DIY help... telephone wall socket

[MontyVeda]

hey up cyclists,

I'm having problems with my phone line and the Post Office are threatening to charge me £140 for an engineer to come out, which I'd rather avoid.

Called them last monday when i realised my landline phone wasnt working and they told me to buy a new handset. So i bought a new one, plugged it in and nothing... no dial tone and when i ring my landline (from mobile) i can hear the ringing tone on the mobile but my landline remains silent. I also took the router and microfilter out of the equation, and plugged the phone directly into the 'test' socket (behind the wall socket's facia)... but still nothing... no dial tone, just silence.

So i called them back on tuesday and told them it still isn't working, at which point they told me the line was faulty and they'd send out an engineer... waited 'til today and no engineer so i called them (the PO) back, only to be told that they'd cancelled the engineer because they'd tested the line and found the problem is at 'my' end (thanks for letting me know!), bit couldn't tell me where or what the problem is.

So far i've tried a new telephone handset, new microfilter, no microfilter, plugging into test socket.

Today i've fitted a new wall socket using the following wiring guide (it's only a master socket, no extensions)...

...and still nothing

the wall socket i bought is a cheapo from Wilko which i assume works as a master socket... but that's just a guess.

No idea if it's relevant but my broadband connection has been mostly working whilst the phone hasn't (same line)

the guys at the Post Office seem to just make something up and suggest i pay £140 for an engineer... but surely if the problem is the connection 'outside' my property, it's their problem and not mine.

any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[midlife]

I thought the Master Socket (and the connection to it) was the property and responsibility of BT / Openreach?

Shaun

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Can't see your image Monty. When I had issues it was the connections in the little box (not the square one) where the PO's responsibilities end and yours begin. Wee bit of reconnecting did the business

 

[13 rider]

If there is no dial tone in the test socket behind the front plate the fault is in the openreach network . unless you have damaged the wiring on the outside of your property the repair Will be Free you need the post office to arrange a visit by an openreach engineer . The ringing on your mobile number means nothing other than your number exists it Dosn't need a working line to make it sound like its ringing Phone circuit is an electroacoustic circuit needs two wires connected but broadband is a digital signal and can work over just one wire but not properly .Note I am a telephone engineer and have some idea what I'm talking about good luck getting it sorted
Edit put original socket back on you should not replace the master socket that belongs to openreach

 

[Dirk]

I thought it was BT that dealt with telephones? Ceased being Post Office Telephones the year I left ........ which was 35 years ago!

 

[MontyVeda]

i think it's BT that's charging the £140 to come and have a look (my provider is post office). Not sure which little box you mean @twentysix by twentyfive ... the line comes in through the window frame and straight into the white box with the phone socket in it.

wiring wise, there's four wires on the cable coming through the window frame; orange, white, black, green (black and green unused)... put the orange wire into connection number 2 on the new socket and the white wire into number 5 (6 connection is total).

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

It's this type of connector I was referring to.
http://www.britishtelephones.com/wiring/socketwiring.htm

 

[midlife]

13 rider has it nailed as far as know

Shaun

 

[13 rider]

i think it's BT that's charging the £140 to come and have a look (my provider is post office). Not sure which little box you mean @twentysix by twentyfive ... the line comes in through the window frame and straight into the white box with the phone socket in it.

wiring wise, there's four wires on the cable coming through the window frame; orange, white, black, green (black and green unused)... put the orange wire into connection number 2 on the new socket and the white wire into number 5 (6 connection is total).

New Ntes (master sockets) don't have numbered connections just two connecters on the rear part either wire of the pair ( normally orange /white on overhead cable but blue / white on underground cable) can go on either connecter

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

13 rider has it nailed as far as know

Shaun

Yep - I think so too.

 

[slowmotion]

Have you got a multi-meter that measures voltages up to about 60 volts?

 

[MontyVeda]

It's this type of connector I was referring to.
http://www.britishtelephones.com/wiring/socketwiring.htm

nothing like that i can see... there's only about 4" of cable between the windowframe and the wall socket, which is this. But I'll put the original wall socket back as our resident phone expert @13 rider advises.

 

[Dirk]

Have you got a multi-meter that measures voltages up to about 60 volts?

DC.

 

[13 rider]

nothing like that i can see... there's only about 4" of cable between the windowframe and the wall socket, which is this. But I'll put the original wall socket back as our resident phone expert @13 rider advises.

That socket is an extension socket . you would have got dial tone if the line was working but phone would not have rang on incoming calls . socket needs to be a master socket which has a built in capacitor .right thing putting original socket

 

[midlife]

This is what our master socket looks like, take off the front (2 screws) and plug in a phone as shown in the test socket on the right..... If there's no dial tone then it's BT / Openreach responsibility to fix.

Have you got something similar? Ours is in the garage where the phone line comes into the house.

Shaun