Copper Line Tests

Availability

Available on BT ADSL lines (as Copper Test)
Available on TT ADSL lines (as Issue TAM Test)

How to access

You can access this test via the control pages, you'll see one of the following:

Copper test Button on a BT ADSL line

TAM Test on a TT ADSL line

What does it do?

Carries out a copper line test to test aspects of the actual phone line. This will cause the line to drop sync for a minute or so. It may report back that an OR (Open Reach) fault will need to be raised with the provider of the PSTN line. Sometimes just running this test can fix some fault conditions!

Example outputs

Example output on a BT ADSL Line:

BT Test xDSL Copper Test:Pass Standalone sub test passed successfully.
Pass Copper Line Test Successful T300:CIDT LINE TEST OK - END USER EQUIPMENT DETECTED

Sometimes the line test will (cryptically) suggest that a fault needs to be reported to the phone line provider, e.g., it will say Report to OR (OpenReach), for example:

BT Test CopperLineTest:Fail Line test failed report fault to OR.fail Line test failed report fault to OR. T023:FAULT - Battery Contact

In this case, report the fault to your phone line provider, if this is BT Retail, then you can report online: https://www.bt.com/faults if the phone line is provided by AAISP then contact Support.

The copper line could come back with other outcomes, such as:

DIS The test cannot get a capacitance reading of your line. You probably have no dial tone. It's broken somewhere, somehow!
LOOP The 2 wires that make up the line are in contact with each other and are causing a loop.
Battery Contact The line is in contact with another line, perhaps due to water, or bad insulation
Earth Contact The line is going to earth. The line may be damaged and wire touching earth somewhere
Rectified Loop a one way loop - check internal wiring before going further.
High Resistance DIS Both lines have high resistance - some connection problem along the line.

If you get a Copper line test error, try the test again with all equipment unplugged, and the NTE5 faceplate removed as the fault could be caused by local wiring or equipment.