Microfilters - cheap or cheerful?

[pawhe]

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.

[Paul King]

"David Bradley" > wrote in message
...
>
> 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 Stanton]

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

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

[Darren Grant]

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]

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?
>
> (Cost implications become noticible when you buy loads....).
>
> Cheers, P.
>
>
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]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 22:34:21 -0000, "pawhe"
> 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]

On Wed, 21 Jan 2004 00:17:57 +0000, David Bradley
> 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]

Phil Thompson wrote:
> I hate having electronic tampons hanging out of every wall socket.
>
> Phil

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