This page documents my BT telephone and internet issues.

27.06.2016 BT engineer calls

Following a BT engineer's visit(Darren) my broadband and phone connections have been fully restored. It appears to have been some external cabling(to the junction box) from the 60's that had been damaged, both over time and probably with work on a recent soffit replacement, and with the heavy downpours recently the wire had oxidised. The engineer replaced the old cable with proper external cable and was very helpful.

Switched my webcam uploads back on.

23.06.2016 BT nightmare continues

No end to the line drops so called BT again - the rep admitted that I'd had 170 drops in the past 24 hours!!! After several line tests the rep arranged for an engineer to visit, but not until Monday, so I have a fun weekend ahead! Again, no answers to my technical questions but hopefully that'll be sorted when the BT engineer calls.

22.06.2016 Switched off webcam

With the ongoing problem with BT I've switched off my webcam, as the ftp upload of the images requires prior authorisation of my ip address, and that keeps changing when my line drops. Four hours later and no sign of a BT techie calling as promised.

22.06.2016 BT nightmare continues

This morning got my alarm rather than some music so it was clear that my internet connection was down. It continued to go up and down. I tried the usual, restarting the router, but also resetting it several times, all to no avail. Another call to BT, and a delightful Welsh lass tried very hard to help, but ultimately the problem wasn't going away. She suggested sending another router in case mine was faulty, and at this time I'd try anything, even though it means trying to deactivate BTWifi when it arrives. I've had a wasted and frustrating morning so have turned to roasting a pork joint instead!

21.06.2016 BT nightmare

This afternoon my internet connection with BT kept going up and down, making the service pretty much unusable. The BT status page showed a lot of Xfinity issues but none supposedly affecting my area. Phoned up and spoke to a friendly Indian customer service rep who couldn't help, but he did admit that BT were having some server problems(not indicated on the status page as usual). The rep promised to ring Friday to check how things had gone as the line stayed up during our chat! Afterwards I had a brief period of respite and then it continued for the next 6 hours, so I turned in for the night and hoped it would get better by morning.

21.03.2016 Engineer called and rectified the fault

06:05 my Internet connection is still up. Tried my phone, slight line noise, dialling tones then nothing, so disconnected my phone again.

08:00 BT engineer(Daryl) arrived and found a fault 31 metres away, at a BT junction box attached to the side of the other block of flats here! Daryl switched my line with an unused one as mine was damaged/corroded. 09:19 Daryl completed his work - phone line now works and my internet connection is back - fingers crossed it'll stay that way! Daryl said he'd complete some paperwork to replace the junction box, which may mean a future outage if/when BT do the work.

20.03.2016 Still no phone line and internet connection up and down repeatedly.

07:30 Internet connection stayed up overnight but still no phone connection. Returning home at 11:10 noticed that at approx. 8:30 my internet connection had dropped again but successfully reconnected(new IP). Tried my phone again, but after the dialling tones just some line noise, couldn't connect. When Karen used her mobile to ring me, my phone rang but when I picked up there was only line noise and Karen's call was terminated - this time my internet connection stayed up. Internet connection dropped again at 12:34 but again returned quickly(new IP). 16:27 Internet connection dropped again - I had to log into the router to get it to connect. 18:28 internet connection dropped again, but back in a couple of minutes(with same IP). 18:43 internet line dropped again but back within a couple of minutes(new IP).

19.03.2016 Problems continue

My internet dropped again at 04:50 but was up again when I got up(new IP), so I had to disconnect/reconnect to get my webcam working. It dropped again at 09:19 but came back up shortly thereafter(with new IP). Discovered the internet connection had dropped again at 13:22 when I got back from shopping at 15:45 but had connected again in the meantime(new IP) - tried my phone, and a new one, but still no phone connection.

18.03.2016 BT Internet now up

This morning my internet connection was still up, so, at 07:30, I disabled my webcam ftp and connected my phone(if I don't spot a line drop the webcam attempts to login to my website host from an unknown IP address which then blocks that address, meaning I have to stop the webcam, disconnect/reconnect my line to get a new IP, register the new IP and then restart the webcam). Tried to dial a couple of numbers but after the dialling tones(amid moderate line noise).. nothing once again! It appears my phone line is again not working. At 08:57 switched my webcam ftp back on, my phone line still doesn't work but my internet connection is still stable(although as my phone line is not working I can't tell if an incoming call will again disconnect my internet access).

10:02 tried to ring BT on 0800800151 but after the dial tone... nothing. 10:05 Karen rang me and while the line was crackly at my end I could hear her, but my internet connection immediately dropped!! This time however the line reconnected within a couple of minutes, unlike previous times. Will once again disconnect my phone to try to keep a stable internet connection - don't want to lose it for a spam call! Spoke too soon, as I was typing that my internet connection dropped again though my phone shows no call. Strange thing, it's quickly reconnected and has the same IP address, wonder if BT hold it for a very short period as I've not seen it keep the same IP after a disconnect/reconnect before.

I notice that the BT status page suggests that the broadband issues in the Southend area have been resolved, but they show a dialling code of 01568 which is Leominster not Southend(01702), and nowhere near it?? The record for ongoing phone problems still doesn't include 01702 dialling codes.

21:00 My internet connection dropped, but was up again in a couple of minutes(new IP as usual).

17.03.2016 Internet connection down

This morning(05:45) discovered that my internet connection dropped just after 22:00 yesterday and the router was still trying to connect(or it had connected and dropped once or more). When it connected I hoped that perhaps my line had been fixed and tried my phone line. It was slightly crackly but it connected, but my internet connection dropped again! After 10 mins of the router trying to connect I tried restarting it and hey presto I had an internet connection. I aso disconnected my phone in the hope that it might stop any incoming call dropping my internet conection again. No such luck, minutes later the internet connection went again!

After a period of failed line connects my router said there was a problem and suggested ringing BT, so I reconnected my phone and rang(over a crackly line) their automated service which said to ring 08001114567, which I did. As it was telling me I was in a queue to speak to an advisor my broadband connected!

That didn't last long my internet went again, but after a number of attempts, including rebooting the router I have a connection as of 06:50.

At 7:00 used the BT online chat service to point BT at this log of my problems, and to ask them for an engineer before Monday, but no joy - will have to wait patiently. At this time my broadband is up, my phone line works (moderate line noise) but using it often disconnects my broadband! Therefore, for now, I've disconnected my phone.

16.03.2016 Problem still exists

This morning discovered that my phoneline was still not working, but my internet connection was still up.

Tried the BT online troubleshooter. The line check said no problem. As advised, unscrewed the wall plate and tried the test socket but still no connection. The next step is to try another phone(which I don't have), so will have to wait until I see Karen this evening and borrow one of her phones to see if the problem is with my phone(a BT 8500 bought in October 2014).

Karen tried to ring me at lunchtime, it rang but when I picked up there was a lot of line noise for a few seconds, then nothing. On the bright side my internet connection didn't drop this time!

At 15:43 a blocked call 'coincided' with my internet connection dropping... argh!

Got a working phone from Karen and my line still didn't work so completed the online request for an engineer - sadly the earliest slot was Monday morning(the 20th)!! I elected to be contacted by email but the online record says my home phone number, i.e. the line I have a problem with!! Each time I try to edit where fault updates are sent to use my email the system accepts it but the record refuses to change!! What a nightmare!

15.03.2016 My line problems!

On Tuesday evening Karen rang me and my internet connection immediately dropped, and the line noise made it impossible to hear her and carry on a conversation. I tried to ring her mobile number but again the line noise made it impossible to hold a conversation. Thinking this was probably one of the roughly weekly to 2 weekly internet line drops caused by BT recycling IP addresses I put it down to an unfortunate coincidence. However, when Karen again rang later and the same thing happened it seemed that there was now a fault on my line.

Looked up the BT contact number(0800800151) and tried to ring it, Heard the dialling tones and then nothing!! Tried to ring Karen's mobile and again the dialling tone was followed by nothing! According to the BT website they had a slew of problems with phones and internet connections across various parts of the country(including an entry for Southend) so decided to leave it until the morning in the hope that the problem had been fixed.

Couldn't help wondering if my new problem was a result of the BT individual doing something to my line following the call earlier in the day, but will assume it was an amazing coincidence.

15.03.2016 BT return call

Received a call at 14:05 from BT from someone who said it wasn't BT's problem but they could run line diagnostics on my line. I repeatedly pointed out that my line appeared to be fine and that it looked like a routing change where calls leave the BT network to other suppliers, and tried to get him to explain the process. He continued to claim it wasn't a BT problem.

14.03.2016 Karen can't dial home!

On Monday Karen tried to ring her landline from her work and got through to Glenn and they discussed their problem(s).

13.03.2016 Can't reach Karen!

I've had a BT phone for almost 40 years, my girlfriend of 3 years, Karen, had a BT phone for around 14 years and 5 years ago switched it to Talk-Talk. Thursday 10th March was the last time I rang Karen's number successfully - when I tried to ring her on Sunday 13th March I got a stranger called Glenn. At first thought this was a simple crossed line but each time I rang it reached the same individual. When I spoke to Glenn and asked him his number he claimed to have had the same number as Karen but with Sky for the past 5 years, had just switched to EE, and my call was the first he'd received! When Karen rang me later, I told her of the problem with her number.

Concerned that calls for her might be going to Glenn, Karen called Talk-talk who tested her line and said it was OK and suggested that I should contact BT as, of now, only I seemed to have a problem getting routed to her phone.

Contacted BT via their online chat facility and the young woman rang me and discussed my problem. She said she'd refer it to BT's team that specialised in provisioning and someone would call me back on Monday. I rang Karen on her mobile and explained the situation. Karen was able to successfully ring her landline number from her mobile, and her sister was also able to successfully reach it. Don't know how telecomms suppliers mediate the routing between their networks, or who polices the ownership of specific numbers, but at this time it looks like a routing problem as well as an ownership conflict.

25.06.2015 BT Sport

I currently get BT Sport free with my broadband - however I don't use it or want it. BT sent an email that said they would start charging for their new service which included Champions League football, unless I cancelled/downgraded to BT Sport Lite. BT electing for an opt-out really annoyed me, as I usually ignore messages about BT Sport and might have not realised they would start billing me for this service. The BT help staff moved me to the free lite service, but then immediately afterwards BT sent me an email(probably automated) saying I had signed up for BT Sport and was subject to a 30day notice period!!! A further call to BT help and they said everything was OK and there would be no charges, however they also denied sending me an email, which didn't inspire confidence! I also went onto the MyBT website and again there was no mention of BT Sport lite and no option to unsubscribe from BT Sport! Not impressed with BT customer service.

27.10.2014 New BT phone

My new BT8500 phone has given me fabulously cold-call free days since I got it last Wednesday. Having been plagued by up to half a dozen a day this may be my best purchase for some time, even more so as I got a pair for less than £50!

17.07.2014 BT connection now live

The visit of the BT engineer went well and my new BT internet connection appears to be working as expected. I've still got a few network attached devices to update with new network details(and new email setups), but that's simply a tedious slog. The only minor niggle on the horizon is that if my router is disconnected/restarted it will get a different ip address which will screw-up my webcam updates, as my webspace has to specifically allow ip addresses to update it(a security feature). I won't know how much of an issue this may be until I've seen how stable the BT connection is over the next few weeks. With the increased bandwidth the webcam updates have been increased from every 10 minutes to every 5 minutes.