Amplified phone causing Broadband drop off???

[MichaelZZ]

Being a little hard of hearing I was advised to buy an amplified phone to supplement our existing conventional phone.
Since I installed this phone - on an extension with all the correct filters in place - I have had sporadic problems with my internet speed dropping from the usual 4.8Mbps to <2Mbps, occasionally to< 1Mbps. My ISP has done various checks and even supplied me with a new router and ADSL filters. They are sure that the fault is not with them. They suggested that the problem was almost certainly with BT. (I had already eliminated my internal wiring as the root of the problem by connecting everything straight into the test socket in the BT master socket.) BT have checked the line on a number of occasions and say there is no fault.
It has occurred to me that it might be something to do with the new phone. The reason I say this is that the phone gets its power from the phone line rather than via a mains adaptor and when I first had it I noticed that the "Last number redial" facility and the "One touch / two touch memory" feature did not hold memory for more than a few hours. This suggested to me that there was some sort of fault with the phone. I returned it to the supplier who "carried out extensive tests and found nothing wrong" and returned it to me. It is still under warranty so I intend trying to bounce it back again but I wonder if any of you good folk out there can comment as to whether it is likely that my internet drop-off could be due to the same (unconfirmed) fault as the memory loss described above.
Thanks for any comments.

[Tuvok]

It took 4 BT engineers to find out why our broadband speed was low.

One changed the phone socket.

One changed the hub.

Every time they came the speed would go back up - as each checked from the exchange to the house.

The 4th engineer was just about to go and change something at the exchange, but contacted someone in Edinburgh first who told him to try something.

What he found was that our Freeview recorder, which had no means of connecting to the phone was interfering with the broadband. He used a meter and showed the difference when the box was on and off.

Weird I know!!! He mentioned a case of someones broadband being affected at the same time daily - turned out the cause was 1/2 mile away at another house when a plasma tv was being switched on when kids came home from school.

So, anthing is possible.

[percypineapple]

Hi,
i am a self employed telephone engineer, and deal with broadband problems all the time.
first question: what time of day does this happen, or is it anytime? if it's evenings, then it may be too many people on line at the same time, or that your ISP has throttled you back because you were using too much bandwith, by watching you tube, I player etc.
next question: if you have used the test jack in the master socket, are you sure that the cable feeding the master socket does come straight to the socket, and has not been interferred with somewhere? ( if its overhead feed, look at the cable from the pole to the house, if it goes into the loft, then it needs investigating to make sure it goes straight to the master socket, and that there are no cut ins on the cable, or junction boxes etc. with other cables going to extension sockets)
Next: where the BT cable comes through the wall, is it only the BT cable, or are there other cables in the same hole? such as aerial cables etc.
Next obvious question: have you " unplugged the new phone and tried the speed from the test jack then plugged it back in again? ( to the filter) and tested again.?
Do you have a sky box plugged into the phone circuit?
I must just add that all sorts of things can cause problems, such as wires run next to fluoresecent fittings. microwave ovens, and sky boxes are a real bummer, a great big metal box picking up all sorts of interference, but not normally when the signal strength is good, and 4Mbs is quite reasonabale.

Percy.

[MichaelZZ]

Thanks for your replies Percy and Tuvok.
Just to clarify a few points:
The problem can happen at any time.
My ISP says that because of my tariff I'm not subject to throttling.
The cable is underground; always has been since the house was built 38 years ago. As far as I can tell, comes straight in.
No other cables; TV and radio aerials are nowhere near. No Sky (if there was I'd probably have their broadband!) No Freeview or other recorder.
Percy, I don't know if you've seen my post of Wed 9th on the same subject; there's a bit more information in that.
I reckon I've tried just about every combination of new phone / old phone in the test socket.
The thing about the possibility of the new phone being the problem only occurred to me earlier today and then I recalled the "memory" problem with this phone.
Is there any way that this phone can be tested to see if it has a fault. The supplier said they'd tested it but I'm a bit sceptical. Is the fact that it is "self powered" significant?
I'm actually now leaving the thing disconnected for a couple of weeks to see if that has any effect on my drop off frequency.
The other point that I perhaps should have made is that my broadband speed restores itself magically after some time. When it did that this afternoon I thought that BT had solved the problem but I then got a call from them to say they had been unable to find any fault on the line!
Any more ideas? Please??

[Tuvok]

Run the BT speed test (google it) - it will tell you your speeds and ip profile.

If, as you suggest, leave the new phone unplugged for a few days, keep checking thenspeed test - the software at the exchange monitors your connection. If it thinks you are having too many dropouts, it will drop speed for a few days, once its stable, it may up your speed. It will do this. until it thinks your line has stabilised and will put you onto the relevant speed/ip profile.

Occasionally ip profiles can get stuck, and you then have to contact your isp to get it unstuck.

Also search for what speed you should get from your exchange.

[MichaelZZ]

Update on previous comments...
Having unplugged what I believed to be the offending phone last evening, my download speed stayed pretty constant at around 4.5Mbps through the night. (I was monitoring a couple of long haul flights with my daughters on board.) However, all of a sudden, the speed dropped to ~1Mbps and has been fluctuating all day, only briefly getting above 2Mbps and then falling back again. Obviously not the new phone then! The phone has been disconnected all day and will stay that way.
The phone line is working OK (with another phone) with no crackling so I suspect it's the broadband bit of the line that has the problem. How do I get BT to take me seriously and not just say "No fault on the line"?

[methyl]

How far are you from the telephone exchange?
If you check the BT site for broadband availability from your telephone number, what speed does it offer? 4.8 Mbits/sec is pretty impressive on old telephone cable unless you happen to live very near to the exchange where your cable terminates.
Where is the ADSL router in the circuit?