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muckdog
@sbcglobal.net

muckdog

Anon

dsl static on phone line

I just switched to DSL this week with their speedstream 4100 modem, and also have linksys wireless g. Speed is fantastic and at upper end of what ATT promises. The problem is that my phone lines now have horrible static, and this just started when I went to DSL.

I installed the DSL filters on all phone lines.

The home office where the dual filter is, I only have the modem connected and have no phone.

Two phones in the house. One is a 5.8 cordless phone, the other is old-fashioned corded phone. Each has static. If I unplug the cordless, static still exists. If I unplug the corded phone, the cordless has static.

If I power off the modem, the static disappears. If I power the modem back on, the static re-appears.

I've called ATT. Their internet help desk said to unplug the modem, plug it back in, and see if that helped. No. They created a help ticket and referred me to local phone company (also ATT). They want to come here and test my lines for $55. But I'm not sure I want that because without the DSL modem on, everything is fine. Seems like a waste of $55 for them to tell me that it's "my fault."

Any thoughts?

Lanik
Lab-nik

join:2001-06-25
San Francisco, CA

Lanik

Call AT&T 611 and complain you have noise on your line. Don't mention that you have DSL otherwise you'd have to go through the same crap as above. They should be able to fix it from there since its a voice issue.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS to muckdog

MVM

to muckdog
said by muckdog :

I just switched to DSL this week with their speedstream 4100 modem, and also have linksys wireless g. Speed is fantastic and at upper end of what ATT promises. The problem is that my phone lines now have horrible static, and this just started when I went to DSL.

I installed the DSL filters on all phone lines.

The home office where the dual filter is, I only have the modem connected and have no phone.

Any thoughts?
If you aren't using a telephone near the DSL modem, just remove that dual filter altogether. The two sides are:

Filtered, for telephone
Unfiltered, for DSL modem

With no telephone, there is no need for the dual filter to be in the loop.
seaprobe
join:2006-07-16
Sunnyvale, CA

1 edit

seaprobe to muckdog

Member

to muckdog
The filters that come with the kit are marginal at best. My sister had to power off her DSL modem to make a clear phone call. After lengthy calls with support (on behalf of both my sister and later for my in-laws), the rep suggested buying filters from Radio Shack.

I asked if they would be any better and the rep said that she was not allowed to say

That said, replacing the SBC filters with ones from Radio Shack made a huge difference and eliminated the static on the voice calls.

muckdog
@sbcglobal.net

muckdog to NormanS

Anon

to NormanS
I've tried removing the dual filter, and that didn't change anything. Still getting static on the phone calls.

Called ATT, and they want cash to come out here and check the lines. I doubt it's the lines, because without the modem on everything is fine. Seems like that'd be $55 down the drain for them to tell me "It's not the line. It's something else. Have a nice day."

I'll try another brand of filter.

Thanks for the suggestions.

d_l
Barsoom
MVM
join:2002-12-08
Reno, NV

d_l to muckdog

MVM

to muckdog
Take your old fashioned phone out to your NID: »AT&T Southeast Forum FAQ »How to check modem stats, synch rates & speeds from test jack at the NID. and plug it in there. If there is static at that point, either your phone has a problem or the AT&T lines have a problem. You are not charged for repairs on AT&T's equipment which is any equipment from your NID to their offices.

AlphaOne
I see
Premium Member
join:2004-02-21

AlphaOne to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
Static as in white noise?

So, you're only getting that when both modem and phones are plugged.

Try to plug both phone and modem on the same dual filter, and see what happens.

If it's still there, then you either have faulty filters, or modem. Have them replaced, their still under warranty.

muckdog
@sbcglobal.net

muckdog to muckdog

Anon

to muckdog
Thanks, DL, I'll try that.

Alpha, I've tried plugging the old fashioned corded phone into the dual filter, and there is static. Unless I turn off the DSL modem, then there is no static.

And yes, the static starts off like a fax machine and then turns into a hiss for the duration of the phone call.

Thanks for the tips!
Matthew
Premium Member
join:2001-08-03
Emmett, ID

Matthew to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
Is there a house alarm present? Even if you are not currently paying for monitoring service the alarm could be wired to the phone line and sometimes causes problems like this.

I am curious if you have the white noise with the modem in sync at the test jack outside. From your point of view, if you have static at that point then the trouble is either something in the setup, or the network.

Have you happened to notice if you lose sync when the phone is picked up? Could be an MTU, sometimes they cause noise (but not always).

EnasYorl
Thieves World
join:2001-12-02
West
·Ziply Fiber
Motorola MB8600
Netgear RAX15
Asus RT-AC66

EnasYorl to muckdog

Member

to muckdog
said by muckdog :

I just switched to DSL this week with their speedstream 4100 modem, and also have linksys wireless g. Speed is fantastic and at upper end of what ATT promises. The problem is that my phone lines now have horrible static, and this just started when I went to DSL.

I installed the DSL filters on all phone lines.

The home office where the dual filter is, I only have the modem connected and have no phone.

Two phones in the house. One is a 5.8 cordless phone, the other is old-fashioned corded phone. Each has static. If I unplug the cordless, static still exists. If I unplug the corded phone, the cordless has static.

If I power off the modem, the static disappears. If I power the modem back on, the static re-appears.

I've called ATT. Their internet help desk said to unplug the modem, plug it back in, and see if that helped. No. They created a help ticket and referred me to local phone company (also ATT). They want to come here and test my lines for $55. But I'm not sure I want that because without the DSL modem on, everything is fine. Seems like a waste of $55 for them to tell me that it's "my fault."

Any thoughts?
Most houses have at least two Pairs at the Demark box on the side of the house.

Green (tip) Red (ring) Black (Tip) Yellow(ring)
Or Wht/blue, Blue, Wht/Oran, Orange

I just put a filter on the Green/Red pair to feed the whole house and then use the Black/Yellow on the same screw terminals to feed my DSL to the room of choice.

I hated having filters everywhere.

muckdog
@sbcglobal.net

muckdog to muckdog

Anon

to muckdog
Toaster, there is a house alarm present. It's raining and dark, so going outside will probably have to wait until saturday when I have some daylight to play with.

When the phone is picked up, I do not lose sync with the modem. Everything works fine, I just have static and hissing on the phone I'm talking on.

Illusionist, that sounds a bit more complicated than what I want to do, but maybe I'll get to that point.

Or maybe I'll switch back to cable and forget DSL. (In my area, the cable company throttles the internet to about 2m and charges a boatload, although they will give you a deal when you tell them that you'll switch from or to DSL).
slomike1
join:2005-10-12
San Luis Obispo, CA

slomike1

Member

Did you put a filter on the house alarm telephone connection?
Matthew
Premium Member
join:2001-08-03
Emmett, ID

1 edit

Matthew to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
Hm, good chance that alarm is the culprit. They don't always introduce noise, but some times an alarm can reflect a lot of signal back into the audible range.

If you are paying for monitoring service for your alarm, you may want to call your alarm company and let them know that you now have DSL and suspect that the alarm is causing problems with it.

If the alarm has a jack, you can try using an alarm filter. If I were still a field tech and showed up at your home, I would most likely install a splitter and dedicated wire pair/home run. Its really not that difficult a task if you are comfortable working with telephone wiring.

Another thought, if you are not using the alarm And it has a jack, you might be able to get away with just unplugging the alarm from its jack. If you do that, power cycle the modem after you do, and then check for noise without the alarm in the loop after the modem is back in sync.

Do you know where the control center for the alarm is? Not the panels that you interact with, but the central box that controls the system. That is usually where the jack is, near or in that box.

muckdog
@sbcglobal.net

muckdog to muckdog

Anon

to muckdog
the alarm could be the culprit. i haven't put a filter on there because i don't know where the phone connection is.
Matthew
Premium Member
join:2001-08-03
Emmett, ID

Matthew to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
Do you know where the central control panel for the alarm is?

Newer house (built with in the last 5 years)?

The alarm will take a special filter, not your run of the mill phone filter.

muckdog
@sbcglobal.net

muckdog to muckdog

Anon

to muckdog
yes, new house. two years old. i know where the alarm box is because i opened it up and tried to put a filter on but the phone jack was wider, like an ethernet connection. plus, when i just unplugged that connection altogether, none of the phones in the house got a dial tone.

i also know where the phone service panel is where every phone line is hooked up. i was going to serially go through those to find out which connection goes to which room, and hopefully isolate the alarm phone line and put the filter there. haven't done that yet...
muckdog

muckdog to Matthew

Anon

to Matthew
you mean something like this filter?

»www.hometech.com/techwir ··· dsl.html
muckdog

muckdog

Anon

I went to the service control panel and there were 8 phone lines there. 6 of them I was able to identify and label for future reference, and 2 I have no idea where they went to. I assume one of the two was the house alarm, unless it comes in on a seperate line.

When those two lines going who-knows-where were disconnected, I still heard static on my phone. When I disconnected the line to my home office where the DSL is, the static disappears.

Now I'm thinking maybe electric interference since I have so much crud around the computer. I'm going to try to move the modem to the other side of the room away from WiFi equipment, power strips, the PC, and all the other stuff that gets plugged in on that side of the office. That's more of a weekend project since I have to move some stuff around.

Thanks for all the feedback.
Matthew
Premium Member
join:2001-08-03
Emmett, ID

Matthew to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
If the jack is a properly working RJ38X, you should still have dial tone when the alarm is unplugged. Most alarms are connected with an RJ38X, as you have that central control panel for the phones then it would probably be there, or some where in the panel may be a port\jack labeled RJ38X.

Yes, either of those in line alarm filters you linked should help with the alarm. I have used the Excelsius model in a few homes (little trial we did in the Dublin garage in conjunction with Labs in San Ramon), but my personal preference is a home run with a traditional hard wired splitter.

Central patch panel, are there lights on the patch panel that interconnect the phone lines? I have some experience working with those and DSL, and while I know how to deal with the interference those can throw out I don't see a self install solution on the market right now. I think you need something like this but with RJ45 jacks.

muckdog, might I suggest you register with this site? I wouldn't mind taking a look at the line to see if I can catch anything that might be cause for the noise as well and thats harder to do with an anon user.
muckdog
join:2006-12-13
West Sacramento, CA

muckdog

Member

Registered!

I just got off the phone with DSL maintenance. They called me earlier and left a message to call them back. Apparently, they were wondering if I still had static, but by listening to the static over the answering machine he said "I guess it's stil a problem."

I guess somebody came out here yesterday and did a line test from outside the house, and there was no static.

There is no static inside the house if the DSL modem is off. Every phone jack in the house is fine and clear. As soon as I power up the modem, the static starts immediately.

The guy said either it's my inside wiring or a defective modem, and somebody is coming out here tomorrow.

What about interference from surrounding electronic equipment? The modem is plugged into a power strip.
muckdog

muckdog

Member

I stand corrected. The modem does lose it's sync when I dial out on my phone. It seems to reacquire it, though.

I also moved the power supply off the power strip to another outlet on the opposite side of the room (via an extension cord), and no change. Still have static.
Matthew
Premium Member
join:2001-08-03
Emmett, ID

Matthew to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
said by muckdog:
Registered!

I see that. You have a PM, if you see that flashy yellow envelope at the top left of the page click on it please.

I suppose it could be from surrounding electronics, I am still curious about the central patch panel. Is it a powered device? I have seen those cause this exact type of trouble before.
petersov
Premium Member
join:2006-10-04
Castro Valley, CA

petersov to muckdog

Premium Member

to muckdog
I had this same problem except I don' have an alarm, and I have a DSL splitter at the NID with a home run directly to the modem. My noisy line started when I upgraded to the 6Mb service, except it was intermittent.

It got to the point last month that the speed was dropping to 100Kbps and I would loose sync every time I answered/picked up the phone. Had to shut off the modem and router to get it back on.

I complained to ATT and they sent out a line tech. The day the line tech. came there was (of course) no noise on the line. He did however find a grounded Jack and replaced it $55 later.

Every thing worked fine for about 3 days after, and then the nose came back. A week later and the sync dropped every time I picked up the phone.

Called ATT DSL and reported the problem of course they blamed the inside wiring, until I told them that I had a tech out and what he found and fixed. They ran some tests and found a problem with my connection (which they clamed was probably my inside wiring) and scheduled a DSL tech. to come out the next day.

The next day every thing was fine NO noise NO sync problems nothing. The tech. give me his card and said call me it happens again. That was on 12/06/06 and I have had no problems except for DSL drops over last weekend (NO noise or sync problems).

So I have no idea what they did at the CO or else ware but it is all good so far....
JediAaron
join:2006-12-15
Fremont, CA

JediAaron

Member

Hrm. This worries me, or is it good that everyone else is having the same type of problem?

I have a good ol Speedstream 5260. The last week or two I've noticed that I've gotten dropped off and on, but its gotten considerably worse. We also have static on our lines that have gotten worse as well over time.

I called SBC/ATT they said that the line looked clear (after two line tests), and they are suggesting my modem is old and dying.

They suggested when I get home to unplug the modem. If I unplug it and the static goes away, the modem is failing. If not, they suggested I call the Residential Repair.

I'll post an update when I get one!
garyvand
join:2002-07-24
Napa, CA

garyvand to Lanik

Member

to Lanik
said by Lanik:

Call AT&T 611 and complain you have noise on your line. Don't mention that you have DSL otherwise you'd have to go through the same crap as above. They should be able to fix it from there since its a voice issue.
Since the noise is being generated inside the house (goes away when DSL modem is off), there is no way that AT&T voice line techs will fix it.