After an operation system reinstall (XP Pro) my broadband works fine, but my phone is dead. Nothing had been disconnected. I tried testing it by plugging the phone handset directly into the phone wall socket, but got no dial tone, or any other sound. Broadband connection remains working fine.

John tate, December 2009

BROADBAND PROBLEMS...!

www.atelcom.co.uk

All telephone / broadband problems resolved.

Atelcom, March 2010

Follow Kris in Welingtons Advice and remove everything from the line. and test a known working phone in the main socket. If its a BT NTE, remove the 2 screws n the front, remove the frontplate, which will reveal a test socket, this should disconnect everything in the house, and see what you get.
You could have an external line fault as, you line comes in from the exchange on a pair of wires. Broadband will work down just 1 wire, though the phone wont.

If in doubt ask your ISP to check the line.

Andy BT ADSL Engineer, December 2009

This should be simple to diagnose. I don't think it has anything to do with the changes to your computer, unless you have a dial-up modem in the computer that is connected to the phone line.

Unplug _everything_ that connects to the phone line from _all_ the wall sockets, including all extension phones, extension bells, fax machines, and all broadband filters or splitters, including the one for your broadband modem.

Plug a corded telephone into a wall phone socket and check for dial tone. Try several sockets, and if possible several corded phones, to be certain.

If you can't get a dial tone at all, it's extremely likely the problem is at the telephone exchange. I had that problem recently. The line from my house to the exchange was OK so the broadband was still working, but there was a fault in the part of the exchange that deals with the telephone, and I couldn't get a dial tone or make or receive phone calls.

If you get a dial tone in some cases, check each telephone wall socket independently, and re-plug the devices one at a time, and use a process of elimination to find out where the problem is.

Kris in Wellington, New Zealand, December 2009

The equipment in the exchange does not know that you've changed your Operating System - it does not know what operating system you have or if your computer is switched on or not. Whatever you may have done to your computer will not have affected your telephone. The exchange equipment knows only about your router and your telephone - it selectively filters and separates voice and data frequencies on the wires and directs them accordingly.

Either the equipment in the exchange is defective or your 'phone is broken.

Peccavi, December 2009