Hi

A week ago I had a very noisy/crackly phone line.  The phone line has ADSL on it and a permanent splitter is installed.  The ADSL performance was not affected even when the line was so noisy it was unusable for voice calling.  A Chorus person came while I was out and apparently did something to the cabling in the ceiling that "fixed" it.  But when I got home and checked it it was doing the same thing.  A few hours later it was ok when I picked up the handset then the extreme noise came back within a couple of seconds.  Not long after all sockets appear dead - no sound when picking up the handset.  Calling the line gives an engaged signal.

I would have got Chorus (via Telecom) back but a VDSL installation was booked for the next day so I figured that since it was likely an internal wiring problem (or maybe the splitter) best to wait until the tech had installed VDSL splitter and cablng.  Unfortunately that installation and the following two rescheduled installs didnt happen because nobody from Chorus attempted to contact me (not even to say they cant make it - very bad service).  So the phone has been dead for a week but ADSL is still working fine.

What is likely cause of an engaged tone if the ADSL is fine but all other POTS sockets behind the splitter appear dead?  Any advice on troubleshooting while I wait for the 4th attempt to get a VDSL installation done would be welcome.