Phone line dead slow broadband, or no Internet connection – what should I do?
Question: Do you have extension sockets or wiring in your house?
If all you have is one socket, please contact your service provider as they are responsible for your line from the exchange, and up to and including the Master Socket, and you can get the repair done free!
If you do have extension wiring connected, this is classed as your own and you may need an engineer to visit and carry out tests to isolate the faulty wiring and remove or renew. Just click the ‘Contact Me’ tab to arrange a visit and get the problem sorted quickly.
How to check for corrosion
Phone line dead ? I found this poor BT Master Socket covered in plaster!
Look for the green corrosion around the gold plated connections in the socket. Even the tiniest amount, caused by condensation or dampness could make your line noisy and reduce your Internet connection speed.
No charges can be raised against you unless you have damaged a cable, or there is dampness or corrosion in the telephone socket caused by a building defect.
This BT Junction Box was on a damp draughty window sill.
If yes (you do have extension sockets) carry on reading.
Phone line dead slow broadband, or no internet connection - what should I do?
Question: Can you locate your Master Socket? The modern type front panel is in two halves. If yes, carry on. If not, contact me.
Question: Can you remove the front ‘Test plate’ carefully pull forward enough to plug your telephone directly in to the test socket now revealed. Do you have dial tone or is the phone line dead ?
If you have dial tone then your extension wiring or something plugged in to an extension socket such as Sky box, faulty ADSL filter has a short circuit on it. This makes the phone line dead every time you plug the front plate back in.
This is how things should look. Clean, no corrosion, wires terminated correctly and pushed firmly into the slots. No stray uninsulated wiring to touch together causing a short circuit.
Eliminate anything plugged into the extension sockets
You now need to unplug EVERY single thing (Broadband filters, Sky Box, telephones) from the telephone extension sockets around the rest of the house to determine if it’s something plugged into the phone line, or the extension wiring itself that’s faulty.
It's a process of elimination
Make sure your hoover hasn’t crashed into the extension plugs and damaged the socket! If your wiring looks like this, maybe you need me to visit and tidy it all up!
Help is here, here I am 🙂
If you have everything unplugged, with the plate in place the line is faulty, phone line dead, but with it unplugged, everything works OK when you use the test socket, you have a wiring fault and you need an Ex BT Engineer Call Now 07790 200800
