OK...the thing I want replaced is the little box where the BT phone cable first comes in from the outside (it's ancient and manky and also in a stupid position). Hope it's not a stupid question, but can I change this myself? I looked in Wickes and B&Q and they sold nothing resembling it, so I was a bit worried that maybe I would have to ask BT to change it (which they would no doubt charge shedloads for!).
Then saw one of these - is this the thingy I need?
You *can* change it. Whether you *may* change it is another matter entirely.
It is probably your only legal option.
Thought as much...
Better stick to that then - if I ever do anything wrong, I get caught straight away!
I'll phone them tomorrow... :(
The main advantage of having BT do it is they can't blame you later on if it goes wrong. The BT phone socket is actually quite a clever device - there's the faceplate socket on the outside, and this is also wired to all your extensions etc. Undo a couple of screws, the faceplate pops off, and you're left with another phone socket - this time with absolutely none of your wiring on. If you've got a phone problem, or more likely an ADSL one, you can plug stuff in there, and if it still doesn't work, and the stuff you're plugging in isn't knackered, it's BT's problem.
cheers, clive
In message , Maria writes
Maybe it got damaged a bit, and your are wondering if they needed to replace it or something?
True, and the incoming cable isn't usually suitable for IDC connectors. The correct box for connecting the drop wire to the internal wire has screw terminals on one side, and IDC connectors on the other. Possibly more importantly, it comes in two versions, one of which incorporates RF filters. If you have one of these, and replace it with a plain box of some description there are is an obvious risk of problems.
OTOH if your cabling is like mine it's just two wires connected which are easily lifted out and IDC'd into the matching connections in the new box which I've moved around a corner. I've kept the old box just in case I ever need to call BT out for anything.
Ive doe this and on further callouts from BT on unrelated isuues, the has been a lot of tut tutting anda nw box from the van marked 'BT' has been popped in gratis.
BT is no longer the government monopoly it was, and a lot of those who tool around in BT vans are in fact subcontract IIRC. They probably get line terminatin boxes free, and have no incenticve to be jobsworths.
... and the line has gone terribly crackly on occasions......
Report it as a line fault, be very nice to Mr BT when he comes, ply him with cups of teas, ask after his Aunt and his cat, and they'll do most things !
AWEM
Apparently BT are now telling little old ladies to remove the face plate and test their phone in the master socket before they'll deal with a fault. Otherwise it's an obscene £116 callout charge. IME it's pretty easy to dislodge wires on some of the older sockets. You can see BT's point of view but, as one pensioner said, "Do you want me to get up the telegraph pole as well?".
Chocolate biccies are essential if you plan to adopt this strategy.
And dump the laxatives in the tea if you don't get your way...
I expect they're sick to death of dealing with numpties aka 'the general public'.
If they make rules saying we can't touch x, then they'll just have to put up with us! :)
'S funny, I have exactly the same problem. I registered it only yesterday as a line fault, commenting that the innards of the box are badly corroded.
It certainly won't do in my case, as I have a 2 wire steel drop wire which is connected onto two screw-cup type of terminals with a further three way IDC connector which takes just two conductors of the cable to the master socket.
The BT80A is the appropriate box:
The wire from the 80A to the master socket (usually NTE5) should be the Blue pair. This will feed pins 2 and 5 (Blue and White of Blue respectively), with the master socket splitting ringing current out onto pin 3 (Orange). Pin 4 is White of Orange, but normally isn't required, while pins 1 and 6 (the accessory pair, Green in three-pair wire) also are not normally required.
Hi In reality BT are responsible for the incomming cable to the termination box but in todays world the lines are maintained by sub-contractors and telecom suppliers are many. As posted you can call BT and play the innocent "my phone gone silly can you come and fix it" having accidentally droped a heavy object on the box or again as posted remove the old box completely and fit a Master phone socket in place (
Or ask a friendly sparks or BT engineer for an aproved BT type socket.Most can accomodate you for a few quid.
HTH
CJ
cj coughed up some electrons that declared:
A few years ago I rang BT and asked if I could move my master socket to another room. I was put through to an engineering department of some sort and the informed opinion was, after talking to me, was "sure, go ahead, but be aware that we'll charge you if you somehow manage to break our equipment".
Pretty fair I thought.
Funny thing was, that it turned out that the master was incorrectly wired anyway (line to consumer side of split-face master, and vice versa) so it ended up in a better state when I'd finished.
Cheers
Tim
True, but the type with the RF chokes are pretty rare, and even if one was installed years ago, there is a possibility that the source of the interference no longer exists.
Of course, for ADSL to work, it is essential that such a filter be removed from the incoming line first.
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