[Gllug] [OT] BT phone connections and ADSL

[damion.yates at gmail.com]

Not Linux related, but I know this list will have people with ideas to
help me.

I've just bought a three level flat which doesn't appear to have a
master BT socket.  The only visible phone connection is a small
extension socket in the kitchen (the middle level).  My adsl router
was able to get between 6000 and 8000 kbps which matches what an
online test showed before I ordered adsl, latency on a basic ping was
about 12ms, so I wasn't too bothered initially.

Now the problem.  I also need a phone socket for my TiVo and possibly
Sky+HD box upstairs in the lounge (30m of cable away).  When I plug in
a connection other than the small one via the filter to the router (ie
a normal phone connection), my linespeed drops to just under 2Mb/sec.
Two of the filters I have don't seem to work well, one causes a
landline to ring constantly if plugged in, the other doesn't but both
fail to get the line speed over 4Mb/sec, even on their own.

It gets worse.  So that the connection upstairs is more tidy, my dad
and I started to lay cable around the skirting board and through
several door frames towards the lounge.  The initial portion of this
lies along where this extension socket comes in.  Since this was laid
out, my latency is now a steady 50ms, this is pretty bad as my main
use is interactive sessions via ssh, voip and gaming.

So, what is going on?  How can I find the master socket and will this
improve matters?  Can a cable simply laying next to a phone line cause
interference that would up latency but not limit line speed?  Is there
such a thing as a wireless extension which would permit the modem in a
TiVo to work?  Should I simply hack the TiVo (always planned to one
day) to use the house lan for its connection from now on?

I'm tempted to pay BT to come and fit a new master connection, they
can work out where it all comes from and sort it properly, but I worry
that I'll not get anyone competant, that it won't fix it at all and
will be very expensive.

Manually plugging the tivo in for its updates, or rather, unplugging
it for times I want a faster connection, solves the speed issue.  The
nicer latency might return if I remove the cabling around the skirting
board, otherwise I don't know where to start for investigating that
issue.

I'm willing to provide loads of free booze to anyone willing to come
and help on this one if I can avoid paying BT.

Thanks for any advice,

Damion

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