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Thread ID: 85748	2007-12-20 11:32:00	Noisy phone line.	mzee (3324)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
623210	2007-12-20 11:32:00	My phone line has been very noisy & Telecom replaced it. No better. All connections checked. Filters changed. Adapters changed. Router changed. Leads changed. Computer changed. Still rustles & hisses. When the router is going on line the phone squeals (modem talk) same with the other Router. Driving me & Telecom nuts! Any ideas?	mzee (3324)
623211	2007-12-20 17:51:00	No ideas sorry, My line is noisy sometimes and its sometimes hard to connect (ADSL) but what do is pick up the phone and call 123 or 126 and I find that seems to clear the line enough to be able to connect. I have thought about calling Telecom, but did not realise that they would "replace the line" Regards Digby	Digby (677)
623212	2007-12-20 19:20:00	Telecom "replaced the line"?? We can be pretty certain that they didn't run a new line all the way from exchange to you. More likely they replaced one segment - maybe between your house and the underground cable beside the footpath just outside or just down the road? If water has got into that connection box then several phone lines could be noisy. Same if they swapped to a spare at the connection box up the pole. Or are you way out in a rural area where they actually did have to replace a large lump of line? No matter - if you are certain all is in order within your house - just keep asking Telecom to fix *their* phone line!	coldot (6847)
623213	2007-12-20 20:28:00	Had the same problem for several years. Telecom repeatedly said everything was fine. Had to wait until the line failed completely before they suddenly discovered there *was* a problem at their end (cabinet or exchange, dunno the details). Only then was it fixed & they replaced my house wall sockets for good measure. Keep trying to get them to take it seriously I guess, but the fact is they won't care until you lose the line.	mmmork (6822)
623214	2007-12-21 00:27:00	Try a different phone, preferably an old Telecom phone (designed with some resistance to RF). Many modern "clever" phones have no resistance to RF. ADSL is RF. If ... When the router is going on line the phone squeals (modem talk) same with the other Router., there's enough getting through the filters to upset the phone.	Graham L (2)
623215	2007-12-21 02:34:00	Same here, use to have a noisey line, more so when it rained, kept ringing Telecom about it and they ran tests and said nothing was wrong with it until one day when nobody could ring me. Telecom sent the techs around and they found a faulty join. Fixed it and it is good now. :)	Trev (427)
623216	2007-12-21 07:29:00	We had this a month ago when it rained heavily. Telstra Clear sent a man out straight away and he fixed it - it was a problem in the green box on the street. Next time it rained, the same thing happened. Once again, Telstra Clear sent (the same) man out next day. This time, he spent 3 hours and finally traced it to a jackplug in our house - we have a leaky home :( He replaced the gubbins behind the jackplug which was rusty. Good service, eh? Especially since it cost nothing. The repairman said it was all part of the service for our monthly line rental.	TideMan (4279)
623217	2007-12-21 19:28:00	Very interesting, glad to hear that some people have got Telecom and Telstra to come out and fix their noisy lines. Should a phone line be fairly noise free and crackle free all the time ? Is this possible ? Regards Digby	Digby (677)
623218	2007-12-21 20:20:00	Yes I think it should be. Mine is now since they fixed it in March 2006. :)	Trev (427)
623219	2007-12-22 10:54:00	First thing to do is remove each and every piece of equipment you have plugged into the phone line, one by one. Check for noise after you disconnect each one. You may find your problem that way. When you have unplugged everything, ask Telecom if they will test your line. If the fault remains it is their problem. DO NOT attach your phone jack to an outside wall. They absorb moisture through the wall and cause many problems. If it is on an outside wall, move the position and replace the phone jack. You may find that the phone jack connections have turned a green gunge colour. Easier to chuck the phone jack and clean the plug on the phone. (Phone jacks are cheap enough.) For what it's worth, intermittent faults such as yours are the hardest to find. Every technician loves a fault where the phone goes completely dead - so easy to find, so easy to fix. But noise is often caused by bad connections. If you can, redo all the connections you can see. Many have screws holding down the wires. Undo the screws, clean all around and reconnect. Redo any others and clean and resolder if necessary. A high resistance connection can result in noise. If your contract allows for a faultman to fix all faults at no charge, then ask Telecom to do it. Much easier. And just so you know how it works: There is a large cable (1000 pairs or so) that runs from the exchange to your street. Branches from that cable go to different streets and a distribution box (usually about 15 pairs) goes off that branch. Your phone will be connected to that. It could be up a pole, but more commonly these days, you are connected to a small pillar on the footpath near your house. Because there are many pairs to choose from, it is easy to change your line from one cable pair to another if it becomes faulty, provided there are spare unused pairs. Usually that is the case. The green box that has been mentioned is called a "cabinet." It is simply a distribution point out on the street. The cable runs to that cabinet and the distribution boxes are fed from there. Modern phones are much less prone to noise than the old ones. The type of transmitter (mic) in the old phones were moving carbon granules. Unfortunately moisture from your speech caused problems. That was the main problem and is not present in today's phones so a noisy phone is not as common. Water is not the problem it used to be. All cables these days are sealed then pressurised. If there is a slight leak (very probable) then the pressure will not allow the water to enter. Some years back, the cables in Mt Eden were in a terrible state. Rain was not necessary - a heavy dew would cause most of Mt Eden's cables to die! They did a lot of work cleaning up the joints which helped, but as soon as they pressurised the cables all faults virtually ceased. You might gather from the above that I work for Telecom. I worked in the faults department for 21 years so I have a slight idea of how it all goes together. One last point: You may have heard Telecom say that their network is secure. That is correct, but it is only secure because the majority of the population have no idea how it works. If everyone knew how accessible Telecom's network is (nothing is locked and nothing is further away than the top of a ladder) then it would be very easy for anyone to use anyone else's line to make expensive toll calls. It has been done. Keep the stupid customers ignorant and we will have no problems making $3 million a day. Shares in Telecom, anyone?	Roscoe (6288)
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