ADSL FacePlate Filter

My BT faceplate speed had dropped to just under 1 Mbps one month ago and yet a filter in the master socket was delivering just over 5 Mbps. This inexpensive replacement was easy to install and has restored the 5 Mbps speed whilst allowing my telephone extensions to be used. The plate itself is the same white as the master socket and not the yellowy colour it appears to be in the Amazon site photograph. It therefore looks good, indeed better than the original BT faceplate which is just a white attached lump with no attempt to contour it in. Note that when I swapped this faceplate for the temporary filter the speed I experienced gradually dropped over a few hours from 5 to less than 1 Mbps which caused me some concern. The speed then increased over the next 24 hrs back to the full 5 Mbps plus as my router presumably made the appropriate adjustments.

After ordering this I became unsure that I had ordered the correct type, as in the photo it appeared tapered at the top whereas my original mastersocket faceplate was flat. My old faceplate was in two flat pieces with the lower half (containing the phone socket and two screw holes) measuring 84x50x12mm, and the upper half (joined to the backplate) measuring 84x36x12mm deep. However for only £6.49 I figured I'd let the order ride and see what happened. I needn't have worried; the new faceplate fitted the old bottom half and screwed into the old holes (using the supplied longer screws) and also covered the old top half perfectly, without problem. I did not however receive the plastic insertion tool which the enclosed leaflet said should have been in the packet with the faceplate. Fortunately I had taken the precaution of ordering (via Amazon of course), the DIGIFLEX Push Down Krone (Krohn?) Tool, for £1.84, which worked perfectly and is a pretty solid, good value tool in its own right - It has a spring-loaded punch in it.

Made a huge difference to the ADSL signal and ability to connect in my dad's house, they live out in the middle of nowhere and only just managed 0.5Mbps without and now with the faceplate get up to 0.8, I know not huge, but at least iplayer now works without hanging every few seconds, and the house is not littered with micro filters! It was easy to fit, although the stamped numbers on the back were difficult to read (or I'm getting old) and best of all it's all reversible if it goes "Pete Tong"

I was suffering from low download speed from my ISP, contacting the ISP they would tell me to remove the plate from the telephone and reconnect their ADSL filter then connect the broadband and telephone cable. While I was online they would increase the speed. I was told initially by them there was a problem with the BT telephone plate, I replaced it, a few months later I had the same problem. After reviewing what others had said about this and the possible increase of 20%, thought I had nothing to lose. When I received the ADSL filter plate my download speed was approximately 4000 kbps with uploadd speeds of around 50 kbps, over the course of the months I'm now on 10856 kbps with an upload speed of 945 kbps. (My kids love to go on YouTube or watch the BBC IPlayer, now we can watch it on line without it stopping and waiting to catch up). Do remember these speeds do not happen overnight, the upload and download speeds will slowly increase or decrease depending on the telephone line you're using. Initially, I saw very little increase then slowly the speed of both download and uploaded increased. Initially I purchased this for a proposed 20% speed increase, this exceeded the expectation. There could be other factors during the period, e.g. upgrade of line, however this is the fastest speed I've ever had from my ISP. Would I recommend it, Yes.

lets get one thing straight, this device does not speed up your internet connection. It can improve the connection to your router/modem if you had an old or dodgy socket before hence why I think some people are overly impressed. It is a great way of getting rid of the swinging filter that looks so unsightly. So easy to fit (unless you want to add an extention at the back and even that's explained very clearly...it's not hard) unplug everything, remove screws, remove old faceplate, stick this new one in place put in the longer screws provided, plug the phone in one side the router/modem in the other and voila! it's up and running in around a minute. It looks good. I didn't notice any difference in internet connection quality or speed & the phone remained the same. I'd imagine that most people are doing a 'speed test' via the net, these can vary throughout the day & week day/ weekends. You need to access your router/modems settings to see your true 'connection speed'. As I said before if your old faceplate was a little dodgy then you may see your connection throwing up less errors, therefore after a few days there maybe a slight increase in connection speed but as for the extreme reports of speeds doubling ect, take it all with a pinch of salt. I'd recommend keeping your old one somewhere safe in case this faceplate ever fails...filters fail...so i guess this could at some point too. A good price, fast delivery and a good way to tidy up that wall wart but nothing more. Edit: after just 48 hours of use the ADSL socket failed. I had to remove the unit and go back to the old one. not heard from the seller yet regards return/replacement but if I have anymore problems I'll re-edit. Hopefully I've just had a one off faulty one...I'll keep you posted!