Modem locks phone line

[Evil Eddie]

Hi all,

Have a question regarding my modem and house phone line and I was hoping someone could shed some light on this issue.

We lost our landline and broadband internet connection one day, so using my wife's mobile phone I loaded up the providers trouble shooting guide and went through the steps suggested by them.

Removed all connections and tried connecting just the house phone on its own in the master socket. Nothing.

Turned the modem off and back on then tried it on its own to connect to the internet. Nothing.

Went and brought a new house phone as the old was did need replacing and tried that in both the master and another socket in the house. Nothing.

Tried these both of these phones with a couple of different filters things also (microfilters I think they are called?), all with no luck.

So we got an engineer out to have a look. He umm'ed and arrrr a bit, tried sending test signals from the master socket and did his stuff for around 10 minutes. At this point we got our internet and house line back.

When I asked him what had happened he wasn't 100% convincing when he stated the modem must have locked up and taken over the entire line.

Now is this possible? I thought ADSL operated on a totally different frequency to the phone line? And why would it effect the phone line if the modem was unplugged?

If anyone can shed some light on this to tell me if this is possible, it would be much appreciated.


Thanks

Ed.

[G77]

moved to internet section as not cable modem related

[TheCoder]

Its possible the modem has malfunctioned and caused a problem but it would need to be a fairly catastrophic failure as normally the modem functions on frequencies that should not affect phone functions whatsoever. If such a problem did occur then you'd likely need a replacement modem.

tbh, I think the engineer was using BS. Obviously the modem couldn't of affected your line when it wasn't even plugged in. Its far more likely that he has 'disturbed' an intermittant cable break fault or similar or even that there was an exchange fault which was coincidently fixed whilst he was fiddling.

[Evil Eddie]

Thanks for your reply. This happened back in Jan this year and I am still using the same modem now and never had any other errors. However our phone line does drop calls often.

Our provider has just charged us £100 for this call out stating its our equipment fault, so I am trying to find out if I can dispute this. Have asked my provider to give us a copy of the engineers report but they just emailed me stating its our equipment fault.

[TheCoder]

I definately wouldn't be paying until they prove its your equipment thats causing the problem. From what you've said, i'd be inclined to think the problem was actually a line or exchange fault.

Regarding the dropping of calls, how often does that happen ?

If its often then i'd be inclined to disconnect everything except the master socket, then connect just one phone into that socket and see if your problem goes away.

[Evil Eddie]

Thanks for taking time to respond.

We lose the connection on our house line at least 4 - 5 times per week. We will try disconnecting everything and just use the house phone from the master socket and let you know how it goes.

[abu baniaz]

When you disconnect everything, make sure you disconnect the extensions as well. This is just in case there is a fault in the cabling. If it's done the right way (extensions connected to the faceplate), you should just pull out the bottom part (two tiny screws) and plug your phone into the socket behind.

I take it you are using a corded phone. Have they said anything about the dropouts?

As above, it cannot be equipment fault if the same equipment is working fine. They normally supply them, so it's their gear!

[Evil Eddie]

Well I would have tried this weekend but our provider had some sort of error on the weekend and again we lost our house line and internet. The error is exactly the same as last time (no internet and no dial tone) so I called them on the mobile and they said they would text me when the line is back up. 3hrs later we received a text stating all is fixed.

So I tried the phone: Still nothing.

Internet: Nothing.

Phone them again and they tell me the engineers are still working and I should wait 24-48hrs before trying again?? And I know what they will say 'Sorry we need to send out an engineer again and charge you another £100 for this'.

Seriously want to change my provider now.

[abu baniaz]

There is obviously a fault somewhere. Unfortunately, the wires are normally maintained by BT OPenreach irrespective of who your provider is. There are a few exceptions. Even changing suppliers may not solve your problem. However, a different one could take the case more seriously.

Out of curiosity, when your phone was dead, did you try to call it? If so, was it engaged? Do people often say that your phone was engaged when it was not.

You need to emphasise the existence of an intermittent fault and it not being your equipment. (Modem/phone disconnected, still same fault.)

Give Ofcom a call and see what they say. http://www.ofcom.org.uk/about/

Good luck

[Dazza2008]

tell them to fix the fooker mate NO charge its there fault !