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News from the BBC of a SHINE (single high-level impulse noise)[*] that interfered with a Welsh village's internet connection on a daily basis.
The mystery of why an entire village lost its broadband every morning at 7am was solved when engineers discovered an old television was to blame.
[...] After 18 months engineers began an investigation after a cable replacement programme failed to fix the issue.
[...] Openreach engineers were baffled by the continuous problem and it wasn't until they used a monitoring device that they found the fault.
The householder would switch their TV set on at 7am every morning[sic] - and electrical interference emitted by their second-hand television was affecting the broadband signal.
The owner, who does not want to be identified, was "mortified" to find out their old TV was causing the problem, according to Openreach.
"They immediately agreed to switch it off and not use it again," said engineer Michael Jones.
While some properties in the surrounding area have Fibre to the Premises, several homes in the Aberhosan area are still limited to using copper-based ADSL connections.
[*] Broadband: Understanding REIN and SHINE.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @12:08AM (8 children)
Can anyone explain why UK residential wiring is "A typical 32A ring circuit"?
Over here in N. America we run branches out from the main panel (circuit breakers) to devices or outlets. Nothing comes back to the panel in a ring.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @12:35AM (7 children)
It enables the use of installation cable with smaller diameter conductors since the current is pulled in both directions. Ring circuits ("ring mains") have fallen out of favor because a break in the circuit could mean potentially pulling a full 32A over ~20A (2.5mm2) rated cable. Radial circuits and spurs are also widely used, most high power appliances (oven, shower) would be on a dedicated radial.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @02:20AM (6 children)
Ring circuits are falling out of favor in the UK because they are a stupid idea.
Only the UK (and apparently a handful of Third World countries Britain influenced) has these. As the parent indicated, the only motivation for ring circuits as opposed to branches that go straight to the main circuit breaker box is to scrimp out on wire. IT'S A DESIGN TO CHEAP OUT rather than do it right.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday September 24 2020, @05:26AM (5 children)
Cheaping out on copper was appealing when there was a LOT of rebuilding and rewiring houses to do in the aftermath of the second world war. As stated, it's no longer such a concern.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @06:33AM (4 children)
From Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_circuit [wikipedia.org]
"Ring circuits are commonly used in British wiring with socket-outlets taking fused plugs to BS 1363. Because the breaker rating is much higher than that of any one socket outlet, the system can only be used with fused plugs or fused appliance outlets."
My God, THAT explains the unique and stupid British power plugs with their built-in fuses; they HAVE to have them because British ring wiring is unsafe by design. LOL!
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Thursday September 24 2020, @01:31PM (2 children)
It's unsafe if you don't put fuses in the plug, yes. But the system was designed to be used with fused plugs, so I don't think that quite warrants "unsafe by design".
Barmier by far is the previous UK standard: BS 546 [wikipedia.org]. In this design, there's no (mandated) fuse in the plug, but you have a different sized plug for each current rating!
BS 546 installations are still permitted by UK electrical regulations, and are usually chosen for their obscurity. I've seen them used in hotels and libraries (for desk lamps), in order to discourage theft or plugging in your own devices. BS 546 also remains standard in stage lighting.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @02:55PM (1 child)
Now that you've given me the justification for the UK electrical wiring/plug standard: why do you guys insist on putting separate cold and hot fixtures on your sinks instead of combining the hot and cold into a single fixture? You are condemned to either icy water or scalding water. That is, unless you let the water mix in the probably less than clean plugged basin and splash yourself out of that.
The wiring and plumbing in the UK seem archaic, and proudly so. Like supporting a royal family... ;-)
I assume UK households also have to keep fuses on hand or make trips to the store. Where I live, I just reset the breaker for that circuit at the breaker box--flip a switch. Of course, AFTER trying to guess why it tripped, for safety's sake.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @02:57PM
To bring it back on topic, DSL is archaic too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2020, @11:14PM
The BSI plug and socket is the greatest and safest design in the world and with a fuse per appliance it can be obvious which appliance is failing before the hairdryer starts shooting flames. The breaker on the consumer unit has been an RCD (GFCI) in new installs for a long, long time.