Connection Problems.. Phoneline, BT/Tiscali?

Question

I have tiscali broadband and BT telephone. there's been no problems for ages now but all of a sudden when i'm online my internet is running at 200kbps. thats like 500 times slower than it should be running?

also when i pick up the phone i get a dial tone, but i also get a hissing static sound. i havent changed anything and i never used to have problems so umm.. wth?

Answer 1

sounds like filters have gone faulty

Answer 2

Hiss on the line usually indicates a faulty filter, if changing it doesn,t get rid of the noise/hiss you might have a line problem. the broadband system in the exchange will give you a maximum stable rate, ie if it detects errors in your signal , it will reduce the speed until the errors stop. has there been a  thunder storms in your area, lightening can damage your equipment, the line or even both. If you have checked all your own equipment, ask your service provider to test the line.

Answer 3

If you have a hissing sound, replace your MicroFilters

Answer 4

firstly change all your filters

second find the main socket in the house and unscrew the lower front plate (youll see on the front of the socket a line above the 2 screws) take that off, behind this is another little phone jack, this is the test point for disconnectiong the internal extensions and just testing the basic line.

plug a phone and known working filter in here.

then its time for some tests:

1 - using just a filter and the phone listen to the line and if its still hissing call BT, who will organise an openreach engineer to visit

2 - if its not hissing then plug your modem in and check the speed if that low call Tiscali, who will organise an openreach engineer to visit

3 - if it works fine here then the problem could well be either with the internal wires or other filters and is your own responsibilty to resolve as neither BT, Tiscali or Openreach have any responsibility for internal cables.

on a side note it my be worth borrowing a modem, phone and filter from someone else to check the line, just in case its your actual equipment that is faulty. if your in the east of england with the storms we've recently had this could well be the case.

hope thats of help to you

Answer 5

Phone companies advertise their internet speeds in megaBITS.

There are 8 bits in a BYTE.

You download in bytes not bits.

Therefore your ACTUAL download speed is normally your advertised speed divided by 8.

2MB connection actually should in a perfect connection download at 250 bytes per second.

But it depends on how close you live near your exchange. For example, phone companies advertise 8MB download speeds, but in actual fact that could be only be around 2MB because you live further away from the exchange point.