I Hear a Clicking Noise on My DSL Line

Filters prevent you from hearing the clicking generated by DSL on your telephones and answering machines. A single missing filter can cause DSL clicking noise to become audible on all of the telephones in a home or office, according to Quadro Communications. Check all of your rooms to ensure that you haven't neglected to attach a filter to one of the phones. If you don't have enough filters, consider connecting telephones, answering machines and caller ID boxes in sequence so that they only use one jack with a single filter.

A broken DSL filter may also cause you to hear clicking noise on the line. Quadro Communications recommends disconnecting one telephone at a time, checking with a different phone to hear if the clicking continues. Replace the filter from the telephone causing the clicking; if this solves the problem, throw the old filter away. You may be able to obtain DSL filters from your Internet service provider. Avoid putting them in places where people might step on them or pull on their wires.

Another possibility is that your telephone or its wiring causes the clicking noise on your DSL line. If the clicking only happens on a single phone that has a working DSL filter, it might need a new handset cord. However, the clicking noise probably stems from wiring inside or outside of the home if the same telephone doesn't click when used on a different line. Dirty contacts in an old telephone may cause clicking noises as well, according to BritishTelephones.com.

A few other possibilities are worth investigating if the noise doesn't stem from DSL filter issues or telephone problems. If someone on the same line in another part of the building is dialing an old pulse telephone or a touch tone phone set to pulse mode, it will create clicking noise during the dialing process. Also, a cordless telephone may pick up radio interference from nearby equipment; use a corded phone to rule this out.