Why does my Wanadoo/Speedtouch/BT broadband sometimes not connect at all, or frequently drop the line?

If you report a fault direct to BT they check the line immediately.

you would be better off on a BT broadband, the ornge sevice is terrible anyway. If you get bad conditions during bad weather it is often due to water getting into the connection boxes. If you report the fault to BT as a line fault (excess noise etc) they can locate the region within a few feet. This gives them a better chance to identify the problem. If you report through Orange, there is no guarrantee they will pass it on straight away.

If you are familiar with networks, DSL is a form of network which uses equipment that is more specialized than the one they use for regular telephones. Yes, you might be using the same telephone line with the filter and dsl modem beiong the only difference but the equipment that line is connected to is quite sensitive. If you telephone line crackles a lot and has a lot of noise, you might want to request the phone service if they could transfer your connection to another port that may be available within the same TTC cabinet. The connectors used in DSL systems are quite sensitive and if you have been connected to an old port that has a lot of noise, that might have been the problem.

Another problem is that your physical cable or lim\ne may have some shorts or intermittent connections say when there is a loose terminal or skrew where the phone line connects to the phone jack. Try checking all connections if they are solid and tighten nany ones that are not. And another thing, most phone lines have more that one telephone jack or you might have an extension somewhere else in the house. The end that is nearest to the phose service drop is the best place to put your dsl modem and the farthest end needs a DSL filter or you might get the same problems you are describing.

Try picking up the phone when the connection is good and if there is noise, the line is dirty so you need to have your phone line transferred to another port(this is done by the service provider/phone company) If they say that there is no problem on their side, you might just have a problem with the physical wire that runs through your house so try to have that checked as well.

Hope it helps.

The best thing to do is contact BT first and get them to run a quick check on the line. Dial 150 from your home phone and you should get through. It sounds like its a problem with the line if you can hear noise, but your ex BT guy is right about it pulling current for a better circuit. If BT say everything is fine, you might as well log a fault with your ISP stating that BT have given the line the all clear.

Hope this helps

It sounds like the problem is in the wiring. Possibly old rusty cables between your home and BT's exchange box. This is one of the problems they don't like to deal with, so good luck.

Get BT to check your line