Cannot call out - Cannot call in....?
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Can anyone shed any light on this.
I have a BT branded landline phone with virgin media. For a good 6 months ive not been able to use it, due to so much going on i havent got around to fixing it.
I did call virgin twice who say there is no problem with your line and that it must be my handset.
So here is the fault. When i try to call anyone it never rings out. The display shows i am in a call and the time is increasing while on the particular call. But No ringing tones and the person i call their phone does not ring at all.
When someone rings the landline their phone just rings and rings but the landline makes no ringing tone at all. If i pick up the phone and press answer there is nobody there.
Its basically dead both ways. Could it be the handset? I have tried a spare landline port up stairs but same issue!.
I have a BT branded landline phone with virgin media. For a good 6 months ive not been able to use it, due to so much going on i havent got around to fixing it.
I did call virgin twice who say there is no problem with your line and that it must be my handset.
So here is the fault. When i try to call anyone it never rings out. The display shows i am in a call and the time is increasing while on the particular call. But No ringing tones and the person i call their phone does not ring at all.
When someone rings the landline their phone just rings and rings but the landline makes no ringing tone at all. If i pick up the phone and press answer there is nobody there.
Its basically dead both ways. Could it be the handset? I have tried a spare landline port up stairs but same issue!.
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Firstly. If you have an NTE5 type master socket with the removable lower section take that section off to reveal the test socket, as highlighted in red in this image
http://www.plus.net/images/support/broadband/testsocketa.jpg
Plug the phone into this socket and make a few test calls, both ways. If the phone rings correctly on the test socket then something in your internal wiring is causing the fault. If it still does not ring properly then it is either the line or the phone handset.
So to eliminate the handset either, beg steal or borrow a phone handset that you know for certain works properly and try it on your line, both in the test socket and in the normal socket when the master faceplate is replaced. If that phone works then you can be fairly sure it is your handset that is faulty. However if a known working phone does not work then you may have a line fault.
If you cannot get hold of an alternative phone try your phone on a line that you know to be working. If it works on that line then suspect your line is faulty. If it does not work on a different line then the phone is faulty.
Basically you need to substitute either your phone or your line with a different phone or line, as appropriate, to work out which is faulty.
I have ordered up a replacement phone which i had been meaning to do anyway as it has a call blocker feature which i need. I think firstly i will plug it in and hope it works, if it doesnt then i can look at the sockets i guess.
Inspecting the telephone cords the one that came with the new phone only has 2 wires inside???!?! my original one has 4 wires?!?!
I am now searching for a new 4 wire cord but nowhere sells them locally which i find bizarre!!!!
anyone care to share what the difference is between 2 wire and 4 wire?
It's not a good idea to mix and match phone cables (the ones from phone to phone socket) because there is no real standard wiring, so you might see things like "line error" if your phones use different standards - it's like not having the line connected at all
If you use a brand new phone with the cable that came with it and it still doesn't work, that suggests it might be a Virgin problem (especially if you are connecting it to the master socket and have tried the tests already described above)
The problem is my phone line sockets are ancient not like the one in the pick chris posted. I cant borrow anyones handset really and i do not even know anyone that uses landlines anymore! unless i go on a hour drive with my landline to a freinds house to test.
I vaguely remember when i moved here that the phone line didnt work, and that i had to rewire the RJ11 end of the cable. Now i cannot remember what i did.
I am totally lost, will virgin come out or send BT out? or could i upload pictures of the internals of the socket for someone to verify which wires need to go where in the RJ11 head?
Virgin will send one of their own people out as it is 100% their phone line (their cable network is entirely owned and run by them, they don't use BT's lines) - but the wiring should be identical to the way BT does it (and they do use the same type of sockets normally). I don't know what Virgin's policy is on call outs. BT will charge you if the problem is in your house, whereas Virgin might not
You shouldn't need to have to mess with the wires connecting to the phone - the wiring in the sockets should be identical to the way BT does it, so any phone that works on a BT landline should work on a Virgin one
Do you know if both of your sockets were fitted by Virgin or a predecessor (it might have someone's logo on it)? One of them almost certainly will be, but the other might be an extension that you or a previous occupant installed themselves
LJU type socket
http://www.telephone-wiring.co.uk/ekmps/shops/tns06/images/LJU-2-3A-Secondary-Telephone-Extension-Socket-282-p.jpg
NTE5
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/GPNTE5A.JPG
Really really old sockets had a round plug a bit like an obese headphone jack and before that phones were hard wired into connector blocks.
http://www.samhallas.co.uk/collection/subs_apps/plug_420.jpg
http://www.samhallas.co.uk/collection/subs_apps/jack_95a.jpg
The yanks use RJ11 sockets but I don't think they were ever approved for use in the UK.
So what exactly do you have?
My phone socket is so old it must be 30 years old. the socket has no branding on it. Its rather small and discoloured to a lovely cream colour. i cannot even find a picture online to compare it internally with mine, seems so old.
Got virgin booked for tomorrow now.
LJU sockets have been used for more than 30 years. They are standardised and have never changed.
If it does not match the images I posted previously then whatever you have is not a standard BT phone socket. Does it even have a socket to plug the phone into? You keep mentioning wiring into the back of it. It has been a very long time indeed since phones were hard wired into terminal blocks.
If it is really old then it may be a screw type like this
http://www.telephonesuk.co.uk/images/large/52a.jpg
They do come in a cream colour as well.
If so then you could be on your own regarding how it's wired up
Virgin do use BT lines in areas where they don't have their own network, you could be on a BT line and would get/need an Openreach engineer
This is a basically irrelevant distinction in the grand scheme of things, given how few customers Virgin have that aren't on their network, and given that Virgin are in the process of selling the lot to TalkTalk anyway. It's something like 99% probable that we're talking about the cable network
There will still be business customers on leased lines involving Virgin, that use BT infrastructure but I doubt OP is one of them
The OP asked who would turn up, Virgin or BT so it is relevant info for him, don't you agree? also VM do have a lot of domestic customers over BT wires.
I would say it is definitely virgin media that will turn up. But i can confirm once they arrive. Hope they change my ancient telephone sockets for starters before tackling the problem (if the sockets are not the problem).
It's not relevant given the chances of it being Virgin cable (where VM maintain everything).
The number of Virgin off-net customers is simply insignificant and they're all TalkTalk customers, if not about to be
If you are on their cable network (can get "fibre optic" broadband and TV) then it will absolutely be someone from Virgin
The master socket won't be small, but an extension socket could easily be.
There is only 2 sockets in the whole house
1 in the living room and 1 in the master bedroom.
No other sockets exist. Both sockets identical small in size. Here is the pictures..
Those are just bog standard BT LJU sockets. So all you should need to do is plug your new phone with whatever lead it is supplied with into the socket and it should work.
If they do not then the wiring has been messed up or has gone faulty. I see that in your second image the cable appears to disappear under the carpet. If it does then have a look under there. That is a very likely place for damage to occur. The carpet does not necessarily protect the cable from damage, just hides it!
So that would be the first place to look and then follow the cable between the sockets to look for any signs of damage.
This picture shows the back of the faceplate
http://www.skyuser.co.uk/forum/attachments/cabling-faceplate-help/1265d1240849258-bt-wiring-adsl-connection-dsc_0157.jpg
It's not the tidiest bit of wiring I've ever seen but shows what wires go where. the only two that need to be connected are the blue & white pair on terminals 2 and 5. The two on 3 and 4 can be removed.
This shows IDC type terminals but some of the older types had screw terminals but in a similar layout and numbering scheme. The socket with the incoming line on is likely to have two wires in each of 2 and 5, one being the line and one being the extension cable. The line may use different colours to the extension.
The one upstairs i have never ever used and the cable goes into the floor boards but not under the carpet. I have always used the one downstairs.
Also the internal picture you have sent is different to mine. Mine the cables are not punched down but screwed down (must be old ancient style). Below is the actual picture...
I remember when i moved here i had the same problem, phones would not work. I eventually found a cheap phone and tested it and it worked. I copied the wiring in the cable and remade my existing wiring with my good up to date phone and it worked ever since. From what i gather, the cabling is not standard, its wired wily nilly and you have to wire it up to suit how your socket in the house is wired (just my thought). Maybe the majority of the UK has their socket wired the same way, but im sure mine is not.
Anyway, the wiring of an LJU has always been line on terminals 2 and 5, bell on 3 and earth on 4. That has never ever changed and is the ONLY way to wire up the socket. And doesn't matter how the wires are actually terminated to the socket whatever style of terminal block is used the wiring is exactly the same.
So on the master you should have two wires going into each of terminals 2 and 5, one being the phone line and the other being the cable to the extension. It's a bit indistinct but it does look like there are two blue wires on 2 and maybe 2 on 5 as well.
It also looks like there is a fair bit of exposed copper showing on at least one pair.
I would be tempted to tidy up the wiring and make sure there is no exposed copper poking out of the terminals.
To clarify, the wiring between sockets is standardised, it's the cable from socket to phone that generally isn't.
But if the sockets are wired to that standard, any UK phone should work, you shouldn't need to fiddle or re-wire the phone.