Need some advice on tip-top quality broadband phone cable

[OwlHoot]

My Internet connection is playing up, with network disconnects every few minutes. (This will probably end up being posted two or three times, after failed attempts, for which I apologise in advance!)

I've ordered a nice new Linksys Wireless-N WRVS4400N Router, which looks the dog's bollox and is reassuringly expensive, to replace my Linksys Wireless-G.

But the culprit is much more likely to be the ancient cabling in my flat to the phone junction box outside that serves the whole building. As well as being a normal phone cable, it is worn looking and buckled in places and curled up in a vile looking rat's nest by the front door, where it is regularly trodden on. So I plan to get someone from BT round to replace the lot.

Anyway, in brief, should I let them install a standard phone cable, or is there some thicker cable more suitable for 7 Mbyte/sec broadband (and maybe faster in the future)? I'd rather pay a bit more, or even quite a lot more, for peace of mind and optimal performance.

Also, do BT have to install it, or could any electrician, or even myself if I can fine out where to buy the cable?

Cheers

John R Ramsden ( [e-mail])

(Remove one o from yahooo to reply)

[Graham]

Look at it this way, how far are you from the exchange? A kilometre or two? maybe six or more? Your copper pair is in a bundle of hundreds of others, cables probably 20 or more years old installed long before ADSL was thought of. Yes you could wire the last few meters in your building in better quality cable like CAT 5 or CAT 6 but don't hold your breath.

Have you tried disconnecting every phone etc from the line and just having your router connected?

Another test you can do is try disconnecting all extension wiring from the master socket and plug the router in to the socket behind the removable faceplate.

If the above gives an improvement, then we need to investigate your filters and internal wiring. What attenuations and noise margins is your router reporting?

[Frank Erskine]

BT *will* do internal wiring, but will charge you (quite dearly), according to a pal of mine who's a BT "lineman", even if it's wiring to the NTE (the master socket). It seems that some time ago BT effectively "donated" their internal wiring to the customer and made them responsible for it :-(

[Andrew Welham]

Can you supply some more details?

Are you new to broadband?

About your service type and provider guessing max?

What is your line speed?

How long have you had the MAX service less than 10 days???

SNR and attenuation (upstream and downstream)

Has this just started or did this happen on an old service?

Does the broadband act differently if connected to different phone points in the house?

Do you have any crackling on the line when having normal voice calls ?

Can you hear a high pitched noise when on the phone (which only appeared after broadband was enabled) ?

New cabling could help; however the other posters are correct in the statement that the wires back to the exchange are probably not new.

Personally I have found good filters have helped the most. Also making sure every device (including the skybox) is connected via filters?

Andrew

A

[Graham]

My understanding of the OP's post was that he was referring to the wiring in the communal part of his block of flats ie. before his master socket.

[John Rumm]

Andrew's post contains valid questions you need to address...

However, I would say it *is* possible that your wiring is a problem - I have seen this happen with one of our customers on a DSL max (i.e. up to

8Mbit) product.

While technically you are not allowd to touch the wiring before the master socket, if you do it right no one will complain.

The only other sensible choice for your wiring *after* the master socket would be CAT5e cable. However the standard two or three pair BT wire is more than adequate. Try and avoid routing it close to mains wiring for long runs.

After the master socket; anyone. Before it; BT only (in theory). Obviously if you need to make connection back to a BT comms cabinet then I would leave that to them!

[Andrew Welham]

John

Thanks for clearing that up, yes I agree that it could be the cable, I have seen instances of that in the past.

In my opinion is sometime the visible condition of the cable, i.e old and bend + been there for years, which changes the focus away from the common issues, which cause disconnections/ slow data transfer. These are mainly

Distance from the exchange Poor quality filters It could also be poor internal/external wiring

or a combination of them all.

all the the above effect the SNR and attenuation

It is also important to remember that its UPTO 8Mb. Could be as low as I believe 256Kb???

Andrew

[John Rumm]

Yup very much so; both are relevant. I had one install recently where the setup had worked for years at 1Mb. It was "upgraded" to DSL Max and the connection would be lucky to stay up for more than 10 mins. After trying all the usual equipment swaps, and getting the ISP to run tests, nothing conclusive was found. However rewiring the place from a BT junction box near the cable entry point to a new NTE5 and faceplate splitter solved the problem.

Possibly, although I don't think I have ever seen one that low... I think about 3Mb is the lowest DSL Max speed I have seen.