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Microfilters - cheap or cheerful?

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pawhe

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Jan 20, 2004, 5:34:21 PM1/20/04
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On the Dabs website, their own cheap Microfilter (GBP5) gets pretty bad
reviews. Most people seem to suggest going for one costing GBP8-10. Is there
a real difference? The Fujitsu<?> MF on the same site gets good reviews.
And Expansys sell a "D-Link DSL-21MF" MF at GBP9. Is it worth going for a
"named" make for a component like a MF?

(Cost implications become noticible when you buy loads....).

Cheers, P.


ed

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Jan 20, 2004, 5:57:36 PM1/20/04
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In news:bukadc$m86$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk,
pawhe <repl...@nospam-domain.com> typed:


I am happy with the 99p ones from ebuyer. Works well with DECT phone too.

ed

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"Beer me"


Paul King

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Jan 20, 2004, 6:42:57 PM1/20/04
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"pawhe" <repl...@nospam-domain.com> wrote in message
news:bukadc$m86$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk...

I used these
http://www.dsl-warehouse.co.uk/product.asp?pr=FT101&pm=2524

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David Bradley

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Jan 20, 2004, 7:17:57 PM1/20/04
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On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 23:42:57 GMT, "Paul King"
<paul....@theobviousdsl.pipex.com> wrote:

>"pawhe" <repl...@nospam-domain.com> wrote in message
>news:bukadc$m86$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk...
>> On the Dabs website, their own cheap Microfilter (GBP5) gets pretty bad
>> reviews. Most people seem to suggest going for one costing GBP8-10. Is
>there
>> a real difference? The Fujitsu<?> MF on the same site gets good reviews.
>> And Expansys sell a "D-Link DSL-21MF" MF at GBP9. Is it worth going for a
>> "named" make for a component like a MF?
>>
>> (Cost implications become noticible when you buy loads....).
>>
>> Cheers, P.
>>
>>
>
>I used these
>http://www.dsl-warehouse.co.uk/product.asp?pr=FT101&pm=2524

Last week I saw on this news group this URL:
http://www.adslnation.com/support/filters.php

It maybe all hype, its up to you to make of it what you wish.

Something that has made me think long and hard is whether each
analogue piece of equipment actually requires an individual filter or
if two way adapters could be used on the outhput side of the ADSL
filter. My impression is that with some filters this would be OK but
I would like a definative answer from an expert within this group.

Many thanks.
DAVID BRADLEY

Paul King

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Jan 20, 2004, 7:48:46 PM1/20/04
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"David Bradley" <btinter...@david.bradley7> wrote in message
news:iogr00p5l1s72schf...@4ax.com...

>
> Something that has made me think long and hard is whether each
> analogue piece of equipment actually requires an individual filter or
> if two way adapters could be used on the outhput side of the ADSL
> filter. My impression is that with some filters this would be OK but
> I would like a definative answer from an expert within this group.
>


There's no reason why 2-way adapters cannot be used on the 'phone outlet
side of a microfilter.
The only reason why it's done that way (as far as I can see) is ease of
installation (pull the jack out - fit a filter - put the jack back in--- at
each installation site).
Doing it once (at the point of entry after the BT Master socket) would
require two cable runs to the ADSL modem site (1 for the [now filtered]
modem, and 1 for the [now filtered phone which {presumably} was there
aswell).
So, to sum up, you COULD filter at the BT Master, but all phones, Sky boxes,
etc. would then need to hang off one side of the filter, and the modem from
the other. For the cost of the filters, I don't think its worth the effort
(and hassle) in re-cabling.

HTH


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Dave

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Jan 20, 2004, 8:03:22 PM1/20/04
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"pawhe" <repl...@nospam-domain.com> wrote in message
news:bukadc$m86$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk...
> On the Dabs website, their own cheap Microfilter (GBP5) gets pretty bad
> reviews. Most people seem to suggest going for one costing GBP8-10.

Anorther great British rip-off, there's one on ebay right now £1.48 buy it
now


Dave

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Jan 20, 2004, 8:04:40 PM1/20/04
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"ed" <o...@talk21.com> wrote in message
news:bukbqj$ispv1$1...@ID-147682.news.uni-berlin.de...

More like £3.51 once you add vat and postage


Dave Stanton

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Jan 21, 2004, 12:56:41 AM1/21/04
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O
>
> I am happy with the 99p ones from ebuyer. Works well with DECT phone too.
>
>
>
> ed

The ones I bought did'nt, had to stick a £5 filter on BT Dect.

Cheers

Dave

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And you were born knowing all about ms windows....??

Roderick Stewart

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Jan 21, 2004, 1:51:22 AM1/21/04
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In article <bukadc$m86$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk>, Pawhe wrote:
> On the Dabs website, their own cheap Microfilter (GBP5) gets pretty bad
> reviews. Most people seem to suggest going for one costing GBP8-10. Is there
> a real difference? The Fujitsu<?> MF on the same site gets good reviews.
> And Expansys sell a "D-Link DSL-21MF" MF at GBP9. Is it worth going for a
> "named" make for a component like a MF?

My router has a diagnostic page that shows the loop attenuation, and in my
case changing from a cheap single-piece adaptor type to a more expensive
larger box type on the end of a short wire made a difference of about 1dB.
That's on the end of a relatively short exchange cable that gives a very good
connection, but on the end of a longer cable I would expect the quality of the
filter to make a greater difference. There may be borderline cases where it
makes the difference between working and not working.

If it makes a difference to you, use the expensive ones. If it doesn't, don't.
If you're in the business of installing lots of them in varying circumstances,
you may think it worthwhile to reduce the risk of problems by only using the
expensive ones in every case.

Rod.

Darren Grant

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Jan 21, 2004, 5:34:12 AM1/21/04
to
David Bradley wrote:
> Something that has made me think long and hard is whether each
> analogue piece of equipment actually requires an individual filter or
> if two way adapters could be used on the outhput side of the ADSL
> filter. My impression is that with some filters this would be OK but
> I would like a definative answer from an expert within this group.
>
> Many thanks.
> DAVID BRADLEY
>

No problem with using a 2 way adaptor to connect more than 1 phone.

Darren Grant

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Jan 21, 2004, 6:05:43 AM1/21/04
to
pawhe wrote:

There are big variations in quality of filter design, but the price does
not necessarily relate to the quality. There are some places selling the
most basic filters for £10.

The problem with filters is that the moment you say one filter is better
than another you get an army of people saying "Well my 50p filter from a
car boot sale works fine for me". The truth of the matter is that
people's experience varies widely depending on many factors such as,
line length, amount of interference on the line, DSLAM used at the
exchange, modem used, telephones used, etc etc. So what works for one
person may not work for another.

At the end of the day many people get reasonable results out of fairly
basic cheap filters. However some people don't and need a better quality
filter. You can either try a cheap one and if it does the job to your
satisfaction then that's fine, if it doesn't get a better one. Or you
just buy a better one in the first place and be done with it.

The purpose of the page at http://www.adslnation.com/support/filters.php
is to show what goes in to a filter. It gives you a way of identifying
which filters are the better ones. If you experience problems with a
filter with a low rating try one with a higher rating for better results.

Phil Thompson

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Jan 22, 2004, 3:40:54 AM1/22/04
to
On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 22:34:21 -0000, "pawhe"
<repl...@nospam-domain.com> wrote:

> Most people seem to suggest going for one costing GBP8-10.

even BT only charge £6
http://www.shop.bt.com/invt/004924#

focus on the manufacturer / quality of the thing, then find that from
the cheapest source.

Phil

Phil Thompson

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Jan 22, 2004, 3:43:01 AM1/22/04
to
On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 00:17:57 +0000, David Bradley
<btinter...@david.bradley7> wrote:

> My impression is that with some filters this would be OK but
>I would like a definative answer from an expert within this group.

by far the tidiest installation is the BT faceplate splitter where the
ADSL stops at the master socket and everything else is filtered.
This works well if the ADSL modem or router can be within an easy
cable run of the master socket.

I hate having electronic tampons hanging out of every wall socket.

Phil

Anton Gysen

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Jan 22, 2004, 8:22:39 AM1/22/04
to
Phil Thompson wrote:
> I hate having electronic tampons hanging out of every wall socket.
>
> Phil

Nice little metaphor/similie/whatever-you-call-it!

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