BT Line fault help/suggestions?

ScumPuppyScumPuppy
edited February 2007 in Science & Tech
hi all

a friend of mine has a BT line with Tiscali as his ISP

a while back he said he couldnt get broadband until a BT engineer came out and fitted a white box on his wall.. this white box seems to have a built in microfilter as he plugs his dsl cable from his speedtouch usb modem directly into it and it works fine, all be it very slow, he can only get 1mb as he is very far from his exchange.

thats not the problem, the problem is he now has a laptop and wants to enjoy wireless... so he purchased a wireless modem/router, this wouldnt work, dsl light was blinking and in 'handshake' mode all the time... the shop who sold it him brought 5 more different brands/models around and finally found one that worked... this worked for a few days until it too went into 'handshake' mode and the dsl light started blinking...

ive been to have a look at it for him and its very baffling, the usb speedtouch modem works a treat, no problem there... however, a wireless modem router will not, I even used my trusted netgear modem/router from home, used his ISP logon credentials and it wouldnt work, dsl light blinking all the time...

I have no answer to this problem for him other than 2 things... the weird box on the wall seemed to fix his problem last year and was good enough to get the modem working but maybe the wireless modem/routers require something a little extra that it doesnt do or his line has a fault which the basic usb speedtouch modem doesnt pick up on...

how can we identify the problem, tiscali are useless, they arent even english when you ring them so they struggle to understand your problem and I struggle to understand what they are saying... and with BT its difficult to get the right person to do the right test...

any ideas? do wireless modem/routers require something slightly different on the line which would explain why a basic speedtouch usb modem works fine?

Comments

  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited January 2007
    VPI/VCI, call up the provider and check what VPI/VCI they use and make sure the new DSL modem is set accordingly, that's all I can think of. Except keeping the modem and plugging in the wireless router via uplink.

    Also, I don't think this is your issue if one of the DSL modems worked for a day but perhaps the ISP needs to add the MAC of the new modem into their system.
  • ScumPuppyScumPuppy
    edited January 2007
    RWB wrote:
    VPI/VCI, call up the provider and check what VPI/VCI they use and make sure the new DSL modem is set accordingly, that's all I can think of. Except keeping the modem and plugging in the wireless router via uplink.

    Also, I don't think this is your issue if one of the DSL modems worked for a day but perhaps the ISP needs to add the MAC of the new modem into their system.

    yes mate, all settings are perfect, everything is right in the router... the one that ended up working for a few days was fine and then it jusrt died... it works fine at mine but not at his, mine which works fine also does not work at his... definately not a router/config issue, seems to be that the modem works but not a router/modem, im thinking a line fault that the little modem doesnt seem to be sensitive to but the bigger router/modems do (dont know if this is feasable, im just guessing)... dont really wanna go down the route of uplink just yet, last resort that will be.

    you mention "perhaps the ISP needs to add the MAC of the new modem into their system" can you explain this a little more, i have never heard of this.. :)
  • ShortyShorty Manchester, UK Icrontian
    edited January 2007
    It is a BT line, so you can use any G.DMT compatible ADSL modem. BT do not care about MAC addresses of hardware :)

    The failure of the handshake is more than likely because of the poor line. If they can only get a dire 1mb, they must be very much on the borderline of exchange distance. Get the line whooshed by Tiscali. This will confirm is there is any additional degradation on the line. I don't believe that a USB device is any more/less sensitive than modem & router :)
  • ScumPuppyScumPuppy
    edited January 2007
    Shorty wrote:
    Get the line whooshed by Tiscali. This will confirm is there is any additional degradation on the line. I don't believe that a USB device is any more/less sensitive than modem & router :)

    thanks, I will try that... in the interim, anybody any ideas why a speedtouch USB modem will work yet a modem/router will not? as stated above, its not a config problem... one did work for a few days, not any longer... can anyone shed any light on potential line problems which modem/router units seem to struggle with as opposed to a small usb modem? it just seems very strange and ive never come across this before, i like to try and understand if possible :)
  • rapturerapture
    edited January 2007
    Get the line whooshed by Tiscali.
    I doubt the Tiscali phone monkies would know what Woosh is.

    What brands of router have you tried on the line?

    As for what works and what doesnt its probably a chipset thing. Some are better suited to crappy lines. Spending more money doesnt always work either.
  • ScumPuppyScumPuppy
    edited January 2007
    Off the top of my head I cant remember, his local computer shop sold him a wireless modem/router which wouldnt work so they took 4 or 5 different makes and models and they found only one would work.. cant remember the brand, never heard of it before i saw it last week... then it did the same as the others after a few days so i tried my own netgear router which has never failed me in the past, still the same... just cant get my head around how a crumby little usb modem is fine but wireless modem/routers wont have any of it, and whats even more baffling is how this one was fine for a few days then did the exact same thing... Im curious as to what this little white box on his wall does, its got a dsl socket and a phone socket on it, you plug the dsl cable directly into the dsl socket without a microfilter and the usb modem works off that, whereas if you go with a microfilter it doesnt work so it must have some sort of microfilter incorporated into it somehow?! they say that before BT put that in place of the traditional phone box they couldnt get dsl, the modem wouldnt work... this makes it work and somehow must be stopping the modem.router working im assuming?!?
  • rapturerapture
    edited January 2007
    Those boxes are called SSFPs or service specific face plates. BT don't usually install them now as they tend to break.

    On the front are 2 screws, remove those and you will see a stripped down version of a standard BT socket behind. Plug a microfilter in there and plug everything else in the usual way and see if its any better.

    Have a look here if you're a bit unsure. You can rule out a faulty integrated filter this way.
  • ScumPuppyScumPuppy
    edited January 2007
    I see.... so thats what they are called, yes ive followed your hyperlink and thats whats on his wall... Ive just rang him and advised to remove the faceplate and try it with a standard microfilter to rule out a faulty built in microfilter, many thanks, i will post my findings on this thread when i know more... as always if anyone has any other helpful advice Im all ears, thanks for that suggestion :)
  • ScumPuppyScumPuppy
    edited February 2007
    just thought I would post an update

    nothing worked, my friend still couldnt get his modem/router working, only his usb speed touch modem would work...

    however... he rang me on saturday and said his router just started working again?!?! very strange, dont know why, cant explain it... will update this thread if it dies again... still cant understand
  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    Is it possible, (- because tiscali use multi dial up numbers -) could the router be set to just one of the dial up numbers - = intermittant connection
  • ScumPuppyScumPuppy
    edited February 2007
    no, cant see it being that, its not dial up, its broadband, theres no number sinvolved on either the usb modem side or the router side, just username, password and encapsulation etc etc... pretty standard really... and the config on the router must be right as it works, it wouldnt work otherwise, then it died and went into handshake mode for a week or so and all of a sudden its back up and running... yet the usb modem constantly worked ok?!
  • KentigernKentigern Milton Keynes UK
    edited February 2007
    Sorry not thinking straight this a.m.
  • RWBRWB Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    I think think it's a VPI/VCI issue...
    http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/ueagle/vpivci.html
  • PterocarpousPterocarpous Rosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA! New
    edited February 2007
    RWB wrote:
    I think think it's a VPI/VCI issue...
    http://damien.bergamini.free.fr/ueagle/vpivci.html
    Hey ya RWB. I've been following this thread for my own edification. It's been interesting. Could you expound on that link and your reference to VPI/VCI, please (for the uninitiated) :smiles: ?
  • rapturerapture
    edited February 2007
    VPI/VCI settings would not affect sync.
    this worked for a few days until it too went into 'handshake' mode and the dsl light started blinking...
  • PterocarpousPterocarpous Rosie the Riveter Lives On in CA, USA! New
    edited February 2007
    Got it. Thanx anyway! (I know I'm not the only one puzzled by these terms so, here are some explanations. The rest of you experts just march on past! :wink: )
    • BT='...the U.K.'s largest carrier...'
    • Tiscali=U.K. Broadband Svc.
    • VCI
    • VPI
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