OK this is a weird one, not even sure how to categorise this and certainly not how to check anywhere else online: I have a VDSL modem connected to the same line as my wired landline via a plug-in filter - every few weeks I seem to experience internet failure (which the modem reports as a complete line failure rather than service issues) - this seems to be since I mounted the landline phone handset to the wall using magnets (further details below).
Potentially relevant technical details:
1. I'm in the UK and on the "fibre" service offered by Plusnet, which is based on "fibre to the cabinet" rather than "fibre to the property" - that's to say that while billed as fibre, it's only fibre so far as the local exchange/junction cabinet, and my actual modem/router is connected to the existing copper telecom wiring using a VDSL standard.
2. That connection shares my standard copper phone line - I have one socket for that which is split, using a standard plug-in filter box, between the modem/router and a standard wired telephone handset (said handset 100% wired, not sure the brand/model as it's some cheap job but it's never given me any trouble).
3. Some months ago I decided to stick the bracket for the telephone handset to the side of a bookshelf using magnets (Viz)
4. Since that point I have experienced internet failure on two occasions (so several weeks apart). Notable because previous internet failures due to issues with the service I'm subscribed to show, on checking the modem/router status, that the line is connected but the service is down. Both these instances have resulted in the modem/router reporting that it can't even find the line - the same as if the cable was unplugged. Checks with service provider fault reporting, local Twitter, and neighbours seem to show that the issue is not widespread.
Now, I'm aware I've only experienced this twice over the period of multiple weeks/a couple of months but here's what makes me think it's related to the phone handset:
The first time it happened, I went through all the usual steps of rebooting the router, etc, to no avail. There's roadworks nearby and I started to suspect that maybe the line down the road had actually been cut. It occurred to me that since the phone and modem were connected to the same line, I could check that by picking up the phone handset and listening for a dial-tone, which would at least tell me whether there was phone service to my house at all. I did that, there was a dialtone, so I was checking other options, then 5 minutes later the internet came back up and I ascribed it all to the usual phone/internet nonsense and thought nothing else of it.
However, today, the internet was down when I woke up this morning. I tried rebooting the modem first thing in the morning but to no avail, at which point I had to leave for work, hoping it would fix itself during the day. I got home after a standard work day to discover the internet was still down and had been all day (I have an internet-facing home server which I've checked the logs on to verify that the connection was, indeed, down for the whole day). Upon getting home to find the situation hadn't fixed itself I thought to do the simple line-check again by picking up the handset and listening for a dial-tone. Once again there was a dial-tone and once again, just as I was thinking about checking other solutions after checking that, the line suddenly came back up.
Now, it's only twice so it could certainly be coincidence, but it certainly seems like the act of taking the handset off the bracket has a correlation with the previously unavailable line fixing itself.
I don't know anything about telecom/DSL lines so It's possible that (if picking up the phone is related) this was purely related to something about opening/closing the line. However I've had an essentially identical phone/DSL setup for years without experiencing this before - is it possible that the magnetic mount for the phone bracket could build up some sort of charge in the phone handset which could feed back into the line and knock it out until interrupted by my picking up the handset briefly? |
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