[Australia filter] Weirdness with Telstra connection in rented house
November 21, 2013 4:57 PM Subscribe
I'm trying to get a phone line and broadband set up in the house I'm renting. When the Telstra technician came round to set up the connection, he gave up and left without completing the order because it appears the phone sockets on the walls aren't connected to the line to crosses the boundary from the Telstra pit outside the property. WTF?
I’m renting a house. It had been renovated before I moved in and there is a normal-looking telephone point on the wall in two of the rooms. When I moved in, I arranged via iiNet to transfer my broadband package, and they organised a Telstra technician to come and set up the phone line.
The Telstra technician arrived and within a few minutes started making confused noises. His equipment was indicating that there was no line connected (ie. no dial tone) when he stuck it into either of the wall points. However when he went outside and found the Telstra pit in the pavement right outside the house, and said that it appears there is a dial tone on the line in the Telstra pit that crosses the boundary line into the property (below ground level).
He came back inside and levered the front plate off the points on the wall to have a closer look, and it appears that there’s a cable running away from each of the telephone points into the wall, but obviously he had no way of working out where the cables go. They appear not to be connected to the line that exits the Telstra pit and crosses the property’s boundary line, but that was about all he could establish. He told me he couldn’t complete the order and left. I’ve since cancelled my iiNet package and now I’m relying on a hopeless Vivid Wireless connection (which is a whole other drama in itself, but never mind...)
I’ve also since noticed this box on the front wall of the house: http://imgur.com/bdXfqdI.
It has a Telstra logo on it, and most houses in the street and surrounding streets have one. The cables from the bottom of the box go up over the roof of my house but I can’t work out where they go from there. I have no idea whether the Telstra technician saw it when he was looking in the Telstra pit – it’s visible from the pavement, but not easily accessible. He didn’t mention it to me at all, so there’s a chance he was concentrating on what was in the pit and didn’t see the box. I certainly didn’t notice it was there until a few days after he’d been round.
The letting agency is being absolutely no use whatsoever here – I’ve asked them if they can find out what was specified during the renovation in terms of the connection of the phone points, but they haven’t come back to me. Please note, I’m not asking them or Whirlpool about the eternal question of who should pay for setting up the connection – I know that I’m going to have to pay, rightly or wrongly, but at the moment it appears I’m not even in a position to be able to pay anyone to set me up in the first place.
Can anyone advise where I can go from here? Eg. What that box is for, what might have happened with the cables and wall points... I know it would be pure speculation about the wall points, but any ideas would be great at this stage.
I’m renting a house. It had been renovated before I moved in and there is a normal-looking telephone point on the wall in two of the rooms. When I moved in, I arranged via iiNet to transfer my broadband package, and they organised a Telstra technician to come and set up the phone line.
The Telstra technician arrived and within a few minutes started making confused noises. His equipment was indicating that there was no line connected (ie. no dial tone) when he stuck it into either of the wall points. However when he went outside and found the Telstra pit in the pavement right outside the house, and said that it appears there is a dial tone on the line in the Telstra pit that crosses the boundary line into the property (below ground level).
He came back inside and levered the front plate off the points on the wall to have a closer look, and it appears that there’s a cable running away from each of the telephone points into the wall, but obviously he had no way of working out where the cables go. They appear not to be connected to the line that exits the Telstra pit and crosses the property’s boundary line, but that was about all he could establish. He told me he couldn’t complete the order and left. I’ve since cancelled my iiNet package and now I’m relying on a hopeless Vivid Wireless connection (which is a whole other drama in itself, but never mind...)
I’ve also since noticed this box on the front wall of the house: http://imgur.com/bdXfqdI.
It has a Telstra logo on it, and most houses in the street and surrounding streets have one. The cables from the bottom of the box go up over the roof of my house but I can’t work out where they go from there. I have no idea whether the Telstra technician saw it when he was looking in the Telstra pit – it’s visible from the pavement, but not easily accessible. He didn’t mention it to me at all, so there’s a chance he was concentrating on what was in the pit and didn’t see the box. I certainly didn’t notice it was there until a few days after he’d been round.
The letting agency is being absolutely no use whatsoever here – I’ve asked them if they can find out what was specified during the renovation in terms of the connection of the phone points, but they haven’t come back to me. Please note, I’m not asking them or Whirlpool about the eternal question of who should pay for setting up the connection – I know that I’m going to have to pay, rightly or wrongly, but at the moment it appears I’m not even in a position to be able to pay anyone to set me up in the first place.
Can anyone advise where I can go from here? Eg. What that box is for, what might have happened with the cables and wall points... I know it would be pure speculation about the wall points, but any ideas would be great at this stage.
Response by poster: Thanks dave99. I assume you're in Australia, because you know what I mean when I say Telstra...
I suspect that's what happened too. Unfortunately I've done a bit of research which indicates that a phone line *isn't* a basic requirement in a rental property - just electricity and plumbing.
When I first raised it with the letting agency they defaulted straight to the "tenant pays for phone connection" position, which I admit is true when it comes to connecting a phone connection that works, but getting them to understand that I'm talking about actual repairs to the wiring in the house is proving difficult.
Oh well...
posted by infinitejones at 5:48 PM on November 21, 2013
I suspect that's what happened too. Unfortunately I've done a bit of research which indicates that a phone line *isn't* a basic requirement in a rental property - just electricity and plumbing.
When I first raised it with the letting agency they defaulted straight to the "tenant pays for phone connection" position, which I admit is true when it comes to connecting a phone connection that works, but getting them to understand that I'm talking about actual repairs to the wiring in the house is proving difficult.
Oh well...
posted by infinitejones at 5:48 PM on November 21, 2013
The cables from the bottom of the box go up over the roof of my house but I can’t work out where they go from there
Foxtel cable, maybe?
posted by flabdablet at 6:16 PM on November 21, 2013
Foxtel cable, maybe?
posted by flabdablet at 6:16 PM on November 21, 2013
Also: phone wiring is only energised to 48VDC, which will give you a bit of a tickle but won't kill you. Personally I'd go poking around under the house with a torch and a screwdriver and a multimeter and fix the wiring myself.
posted by flabdablet at 6:18 PM on November 21, 2013
posted by flabdablet at 6:18 PM on November 21, 2013
Depending on what the box on your wall actually is, Telstra might only be responsible for the wiring up to it. But the rules on whether it's the landlord or the tenant who is responsible for a telephone connection are different in various States and Territories. Call your local tenants' association/union/etc and ask them (e.g. here's a page from Tenants NSW which suggests that since there is a socket your landlord may be responsible for maintaining it). You may also be able to get free legal advice from legal aid, and I bet they've heard this one before.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:19 PM on November 21, 2013
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:19 PM on November 21, 2013
Response by poster: @flabdablet - I was thinking it might be Foxtel too. There's a threaded co-axial cable plate in the lounge. No access under the house, unfortunately.
@A Thousand Baited Hooks - thanks, I'm going to take that up again with the letting agent. I'd seen the NSW Tenants Assoc page before. The problem is, the guy at the letting agency who manages the property doesn't appear to be able to (or want to) understand the difference between the usual question of who pays the Telstra connection fee, and this question.
posted by infinitejones at 6:30 PM on November 21, 2013
@A Thousand Baited Hooks - thanks, I'm going to take that up again with the letting agent. I'd seen the NSW Tenants Assoc page before. The problem is, the guy at the letting agency who manages the property doesn't appear to be able to (or want to) understand the difference between the usual question of who pays the Telstra connection fee, and this question.
posted by infinitejones at 6:30 PM on November 21, 2013
Having said that, it might be worth spending some more time trying to get an answer out of Telstra (as frustrating as that can be). In some circumstances they are responsible for the wiring within the house - it depends on where the "network termination" is, and in a lot of houses it's at one of the wall sockets. I'd say keep at them until they tell you where the network termination is.
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:33 PM on November 21, 2013
posted by A Thousand Baited Hooks at 6:33 PM on November 21, 2013
a phone line *isn't* a basic requirement in a rental property - just electricity and plumbing.
Unless they specifically told you the landline sockets are not working as part of the rental conditions, I think you could make a reasonable case that the property was not as represented to to you when you signed the lease.
Definitely worth reconfirming with Telstra where the termination point is, but it would be unusual for this to be inside the property boundaries. If the fault is past the termination point there is literally nothing Telstra can do about it.
Another option is to just spend the $400 out of your own pocket to get an electrician to diagnose and fix the issue... as a last resort.
posted by dave99 at 6:54 PM on November 21, 2013
Unless they specifically told you the landline sockets are not working as part of the rental conditions, I think you could make a reasonable case that the property was not as represented to to you when you signed the lease.
Definitely worth reconfirming with Telstra where the termination point is, but it would be unusual for this to be inside the property boundaries. If the fault is past the termination point there is literally nothing Telstra can do about it.
Another option is to just spend the $400 out of your own pocket to get an electrician to diagnose and fix the issue... as a last resort.
posted by dave99 at 6:54 PM on November 21, 2013
This might help.
But I personally would get Telstra to give me some sort of report indicating that the outlet was not connected, and then hound the real estate until they fixed it. Send them the quote from the tenancy website, as it covers this exact issue, and unless your lease or condition report specifically states that the phone outlet does not work, it's their problem, not yours. (grumble, sydney real estate agents, grumble).
posted by kjs4 at 7:17 PM on November 21, 2013
But I personally would get Telstra to give me some sort of report indicating that the outlet was not connected, and then hound the real estate until they fixed it. Send them the quote from the tenancy website, as it covers this exact issue, and unless your lease or condition report specifically states that the phone outlet does not work, it's their problem, not yours. (grumble, sydney real estate agents, grumble).
posted by kjs4 at 7:17 PM on November 21, 2013
Response by poster: @kjs4 Thanks v much, that's great.
When I first raised this with the real estate agent, the **very first thing** he reminded me was that when I moved in, I signed a condition report acknowledging that the phone sockets were there but not working.
This is completely true, because when I plugged a phone into it on the day I got the keys, there was no dial tone. However, that's exactly what I was expecting, because I knew I would have to get Telstra to come round to connect the line.
I didn't realise that Telstra would be physically unable to connect the line, however, because there was no way of knowing why there was no dial tone until the Telstra guy came round...!
posted by infinitejones at 7:31 PM on November 21, 2013
When I first raised this with the real estate agent, the **very first thing** he reminded me was that when I moved in, I signed a condition report acknowledging that the phone sockets were there but not working.
This is completely true, because when I plugged a phone into it on the day I got the keys, there was no dial tone. However, that's exactly what I was expecting, because I knew I would have to get Telstra to come round to connect the line.
I didn't realise that Telstra would be physically unable to connect the line, however, because there was no way of knowing why there was no dial tone until the Telstra guy came round...!
posted by infinitejones at 7:31 PM on November 21, 2013
Best answer: That box in the link in your post is almost certainly the Foxtel box; that looks like coax, not phone cabling coming out the bottom.
The lead-in is something of a grey area. As a generalisation (bold letters because it's a grey area and, while the regulations are quite clear, interpretations differ between Telstra, their field staff, contractors, ISPs/other telcos, and the chattering peckerheads on Whingepool), for an existing or in-place (i.e. old customer has disconnected, new customer re-connects) connection your voice service provider is responsible.
If the lead-in has failed inplace (i.e. corroded all by itself) then it's up to your voice service provider to get it fixed. If however it's been damaged (e.g. someone put a shovel through it) or physically disconnected (e.g. during renovations) then it's the customer's responsibility to repair. That usually means getting a contractor who is Telstra-approved to do lead-ins (Telstra or your voice service provider should be able to provide a list) at your expense.
There may or may not be a box (NTD or otherwise) between the lead-in cable and your internal cabling. An NTD is a specific thing; officially, if it doesn't say "Network Termination Device" on the cover (e.g.), then it's not an NTD. If it's an official NTD then all the cabling up to that point is Telstra's responsibility and everything beyond is the homeowner's. If it doesn't say that, then 'officially' Telstra is responsible up to the first socket, and further sockets are the homeowner's responsibilty.
On top of that mess, you're renting - and as pointed out above, who's responsible for what varies between states. And on top of that you add extra hassle if your voice service isn't with Telstra. In that case you're not a Telstra customer, so Telstra won't help you at all - you'll have to talk to your voice provider, who then talks to Telstra Wholesale, who then send someone out…
At a guess, I'd have to say that the lead-in has either been cut or disconnected during renovations (particularly if you're the first tenant since then, or none of the the previous tenants had a phone connected). Telstra is responsible for getting the connection working to the NTD (if fitted) or first socket (if no NTD) - but, if your voice connecton is not with them, you'll have to arrange it through your voice provider. If the problem is found to be due to damage or deliberate disconnection, then Telstra is quite within its rights to charge for the callout + time/materials to fix. Whether you can get that back somehow from your owner/agent depends on the residential tenancy laws in your particular state.
Agreed, it might be worth swallowing the cost to have an independent contractor prove the fault in or out. If you go that way, steer clear of electricians with a cabler's licence, or "Jim's *" - some are good, I know, but many aren't. Get a licenced proper phone cabler instead.
On preview: to reiterate a point - if you are not a Telstra customer for this service, Telstra will not help you. Trying to talk to them will only make things more difficult. Talk to whoever is billing you for your voice service, or your ADSL service if you have no voice service.
posted by Pinback at 7:33 PM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
The lead-in is something of a grey area. As a generalisation (bold letters because it's a grey area and, while the regulations are quite clear, interpretations differ between Telstra, their field staff, contractors, ISPs/other telcos, and the chattering peckerheads on Whingepool), for an existing or in-place (i.e. old customer has disconnected, new customer re-connects) connection your voice service provider is responsible.
If the lead-in has failed inplace (i.e. corroded all by itself) then it's up to your voice service provider to get it fixed. If however it's been damaged (e.g. someone put a shovel through it) or physically disconnected (e.g. during renovations) then it's the customer's responsibility to repair. That usually means getting a contractor who is Telstra-approved to do lead-ins (Telstra or your voice service provider should be able to provide a list) at your expense.
There may or may not be a box (NTD or otherwise) between the lead-in cable and your internal cabling. An NTD is a specific thing; officially, if it doesn't say "Network Termination Device" on the cover (e.g.), then it's not an NTD. If it's an official NTD then all the cabling up to that point is Telstra's responsibility and everything beyond is the homeowner's. If it doesn't say that, then 'officially' Telstra is responsible up to the first socket, and further sockets are the homeowner's responsibilty.
On top of that mess, you're renting - and as pointed out above, who's responsible for what varies between states. And on top of that you add extra hassle if your voice service isn't with Telstra. In that case you're not a Telstra customer, so Telstra won't help you at all - you'll have to talk to your voice provider, who then talks to Telstra Wholesale, who then send someone out…
At a guess, I'd have to say that the lead-in has either been cut or disconnected during renovations (particularly if you're the first tenant since then, or none of the the previous tenants had a phone connected). Telstra is responsible for getting the connection working to the NTD (if fitted) or first socket (if no NTD) - but, if your voice connecton is not with them, you'll have to arrange it through your voice provider. If the problem is found to be due to damage or deliberate disconnection, then Telstra is quite within its rights to charge for the callout + time/materials to fix. Whether you can get that back somehow from your owner/agent depends on the residential tenancy laws in your particular state.
Agreed, it might be worth swallowing the cost to have an independent contractor prove the fault in or out. If you go that way, steer clear of electricians with a cabler's licence, or "Jim's *" - some are good, I know, but many aren't. Get a licenced proper phone cabler instead.
On preview: to reiterate a point - if you are not a Telstra customer for this service, Telstra will not help you. Trying to talk to them will only make things more difficult. Talk to whoever is billing you for your voice service, or your ADSL service if you have no voice service.
posted by Pinback at 7:33 PM on November 21, 2013 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks @Pinback
At the moment I have no fixed voice or ADSL service at all - that's the whole point. I would dearly love one.
So according to the Broadband Doctor website, I need to check if the box on the outside wall has Network Termination Device embossed on it - I'm fairly sure it doesn't though. That would mean that the actual NTD would be somewhere inside the premises, would it? Either up in the roof, or the phone socket on the wall in the room at the front.
And if **that's** the case, does that mean I can report the fault to Telstra and have them come and fix things up so that at least one of the phone sockets gets a dial tone?
posted by infinitejones at 7:40 PM on November 21, 2013
At the moment I have no fixed voice or ADSL service at all - that's the whole point. I would dearly love one.
So according to the Broadband Doctor website, I need to check if the box on the outside wall has Network Termination Device embossed on it - I'm fairly sure it doesn't though. That would mean that the actual NTD would be somewhere inside the premises, would it? Either up in the roof, or the phone socket on the wall in the room at the front.
And if **that's** the case, does that mean I can report the fault to Telstra and have them come and fix things up so that at least one of the phone sockets gets a dial tone?
posted by infinitejones at 7:40 PM on November 21, 2013
Definitely worth reconfirming with Telstra where the termination point is, but it would be unusual for this to be inside the property boundaries
In my experience, a Telstra termination point is usually a small plastic junction box fitted low to the ground on the outside wall of the house. There will usually be at least two cables going into that box: a stiff black-jacketed 2-pair maybe 5mm in diameter that goes out to the pit in the street, and a more flexible and thinner cream-jacketed 2-pair about 4mm in diameter connecting to an inside wall socket.
Inside the box, wires from the black cable (often only the blue/white pair) will be spliced to those from the cream cable using jelly-sealed insulation displacement connectors. This means that there are no bare wires inside the junction box accessible for testing.
Older installations will often have the black-jacketed 2-pair running all the way from the street pit to the first phone socket inside the house, which makes that the termination point. You might want to pop the covers off your phone points and look for a black-jacketed cable.
If you can find neither an external junction box nor a black-jacketed cable coming inside, search every skirting board in the house for phone points you haven't found yet; your termination point might be hiding behind a fridge or stove.
when I plugged a phone into it on the day I got the keys, there was no dial tone. However, that's exactly what I was expecting
Then you've learned something today. Telstra sockets that have at some point been connected to a voice service usually do have dial tone even if they're not being leased to a customer. When Telstra "disconnects" a customer phone line they don't usually bother making physical wiring changes; they just deallocate the line's phone number and set the exchange to stop accepting dialling attempts from it.
posted by flabdablet at 7:41 PM on November 21, 2013
In my experience, a Telstra termination point is usually a small plastic junction box fitted low to the ground on the outside wall of the house. There will usually be at least two cables going into that box: a stiff black-jacketed 2-pair maybe 5mm in diameter that goes out to the pit in the street, and a more flexible and thinner cream-jacketed 2-pair about 4mm in diameter connecting to an inside wall socket.
Inside the box, wires from the black cable (often only the blue/white pair) will be spliced to those from the cream cable using jelly-sealed insulation displacement connectors. This means that there are no bare wires inside the junction box accessible for testing.
Older installations will often have the black-jacketed 2-pair running all the way from the street pit to the first phone socket inside the house, which makes that the termination point. You might want to pop the covers off your phone points and look for a black-jacketed cable.
If you can find neither an external junction box nor a black-jacketed cable coming inside, search every skirting board in the house for phone points you haven't found yet; your termination point might be hiding behind a fridge or stove.
when I plugged a phone into it on the day I got the keys, there was no dial tone. However, that's exactly what I was expecting
Then you've learned something today. Telstra sockets that have at some point been connected to a voice service usually do have dial tone even if they're not being leased to a customer. When Telstra "disconnects" a customer phone line they don't usually bother making physical wiring changes; they just deallocate the line's phone number and set the exchange to stop accepting dialling attempts from it.
posted by flabdablet at 7:41 PM on November 21, 2013
infinitejones: "At the moment I have no fixed voice or ADSL service at all - that's the whole point. I would dearly love one."Who did you organise your phone service through i.e. who's going to send you bills when it's connected? That's who you'll have to deal with.
e.g. if you called Telstra to get the phone connected & iiNet to get ADSL, then call Telstra. If you called iiNet for both phone and ADSL, then call iiNet.
"So according to the Broadband Doctor website, I need to check if the box on the outside wall has Network Termination Device embossed on it - I'm fairly sure it doesn't though. That would mean that the actual NTD would be somewhere inside the premises, would it? Either up in the roof, or the phone socket on the wall in the room at the front."There may or may not be a NTD - they were rarely installed until … oh, I forget, sometime in the 00's? To be a proper NTD they must be labelled with "Network Termination Device", installed externally (almost always on an outside wall) so it won't be inside, and at a safe working height (i.e. it won't be up under the eaves) - IIRC, the rules say something like "between 60 and 150cm from ground level" (not sure of the distances). If there is no NTD, then the "first socket" - where the lead-in cable connects to a socket, or as otherwise determined by a Telstra tech (e.g. if the lead-in goes to a non-NTD junction and is star-wired from there to the phone points) - is a NTD by proxy. In either case, it marks the boundary between "Telstra's responsibility" and "homeowner's responsibility".
(It's possible that there's an MDF (Main Distribution Frame), particularly if you're in a unit/townhouse/duplex (or something that once was). I won't confuse matters by going into that, but if there is then it is considered the Network Boundary Point instead of the NTD / first socket, and the same rules apply - Telstra's responsibility up to that point, your responsibility from there to you (including the cross-connection in the MDF).)
And if **that's** the case, does that mean I can report the fault to Telstra and have them come and fix things up so that at least one of the phone sockets gets a dial tone?As above, only if you ordered your phone line through Telstra. If you ordered it through iiNet, you'll need to deal with them about everything. If Telstra aren't or won't be sending you phone bills, then you're not their customer - and they won't deal with you if you're not their customer.
flabdablet: "In my experience, a Telstra termination point is usually a small plastic junction box fitted low to the ground on the outside wall of the house."J-boxes, Luca boxes, tape joints, and any other termination points are irrelevant, except to the person tasked with fixing it (who legally should be licenced). From the OP's point of view, the only things that are relevant are "where is the network boundary point?" and "who do I call to fix a fault?". If an NTD or MDF exists, then that is the network boundary point; if not, then a socket that is designated "first socket" by Telstra is the network boundary point. Everything up to the network boundary point is Telstra's responsibility; everything beyond there is the customers responsibility. If the customer is not a Telstra retail or business customer for their voice service, then they need to deal with their voice service provider.
Now, it appears that the tech from Telstra was unable to get dial tone to the network boundary point (whatever that is in this case) or ever determine what/where the MBP was. IT IS TELSTRA'S RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE THE CORRECT NBP, AND GET & PROVE THE SERVICE WORKING TO THAT POINT. (Sorry, not yelling at you, just trying to make it perfectly clear...). They need to come back out and do that much at least - but infinitejones needs to talk to whoever is/is going to be sending them phone bills to arrange that.
Alternatively, it may be simpler to get an independant licenced tech to come out to prove the problem before/after the NBP (and maybe even get their service working). That'll almost certainly be at their own expense, since both Telstra and the service provider will simply turn around and say "you jumped the gun, it's up to us to fix and we weren't finished investigating!". It's up to the OP whether it's worth the cost…
"Then you've learned something today. Telstra sockets that have at some point been connected to a voice service usually do have dial tone even if they're not being leased to a customer. When Telstra "disconnects" a customer phone line they don't usually bother making physical wiring changes; they just deallocate the line's phone number and set the exchange to stop accepting dialling attempts from it."Not always, and it depends on various factors. For example, depending on the exchange technology, if the previous customer took their number with them it may be disconnected straight away; in a full/busy exchange that's running out of numbers / line interfaces / ports / cable pairs, it may be disconected as early as 30 days after the previous customer cancelled.
posted by Pinback at 8:43 PM on November 21, 2013
Errr… something obvious I overlooked: is there a burglar alarm installed?
posted by Pinback at 8:45 PM on November 21, 2013
posted by Pinback at 8:45 PM on November 21, 2013
Response by poster: @Pinback:
No, no burglar alarm!
I have no accounts with anyone for voice or fixed broadband at the moment. I cancelled my iiNet account when the Telstra tech couldn't complete the connection order in the first place, and never bothered setting up anything else.
I suspect it will be easiest to just get a Telstra account set up for fixed voice line, and work the rest out from there.
I'm going to check the box on the outside wall when I get home, but I'm 95% sure it doesn't have "Network termination device" embossed on it. If it doesn't, I'm inclined to call Telstra and report a fault because unless there's something up in the roofspace for some reason, the NTD is the first socket. As long as I can get that working with a dial tone, that suits me fine!
Thanks v much for all your input, everyone!
posted by infinitejones at 8:59 PM on November 21, 2013
No, no burglar alarm!
I have no accounts with anyone for voice or fixed broadband at the moment. I cancelled my iiNet account when the Telstra tech couldn't complete the connection order in the first place, and never bothered setting up anything else.
I suspect it will be easiest to just get a Telstra account set up for fixed voice line, and work the rest out from there.
I'm going to check the box on the outside wall when I get home, but I'm 95% sure it doesn't have "Network termination device" embossed on it. If it doesn't, I'm inclined to call Telstra and report a fault because unless there's something up in the roofspace for some reason, the NTD is the first socket. As long as I can get that working with a dial tone, that suits me fine!
Thanks v much for all your input, everyone!
posted by infinitejones at 8:59 PM on November 21, 2013
The same thing happened to me when I moved into my unit. It took forever, but I was finally able to arrange for Telstra to connect the house, even though I was an iiNet customer (Telstra wouldn't let a foreigner sign a contract...). The rental agency was no help at all. It took about 3 months to get the correct technician over to our place. Once he was there, it took 5 minutes to connect us. YMMV.
posted by third word on a random page at 11:30 PM on November 21, 2013
posted by third word on a random page at 11:30 PM on November 21, 2013
infinitejones: "No, no burglar alarm!"Good; one obvious problem down.
"I have no accounts with anyone for voice or fixed broadband at the moment. I cancelled my iiNet account when the Telstra tech couldn't complete the connection order in the first place, and never bothered setting up anything else."OK, you'll have to start from scratch…
Assuming you're in an area currently without NBN and free from 3rd-party fibre providers (because their interconnect policies and the regulations enabling them are a sad joke), the process is basically:
- Order a voice line from whoever.
- Wait until it's completed…
- Order your broadband from whoever.
- Wait until it's completed…
Even if that's the case, though, you'll still typically have to wait for the phone line to be provisioned, then wait again for the broadband to be provisioned. It may, if you're lucky, happen at the same time - but don't bet on it. Particularly as you don't seem to have a connection all the way through to the socket…
There is always the option of a VoIP voice service on a 'naked' (i.e. no Telstra dialtone) line, which may be available depending on your exact location & choice of ISP. But that won't do much to solve the basic issues, which are due to Telstra owning the lines and having shithouse processes for anything other than their own voice services…
That's not to say Telstra are bastards (at least, not for that reason!). It's simply that Telstra won't help you with a non-Telstra service. They won't put you to the back of the line - collectively, they do have some remnant and legislated sense of 'right' and 'wrong' - but they won't put you to the front either. You may find a tech or customer service operator that will go above and beyond (rare these days, as they're all either contractors or otherwise on performance-based incentives), but it's rare. That's something to remember when the vast majority of provisioning or fault repair problems with non-Telstra services are due to either people trying to hurry things along by pushing where they shouldn't (i.e. ringing Telstra when they're not a Telstra customer for that type of service), or the non-Telstra ISPs trying to buck-pass their work or the blame onto Telstra.
iiNet were always good in that respect though, so I'd thoroughly recommend them.
BTW, I know all of this because I was a tech in Telstra for 20+ years, from apprentice to senior tech, in just about every technical area you could name, before being shunted down to a customer field tech doing broadband installs & faults and finally given the (well-paid) arse…
posted by Pinback at 12:28 AM on November 22, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Telstra is right that they aren't responsible for wiring issues within the property. So an electrician needs to come and fix this (or just run a new wire from the Telstra connect point to the phone jacks.
Now this is the landlords job to do. You said the agent is being unhelpful; you can speak to them and say that landline phone service in the house is a basic requirement, and if it's not repaired by date x, you'll be terminating the lease, and see how they react.
Good luck!
posted by dave99 at 5:25 PM on November 21, 2013