Telephone Line Service Faults, Hardware & Demarcation Point

The telephone, traditionally supplied by two copper wires often called the line or telephone line. Telephone line pole supply

The landline telephone service itself, for many home & business users, remains an unavoidable requirement. With all this extra functionality provided by just two wires and a bit of high-tech equipment at either end, it comes as no surprise that from time to time things do go wrong. However getting landline telephone and broadband faults fixed can often be quite a frustrating and time-consuming task, so what can you do as a service user to minimise your service down time?

One key point of importance is an understanding of something called the demarcation point, this is the point at which maintenance responsibility for your landline telephone and equipment changes from your service provider to yourself. Generally, UK demarcation points for landlines are often classed as the location of the master socket or NTE (network terminating equipment). In many cases, the master socket is located inside a property, in which case it should be an NTE5 type of master socket.

NTE5 type master sockets, when installed correctly can create a clear demarcation point. This can make establishing the origin of faults easy to identify & will help immensely if you have to speak to your service provider about the performance of your services or a general fault situation.

When you have gone as far as you can to resolve a landline service fault, you will have to either accept the possibility of paying your service provider's call-out charge or find an independent qualified local telephone engineer.

Regardless of whether you have a correctly configured demarcation point; there are a few aspects you can consider to help keep things working.

Ensure both internal and external wiring are in good condition

Ensure that external cable is used for external cable runs, if not, replace before weather damage occurs

Extra telephone extension socket points should only be installed by a competent person

Do not overload your line; try to limit yourself to 4 devices on the line at any one time

Always filter all devices in use on a broadband-enabled landline

Consider any cables that run under high foot traffic areas, where contact will be made

Plan cabling before starting any building or renovations

Remember that some phones do not function at all without mains power

Having more than one master socket can often cause technical problems and degrade your line services

Do not locate telephone sockets close to any high moisture areas, this can lead to many types of fault

Consider your cabling when fitting windows, doors, or flooring, as crushed cables can reduce or stop line services completely

DIY extension leads can often interfere with broadband connections