Yes.......I know......call the phone company and tell them your phone is not working. Sadly when you live in the middle of know where becomes an interesting project. I'll send them a letter next week. I am fairly sure they will think it is a joke, and do nothing. In their "reality" someone would just go to the phone company, or call from someplace other then my cabin. It is an interesting example of the depth of normalcy bias that we all live in.
My "phone" has died. Any certified phone doctors here.
- Thread starter Sourdough
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Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:
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Sorry. No help from me.
My flip phone is at least ten yrs old
My flip phone is at least ten yrs old
So is it a cell phone or land line?
Land line "Kind'a"........no cell service here.
Sometimes phone companies have an online chat function where you might be able to have a live conversation with a real human. I’m not sure what company provides your service, but this might be an option. You might be able to email them too, but I always hate doing things this way.
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I have Verizon, I still owe 300$ on it, dropped it and. The screen will not work any at all, but can use it to receive calls in my car and make calls, can send it back , got insurance, for for 100$ and they will send me another one, but if I don’t clear it, how can I clear it ? I can’t even get on it! But if I don’t they will charge 2-300$ . So I’m paying it off trashing it and going to Consumer Cellular, much cheaper,
I understand you are having problems with a land line.
When you say "your phone is not working" do you mean all your phones have no dial tone or do you mean you are having trouble calling certain numbers?
Cordless phone are notorious for causing problems when low on battery and/or battery needs to be replaced.
If you have no dial tone unplug all of your phones from their wall jacks. Wait a few minutes for the Telephone Company's switch to restore dial tone then plug a KNOWN good phone (not a cordless) into the wall jack. Do you have dial tone now? if yes, pat yourself on the back. One of you other unplugged phones is bad and caused a short.
Still don't have dial tone? On the outside of your house is the telephone Demark. Demark is where the telephone lines is connected to your house wiring. Disconnect from the Demark ALL of the wiring going into your house. At the Demark check for dial tone (you may have to cut the plug off the end of a phone cord and strip back the insulation and connected to your KNOWN good phone as a test instrument. Connect the red and green wires to the terminals you removed your house wiring from). Do you have dial tone now? If yes you have a wiring problem (short or open) in your house. History of rodents or have you done any construction recently?
If you still don't have dial tone then then problem is on the Telephone Company's side. Rodents in telephone pedestal, damaged pedestal, damaged cable or equipment problems. You will have to notify them to get corrected. In this day and age land lines are low priory to the Bean Counters.
The problem is how to contact the phone company.......if you have no phone service.
And thank you for the detailed trouble shooting list. Tonight I will unplug everything for 7 hours.......maybe it will re-set. Thanks.
Ask a friend to call to report your phone is out of service?
Bad timing.......as at this point in my life, I have no disposable friends. I don't even have any marginal friends that I could risk loosing.
The problem is that I would be asking someone I cared about to call a phone company that would "auto" put callers on "hold". Not just for a few minutes, but never less then 35 minutes, and 44 to 55 minutes is more typical. I love my friends.
Yesterday I sent the phone company an e-mail with long explanation of the problem, requesting someone contact me by e-mail. I received a prompt "automated" response........advising someone would respond to my request with-in five to ten business days.
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If it is a cordless phone, bad connections or moisture can cause a parked phone to quit or the charger to stop working. I would suggest checking the local thrift store for a desk phone. Plug that into the wall to check for a dial tone. Check it on all of the wall connections (they rarely all go bad at once). If you only have one wall connection then you can go outside to check the feed line.
I have had two cordless phones go out so I switched back to using desk phones. They are much more reliable.
I have had two cordless phones go out so I switched back to using desk phones. They are much more reliable.
The phone plugs into the modem, the modem plugs into the wall jack. The Internet via the modem works........phone not work. Changed cord between modem and phone.....phone still not work. Plugged phone direct into wall jack (bypassing the modem) and phone not work. Ordered new phone, arrived, installed. Phone not work.
Question is why is the service feeding my internet but not a phone line. I wonder if they could shut off phone service and continue internet service.
Bill is on auto pay, so that is not the problem. Plus the phone line and internet is all part of a single package. Both come in on the "same" line.
Question is why is the service feeding my internet but not a phone line. I wonder if they could shut off phone service and continue internet service.
Bill is on auto pay, so that is not the problem. Plus the phone line and internet is all part of a single package. Both come in on the "same" line.
OK, so you have VoIP phone service.
Your internet provider should be notified. You are no longer connected to a phone company service. Your phone uses your internet connection and modem to function. If the modem is faulty you can have internet but no phone. The modem is typically leased from your provider so you can't just go buy a new one.
Your internet provider should be notified. You are no longer connected to a phone company service. Your phone uses your internet connection and modem to function. If the modem is faulty you can have internet but no phone. The modem is typically leased from your provider so you can't just go buy a new one.
I would reboot the modem.
Our
It takes several minutes to reboot before it regains consciousness.
Most modems are powered by a UPS so unplugging it from the wall won't work.
Done that five times over two weeks......still now phone line. Also if the phone is plugged directly into the wall jack, totally bypassing the modem, the phone should work if the modem is somewhat defective.
No. If it is VOIP, the wall jack is a data-line, not a phone line.
OK......this is worth further exploring. The internet and phone come from same company, I own the modem. What you are saying could be the issue, but the phone in the past has worked without being plugged into the modem.
My internet provider is ACS same as land phone (one line) provider being ACS.
ACS is Alaska Communications Systems (or what ever they call themselves this week, they sell the company every few months or years).
Well, that's different.
I don't know what is VOIP......I live in the middle of what many would call fairly remote. The phone and internet are both provided by the came company, entering off a utility pole, and that is fed by microwave to a shack near by. The system (both phone and internet) are not connected to anything accept that microwave transmission across a substantial body of cold ocean.
This has worked (fairly well) for 24 years.
VoIP is Voice over Internet Provider. Normally the land line is shut off when you sign up for the VoIP. It is all handled through your Internet Provider.
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Voice Over Internet Protocol
Ben
Ben
OOPS! I knew that... I was just testing my memory.. FAIL!
..Or - Maybe you were Testing Bens..
jka) but yeah, Ben is correct - 'VoIP' is Voice (over) Internet Protocol - essentially, unless this is legacy-DSL (where both the data and voice are transmitted over (at least) 'last leg legacy-Copper', into yer house / modems..) there would be a separate Modem expressly 'for the Voice part of it', ie:
..sounds more like you have legacy-DSL (where there's a little 'filter', inline, like this:
...Either way, it sounds like the 'phone-modem' part of your set up has gone belly up (maybe..) which is certainly Possible (internet-side of the modem Works - phone-side, dead..) Just depends on how the electronics are designed in the modem..
..Could simply just be a 'bad port' (sometimes, some of the 'SMCs' (surface-mount components) like diodes or resistors, often found on the I/O interface boards of those ports, can 'go bad' (bad solder-joint, or one that has simply 'given out' due to age / heat over time, etc..) and - poof - there goes yer connectivity to Just that side of the modem.. and thus Voice...
..And while it Is usually possible to 'get a New modem' (even one You can buy..) you will Still need to get in touch with the Co, to a) make Sure that model will Work with their service, and b) they will have to 'provision it' / plug it's 'MAC address' into thier system, to be able to address it / upgrade the firmware to the most current, etc..
..But, lemme know on the First questions, and we can go from there...
jd
Last edited:
..Or - Maybe you were Testing Bens..
a) but yeah, Ben is correct - 'VoIP' is Voice (over) Internet Protocol - essentially, unless this is legacy-DSL (where both the data and voice are transmitted over (at least) 'last leg legacy-Copper', into yer house / modems..) there would be a separate Modem expressly 'for the Voice part of it', ie:
...Is this what you Have? Important to clarify, since this:
..sounds more like you have legacy-DSL (where there's a little 'filter', inline, like this:
..Or is it more of an Actual Modem, like in the previous pic?
...Either way, it sounds like the 'phone-modem' part of your set up has gone belly up (maybe..) which is certainly Possible (internet-side of the modem Works - phone-side, dead..) Just depends on how the electronics are designed in the modem..
..Could simply just be a 'bad port' (sometimes, some of the 'SMCs' (surface-mount components) like diodes or resistors, often found on the I/O interface boards of those ports, can 'go bad' (bad solder-joint, or one that has simply 'given out' due to age / heat over time, etc..) and - poof - there goes yer connectivity to Just that side of the modem.. and thus Voice...
..And while it Is usually possible to 'get a New modem' (even one You can buy..) you will Still need to get in touch with the Co, to a0 make Sure that model will Work with their service, and b) they will have to 'provision it' / plug it's 'MAC address' into thier system, to be able to address it / upgrade the firmware to the most current, etc..
..But, lemme know on the First questions, and we can go from there...
jd
The Modem is PARADYNE 6381-A3-200-OAC
It is "very" old maybe 20'ish plus years in service. The last time they were out here (GOD but do they loath having to come here, then hike to the mountain to the cabin. in six feet of snow) I kept begging for a new modem, the company refused. The phone line repair person gave me one anyway.
I never installed it and have kept using the old one. The problem is that you don't just plug these things in and "Good to Go". You have to "CALL" and get the SS # registered to your account. Hard to do that with no phone service. Plus with the COVID-19 the phone service person is not allowed to enter a home or cabin........in fact kept me 6 to 10 feet away even as we were outside in the rain.
Specs for your PARADYNE 6381-A3-200 DSL modem doesn’t spec a RJ-11 phone jack. So I don’t understand how your phone was connected to your modem?
It say's 200-OAC not 200-DSL
I know near zero about this stuff. But I assure you the modem plugs into wall jack, and from the back of the modem one cord/line runs to the computer and another cord/line runs to the phone.
I know near zero about this stuff. But I assure you the modem plugs into wall jack, and from the back of the modem one cord/line runs to the computer and another cord/line runs to the phone.
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Looking at the manual there is a rj-11 jack for the phone. That could have been wired to existing wires in your cabin.
Disconnect the rj-11 plugged into the modem. Connect a phone directly to that jack. Power cycle and check for a dial tone after a short period of time. If stiil no dial tone try with another phone. If still no dial tone you have a bad modem/router.
If you do get a dial tone you may have a bad phone in the house or the wiring has been damaged.
Replacements PARADYNE 6381-A3-200-OAC are available but you will still have to work with service provider to get the replacement working (as others have already stated).
Ben
Disconnect the rj-11 plugged into the modem. Connect a phone directly to that jack. Power cycle and check for a dial tone after a short period of time. If stiil no dial tone try with another phone. If still no dial tone you have a bad modem/router.
If you do get a dial tone you may have a bad phone in the house or the wiring has been damaged.
Replacements PARADYNE 6381-A3-200-OAC are available but you will still have to work with service provider to get the replacement working (as others have already stated).
Ben
I purposely abbreviated your model number. DSL is your modem, Digital Subscriber Line modem.
Thanks.......I admit I know zero about this. I am just trying to help others....help me.
