Diagnosing a Fault

If your ADSL connection appears to be down, please follow these diagnostic steps:-

  • If you have alternative Internet access, check our website Service Status and Planned Maintenance pages to see if we are already aware of a problem
  • Try power-cycling the ADSL router (switch off, then back on again). Wait 3 minutes and see if the problem is solved
  • Is the DSL light on the router on steady? If it is, and you still don’t have an internet connection, you may have a stale ADSL login. Switch off the router for 30 minutes, then switch it back on, wait 3 minutes and see if the problem is solved. If the DSL light is on steady, but you still don’t have an internet connection, please contact support
  • If the DSL light is not on, you may have a line fault. Connect a telephone to the phone socket of the microfilter (or ADSL faceplate if fitted). Check you get dial tone. Dial 17070 option 2, and check the line is quiet (no crackling or hum). If there is no dial tone, or the line is noisy, this is a PSTN (phone) line fault which you need to resolve directly with your telco (e.g. BT)
  • If the phone line is OK, you may have a problem with the ADSL router, cables, or microfilters. Check microfilters are correctly fitted to the master socket and any extension sockets. Check the cable between the ADSL router and the microfilter. If you have a spare cable or microfilter, try that. If you have a spare ADSL router, try that. If the ADSL router is connected to an extension socket, try plugging it directly into the master socket
  • If you have more than one Watchfront ADSL connection and the other is working OK, try swapping lines. On the troublesome line, disconnect the cable or microfilter from the master socket, and connect it to the master socket of the good ADSL line (having disconnected the good ADSL router). If it now works (DSL light on steady after 3 minutes), this suggests there is an ADSL line fault so please contact support. Otherwise the fault probably lies with the router, cables, or microfilter