Phoneline went dead the other day but instead of phoning Telefonica I went on their website and reported the fault online.

I was called in about 15 minutes to confirm the fault and an Engineer came out at 16:00 the same day and fixed the fault!

Neil

How did you get online with no phone line?

Last time we had a fault the engineer gave us his mobile number and suggested we call him direct.

We have a diary full of 'direct' numbers, it makes life a lot easier.

I have Wireless Internet.

and alot of times the fone goes but the net is fine. theres 4 cables coming in, 2 are fone 2 are net

That is not correct. See here for a diagram for UK system. http://www.rob-r.co.uk/other/UKphonecatwiring.htm
Spain and most EU countries use the same convention.

That's right - Spain uses a 2 wire system, that's why there can be problems with UK phones ringing.

The Internet and speech data are both handled down the same wires. It is perfectly possible to lose the speech but retain the data and vice versa.

People complain about ADSL speeds but bearing in mind the copper cables were never intended to handle high speed data it's nothing short of a miracle that they work at all!

My first modem in 1986 ran at about 1200 bits/sec. You can now get 10mb/s off the same telephone line - that's about 10000 times faster!

I saw a programme on the laying of the transatlantic telephone cable. It is amazing to think that so much information is channeled through it. It would cause chaos if this cable was damaged. There is no back up and it could take .... (years?) to make and lay a replacement.

The pace of change is frightening. When I left University, my knowledge base was cutting edge, now it seems I have forgotten more than I ever knew

Hello Neil,

Any chance you could post a link to the telefonica page where you can report a fault. I have one now apparently !

Thanks

David

Hi David,

It's www.movistar.es you need to create an account with them.
If you have Google Toolbar installed it can translate the whole site.