The Great Analogue and ISDN Lines Switch-Off – What Do I Need To Do? An Engineer’s Observations on “Phonemagddon”
Let's get one thing straight first - I'm not selling anything! I'm an independent telephone engineer in The North East of England, blogging on the occasional industry topic. I fix, rather than "flog" these days. Fixing is better. However, the hype and sheer nonsense...
Wiring a House for Ethernet (Cat 5e/Cat 6). An Engineer Gives Basic Advice.
I'm a telephone and cabling engineer working in the North East of England. I spend some of my time cabling challenging places such as pubs and houses with data cabling. I'm often asked by private customers about wiring a house for ethernet (Cat 5e/Cat 6). This blog is...
How To Find A “Local Phone and Broadband Engineer Near Me”.
Apparently, The Mighty Google says lots of people search for "local phone and broadband engineer near me". Yes, I'm one of those engineers, based in the TS16 area of Stockton on Tees. I serve business and residential customers in the North East and North Yorkshire....
Removing Legacy PBX
We're soon to enter our twentieth year of removing legacy PBX of all sizes. We are mainly engineers these days, putting things in, rather than taking them out, and fixing faults. However, we love going “back to our roots” in removing large systems from tight spaces,...
Moving Your Master Socket and Getting A Bill
Moving your master socket and getting a bill. Sadly, it's quite easy. Moving your master socket is easy. Your service arrives via two wires, and all you have to do cut, extend and re-joint your cable. Well, in theory, that is... The Official Line However, first of all...
The Secret Life of BT Dropwire Telephone Cable
BT dropwire telephone cable – we shouldn't really be talking about it, as it runs from the master socket onto the BT (more correctly Openreach) network. Of course, no-one ever gets involved with that side of the network, do they...? This blog, therefore, should be...
Moving Your Master Socket – Will I Get A Fine?
Moving your master socket seems to be a very hot topic for our blog readers. It's actually a kind of "yes, but no" topic, rather than a straight answer. My simple opinion as a local telephone engineer is:- "Yes you can (unofficially)" ...but also... "No you...
BT Openreach New NTE5C Master Socket – Faster Broadband?
The BT Openreach New NTE5C Master Socket (with the Mk4 frontplate) has been available for some time now. As I'm a telephone engineer, who has dealt with master sockets for years, I thought I'd give a guided tour Before We Start... If you don't want to read my...
Phone Extension Wiring – Which Type of Cable?
I'm often asked about phone extension wiring, usually when folks don't want move their master socket . Elsewhere I've blogged on how to connect phone extension wiring together. But not on the importance of choice of cable. You might have “Superfast Broadband” to your...
Telecoms Site Surveys – North-East England and Beyond…
We've been doing telecoms site surveys since literally the end of the last century. And we've had to battle through telecommunications installation jobs that hadn't been surveyed properly. So we know how important a good telecoms site survey is. And this has included...
Ten Ways to Survive Calling an ISP Customer Service Department
As a local independent telephone engineer, based in the Middlesbrough and Stockton on Tees area in the UK, one of my key jobs, on behalf of my customers is dealing with the dreaded ISP Customer Service Department. I am called by home users who have a problem with...
Moving Your BT Infinity Master Socket. A Phone Engineer’s Advice
First of all, I've got to make it very clear that moving a BT Infinity Master Socket (or any other BT master socket) isn't really something you should do. (Well, not officially...). It's the equivalent of moving your gas or electricity meter. It's the supplier's (or...
