Who fixes telephone line problems these days?

[TimberWolf]

My mother has a fault with her phone, but she isn't with BT. Who do you ring and who fixes line faults? The problem is almost certainly inside the house though; the wiring is decades old and is a mess. I think the fault is in the house wiring.

Fault symptoms:
She mainly uses cordless phones in the house and these work fine. But she also has a old unpowered corded handset in the kitchen. This one rings when it is connected to its phone socket. When I connect a known working phone to that kitchen phone socket, the dial tone is also of a ringing type, so I suspect it is the wiring there rather than that phone. I didn't test the kitchen phone in a known working phone socket, probably because its base is screwed to the wall.

The wiring looks a bit of a shocker and I'm not sure I fancy having a go at it, unless it is easy, i.e. replace the socket, which is wobbly, has a loose front and has another line coming out of it, so is a suspect. I didn't ascertain whether this is the primary input (or whatever the main or first house phone junction is called) or a spur (again for want of a better term), but it does have an "extender" coming out of it and that disappears into the wall. I didn't trace where that went. I was only looking on passing and intend to have a better look when I have a better idea what I'm looking at.

What am I looking at?

[Sockpuppet]

My mother has a fault with her phone, but she isn't with BT. Who do you ring and who fixes line faults? The problem is almost certainly inside the house though; the wiring is decades old and is a mess. I think the fault is in the house wiring.

Fault symptoms:
She mainly uses cordless phones in the house and these work fine. But she also has a old unpowered corded handset in the kitchen. This one rings when it is connected to its phone socket. When I connect a known working phone to that kitchen phone socket, the dial tone is also of a ringing type, so I suspect it is the wiring there rather than that phone. I didn't test the kitchen phone in a known working phone socket, probably because its base is screwed to the wall.

The wiring looks a bit of a shocker and I'm not sure I fancy having a go at it, unless it is easy, i.e. replace the socket, which is wobbly, has a loose front and has another line coming out of it, so is a suspect. I didn't ascertain whether this is the primary input (or whatever the main or first house phone junction is called) or a spur (again for want of a better term), but it does have an "extender" coming out of it and that disappears into the wall. I didn't trace where that went. I was only looking on passing and intend to have a better look when I have a better idea what I'm looking at.

What am I looking at?

BT still own the phone line at least up to the master socket anyway. After that you can get a local guy in or BT will come and fix it for a fee.

If you can get to the master socket (i.e. the one with BT stamped on it) its a 3 core wire to fix the problem by running it to the other sockets (2 for speech + ringer)

[MonzaMike]

Note that where the line comes into your house there should be a Master socket.

If there is a fault beyond that then it's your responsibility.

BT/Your provider will fix this, but charge you for the privilege.

If a phone works OK when plugged in here then it's the dodgy wiring. (but avoid the old kitchen phone if this sounds old and dodgy)

Maybe an electrician would be a better bet if you think your wiring is at fault.

If the problem is before the master socket then your provider should fix it.

[Zippy]

If I have inderstood the problem correctly then you should be able to test the kitchen phone by getting an extention (male to female) lead and connecting the kitchen phone to another socket.

[oversteer]

To clarify, whenever you plug a phone into the kitchen socket, it just rings continuously?

I would guess the extension has been wired on incorrectly, with probably the 2+5 pair the wrong way around at one end.

If the kitchen socket is the master socket (it may be bigger than the rest, have a provider logo on it BT / NTL etc, or have a wire that definitely runs outside as well as a 'spur' off to another socket) then take any extension wiring off the master socket, test the socket on its own, then check the wires, swap if necessary and test again.


UK Telephone Wiring
Installation

[gingerjedi]

Try disconnecting the orange wire from the master socket, you don't need a 'ring' wire unless the phone has a bell in it.

thinkbroadband :: RADSL / Max ADSL / up to 8Mbps FAQ

May help? At least it should improve BB.

[TimberWolf]

To clarify, whenever you plug a phone into the kitchen socket, it just rings continuously?

I would guess the extension has been wired on incorrectly, with probably the 2+5 pair the wrong way around at one end.

If the kitchen socket is the master socket (it may be bigger than the rest, have a provider logo on it BT / NTL etc, or have a wire that definitely runs outside as well as a 'spur' off to another socket) then take any extension wiring off the master socket, test the socket on its own, then check the wires, swap if necessary and test again.


UK Telephone Wiring
Installation

Good tips.

Yes, it just rings continuously.

As far as I'm aware the fault developed on its own, but now you mention it, it's always possible someone tinkering with it and swapped wires around. Only an outside possibility though. I think the fault began showing symptoms (ringing on its own) only occasionally, before progressing to full blown ringing continuously. I wouldn't be surprised if I took the cover off the socket and find it's full of rust or spiders or something.

[jatinder]

Same thing happened to me a few years ago - phone(s) started to ring by itself occasionally - eventually it was ringing all the time. I can't remember if the same thing happened if I plugged the phone into the master socket.

Anyway, the BT engineer that came round to fix it spotted the problem fairly quickly - there was a buildup of condensation in the master socket. Drying it out fixed the problem - until the next time that the condensation built up.

--Jatinder

[configman]

My mother has a fault with her phone, but she isn't with BT. Who do you ring and who fixes line faults? The problem is almost certainly inside the house though; the wiring is decades old and is a mess. I think the fault is in the house wiring.

Got to bt.com they have an online tool that tests the connection, it can help detect if the problem is inside or outside the house. Used this recently to detect problem was outside the house and it was fixed within 2 days.

Check the wiring into the master socket see which colours are connected and to what - so many diyer's/builders do not follow the colour code so don't assume they are correct in the kitchen phone.