Microfilters

What is a microfilter?

A microfilter is a small, cheap adapter that prevents interference between your broadband service and your voice service.

There are two basic types of microfilter, the inline style and those with a short, flexible extension lead.

How does a microfilter work?

A microfilter, or splitter, takes the two signals arriving on your Master phone socket - the voice signal and the broadband signal - and separates them into two non-interfering signals. The low frequency, analogue signal is used to carry conventional services such as phone calls, dial-up modem and fax traffic. The high frequcy signal is reserved for digital broadband data.

The incorrect use of microfilters can result in interference on your voice calls, poor broadband upload or download speeds. In the worst cases, one or both services can be rendered unavailable.

Do I need microfilters?

If you receive your broadband service via a conventional copper telephone line, then you must have microfilters installed on every telephone socket on your premises.

You need one filter for each telephone. You also need to use a filter for any fax machines, any dial-up 56k modem and other hardware already connected to your phone line, such as a Sky Digibox.

Obtaining microfilters

One or two microfilters are often supplied along with a broadband modem or router, so check this first. Most homes can support up to four telephone sockets, and so if you require additional microfilters please check in the Broadband Verdict hardware shop.