Help with broadband modems please

[muddyjames]

What I had

input from BT --> extension lead --> adsl splitter --> phone 1 side modem the other.

What I would like to achieve

Cordless phone with answer machine built in by front door, normal phone on desk in my bedroon next to the pc which has broadband.

bits I have

2 phones, (1 a handfree cordless jobby with built in answer machine. Has 2 cables. can either be plugged into normal bt plug or can be plugged into adsl plug and it still works then.) 1 broad band modem, 2 adsl filters, long extension lead.


What I have tried

BT input on wall --> adsl spliter 1 side has new cordless phone in other side extension lead.   extension lead --> adsl spliter. 1 side has modem other side has normall push button phone.

BT input on wall --> adsl spliter 1 side has nothing in other side has phone doubler, 1 with new phone in other side with extension lead.   extension lead --> adsl spliter. 1 side has modem other side has normal push button phone.

Same as both above but no spliter when entering the house. ADSL splitters just 1 at a time before the modem goes into the pc and they work.

What doesnt happen

modem comes up saying no dial tone.

What does happen

Always get a dial tone

Any help or suggestions greatly recieved.

[dreadnought110]

:? Have you got new software ,not sure but i don't think broadband looks for a dial tone so it could be down to settings??have a look whats going of in devices?

[muddyjames]

No new software.

No new modem. if I have just 1 phone with 1 pliter by the pc it all works fine 99% of the time. Occasionaly I get cut off and have to close Epxplorer to reconnect but thats another problem! It is only when I add in another splitter it tells me there is no dial tone.

Modem, normal phone, extension lead, 2 spliters all work as I used them for 2 years in my old house.

[dreadnought110]

:? mine used to disconnect after a while reloaded the programme and it seems to have cured it other that that pass? computer's annoy me most of the time give me a set of spot lights or a radio to fit and i am happy :D

[muddyjames]

never had a installation cd with any modem and tiscali's modem they were supposed to send me still hasnt arrived!!!

I hate computers too. Give me a cb radio and some spot lights and I could probably do a fab dangerous bodge job!!! Im not very good at meachanice either :lol:

[dreadnought110]

I hate computers too. Give me a cb radio and some spot lights and I could probably do a fab dangerous bodge job!!! Im not very good at meachanice either :lol:[/quote] HEY you moaned about my grammer!!!!  :lol:

[karlo]

Some extension leads cause problems with broadband as i found out. :roll:

[muddyjames]

whats wrong with what I typed? Looks readable to me  :?  

[dreadnought110]

What is (meachanice) ?? is it new form of self defence?? :lol:

[muddyjames]

ok so I am bad at spelling :lol: I meant something like mechanics!!

[JPJ]

I think that the ADSL splitter must be the first thing downstream of the BT wall socket. The ADSL side must only have your modem/router in it.
In the other side put the splitter so that you can have the cordless and the extension. You can also buy junction boxes so that you could have a single cable from the phone side of the adsl splitter to this box (screwed somewhere out of sight) and then run two cables from the junction box to your phones.

[Jimbo]

OK, Here goes...........

Every phone socket - be it the original BT master, or one on the end of an extension cable must have a 'splitter' (actually it's a microfilter, not just a splitter). The ADSL splitter/microfilter chops the frequency spectrum of the line into two, normal audible frequencies for the phone, and the inaudible higher frequencies for the ADSL modem.

You *shouldn't* be able to plug a phone into the modem socket on the filter - the filter should have two sockets, one 'BT' style for phones, and an RJ12 (or is it RJ11 ?) for the ADSL modem.

My setup is like this:

BT into house, I've hardwired an exension to upstairs and the office off this master socket, there's a filter plugged in to the master socket with the answerphone in it.

Secondary (extension) socket in bedroom -> got filter in it, with cordless base station plugged in

Another secondary (extension) socket in office -> got another filter, with ADSL router plugged in, and another cordless base station in it.

It's all quite simple to me, but then I've been doing it for 20 years !

More questions - ask away  8)

Jim

[Jimbo]

MuddyJames,

I've just re-read your post, try this:

Main BT socket -> filter/splitter -> plug a 'double adaptor' into the phone socket on the splitter, plug your cordless basestation into one hole, and your extension lead into the other...........at t'other end of the extension lead, plug another filter in, and the plug the ADSL modem into the hole marked 'ADSL' or 'modem' and your ordinary phone into the other hole. That should work.

The only problem might be........(and I've had this happen on a customer site), if you are almost at the maximum distance from the BT exchange (5km for the 512k ADSL service), adding a long extension lead to the master socket *may* push you over the limit, and you will run into problems.

Jim

[muddyjames]

I am about a 5 minute drive from the village the exchange comes from.

I do have a problem of being online then getting cut off randomly and not being able to reconnect until i have closed all internet windows. sometimes i stay logged on for ages other times 2 mins and i get cut off again.

I am on an old bt style exchange so I have been told.

[Jimbo]

Being cut off can be caused by any number of things:

1. does the phone go dead when you loose the t'interweb connection ?
2. is the line into your house off a pole, or underground - pole-fed lines can cause problems if the cable is old and knacked.
3. Are you using an ADSL modem or router - does the modem/router report the ADSL line as having dropped/disconnected, or does the browser just lock up ?

You can get an automatic (and free) test done on your line if you think it's faulty, there's an 0800 number in the front of the phone book. The test asks you to disconnect all equipment from the master socket, it will report really cr4p quality and total disconnects, and may pick up line degradation issues. Once the test is complete, you get the option to speak to a real person, or have the fault logged and passed out to an engineer. They reserve the right to charge you for the visit if they find the line is all clear.

Some modems/routers have web interfaces that allow you to look at line stats - might be worth checking, signal to noise ratio and attenuation figures are the ones to look at - s/n ratio wants to be a high figure (normally it will be in dB's), and attenuation wants to be low. A low s/n figure would indicate noise on the line, and high attenuation can indicate a degraded/poor quality line.

BTW - I don't work for BT, just have dealings with them every day whilst working for another large communications outfit !

Jim

[blade]

plug the filter directly into the main socket plug all extensions etc into the filter plug modem in other side. as for modem software my guess is its a speedtouch 330 download it off the net. if it still comes up no dial tone maybe the filter is f**ked i had this with a new filter if it comes up with error 720 or 721 cant remember which the exchange thinks your already connected call your isp and moan