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Forgive me if I use the wrong term for these things because I've only learned about what these things are called today. Anyway this is my setup -
I have a main BT (british telephone) outlet in the living room and a secondary BT outlet in my room, my goal is to have a wired internet connection in my room and I prefer to not have to set up a long ethernet cable from the living room to my room.
The living room BT outlet has a microfilter (ADSL Splitter) that is connected to it and then a DSL cable that connects that to the router. In this setup the router works however when I take the microfilter and the router and connect them to the outlet in my room I don't have internet connection. I've read online that routers are not supposed to work with secondary BT outlets (not really sure why or if thats actually true).
I assume buying a secondary microfilter for my room and connecting it to a modem will work but I'm just guessing and I want to make sure it will work before I go out and buy these things.
So whats the cheapest/best way to have wired internet connection in my room?
EDIT:
This is a picture of the BT outlet in the living room - https://imgur.com/IYIsb2i
This is the one in my room - https://imgur.com/98yerYc
This is a picture of the microfilter (ADSL splitter) that connects to the left socket in the living room outlet - https://imgur.com/doP3A6T
user2719268
Posted 2019-09-20T16:06:14.180
Reputation: 11
Microfilter is basically a term for an ADSL splitter which separates POTS from the DSL signal, which is very antiquated tech, to be honest. Just so everyone knows, what you are talking about. Link: http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/635/~/why-do-i-need-adsl-filters-%28microfilters%29-and-where-do-they-go%3F
– TuxStash.de – 2019-09-20T16:09:23.687How many sockets does each outlet have? And if you connect the router on your secondary socket, does the DSL signal synchronize? – TuxStash.de – 2019-09-20T16:11:29.227
1Yes, BT primary boxes are different to all others in the building. But, just to be certain does a regular landline phone work on that secondary socket? It's been far too long since I dealt with ADSL [like 20 years], but you could try swapping the boxes; the running order shouldn't be vital, just one needs to be primary. If I remember rightly you'll have to swap the whole box, not just the face-plate. Some circuitry is inside the primary box. – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T16:35:41.773
@TuxStash.de The main BT outlet in my living room has 2 sockets. The one in my room has only 1 socket. About the DSL signal if you mean does the xDSL light on the router flashes when I connect it to the BT socket in my room, then no it doesn't. It does flash when I connect it to the one in the living room. – user2719268 – 2019-09-20T16:37:25.797
@Tetsujin I haven't tried connecting a landline to any of the sockets (not sure if I have one at all). If I swap the outlets then correct me if I'm wrong but the living room wouldn't have an internet connection would it? I want to end up having internet connection in both rooms. – user2719268 – 2019-09-20T16:40:40.790
I have never used a BT box, but I assume this is a similar situation to what it's like here in the US. When you get your ISP set up at your home, one socket inside is "hooked up" to the DMARC termination point. This is the point where the ISP from the outside hooks up to the inside of your home. The only way to change that is to use a toner and hook up the living room port to the DMARC point. You could call your ISP and they could do this for you, but it would probably cost you. – DrZoo – 2019-09-20T16:46:42.610
As far as I recall, the modem will only work on the primary & you can only have one primary. So if your intent is to be able to swap & swap back, that may not be feasible. I would go with Ethernet & leave the modem where it is. ADSL is going to be a limited resource soon anyway, as eventually everyone will get glass… FTTC at least, if not FTTH. – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T16:46:45.680
@DrZoo - DMARC? I thought that was a mail domain structure. What is it in relation to DSL? – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T16:50:35.883
@Tetsujin Demarcation point. We call it DMARC here in the US. It’s just the point where the public side gets switched over to the customer premises like this
– DrZoo – 2019-09-20T16:55:26.920@Tetsujin I don't intend to swap back and forth between the living room and my room, I just want to have the setup I currently have in my living room stay that way but also have a wired connection working in my room. – user2719268 – 2019-09-20T16:58:09.453
@DrZoo I added some pictures for clarification. Is this what you were talking about? – user2719268 – 2019-09-20T17:02:30.360
@DrZoo - ah, OK. traditional old BT POTS doesn't do that, it just pushes straight through the wall into the house, the primary box has a bit of jiggery on the back of it, which the POTS splitter likes to see, but from there everything else is just wired in parallel, so you can actually move the primary anywhere if you need to. Old British houses are webbed with bits of old POTS wiring; the older they are the more they got. – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T17:03:51.267
hmm… idk about the splitter, haven't seen one is decades, but those other 2 sockets are not BT. Your primary should be, even if nothing else is. The BT primary has a half faceplate you can remove which isolates all other wiring into the rest of the building for troubleshooting. – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T17:06:04.400
@user2719268 it’s a similar concept. I don’t know what the double ports means on the primary, but it’s definitely the same concept. With a DMARC we have one in home RJ-11 or RJ-45 port, depending if you have DSL or Cable/Fiber, that is connected to the box outside. That then becomes the only port in the home that you can plug the modem into, and receive an internet connection from your ISP. – DrZoo – 2019-09-20T17:06:29.653
@DrZoo - no, completely different structure in the UK. BT does its own thing. Cable does its own thing. Ne'er the twain shall meet. BT basically still own all the copper in the UK, even if someone else is renting it. Cable have to put their own independent wiring in. – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T17:11:29.900
@Tetsujin If those sockets are not BT then what are they? – user2719268 – 2019-09-20T17:11:53.550
I've no idea. They are most definitely not BT though. BT's a) look totally different & b) are stamped BT & c) have a very distinctive look to the primary, with a split faceplate. This is a BT Primary [the OpenReach stamp depends on where you are. At minimum it just says BT] - http://telephoneextensionsocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/BT-Master-Socket.jpg
– Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T17:14:36.237BTW - with the pictures on imgur, there's a chance they could disappear in future. To preserve this question for future Googlers, with your permission, they could be imported to the stack exchange structure & inlined into the question, then survive as long as SE survives. You own them, so it would be rude to do it without explicit permission [New users can't do this themselves, so someone else would need to inline them for you] – Tetsujin – 2019-09-20T17:30:38.890