THE PROBLEM
1. My problem is intermittent broadband connection after changing to a new BT Smart Hub Type A (aka Home Hub 6). Browsing the forum I can see that the most common cause is a noisy phone line but I’m not 100% convince this is so in my case as explained below.
2. In April 2020 my ancient BT Hub 3 lost power. I tried an alternative 12v power supply adaptor plug but it made no difference: the hub was powerless. It was impossible to dismantle the hub itself to check for blown fuse or broken connection, etc because it is a welded unit. It was attached to an Openreach modem (Huawei FTTC VDSL) which was working ok.
3. Needing to quickly re-establish a greatly needed Internet connection during the Covid-19 lock-down, I purchased a new BT Smart Hub which supposedly doesn’t require use of the Openreach modem.
4. I connected the new hub to my Openreach BT master socket. I think it’s NTE5 MK1 which on the faceplate has the 2 sockets vertically aligned with the ADSL socket above the phone socket which doesn’t need a microfilter. At first all seemed fine but I soon got intermittent disconnection which I initially thought might be caused by the high volume of Internet use during the lock-down.
5. I also noticed a big drop in speed from 36 Mbps with the old Hub 3 to an average of 20 Mbps and sometimes even less with the Smart Hub - only 15.4 Mbps on 13th August 2020. Incidentally without being asked I seem to have been moved from Infinity 1 Broadband which guaranteed 35 Mbps to Fibre with BT Halo 1 which guarantees only 23Mbps.
6. The most common obvious cause of dropout is when I finish receiving or making a phone call. 10 seconds later the hub disconnects and then take about 30 seconds to re-connect. Also much less often when I’m using the computer it disconnects for no apparent reason, i.e. apparently nothing to do with the phone.
WHAT I’VE TRIED
1. Checked and confirmed that my neighbours using BT broadband are not having problems
2. The Quiet Line Test (dialling 17070). How quiet is “quiet”?! I hear an almost inaudible crackle. But when I receive or make an ordinary call there is a very loud annoying crackle! So maybe I do have a noisy line?
3. Using an alternative old corded phone made no difference.
4. The Intermittent Connection Assistant via the Hub manager. It runs the test and finishes with “We’ll need you to get in touch... Thanks for using our troubleshooter, we’re sorry we can’t fix your fault online.... give us a call on 0800 111 4567"
QUESTIONS
1. Do I have noisy line if I hear a loud crackle when using the phone even though it seems to pass the Quiet Line Test? And if the problem is a noisy phone line then why was there on problem until I installed the new Smart Hub?
2. Did my old Openreach modem somehow filter out problems and give me a better speed?
3. What might be causing the problem besides a noisy line?
4. Is my new BT Smart Hub faulty and in need of return to the BT Shop?
from your description you do have a noisy line - the line should be silent when using a corded phone and maybe a High Resistance fault on your line which is causing the drops when you receive or make a call. constant drops in conenction will see the DLM take action by reducing you speed to try and stabilise your line
from your stats you have an attainable of 42mb but are nowhere near that
can you try the quiet line test from the test socket to make sure problem with noise is outside your home and not caused by any internal wiring
test socket shown by black arrow and found by removing middle section with yellow arrow
