In a world reliant so heavily on internet and data, poor quality and non-compliant cabling and components can have a catastrophic impact on the end users service and experience. It is crucial that cabling systems can accommodate voice and data demand both now and, in the future.
Poor telephone or internet quality can cause much frustration and trying to figure out the cause of the issue can be even more frustrating. The data and voice transmission is complex and there are many stages it has to go through to get to and from you. Problems can occur with each stage. Some of these you have control over and may be able to solve, while others you might not.
If you are experiencing internet/data dropouts, slow data speeds, poor quality voice calls such as crackling or anything similar then you could say yes!
The first step is to try to identify if the problem is within your cabling system or outside of your network.
If your problem is slow internet, then perform a speed test to your platform of choice, one of the more common providers of this service is OOKLA speed test at www.speedtest.net.
However, be aware that your results of the speed test still do not exactly identify where the issues may be should you see poor performance test results.
Using an internet-based speed test performance tool is a guide only as many factors influence your test results such as, your connection to the modem wired verse Wi-Fi, how many devices are currently using your service, the speed of the server you are testing to name just a few. I would recommend seeking guidance and assistance from your chosen expert to navigate through this.
If it is poor quality telephone calls, then you could change your analogue handset for another and test again.
Assuming you have proven that your modem or handset is ok then you may need to investigate further.
The next piece of the voice/data/internet puzzle is your cabling and connectors, the piece that is out of sight and mind because it used to be fine before, right?
Unfortunately, I feel not enough emphasis is placed on the quality required in your on-premises cabling as it can and does have a major impact to quality and reliability.
To do this you should engage a licensed and experienced comm’s technician/cabler to do testing and fault finding. If you are experiencing issues with your NBN service and the technician has tested to your premise and found no fault in their network, then your provider will probably insist you have this checked as this is not the responsibility of your service provider or NBN.
Of particular focus should be businesses and residents that are using shared cabling systems with several distribution frames connecting services as each distribution point is a likely point of failure.
An example of this scenario is shopping centres, multi tenant office blocks, apartments and holiday accommodation to name just a few.
If you have proven you on-premise cabling is up to standard then you need to talk to your provider for further assistance.
