device for testing UK adsl signal

The fact is unless you are a BT engineer anything upto the master socket (demarcation point) is not your responsibility ! The only wiring you are legally allowed to touch is internal, ie from the master socket. Only from that point, then consumer takes full responsibility.

Sorry Baron the rules changed around 2-3 years ago.

Anything inside the house & run along the outside the house is liable to charges being made, with the proviso that if the cables are on a wall directly accessible from the street then charges may not be raised. Similarly if you have an overhead cable going thru a tree on your property & it damages the cable, guess who's going to get charged.....

Yes I know I'm going to be called a liar and that I'm exaggerating and that I don't know what I'm talking about, but remember the charges are raised against your service provider, it's up to them whether they pass them onto you. Why do you think Openreach was profitable last year?

Why on earth should you be called a liar ? Rules change ! It doesn't actually alter the fact that the OP doesn't have the right to do any work on the wiring on BT's side... Unless he is a BT employee of course, in which case why does he need to buy his own kit !

Its not a legal issue, so much as the fine print in the service contract with BT.

And generally only invoked when you call BT out to fix a fault that is definitely down to your ham fisted tampering with their line. They will charge you.

Yes, an ADSL router and a laptop. The router will show sync speed and if the line is crap it will show as a lower rate. If you don't know how to perform such a basic test, do post the name of your company so people can avoid you - you sound like a cowboy.

Definite cowboy. Use a fancy looking bit of test equipment and get the customer to pay more. Just make sure you know what you are talking about when you visit, you might get caught out. I'm still waiting for you to post your company name so we can all avoid you.

If you had a decent education, qualifications and business sense, you would not need to ask in a newsgroup.

I suspect you are a cowboy facing prosecution for ripping people off, or you are doing your first year university course and after ideas for a project but can't be bothered making any effort. Come on, what is your company name? If you were qualified in any way you would have a job by now - there is no point having a go at people that do have a job because you appear too thick.

I have to agree - sounds awful to me. But the fact there is a market for people like this to step in to is a worry. Could this be because of the service they get from Openreach? Could this be because of the fear of being charged over £100 if it happens to be customer equipment? This has left a space in the market for others to operate that may not have the skills or know how needed to get the job done.

As an aside. I remember back in my time at BT the hideously expensive 'Presto' tester. So expensive there was usually only 1 per exchange. I forget what it was that rendered them useless overnight, but perhaps the poster can look on eBay for one if he needs a toy to hold on to :-)

Yes it has left a gap in the market ! Simply because the ISP's don't provide good support for the user. They just send out a kit, admittedly with good instructions, but many people just don't understand what is in front of them. Or probably more accurately don't read the instructions in them.

In my experience, people sign up for broadband and then when the kit arrives, usually days before the switch on date, connect everything up and then don't understand why it doesn't work.

Also many people decide to have the bedrooms wired for a telephone ! Which in itself is not a problem, the phone always works. If the phone works then so should the router/modem plugged into the extention. They simply don't have a clue as to why it may or may not work. Often it doesn't.

This is the perfect situation for a cowboy to take advantage of !