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...
Phone Wiring Repair and Connectors – Some Tips From A Telephone Engineer.
Because telephone wires (the ones that connect your phones to the master socket in your house) are so small, people don't seem to take phone wiring repair very seriously. The result is that people struggle to make even the most embarrassingly messy and...
In Search of a Telephone Engineer in North East England…
Companies who are looking for a sub-contractor Telephone Engineer in North East England seem to like us. They come back for more. We don't mind... Oh, and of course, we're local independent phone engineers. We carry out broadband and landline phone repairs for...
How to Move Your BT Master Socket (Without Actually Moving It) – Advice from a Telephone Engineer
In an earlier blog (that people seemed to like!), I explained in no uncertain terms that moving your BT Master socket was potentially A Bad Idea. But That's Not The Full Story... There is a way of translating exactly what your BT Master Socket does to wherever you'd...