Clicking on a BT phone line

krazy_horse

krazy_horse

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We have a BT line, which we have had for donkey's years, but since last Saturday afternoon it has started making a clicking noise.

All the phones (4) are connected wirelessly through one main socket and are the same brand etc. (we have changed the "master" phone around to another socket and its still the same).

The clicking is 2 clicks, then a gap of a second then another 2 clicks, sounds a bit like a horse running in the background, (and before anyone says, we do not live near a stables). The phone still remains fully functional, but it just has this annoying clicking sound when receiving or making calls.

The reason i'm asking you lovely people is that BT want to charge us a £120 call-out fee plus £99/hour if the fault does not lie with them :eek:

We have had no problems in the past, so i'm unsure what has caused it, we have haven't made any changes/knocked any of the sockets etc, or introduced any new electrical items etc.

Oh and another thing the internet is no longer funtioning (broadband with Orange/tiscali, whoever they're called now?)

Any help would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

Jonathan
 
Photographer = terrorist = telephone tap.

Easy. :D
 
After a lightning strike on 4th July a few years ago my ADSL connection was killed. BT kept faffing around saying the line was noisy and I had to clean things up at my end but it boiled down to them going to the exchange (after a delay of a whole month) and doing a "lift & shift" (i.e. replace a piece of gear).

It helps if you've another modem/router to check with, and then get on to your ISP who are responsible for instructing BT to do the maintenance.
 
Try plugging a normal 'wired phone' into the test socket, which is behind the BT master socket, if you still can hear the clicking it is down to BT as this bypasses all internal wiring.

HTH
 
..they know...
 
The usual cause of line noise is moisture. If you can eliminate that from anything from the master socket onwards (in your house) then the line is the usual culprit.


Steve.
 
Dial 17070........... that's the BT line test number.

Listen to the options.
Press 2 for quiet line test and see if the noise is on your line.

No BT engrs here ?

Make sure your modem is unplugged (since your internet is goosed that may be the problem)
 
test with a wired phone - in the master socket as suggested. You could be getting some sort of wireless noise.
 
As above really.

I'm a telephone engineer (not BT though) and the main diagnostics have already been advised.

1st change your microfilter.
2nd plug in a wired phone to the same socket.
3rd use the test socket, again call the BT line test number.

BT will only come to the premises when a potential fault has been proven off local equipment. Might be worth reverse testing your phones too (use them on a known workin line). Again as noted above, moisture is a common cause. Now the weather is starting to warm up any water in the road side exchanges reacts like in a greenhouse, not good for termination points!
 
krazy_horse said:
We have a BT line, which we have had for donkey's years, but since last Saturday afternoon it has started making a clicking noise.

All the phones (4) are connected wirelessly through one main socket and are the same brand etc. (we have changed the "master" phone around to another socket and its still the same).

The clicking is 2 clicks, then a gap of a second then another 2 clicks, sounds a bit like a horse running in the background, (and before anyone says, we do not live near a stables). The phone still remains fully functional, but it just has this annoying clicking sound when receiving or making calls.

The reason i'm asking you lovely people is that BT want to charge us a £120 call-out fee plus £99/hour if the fault does not lie with them :eek:

We have had no problems in the past, so i'm unsure what has caused it, we have haven't made any changes/knocked any of the sockets etc, or introduced any new electrical items etc.

Oh and another thing the internet is no longer funtioning (broadband with Orange/tiscali, whoever they're called now?)

Any help would be much appreciated,

Cheers,

Jonathan
Click to expand...

arclight said:
Dial 17070........... that's the BT line test number.

Listen to the options.
Press 2 for quiet line test and see if the noise is on your line.

No BT engrs here ?

Make sure your modem is unplugged (since your internet is goosed that may be the problem)
Click to expand...



Krazy Horse - Sounds strange, but do you live near any fields or paddocks with an Electrical Fence, these can casue the type of click you are describing. The voltage from them causes interference on the line, this is transmitted as a clicking noise.;)

Arclight - You do realise if you are caught doing this, you could face prosecution. You are effectively tampering with a BT test facility. It is there for us engineers and associated Service Providers,not customers. When the 17070 is used, you basically gain access to our computer controlled systems, whic could result in you getting into some big trouble, as you are effectively trespassing (sort of). Just a little tip mate, don't do it:thumbs:
 
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newyorkaddict said:
You do realise if you are caught doing this, you could face prosecution. You are effectively tampering with a BT test facility. It is there for us engineers and associated Service Providers,not customers. When the 17070 is used, you basically gain access to our computer controlled systems, whic could result in you getting into some big trouble, as you are effectively trespassing (sort of). Just a little tip mate, don't do it
Click to expand...

Whilst BT may not want you to do it, I don't think just dialling a number will get you prosecuted.

I used to use the old 174105 ringback test number a lot for testing lines. My grandfather, an ex Post Office Telephones engineer told me about this one.

there was another one (174106 I think) which spoke back the line number.


Steve.
 
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Steve Smith said:
Whilst BT may not want you to do it, I don't think just dialling a number will get you prosecuted.

.
Click to expand...

It can and it does happen. The 17070 is a private test circuit, every time you dial it, the number it is dialed from is registered to a computer. This can then be used to see if you have autorised access to the test system. I admit, we don't hear of people getting into trouble very often, but BT do have the policy of Prosecution for tampering with their systems. I know it might sound far fetched, but believe me, BT do everything they can to protect what is theirs, be it Poles and Cable Carrying Equipment, right through to their Computer and Test Sytems. I was just saying for people to be carefull, not handing out slapped wrists:thumbs:
 
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