ladyofthelake

I live in a house which is wired for DSL internet connections, and we are having MAJOR problems with the sub contractors who installed the wiring. Here's a run down of events:


We have a computer in the study which connects to the internet via DSL and we have invested in a network box to network our other computer in bedroom 4. However, despite assistance from Bellsouth and the network box helpline I could not network the computer in Bedroom 4. The man from P******** blamed Bellsouth (our ISP) for the fault. He said he would return on Monday . We later realised that all of the upstairs phone lines and 1 downstairs were completely dead.

I waited in all day Monday for him to arrive, and when I called to find out where he was, was bluntly told "he's not coming". Instead I was told that he would come the next day between 9am and 11am, but he finally arrived at 2:30 pm and fixed the phone lines. The computer would still not connect to the internet, and he continued to blame Bellsouth, insisting that they have to change the wiring at the phone socket, as there was nothing wrong with the wire. After he left, we checked the phone line in bedroom 4 and it was still dead! We moved the computer into the bedroom next door where the phone line was working, and the computer connected to the internet as it should. This proved conclusively the there is nothing wrong with any component of the network except the wire in Bedroom 4, and that Bellsouth's DSL line into the house was working just fine.

I called them again, explained what had happened and arranged for someone to come over on Monday July 21st between 9am and 11 am. I called at 2:30pm to ask when someone would arrive, and they denied all knowledge of an appointment. The incompetant man who "fixed" the line then spoke to me and said "but I've fixed the problem, it's not down to us." Eventually someone else arrived at 4:30 pm. He finally managed to get a dial tone on the line in bedroom 4, but still no DSL connection. He also blamed Bellsouth, stating that a filter has to be put on the line, even though the line in the room next door works perfectly. After this man had left, I found that the bedroom 4 phone line was the only phone line now working in the entire house! I spoke to his boss the next morning (22nd July) and he came around the same day to look at the problem. He blamed the Intercom module, rather than the obvious reason of poor workmanship from the previous day. He did some work on the wires and got them all working again, but still kept up the pretense of a faulty intercom module. As he left he said he would call on Wednesday or Thursday (24th) to put in the new telecom module. We have not heard from him since.

The bottom line is that this companys customer service is crap What I want to know is...has any one heard of a filter being fitted just to get one rooms wire working when all the rest work perfectly OK?

Thanks for any help.

scotch03

Easy answer is get a wireless router and a USB card for bedroom 4.

Saves wires, phone lines and talking with your DSL company.

And you will have the bonus of having service throughout your house. Just think - you can surf in the kitchen! Read Expats while having a dump!

Ranjini

Lol Exactly what my son does. Not reading expats but the latter He has wireless on his notebook and we have it on another desktop which is in the basement. Works great!

ladyofthelake

That just means shelling out more cash. What we want, is to be able to plug the computer into the wall and for it to work as it is supposed to. Thanks for the idea but I think we want to solve the problem rather than work around it. This is a brand new house after all and it's supposed to work.

jaytee

Ok, I can help with this. I have Bellsouth FastAccess DSL and installed my own home network. Can you tell us what plan you are on (ie. are you paying $10 extra for HomeNetworking service)? http://www.fastaccess.com/content/consumer/index.jsp

ladyofthelake

We installed our own network box, so there's no extra $10 charge each month (the people at Bellsouth said we could do that) It networks just fine to the room next door, just not the one (sods law) that we want it to.

jaytee

Which network box are you using? I suggest you get a proper ethernet router and external dsl modem if you haven't already. Take a look at this diagram:

http://www.speedstream.com/images/pr...network_lg.gif

Notice that this particular router can transmit and receive by physical cables or wirelessly so you have the option of using either type of network card installation at each computer.



I used to use a standard network box (aka. ethernet hub) that distibuted the internet from one computer but it was very limiting. This is not the same thing as a router.

ladyofthelake

We have a SMC Barricade (cable/DSL) Broadband Router (SMC7004VBR).
We really do not think the problem is with the router. There are phone jacks throughout the house and the computer can be networked from every jack in the house, except one. Doesn't this show that it's not a problem with our computers/network cards/router but a problem with the wire going to bedroom 4?

Jo Brayne

I used to work technical support for one of the UK's largest DSL providers. I'm not sure about there, but we always had to make sure that customers had a working filter on every phone socket they wanted a DSL connection on.

jaytee

It can work without the filters. The filters are there on each outlet to improve dsl service and eliminate voice line/ DSL interference.

jaytee

What do the LAN lights look like for each connected computer? Who did the wiring? Did you fashion your own wires and crimp the connectors or did you use pre-made wires?


Here is the manual: http://www.smc.com/drivers_downloads...4VBRV.2_MN.pdf

if the lan light is not on for a particular computer (bedroom4), can you go through and check the physical installation again? I did have a similar problem with the wiring.. a loose connector plug at the back of the router was to blame so that if you held the cable one way the light would come on.. the (rj-45) connector was not properly crimped and some wires were loose inside the connector.

later you will be able to work on the problem with your phone wiring


you know the old saying: if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

ladyofthelake

OK, all the LAN lights work on the router when the computer is in bed 3. Doesn't matter which port we use, it works. When computer is in bed 4, no light, it doesn't recognise the computer is there. Bed 4 does however, work when using it as just a phone line, and we haven't experienced any interferance. If we don't have any interferance on the phone lines, this must mean we don't need filters? The contractors who installed the wiring when it was built (this year) are asuming that because the 2 phone wires in the cable work now, that the remaining 6 DSL wires are OK aswell. They seem to think that now they have finally got a phone signal that they don't have to do anything else. No one has really investigated the problem thoroughly because they can't be bothered. It's much easier to blame some one else like Bellsouth than to actually solve the problem. They've already done that twice when the line was completely dead. Lets face it, they hardly have to worry about retaining satisfied customers do they? We've tried complaining to the Home Builder about the incompetance of the contractors too, but they can't bothered either! I guess at the end of the day we may have to do a bit of room swapping, but I'm really p*****
at the lack of service we've had. Sorry, set myself off on a moan then
Thanks for all your input....... keep it coming

jaytee

You are supposed to use filters for every phone outlet that has a device connected (kitchen phone, bedroom phones, fax machines, cordless). They ask you to use them between every device and the wall phone port, but not on the dsl modem. They don't appear to be absolutely necessary. I can take them off and the internet still works.

Study this diagram for phone (rj-11 plug)and ethernet(rj-45 plug): http://yoda.uvi.edu/InfoTech/rj45.htm


Here is the RJ-45 wiring again:

you hold the plug in your hand with the hook underneath and the wires coming in from the back, pin 1 is on the left

http://www.aptcommunications.com/ncode.htm

you are using straight-through wiring from your router to each computer (starting striped orange, orange...), but regardless of which sequence they used, it should be the same on both ends of the wire


Now notice you would usually have one 4 wire cable for phone of which two are used for the line. You would also have a separate 8 wire ethernet cable of which four wires are used.

I understand you are using one 8 wire cable to carry both the 2 wire phone signal and the 4 wire ethernet system (the other 2 are not being used) so you will want to check the wiring to bedroom4. since the phone works, which two wires are they using for the phone? which wires are they using for the internet? it is sounding likely that they just wired the ethernet wires backward. do you have a port in the wall for ethernet or does the wire just come straight through?

ladyofthelake

Thanks. We think the wiring is wrong too, but what can you do with some one who wont accept they've made a mistake, even when they've knocked all the phone lines out of order? My husband has spent many a night studying all the different colour codes and combinations. Every room seems to be wired and crimped differently. Some how, they all still manage to work,bar one.
Not quite sure what you mean there! We have one phone port for everything in each room. Therefore, we can't have a phone and computer in the same room (bummer, thought this was supposed to be "state of the art") Have to swap the rooms wire from telecom module to network router or visa versa in the control box.

jaytee

Definitely re-wire it so that you can plug in both your phone AND your ethernet. You have one 8 wire cable from the control box for each room right? How does it terminate at the control box for both phone and dsl? Is it a Y-cable with two connectors that you must choose which one to use?

The limitation is then the bedroom4 RJ-11 (phone) wall port which can only accomodate 4 wires .. while you need 2 for phone and 4 for ethernet! They should have put in RJ -45 ports in the walls and that would have enabled you to use a Y-cable with one phone connector and one ethernet connector.

In any case, those 4 signal carrying wires for ethernet, regardless of the sequence they used, must be the same at both ends, be firmly held in each pin etc. it is just a bad crimping job for that cable or they disconnected two of the wires at the wall phone port.