Phone wire question

So do I need it plugged in or can I get away without it plugged in the phone line?

I wonder why it would kill the phone dead now, when all I have done different is plugged one phone into the extra phone outlet with the downstairs Sky box - why would that mean when the upstairs Sky box is plugged into the phone point, it kills the phones?

Let me see if I can sort of give a map of the phone things.

1. Phone point in hallway
A. Splitter;
B. 3 way phone plug
a. Hall phone (corded, non-digital)
b. Phone cord that snakes to living room
c. Phone cord that snakes upstairs

2. Living room phone cord -->  Splitter --> Wireless modem + 2 way phone plug --> Sky Box + Downstairs digital cordless phone

3. Upstairs phone cord ---> Sky box

So do I need it plugged in or can I get away without it plugged in the phone line?

If you have a multiroom contract, you might start getting letters from Sky warning you about a breach of conditions if it's left unplugged for lengthy time, but unless and until you do, I wouldn't worry about it too much.  I don't even know whether they are more or less fussy about this in Ireland than in the U.K.

I wonder why it would kill the phone dead now

Let's get this straight:  When you say it kills the phone, do you mean that as soon as you connect the upstairs Sky box no other phones work at all, as in you can't even get a dialtone?   Or do you possibly mean just that one or more phones don't ring properly on incoming calls when it's connected?

1. Phone point in hallway
A. Splitter;
B. 3 way phone plug
a. Hall phone (corded, non-digital)
b. Phone cord that snakes to living room
c. Phone cord that snakes upstairs

By splitter, do you mean a DSL filter?

I need to clarify - after I wrote up my map, I went and checked the hall point and discovered (Doh!) that the line that killed the phone was the broken one from the kitchen. So the Sky lines are fine, phew on that count. But interesting that plugging in the now defunct kitchen wire kills the phone. And by kills I mean, no dialtone, nothing, nada.

Splitter = DSL filter, I believe, yes.

I was just asking about the DSL filters because you indicated a 3-way tap from the one in the hallway, with one line running into the living room where you have the modem.  I assume what you actually have is the living room extension plugged into the ADSL socket on the filter and a 2-way adapter in the voice socket which feeds the hallway telephone and upstairs extension.

So the Sky lines are fine, phew on that count. But interesting that plugging in the now defunct kitchen wire kills the phone. And by kills I mean, no dialtone, nothing, nada.

Ah!  Now that makes sense.  I expect that where the modular plug has been ripped off the end of the cord in the kitchen there are strands from the wires touching each other.  When you plug that cord into the jack it is shorting out the line, hence no dial tone (it will also put a permanent signal condition on the line so that anyone trying to call you will just get a busy signal).

If you strip back a little of the outer sheath in the kitchen and separate the wires so that there are no shorts, you should be able to plug that extension in again without knocking out the other phones.  If everything else still goes dead, then the tug the cord got has probably damaged it elsewhere so that there are more shorts further back along its length. 

Either way, remember what I said above about voltages on the line, and unplug it again when you've tested, until such time as you repair it.   

Thanks very much, Paul - you're a big help. Cut the wires down and viola, dialtone back when it's plugged in. It's now unplugged but handy to know what the cause was, and that the line will work when I get around to sorting it out. Thanks again.

You're most welcome.  Shout again if you get stuck with the repair.