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No dial tone or intermittent connection problems

Identifying a no dial tone issue

At times, your broadband connection may suffer from intermittent connections or even a complete loss of connection. This section will show you how to identify these problems and provide possible solutions.

Your modem has two status lights, USB on the left and ADSL on the right:


Both lights should be solid green at all times that the power to your PC is on.

When suffering from an intermittent connection or a total loss of connection, the ADSL light flashes:


The ADSL light will flash green nine times, and red once in a cycling pattern.

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Persistent flashing ADSL Light

Your SpeedTouch 330 modem comes with two ADSL filters:



The most common cause of a constantly flashing ADSL light is an unfiltered telephone or other device that plugs into the telephone line.

Ensure that all of your telephones are filtered. An ideal set up would look something like this:



NOTE: Please bear in mind that ALL telephony devices plugged into the line must be filtered. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following equipment:

Telephones
Sky / Sky Interactive / Sky +
Burglar alarms
Panic buttons
Fax machines
Answer phones
Dial up modems

Correctly filtering an extension cable

If you need to use an extension cable, you must still use a filter. See the diagram below for the correct way to filter an extension cable:



This is an ideal example and may not accurately match what you have installed in your home.

Reinstalling the modem

It is possible that your modem installation has become corrupt, causing a no dial tone error. Here’s how to reinstall it:

1. Unplug the modem from your PC USB port
2. Click Start
3. Click Run
4. Enter control.exe and click OK
5. Double-click Add / Remove Programs
6. Uninstall Speedtouch USB
7. Insert the modem installation disc
8. Click “Install Tesco broadband”:


9. Click “continue”:


10. Enter your username and password and click “continue”:


11. Click “continue” to accept the Licence Agreement:



12. Follow the instructions and unplug ALL telephony devices in your home, and click “continue”:


13. Connect filters and click “continue”:


14. Connect your telephone to the filter and click “continue”:


15. Connect the grey cable to the filter (if it is not connected already) and click “continue”:


16. Connect the other end of the grey cable to the modem (if it isn’t attached already) and click “continue”:


17. When the install program instructs to do so, plug the modem back into your PC USB port (IMPORTANT: do not plug the modem into the USB port until told to do so!):


18. The following screen will be shown as the modem installs:


19. Click “quit”:


20. Double click the Tesco broadband icon on the Desktop to connect.

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Intermittent flashing ADSL light

If you experience a flashing ADSL light only at certain times of day, please consider the following:

Check all of the possible causes highlighted in the Persistent flashing ADSL light section.


If these do not resolve the problem, and the persistent flashing continues note the time of day when this happens. If it is a regular time of day, please check whether you have any timed devices such as central heating. If this is the case, your connection may be affected by RF interference. In this event, you may need to employ a third party (such as an electrician) to investigate and repair.

If this only occurs during adverse weather conditions (wind or rain which may affect the telephone line), you may need to contact your telephone provider and make them aware of the situation.

If possible try an alternative modem or router including any cabling and filters that came with the equipment. Damaged or worn cabling and hardware can cause interference.

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Further assistance

If the sections above have not resolved your issue, then please check the other sections within our help pages.

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