Disconnection when phone rings - RECENT problem

[Orientation17]

Hi, just joined the forums as it's helped me as a guest in the past and I figured it may be a better alternative than phoning Sky again.

Last week we had a problem with our Sky+ box and lost the functions of Sky+ and had to call out for a technician. In the midst of this my father seemed to gather the idea that they were sending a signal to fix the problem over the phone line... only our box isn't connected to the phone. So we plugged the Sky box into the main phone line and plugged our phone into the upstairs outlet, which is where my broadband connection is connected to. After we had phoned and cleared things up we switched back to the regular setup and after plugging the broadband back in I've been encountering problems.

This hasn't happened before. I managed to cure random disconnections by using/changing filters or scrapping them all together and discovering it was faulty extension cables, and the disconnecting started happening again for no apparent reason. I thought it was strange when sometime last week before the engineer came out to replace the Sky+ box it disconnected after the phone was answered. I plugged the broadband into the downstairs master outlet phone socket and ran some tests and did some resets and I thought I had cured the problem. My sister had told me it was getting disconnected again a couple of days later, and after just hearing the phone ring and getting disconnected I tested that. I called the downstairs phone through a moblie and it disconnected after being answered.

As you can see this is not a standard problem as it has only very recently started happening, and only since the phone line was plugged into the outlet where my broadband is regularly running through. I know that really shouldn't be a cause of a problem, but obviously it is - what could it be? I have tried using a couple of different filters and had no changes and I honestly find best results for my connection through no filter at all. I don't think it's a case of me receiving too much of a downstream as I'm on the base package, and like I said this has only very recently occurred - everything was sound before the phone was plugged in upstairs.

As I've read it might have something to do with noise margins, heres my stats from the NETGEAR /192.168.0.1/ page:



I haven't removed the faceplate yet as I'm not sure if the wirings could really have changed from simply plugging a phone line in. Is this unreasonable or do I have a problem? I'd rather put off phoning Sky as I can't stand their customer support and I assume I'd be told it would be a fault in the line, redirected to BT, and then passed back and forth being told different things.

Any help is appreciated!

[PaulSky]

Is the sky tv lead plugged into a filter? Can you explain your current physical setup on the telephone line?

[Orientation17]

We don't have the Sky box running into the phone line, it's not connected, it's pure satellite. The technician gave us a splitter which is what the phone downstairs is running through straight into the master socket - I don't suppose the splitter has anything to do with it? Worth a shot taking it out and testing? Then my router is plugged straight into the phone point upstairs. No other connections taking place.

[krysis]

Make sure any phone socket that is being used has 1 microfilter connected to the socket first before anything - Using this setup resolves most issues.

[Isitme]

There is something a bit confusing here, you say you are on Base, which has a maximum connection speed of 2048kbps. Your stats show that you are connecting at 5088kbps.

Can you confirm you are on Base which, at the moment, is free as it appears you have a Mid connection. Your profile on MySky should show which package you are on.

By far the best way to sort things out is to remove the faceplate and plug into the Test socket. See what your stats show and how your phone performs from there.

You might also want to try a quiet line Test, from your Master socket then from the Test socket. Using a corded phone, plug in and dial 17070, option 2. Your line should be quiet with only a very faint hiss. No snaps crackles or pops. If there is noise, report it to your phone rental provider, do not mention broadband.

[Orientation17]

Right, it's still going on and it's a problem I can't ignore anymore, seriously ******* me off.

Apparently our connection is not with Sky. We moved house over a year ago and thanks to the tireless efforts of the sky broadband team they didn't do what they were supposed to around a month after we had moved in. It turns out our connection is actually running from BT, but we're using the sky service. So we pay sky, who in turn pay BT (I don't really know how this works) but it's down to the fact that sky haven't done what they're supposed to so it's all unbeknown to me.

I have filters on both lines and I can't take off the faceplates because it's going to rip the plaster off the wall. This can't be a problem that's to do with hardware and sorts since the damn thing is a RECENT PROBLEM, therefore it only seems like a coincidence that it seems to have happened since I plugged our phone into the socket the modem usually goes into.

Excuse my tone but my patience is tried and tested and when you pay for a service you expect to get it. We've only just finally managed to get our faulty Sky + box sorted so I don't really want to go through the epic saga of calling the sky ghostbusters to work their harry potter wand and fix everything only after they drag you through a bush. What exactly can I do to stop this? Am I getting too much connection coming through on the line and when the phone rings it's an overload? Why is that happening only now and why not before? How can I manage the line speeds since I know my download speed NEVER goes over 512kbps so what the hell am I supposed to do? Again, forgive me, but I'm really exhausted with all of these sky related problems.

[Isitme]

Have you checked your account in your MySky page? This will show you what you are being supplied. You seem to have been told that you are on Connect, which is the name Sky use for the BT service, but your stats do not indicate this. 'Fobbed off' springs to mind. If you log into your MySky page, scroll down the left hand side and select Billing Centre, this will show what package you are on for Broadband.

To return to your problem, I am afraid there is no other way to sort your problem out except by removing the face plate of the Master socket. If it has a joint line across the face, it is a newer type NTE5 and the lower half of the plate is designed to be removed. If it has not got a line it is the older type without a Test socket. Irespective of what type it is, it should not be plastered in, the faceplate should be removable.

If you have the newer type, clicking the Test Socket link below will give you further information. If it is the older type, there is not a lot you can do, except remove the ring wire from terminal 3. This wire is redundant when using filters and with modern phones and can act as an aerial causing a lot of interference.

If you have a Test socket please plug the router in there and post your stats. If you don't, remove anything you have plugged into extensions, remove the ring wire and try your stats from the Master socket, using a filter only.