Crackling on landline confirmed using TalkTalk tools

[Crackle170224]

There is crackling on the landline, running a TalkTalk test confirms this and a reference is generated. The recent visit of an Openreach engineer confirmed the crackling in on the line not in my head. At the start of the month this crackling overwhelmed the landline and after a snapping sound the call terminated. When the caller tried again their voice was distorting/echoing. TalkTalk website confirmed there was a fault on the landline.

The fault persists, I am using a new phone - it is not a cordless one. It is directly connected to the Openreach 5C master socket which has a new faceplate fitted by a Qube GB engineer.

The crackling continues when the electrical supply to the house is off.

A fresh test yesterday indicated a fault with the landline, there has not been an update for 24 hours.

I spent a long time on Live Chat as I was requested to do so, a test by the agent warned me it might last 20 minutes. The results of this test were to be included with the notes on my account.

Three weeks since the initial complaint - anyone with poor mental health would be put at risk by these circumstances.

I live in an area with a poor mobile phone signal, 28% again today. A landline is very important, to be able to hear and be heard is also important.

There have been landline faults here since I switched to TalkTalk six years ago.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Crackle,

We only know what the line test show and the Openreach engineer tells us. The engineer thinks the problem is with your internal wiring or telephone equipment, we are not trying to gaslight you.

I think the tool has generated the repair because you ran the test and therefore are probably experiencing a problem, which you are. The two tests both passed and the recommendation is that if you are experiencing problems further diagnostics are required and it recommends In_Home_Checks

There's no obsession with your telephone, we just need you test with two different telephone if possible, to make sure that there's not a fault with the telephone (I don't know what it causing the dim LED to randomly flash)

There's an explanation of the router lights in the following help article, do you still see the orange flashing light? - Router Flashing Orange | Wi-Fi Hub | TalkTalk

The test results don't really show any information that would be of any use to you. What exactly do you want to know? I can't see the SNR but the NGA test is showing that you router is in sync at 80Mbps which would imply that the SNR is good as low SNR reduces connection speed

If you are still experiencing the crackle on two different telephones connected directly to the test socket then we can arrange another Openreach engineer. If you'd like me to do this please let me know 

PS BS is BrightSparks which is the name of our engineers

Thanks

Chris

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

I realise TalkTalk does not believe me nor trust me and is gaslighting me.

I am sorry that I have again failed to make it clear that the TalkTalk website tools last evening generated REP-14067748.

There must be a reason for this unless  these tools are themselves faulty.

I did receive a text, each time a REP is generated I receive a text. The text last evening is as follows

TalkTalk Update: Hello, we've completed the test on your line. If you're still experiencing issues, we will need to investigate this further....

The TalkTalk systems are in conflict, REP generated following the use of a TalkTalk website tool, followed by a text, the next morning the My Connection - View faults shows the endless circle of dots 

Withholding the raw data from me prevents me from questioning the tests reported in the TEST RESULT.

The obsession with the new BT Openreach 200 phone is irksome, it was not connected to the Openreach Master Socket 5C. Openreach is a part of the BT Group are the people responsible for the new phone. Here we have two parts of the BT Group in conflict.

I have asked TalkTalk to comment on the dimly flickering incoming call LED on the new BT Big Button phone when it was connected to the test socket [minus the internal batteries] and the electrical supply to my home switched off, this has been ignored

I have asked TalkTalk to comment on the slowly flashing orange light of the router after the Qube GB engineer visit, this has been ignored. Should I create a new thread? Why has that appointment been described as by a BS Engineer. BS also has unfortunate connotations best avoided.

Please may I have the full cooperation of TalkTalk as offered by contacting the TalkTalk Community?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Crackle

An NGA and TAM test were run, both passed. Did you receive a text message?

Chris

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

Please checkout REP-14067748 generated by the TalkTalk website tools yesterday evening.

I have tried to check for updates this morning 

My Connection - View faults but the response is a circle of dots that move around clockwise in distress

Circle of dots in distress

[Crackle170224]

screenshot19-02-202407.02.05

Hello Chris,

I thought you had access to this information. Am I mistaken?

Above is a screenshot taken 19-02-2024 07.02.05

Is this the information you requested?

I am sorry I again have not been clear in my request for test results. I am asking TalkTalk to share the technical details of the measurements being made that when combined produce an overall TEST RESULT. I would like the fine detail that leads to the final descriptor PASSED.

For example, please share the Signal to Noise Ratios obtained during the tests run by TalkTalk on my landline and those I have been able to run on my landline using the TalkTalk website tools. Variations of Signal to Noise Ratio [SNR] for example SNR Margin or Noise Margin included.

I am sure that with your help I can resolve this complaint.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Which test did you run? What did it say was the result of the test?

Chris

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply.

Why does the TalkTalk website generate a REP reference number when the TalkTalk tools are used if the result is "Line Test Passed"?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Crackle

REP-13941134 - line test passed, 

REP-13957577 - Line test when ticket opened, passed. BS engineer arranged later who ran the two line tests which failed

REP-14007201 - two line tests when ticket opened, both passed (and all tests since have passed) - Openreach engineer visit arranged - visit outcome, engineer seems to think it's an issue with customer equipment wiring

The only option open to us is to arrange another Openreach engineer visit but I'd suggest discussing this further with your Complaint Manager

Chris

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply.

Please share the test results that generated the following references

REP-13941134

REP-13957577

REP-14007201

I am especially interested in the first one as that was immediately after the continuous crackling on the landline increased in volume, the call then being terminated by a loud snap.

When the caller rang me back their voice was distorting/echoing, they sounded like a dalek.

I hope that the results of the tests done when I used the TalkTalk website tools on the three occasions those references were generated will help me identify the origin of the continuous crackling noise on the landline. I think it is clear that the source of the continuous crackling noise on the landline is not in my home or caused by the new BT Big Button 200 phone. [The continuous crackling noise on the landline existed before I bought the new BT Big Botton 200 phone.]  If I am mistaken about this please inform me what I can do to help TalkTalk accept it.

The shared test results that I have requested, might allow someone else in the TalkTalk Community to help me,b as well as inform other members with landlines that crackle.

[Chris-TalkTalk]

OK thanks. No I can't think of anything else that you can do at the moment.

The speed test and line test probably won't run because the fault ticket is still open.

Chris

[Crackle170224]

Thank you for your reply.

I have asked my neighbour if they would care to answer your question. The question however has a number of problems, my neighbour's hearing, the condition of the connections to their phones and the condition of their phones.

Please answer my questions.

Is there anything else I can do to help you help me?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Crackle170224,

Could I just ask, when you tried your Telephone on your neighbours line, you say you could hear a crackle on their line too, does your neighbour constantly hear a crackle like you do, with their own phone connected?

Chris

[Crackle170224]

Does anyone know why the TalkTalk website tools are not working?

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

I have just realised that I have not answered an intriguing question you asked me - sorry. You asked it after the most recent Openreach engineer tried to convince me that my new BT Big Button 200 phone was the cause of the continuous crackling noise on the landline. This was unlikely to work as the continuous crackling noise on the landline existed before I bought the new BT Big Button 200 phone. I bought this new phone to rule out that my equipment/set up was the cause of the continuous crackling noise on the landline.

I took the new BT Big Button 200 phone to my neighbour's home, also connected to the same telegraph pole as my home. As this phone has had a dimly flickering incoming call LED, I had removed the internal batteries so that it was solely powered by the landline. The continuous crackling noise was just the same on that phone connected to the BT Openreach socket in my neighbour's home.

As I had never seen the new BT Big Button 200 phone display a low battery warning, I discharged a set of batteries over the weekend. When they were installed today in the above phone, a different LED lit up, not the incoming call LED. I assume this was the purpose of your question, to rule out a fault in the new phone.

There is nothing wrong with the new BT Big Button 200 phone, reading the excellent reviews I suggest there is a chance of a new one being faulty of say one in a thousand. My previous phone has a chance of being faulty of say one in ten as has the phone I borrowed. This means there is a one in a hundred thousand chance that these three phones are all faulty producing a continuous crackling noise on the landline.

The origin of the continuous crackling noise on the landline is not inside my home, the origin is outside my home. Five times a fault on the landline has been indicated, three times by the TalkTalk website tools and twice by the Qube GB engineer. Openreach consistently are unable to detect a fault.

Openreach has been very open about the reasons why the copper landlines and associated telephone exchanges are being phased out, they are both worn out. Perhaps the relevant TAM module is not set on default but a customised one permitting tests to be recorded as Passed when faults are occurring that ordinarily would be Failed. Perhaps the thresholds for some tests have been raised and combinations of problems are causing the continuous crackling noise on my landline and heard by Qube GB and Openreach engineers.

I bought another new phone today, I have now spent a total of £95 - the continuous crackling noise is still present on the landline.

This is costing TalkTalk and me, while Openreach is making money. 

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

What faults were detected by the TalkTalk website tools when the following references were created?

REP-13941134

REP-13957577

REP-14007201

These references have all been produced since the continuous crackling noise on the landline became worse and worse on Thursday 1 February 2024. That was when the crackling increased in volume until there was a loud snap and the call terminated. When the caller rang me again their voice was distorting/echoing rather like a dalek. The next attempt was more successful as the continuous crackling sound was back to "normal" for this landline since November 2023.

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

I have checked out how the copper landline is used to make the phone ring. A copper landline is usually at 48 volts, a brief pulse of root mean square voltage of 90 and frequency 20 hertz is sent from the exchange end.

For some reason it seems an aspect of this pulse is being sent to the new BT Big Button phone, making the incoming call LED dimly flicker but not powerful enough to make the phone actually ring.

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

Your question about the new BT BIg Button 200 phone, that Openreach has advised is the cause of the continuous crackling noise on the landline, did not have the internal batteries fitted when I last used it in my home or in my neighbours home.

The thread I created for the mystery of that phone and its incoming call LED dimly flickering, while the handset was correctly placed was locked if I remember correctly. I think the dimly flashing incoming call LED as described above, for a phone solely powered by the landline is a clue if someone would consider it.

I am considering how the signal to make the LED  works, the nature of the signal and its origin. I suspect it is AC. Does it originate from Openreach equipment in the local exchange or TalkTalk equipment?

The last Openreach engineer did not respond to my question about the dimly flickering incoming call LED on the new BT Big Button phone.

It is a pity that the two failed TAM tests  made from my home were not conducted by Openreach but by Qube GB. I had been invited by TalkTalk to use Live Chat to arrange an appointment for Openreach to visit my home. The Live Chat transcript will show that I asked for an Openreach appointment, this was confirmed, it showed as an Openreach appointment on the TalkTalk website. The appearance of Qube GB was a surprise, I had been told I would have to pay £75 for Qube GB to attend regardless of the results. I did not agree to a Qube GB appointment but allowed the engineer into my home for fear of a dispute with TalkTalk over a £75 charge.

The new BT Big Button 200 phone is not the cause of the continuous crackling noise on my landline. This noise existed on the landline before I bought the new phone. It was heard when I used a third phone.

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

Still trying to use the tools on the TalkTalk website hoping they might help you, but received the following response.

We’re sorry but some features are unavailable right now, please come back and try again later.

Reading the Openreach engineer's reports since December 2023 any  comment on the condition of the landline is OK.

If Openreach had to advertise the condition of the landlines being offered I doubt OK would be used.

Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, OK but may contain a continuous crackling noise, Poor and Fails to work would seem to possible descriptors

The Openreach mission statement promises a lot more than I am witnessing. Perhaps they are using the "That will do approach" only in my case?

I think the wrong tests are being done on the landline, an examination of the various signals arriving at the test socket might reveal the nature of the continuous crackling noise. The noise could be described as sounding like water sizzling away on a live electrical circuit.

Perhaps the reason the voltage on the landline is higher than 48 volts is due to resistance along the old copper wires from the exchange.

Increasing the voltage changing Poor to OK but affecting the signal to noise ratio.

Do you have access to the signal to noise ratio on my landline? If yes, is it Excellent, Very Good ... etc?

I hope this is helpful.

[Crackle170224]

Hello Chris,

Thank you for your reply.

The TalkTalk website still will not allow me to run any tests. Why?

The Speed Test returns "We've run into a problem".

Run a Connection Test returns "We've run into a problem".

The My Telephone Test returns "We're currently looking into the fault that you've reported. Whilst this is being looked into you can't run a test on your line. You can view the status of your fault by going to track Fault. Tracker.

Fault Tracker reports that the case is resolved. This statement is a problem.

I wonder if Fujitsu supplied some of this equipment?

Is the problem problem with my landline?

Is the problem problem at the exchange?

Is the problem problem with the TalkTalk servers?

The continuous crackling noise on the landline existed before I bought the new BT Big Button 200 phone.

I bought a new phone to rule out my original phone being a problem. I am sorry that I have not made this clear.

Is there anything else that I can do to help you help me?

[Chris-TalkTalk]

Hi Crackle170224,

The TAM test is a BT test, not a TalkTalk test.

Just to confirm, when you tested your telephone on a different line you could also hear a crackle?

You said in an earlier post that there aren't any batteries in the telephone, are there still no batteries in it?

Chris