No Master Socket in our House

We've been in our house for 30 years now, and having had problems with the Internet over the past week, it has only just come to my attention what a Master Socket is, and the fact that we don't have one of the newer NTE5 ones (that's what Wikipedia says the name of it is!)
Would BT replace our existing socket witha newer one?
Thanks

If you ask BT/Openreach to visit purely to update the Master socket then I would expect them to charge you for that service.
If they visit to sort out an issue with the external wiring then you could reasonably expect the engineer to update it (it is their equipment after all). BTW there are many versions of the "Master" socket and even 30 yrs ago some form of master socket would have been fitted.
If you were in a position to (and wanted to) upgrade to Infinity then as part of the engineer install the latest Master socket would be fitted.

Similar Messages

BT master socket query - no wires? Is that right?

I was asked by my ISP to try out the test socket on my master socket as I am having a few speed issues. When I took the face plate off it came off OK but with no wires attached, is this correct? I thought it was meant to have some wires attached?
The normal telephone ie voice is working ok and its the only socket in our house. The socket is a circle with T in it from approx early 90s.

this forum is for BT retail residential customers - is BT your ISP?
the wires connected to the front are your extensions - no wires means you don't have any extension sockets in your home
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Help needed please for master socket wiring

I am renovating a house built in the 1970's which I shall be moving into shortly.
My electrician has put in telephone sockets in two of the bedrooms but when he came to the master socket he found the builders had by mistake cut the wire too short so he could not make a connection.
The master socket is in the hall low down on the wall and it looks as if the wire comes into the house underground.
I have spent hours on the telephone trying to get the right person to speak to at BT who tells me I need to contact Open Reach as it is damage and when I eventually found a number to ring them they tell me it is BT's problem.
In exasperation I telephoned the moving house line as none of the press button numbers seemed relevant.
I just want a BT person to come and have a look to see what to do but they have told me that I need to give them a date for when I move and they will come and look then. However, I need the builders to fill in the large hole in where the wire comes into the house so I can have a floor laid.
Any help would be so much appreciated

Hi Kh,
Thank you for your post and welcome to the forum. If you would like a BT Engineer to go out and take a look at your line this can bee arranged when you place an order to activate the service. With the line being damaged by the builder, there will be a charge of around £127.99 to activate the service.
If you need any help placing your order to activate the service, please drop me an email with any BT account details, along with the address details for you new property. My email address is [email protected]
Thanks
Paddy
BTCare Community Mod
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BT Infinity / Master Socket

Hi,
Last week I had BT Infinity installed, but having done some reading around I'm slightly concerned by the work that was (not) done, and thought I'd post this for some advice.
I used to have an ADSL Nation NTE5 faceplate, from which I had wired a telephone extension. I also had my ADSL router connected via a 5m (or so) RJ11 extension cable, as my master socket is nowhere near a power socket.
While the installer was there, I asked about moving the master socket but he indicated that I'd have to pay BT to have this done (though he actually recommended I look for a local contractor who could do it much cheaper). I've since heard that some rather more helpful installers have done this work as part of the job! Perhaps the fact that mine was the last of the day meant he just wanted to get away early...
In the end, he reused my RJ11 extension cable to connect my BT Openreach modem to the master socket, but I'm concerned that this isn't a good idea and should actually have been done using CAT5e? I asked about running an extension from the master socket to be able to connect the OR modem elsewhere in the house and he indicated that this is possible. Subsequent reading around suggests this isn't possible though, and you can only run telephone extensions from the new faceplate?
Does anyone have any advice? My ideal scenario would be to have the OR modem in our utility room (used to be the garage), and to probably connect the Home Hub via powerline - or CAT5e - from somewhere more central in the house.
Thanks in advance - I'm more of a software guy, so this isn't my area of expertise!
Cheers
Nat
P.S. This all started because I've had a couple of dropped connections since the install, which could only be resolved by power cycling the OR modem.

The engineer should do either of these.
Move the nte5 to where you need it.
Do an nte5/ extension swap.
Run an internal data extension.
Run an external data extension.
If they say you have to have it at the point of entry then they are not being completely honest with you.
Perhaps it was a contractor/ mobile workforce chap and not an openreach engineer.

Can a faulty master socket cause linkdead / dropou...

I'm connecting to a Dark Age of Camelot server in the US (206.112.64.6) on BT Infiinity and my accounts are going linkdead every 3-5 minutes (when local game client loses connection with the server). This has been happening since I noticed that the cable to our master socket is threadbare and thee are individual wires poking out of the back of the socket (which is not attached to the wall).
Last time i had this problem, it was a routing issue between me and the server which BT was responsible for causing, but that was 8 months ago.
What can I do to remedy this. Below is a trace to the destination server. Web browing seems unaffected, as is Skype and Ventrillo (VOIP)
tracert 206.112.64.6
Tracing route to 206.112.64.6 over a maximum of 30 hops
1     5 ms     3 ms     3 ms BThomehub.home [192.168.1.254]
2     7 ms     8 ms     7 ms 217.32.147.99
3     9 ms     7 ms    10 ms 217.32.147.126
4    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms 212.140.235.202
5    13 ms    13 ms    12 ms 217.41.169.225
6    13 ms    12 ms    13 ms 217.41.169.109
7    13 ms    12 ms    12 ms 109.159.251.209
8    25 ms    26 ms    28 ms core2-te0-3-0-13.ealing.ukcore.bt.net [109.159.2
51.37]
9    19 ms    19 ms    19 ms transit2-xe1-1-0.ealing.ukcore.bt.net [62.6.200.
142]
10    21 ms    21 ms    18 ms t2c4-xe-9-0-0.uk-eal.eu.bt.net [166.49.168.49]
11    21 ms    21 ms    19 ms xe-8-0-0.edge4.London2.Level3.net [212.187.192.6
1]
12    20 ms    20 ms    19 ms ae-3-3.ebr1.London1.Level3.net [4.69.141.189]
13    20 ms    20 ms    20 ms vlan102.ebr2.London1.Level3.net [4.69.143.90]
14    93 ms    89 ms    89 ms ae-43-43.ebr1.NewYork1.Level3.net [4.69.137.74]
15    90 ms    89 ms    99 ms ae-4-4.ebr1.NewYork2.Level3.net [4.69.141.18]
16    97 ms    96 ms    89 ms ae-1-51.edge2.NewYork2.Level3.net [4.69.138.195]
17    89 ms    89 ms    89 ms Verizon-level3-2x10g.NewYork.Level3.net [4.68.62
.42]
18    99 ms    99 ms   144 ms 0.xe-7-1-0.XT2.DCA6.ALTER.NET [152.63.6.117]
19   111 ms   100 ms   100 ms 0.xe-6-0-0.XT1.DCA6.ALTER.NET [152.63.40.49]
20   101 ms   100 ms   100 ms so-0-0-0.ur1.iad6.web.wcom.net [157.130.59.70]
21   100 ms    99 ms    99 ms 206.112.64.142
22   100 ms   100 ms   100 ms 206.112.64.6

I'm not decorating my house in lead emulsion No problems with wireless connectivity since the week-long problem that BT caused back in March or whenever it was and since them my connections been solid. Like I said, it doesnt affect VOIP connections (I game while using Ventrilo) which may or may not be less sensetive to a temporary loss of connectivity.
if BT want to move my socket somewhere more appropriate then fine. Not many people people i'd imaging have a computer in the front hallway of their house, next to the front door. besides, what's the point of providing a wireless router if not for convenience
Either its a BT socket problem (inside the box are 2-3 loose wires not connected to anything) or its a wider network problem between me and the server.

Master socket terminal corroded by "damp" - respon...

Hello,
I had problems with noise on the home phone. I agreed to having a BT engineer visit and if the fault was with my phone equipment I would have to pay £99. I was getting desperate so agreed.
He came, found corroded terminals on the master socket (where you plug in your phone). He replaced this and all was well again with the phone line. As this socket marks the point of demarcation with BT having responsibility from this point outwards I thought this was the end of the matter. I have just had a bill for £99 and have spoken to BT who maintain the corrosion was due to damp. The engineer did not mention damp but said it was due to the age of the socket and corrosion is what happens. The socket was the original from 1985 when the house was built.
I have found quite a few other instances of this situation on forums.
I read that there are two types of corrosion:
Oxidation, which naturally occurs on copper surfaces, that blue/green colour stuff.
Galvanic corrosion, this is caused by the copper getting moisture onto it over a prolonged period of time. The colour of that is a dirty white/grey.
It was definitely the former. The socket is on an internal wall with wallpaper around it. There is definitely not any damp on this wall.
I see in BT's Ts and Cs "You agree to look after any of our equipment. If you do not do so and the equipment is damaged other than through fair wear and tear, you will, have to pay for it to be repaired or replaced".
There has to be an underlying cause of the corrosion for it to be 'my' fault. There is not. The "damage" has not been caused by my neglegence.
I also read that it is not unknown for engineers to use the wrong clear code when closing the task.
Any thoughts on how to convince BT that they should not be charging me for this?
Thanks,
James

JimBob12 wrote:
To quote the Electrical Safety Council - "All electrical installations deteriorate with age and use"
I certainly sympathise but suspect that you're on a loser arguing with BT, because deterioration is not inevitable despite that quote. Our master socket is of similar age and similarly sited but the inside is virtually as new; the difference must be environmental. That's not to suggest you've done anything wrong, but it will be mighty difficult to get Openreach to take responsibility for it.
You can click the white star next to this message if you think it was helpful.

No dial tone/power to master socket but infinity s...

Monday afternoon we had a phone call on the line to let use know the Sky engineer was on his way to fit a new HD box, we then had a storm hit for around and hour. At 5pm we went to make a call and our cordless phones (fitted to diy extension) had no dial tone. We then went and put the phone base station in to the master socket that has the new infinity faceplate on it. Plugged into the bottom slot and no dial tone We then went out and purchased a £10 corded phone and plugged into the slot on the master socket, no dial tone and no power being supplied to the hand set to operate memory functions/lights etc etc Strange thing is Infinity still works fine.
Called up to log an engineer visit and told that if the fault is found with my wiring it will cost £130 :/ am I right in thinking that everything coming into the house and terminating at the master socket is BT's responsibility ? and the fact that I have had 2 phones hard wired into the master socket as evident that it is the socket or cab thats at fault?
Just want to check this as every email/phone conversation/text message, keeps saying it will cost me £130 if no fault found or with my wiring.
And £130 for a call out is a bit steep if there was no fault ! or is that just me?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Engineer has been and gone ! says it is a problem with the Infinity socket, when he takes it off he can get a dial tone but when he puts the face plate back on we lose the dial tone again. He said he will have to get an Infinity engineer out, could be today but might not, which means Monday or Tuesday
Does not look good after my last BT experience......
http://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Infinity/Customer-Service-DOES-NOT-EXIST/m-p/157427#M3551

Relocate Master Socket with Infinity Installation

Hi
Our BT master socket is located in the porch / hall area with no access to power sockets.
When I upgrade to Infinity, I'd like the engineer to relocate the master socket to the living room (with access to power sockets, TV etc.). I'd also like the engineer to re-route the external wiring so that the wire enters the house in the living room.
Seems like a reasonable request to me – but I'm keen not to be charged.
Any advice is welcome. Many thanks

An Openreach engineer may reroute your external wiring but I doubt it if it is a contractor. Moving the master socket inside will normally be carried out no problem by an Openreach engineer but again if you get a contractor he will probably not or be reluctant do it.
Contractors are paid a set fee per install and as a result will not do any more than they have to and want to be in and out as quickly as possible. All you can do is ask at the time or if you want to guarantee that it will be moved, pay for it to be done.

New infinity install with a master socket move - w...

As I understand it, Infinity requires a modem plugged in directly to the master socket & a power point adjacent also. This is of no use to me at all & I would like the master socket moved. Now, from what I read here, BT will do this "officially" for £130, or on an infinity install, the openreach engineer *might/should* do it if it is straightforward.
I plan to run cat 5e cable from the master socket location, up a cable run we have in the property to the new location where I want the master socket to be located, leaving both ends unconnected. Then it should be simple enough for the engineer to connect at each end and then carry on working from the new master socket location. Maybe they could even use the second pair in the cat 5e to reconnect the original set of phone sockets we have around the house that are currently connected from the existing master socket.
Could someone advise please...
1. Is cat 5e cable the correct cable to use?
2. Does my plan sound viable? Is it technically correct?
3. Could the second pair in the cat 5e be used in the way I have described? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the reply & welcome Michael.
Some subsidiary questions then please.
1. Should I run a different sort of cable other than 5e? If so, what would be the correct type?
2. Your very helpful diagram suggests that BT would surface run up to 30m from the Master Socket to the modem. My cable run would be much less than this. Would I be better to run cable myself (in my cable run) to be used as the connection from the master socket to the modem? If so, what sort of cable should it be please & does it need to have a connecting plug on the end of it (where it plugs into the master socket) or will the OpenReach engineer fit this him/herself. I guess if they surface run cable they will be able to attach the plugs on the end of the cable. What sort of connection is it?
Thanks for you time - and for anyone else's who replies.
I should also say I am not bothered if the Master Socket is moved, AS LONG as the modem & router (home hub) are NOT located adjacent to the current position of the Master Socket. I estimate the direct cable run required if I run the cable will be no,more than 15 metres.

BT Infinity 2 and Master Socket.

Hello all. We ordered our BT infinity 2 and telephone line and they said the engineer will be coming on the 13th to set things up. After looking through the installation of BT infinity I found out that it has to be connected to a master socket. This is my problem.
My master socket is located right next to my main door and there is an extention socket in my bedroom. Can I have the master socket moved during installation ? Having a bt hub where you keep your shoes looks odd. Will the engineer relocate the master socket or change the extention socket into a a master socket or I shouldn't be expecting anything ?

Reading through some of the posts, a lot of the installation depends on whether you get a decent engineer, luckily I did.
My master socket was in a downstairs room and my study / office is in the room right above it. I explained to the engineer what I wanted / needed. He was a bit hesitant as he said it meant him having to drill through an external wall, No it won't as I already have a hole that talkes an extension from the master to the study, right easy he says he could convert the extension to the master and make the old master socket the extension. Great, cup of tea and a few hob nobs later job done.
If the engineer can not do what mine did he should fit a 30m extension lead to the master socket and you can plug the hoem hub to this, my understanding is that the extension cable is pinned to skirting or wall they will not lay kit under carpet.
Good luck
Sholtie

"Master socket or lack of"

Ok trying to trce the phone lines
black drop line comes into the house via a door frame somewhere near the bottom of the door frame on the iside a white cable exits and on the end of this after a pass under the floor the cable ends at what looks like a BT master - single piece like an extension , cap inside and BT trumpeter logo however nothing its connected to it. My partner seems to think there is an old GPO box in the door frame!
there is an extension box on the oter side of the wall from the incoming wire which has a further extension bodged into it and on the end is the BT home hub and Vision box the phone works off the home hub
is it worth getting an eingineer in to sort it out a the master has clearly been stuck on a patched wire and the whole thing has been bodged and patched by previous occupant
Broadband is down to 1.something to a max of 3Kbps as for phone we dont have any hard wired phones to check the line.
are we liable for any charges for getting it sorted or likley to be fined for the messing about with the drop wire?
Sean

seanlyon wrote:
OK further investigation black drop wire goes into the door frame and caught in behind the standard for the door is a small white junction box, from that emerges 2 white wires, one presumably goes to the small single piece master socket, the other goes to what looks like a cheap DIY shed extension box from which comes a further extension under the floors to where the BThub is plugged, As the hub hasnt been attached to a "master" (the extension has no capacitor or anything in it) will this be contributing to the braodband speed drop off and vision not working.
As i said in OP no phones connected to the sockets so cant really test the line with a handset.
whats the best way to configure the set up for best quality
Hi
The socket that you think is the master is it possible for you to plug the Home hub into that? ensure that there is nothing else plugged into the other sockets, goto www.speedtester.bt.com and run a speed test.
I know you say that you do not have a corded phone to test the line but to ensure that you do not have a noisy line which (would cause speed issues) can you not beg/steal or borrow one?
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BT Faster slow - lack of master socket the problem...

My new BT Faster FTTC broadband is not delivering the promised speed, and I hoped someone here might have some knowledgable suggestions.
I was promised a speed of 12-18Mbps down, but it's actually delivering (on first day) just over 8Mbps.
(The promised speed matches that returned by the dslchecker for my number, and the actual speed has been measured using speedtest.net as well as BT Wholesale speedtest).
Wondering if at least part of the problem is that the premises doesn't have a proper master socket. The only live sockets are "extension" sockets. I've plugged into the one of these nearest the small BT junction (?) box just inside the house to try to optimise speed.
I did warn BT that the house didn't have a proper master socket and requested an engineer install for this reason, but they insisted I try a self install of the HH5 and "see how it goes". I wonder if the speed wouldn't be improved to something closer to that promised if there was a master socket installed (an NTE5 or even a SSFP Infinity).
Any advice on how I should proceed and/or whether I should go back to BT to request they install a master socket? Any and all help would be much appreciated!
In case of any help, here are the hub stats from the "Helpdesk" view:
Product name: BT Home Hub
Serial number:
Firmware version: Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.173.1.6 (Type A) Last updated Unknown
Board version: BT Hub 5A
VDSL uptime: 0 days, 03:02:33
Data rate: 1257 / 9395
Maximum data rate: 1257 / 8953
Noise margin: 6.1 / 6.0
Line attenuation: 0.0 / 35.2
Signal attenuation: 0.0 / 27.6
Data sent/received: 39.0 MB / 229.6 MB

Thanks for the reply John. The checkers are still giving me the same results as yesterday, screengrabs now attached:
1. Product name:   BT Home Hub
2. Serial number:   +
3. Firmware version:   Software version 4.7.5.1.83.8.204 (Type A) Last updated 28/02/15
4. Board version:   BT Hub 5A
5. DSL uptime:   0 days, 00:33:28
6. Data rate:   1261 / 9260
7. Maximum data rate:   1269 / 9293
8. Noise margin:   6.2 / 6.1
9. Line attenuation:   14.9 / 36.5
10. Signal attenuation:   14.9 / 28.6
11. Data sent/received:   13.4 MB / 188.7 MB

Need help identifying my master socket for broadba...

Hi i am awaiting my line to go active for broadband but i just want to make sure the socket i am going to use is my master socket.
I can only find 1 socket in my house and it has a T logo in the bottom corner. This socket is on the bottom of my stairs (annoying place). I have opened it up and it looks like it has a capacitor on it. When i follow my wire coming out of the box it goes down a couple of steps and goes into another small box with a T logo on the front but all this has on it is a screw dot in the middle and another T logo.
So is the socket on stairs the master socket and if so what is this other box is it some sort of wiring centre?
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Ahh right so it is my master socket but it must be older than the picture above as mine takes the whole face off and not just the bottom section and it does not have any test point on it.
Would it be recommned to update my socket to a newer one? I ask this as i was looking into iplates to help boost my speed but there not conpatible with my current socket.
And i need to put a extention into my living room is it best to just plug it into my master socket or will i lose speed this way?

Where's my master socket?

Was delighted to find yesterday, on a random check of the BT site, that we've been fitted for Inifinity. First thing this morning I booked us in for the upgrade.
I know that the equipment will need to be connected to the master socket, so I'm trying to work out which one that is. Is there any way of telling externally? We live in a three-storey house, and there are sockets in at least three different rooms on the ground and first floor (and I'm not sure there's not more, we have three in the living room at various points...)
Anyway, at present we have the home hub running in the living room (1st floor) so that I can run an Ethernet cable to my Xbox. I do have a wireless adapter, so if I need to move the equipment down to the kitchen (ground floor) it's no big deal, but I'm just wondering which one it'll be, especially as my wife's office is in the top floor and I don't think she'll be impressed if she ends up with a worse signal for her work computer just so I can play games that bit faster
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Hi
There are a couple of different types of master sockets here is a link to help you identify which one you have http://www.thinkbroadband.com/tools/phone-socket-comparison.html . Hope that works for you.
Edit: I guess it may be the NTE5 but you could also have the old style ADSL V1 dual socket (I know I had the adsl one for many years before I upgraded to Infinity)
Also the OR engineer can convert most sockets to a master socket so I guess you can choose were you want it to go.
Hope this information is useful to you.
Edit : Also if you follow the BT line from outside and see where on the outside wall it goes into your house there's a good chance you could match it to the socket on that wall maybe.

Question re master socket vs secondary and install...

I'm seriously considering switching to Infinity but have a question re sockets. My current modem and network gigabit switching are all upstairs, coming from a secondary socket running outside the house from the master socket on the ground floor. I want to have the new infinity modem etc in the same upstairs room as now so I don't have to muck around with my existing network cabling. My question is can the egineer use the existing cabling and convert the upstairs socket without having to run a new cable from the master socket downstairs (as it would be next to impossible to drill through the ceiling etc without my partner killing me) as this is the deal breaker for me and Infinity? Many thanks

He should be able to do that for you.

No Master Socket in our House

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