problems with modem

[J.JJ]

A friend of mine has had a problem with her new wireless internet modem.
When the modem and setup disk arrived she tried in vain to set up her computer on the internet. She spent a great deal: of time on the telephone trying to get technical support to sort out the problem, by setting it up remotely for her.
Each time they told her it was correctly set up, she would put the phone down and her computer would disconnect from the internet.
She was eventually passed to a higher technical person who ran remote tests and told her that although she had a 2MB broadband feed her connection was only capable of 1.2MB.
They also said that she should connect her wireless broadband modem only to a master telephone socket and not a slave telephone socket. They also said that if She had to call in BT she might face a bill of around �120 to sort the problem out if somebody has added sockets around the house etc that have caused this problem ( she is to say the least< a little worried about this situation. ) Needless to say her telephone works fine from this socket.

If anybody can explain why she is having this problem and a possible solution she would be very grateful. I personally would like to know what difference connecting the modem to a slave telephone socket makes, compared to connecting it to a master telephone socket, this is a new one for me.

many thanks in advance of a reply.

[fo3nix]

It's connection quality.

1) they're right with the master connection. They mean connect straight to the actual socket in the wall, not via a long extension.

2) is she using microfilters? Usually, you connect a microfilter straight into the wall socket. This splits the phone line for phone and internet. this is usually supplied with the modem from your ISP.

[ACtheTROLL]

fo3
is it me being thick?

to me the master socket is the one the outside line connects to (preferably to an NTE5) ... as opposed to an extension (slave???)socket which is hard wired from the master. (is that what you meant?)

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j.jj this next is the only bit you need the rest is just me rambling **************************************************************
the best way to prove this sort of thing is to disconnect all internal wiring .... and hang the router straight off the master socket.

to prove the connection ... you don't need a filter (to use the line you most certainly do).
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don't use a long extension because most extension leads use parallel conductors and telephone analog wiring performs best over twisted pair (network cable (digital) is best with untwisted pair)

[fo3nix]

I don't know much about telecoms stuff, but took the master socket to be the main one from the street's lines. Then extension sockets those connected by long cables, installed by user from places like Argos. (And, I guess, any extensions installed by BT etc., given that it'll degrade the quality of the line.)

[J.JJ]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I was meaning the main socket as it enters the house.
Will take up the suggestion of disconnecting additional sockets and connect to the master
socket , I'll have to use an extension lead for the mains feed for the router as there isn't a socket close by ( this was the reason she tried using a slave socket near a mains socket ) , but at least it will prove whether her line is ok.

Many thanks

John

[ACtheTROLL]

If cable done propper there shouldn't be any degredation of signal ... it's already come all the way from the exchange ... so a couple of extra yards doesn't matter.

but to prove the situation ... break it down ... you might even find it's one of the spurs

what does matter is the quality of the cable - hi-fi guys are fanatical about their speakers ... and while any old bit of cable will do for a phone ... once you start mixing signals (which is how adsl works) ... you had better watch out. BT are doing a tidy up service and changing out the old 4 wire for the new hi-tech 6 and 8 wire which is made to higher standards using copper instead of aluminium.

the long leads are as bad as it gets ... the most important quality of phone cable is the twists which happen to each pair ... and also to the whole cable (this cuts down crosstalk between pairs) Most of the cheap stuff uses parallel conductors ... and so degrades the signal enormously.

The best solution of all is an NTE5 which splits the feeds and incorporates the master socket with an adsl filter ...
so extension wiring can be left alone ... and the adsl is run using either a new length of 6 or 8 wire ...

trouble is you have to pay ...
having said that if you don't ... you are effectively throwing your dsl line away ... so in the long term it's a fair investment