Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs Forum

Friday, July 26, 2013

Hi Scott!

I have been having some problems with my connection to the internet over the telephone line, due to line noise on the line. I decided to purchase a filter, and have found three different ones.

Here are my questions...

1.) How many wires are required in the filter? One filter sits flat on the wall, so it fits over the phone panel used to hang the phone unto the wall (NEXXTECH ADSL WALL MOUNT FILTER FOR CORDED AND CORDLESS PHONES - WHITE - 2798354 -- http://www.thesource.ca/estore/product. ... ct=2798354). When I look at the opening into which the telephone cord would be plugged, I notice only two wires at the centre. There is also one of the small, usual kind of filters that plug into the line jack at one end and the telephone is plugged into the other end of the filter. This one also has two lines. Finally, a second small filter (usual kind) has four wires showing for its connection interface.

2.) There is quite a difference in price. The wall mount unit is on clearance for $4.96 at The Source (a similar one sells for $4.95 at BestBuy -- Dynex 12 ADSL Wall Mount Filter (DX-NDSL12) - 10077632 -- http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/dyn ... bdcdc8en02), the usual type filter with two wires sells for $8.97 at Staples (Staples® DSL Filter Item: 837569, Model: 18767 -- http://www.staples.ca/en/Staples-DSL-Fi ... CA_1_20001), and the usual type of filter with four wires sells for $19.99, also at The Source (IN-LINE ADSL FILTER - 2798514 -- http://www.thesource.ca/estore/product. ... ct=2798514). Do you really get what you pay for in this situation, or is it just smoke and mirrors and they all work the same and would be adequate to cut down the line noise?

Thanks in advance!

Paul, I would get a couple of cheap ones (different brands), and switch them if no improvement.

Don't forget if your line noise is causing drops or slowdowns (in the UK at least ADSL "throttles" down the speed until a stable connection is established)

Does your connection get worse in bad weather? The copper wires coming from your telephone exchange are vulnerable to water ingress, or even wind causing a poor circuit!

Also once you and telco have improved the line, ask your ISP to "reset" the line training, this should start the throttling procedure again.

I recently changed ISP and the throttling procedure improved my line from 1.6mbps to 2.0mbps not much but better!

Two wires are used for 1 line, 4 wires for 2 lines. As long as your line is single, a 2-wire unit will be fine. The filters are mostly similar in design, but they can vary in quality so as David says if one doesn't perform well you should try a different model. Definitely start with the cheapest one though. Scott.