Why must I connect my Sky Digibox to the phone line?

Check your contract. If you have signed a contract that says you must connect your Digibox to your phone line for 12 months, then you ought to (but you might get away with unplugging it for most of the time). The reason for the phone connection is that the consortium (which includes BT) hopes to make money from you when you order a pizza, movie or vote for something. You can waive the phone requirement by paying an additional £25.

However, if you have signed a "multiroom" contract to get an additional viewing card then you MUST keep both Sky Digiboxes connected to the same phone line, permanently. Failure to do so will result in a letter from Sky. If you ignore it, they'll charge you the full subscription price for the second card.

Why does my Digibox affect my ADSL broadband connection?

I would advise you to use an ACTIVE microfilter (not a passive one). Be sure to fit a separate one to each appliance. In other words, if you have a Sky Digibox, computer modem, fax machine, answering machine and two telephones, you'll need a total of SIX filters.

Don't "tee" two or more items into one "passive" filter because that can alter the filter crossover-frequency and it might not work.

What's the difference between passive and active filters?

A passive filter relies on the input and output impedances of the connected line/equipment being correct at 600 Ohms. If you connect more than one piece of equipment to a passive filter, it *may* change the crossover frequency (approx. 4kHz) so that voice interferes with ADSL or vice-versa. This isn't a given, but I've seen it happen. The effect is to introduce squeaky noises onto the conversation or to slow down the ADSL speed.

An active filter contains one or more transistors (or an I.C.) and maintains its crossover frequency, regardless of what's connected. It takes its power from the telephone line.

This is necessarily a simplified explanation!

See http://home.att.net/~numericana/answer/filter.htm#dsl

Examples:

http://www.adslnation.co.uk/support/filters.php

http://www.buypcbits.co.uk/index.php...&products_id=2

I don't have a phone socket nearby and running an extension cable is impossible. What can I do?

You may be able to use a wireless phone extender that simply plugs into the nearest mains power socket. However, some Sky Digiboxes will not work with a wireless phoneline extender. Read this Satcure page:

Note that you should not install a DECT phone base station or a DECT wireless phone extender close to a Digibox or to its cables, since they can cause interference and you may "lose" some channels.