am returning to her house again tonight to try a few more things as i now have another 2 modems to test.  How easy would it be to wire up a test socket on the main entry, as far as i know its only 2 cables A and B.  As i was thinking of using an old bt master i have and connecting that to have a definitive test on the main point of entry.  This is my last resort though and i want to try all other possible avenues prior to this.  Any other idea from you clever people here will be greatly appreciated!!1 Thanks in advance

[kitz]

Hi and welcome

Sounds like it could possibly be of the old star wired phone systems.

>> How easy would it be to wire up a test socket on the main entry, as far as i know its only 2 cables A and B.

You cant - BT would have a fruit if you touched that master socket Im afraid...  however there is one way that you can legally get around this and thats the way as explained by clarity here.

http://clarity.it/telecoms/nte5.htm

Since it would appear to be a star system then it may likely benefit if you remove the ring wire which you are allowed to do.  Phil has an excellent guide how to do this here

http://yarwell.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_yarwell_archive.html

The voyager 105 is normally one of the better modems to gain sync if a line is having problems through low SNR...  but Im wondering why this problem should occur out of the blue.   Has the account recently been "maxed"...  alternatively it could just be a line fault that has occured over time.

If after youve tried the obvious other stuff and still dont have any joy tonight..  just yell again.
Theres a couple of Plusnet "Comms" guys that visit this forum who are pretty good at pushing stuff with BT if needed.

[curt_swift]

Hi all, an update on last night visit to do a few final checks prior to getting BT out.  Well i took the front off the bt faceplate that was on the main point of entry. Like i mentioned on my first visit to the house i didnt touch this as i didnt think i could connect to it as it was a blank plate at the front at 2 extensions hard wired inside.  When i too the front off though it disconnected the 2 extensions and there was a BT test socket there so i was pleased!  I tried 3 differrent modems a sagem, the 105 and a talk talk modem.  None of them would sync after waits of around 15 mins.  However as i was in the lovely 30 mins call wait to speak to plusnet tech help the 105 managed to sync.  It logged in and connected fine. I browsed a few sites and it seemed to be working fine.  But as soon as i reset the modem it would not sync again even after about 45 mins.  I cant think of anything else to try so I think it must be time to get a BT engineer out.  Unless someone here has a better idea.  The line coming in was a 2 wire system not the 3 wire system which was mentioned on the first reply.

[roseway]

>> The line coming in was a 2 wire system not the 3 wire system which was mentioned on the first reply.

A small misunderstanding there. The incoming line is always two wires, but in the master socket the ring connection is generated by connecting a capacitor between a third wire and one of the two incoming wires. This third wire is not generally needed, and can be responsible for picking up interference, so it's often recommended to disconnect it.

However in your case you've eliminated this issue by connecting to the test socket. If you can't get a satisfactory connection from two or more different routers then it really does look like a line fault. If there is audible crackling or hiss on the line then you can report it as a voice fault (dial 150) and this should get a quick response from BT. Otherwise it's back to PlusNet for action.

[Jameseh]

Hi there,

Interestingly, I've just had a similar problem to you.  I've just moved house and placed a new order on my line.  I kept my netgear router plugged into the phone socket so I could see if it was activated early.  Activation date passes and I'm still not seeing any activity, so I locate my test socket and manage to sync briefly until I reboot the router.  Doesn't sync again.

BT Engineer comes out and it works fine with his kit.  So, my router had decided to die

Tried with another router and all is now fine, but quite annoying!

Can you please confirm that you're still not able to sync with the exchange now even if you are connected with the test socket?  If you could try using another modem, it would be really handy, just to make sure that your Voyager hasn't blown up like mine did!

[kitz]

Due to the fact that this problem occured on a previously working line and that the OPs tried all he can possibly do with a few different routers...
IMHO it sounds like this needs an engineers visit asap.

Curt if you'd like to pass on details of the Plusnet username to James - then he can perhaps have a look at the ticket and possibly arrange for a BT visit asap.

Thanks James.

[curt_swift]

Hi thanks for your help guys, I have booked an engineers visit to the house for Monday afternoon.  I will keep you posted on his findings.

[Jameseh]

Ah, brilliant.  I'd imagine that the engineer should be able to sort out your problem.

Hope everything goes well and that your friend is up and running in no time