Telephone Problems

[steelhorse]

Are there any telephone techs out there? After the lightning storm Tues. night, my DSL still works but I have no dial tone on either house phone which are plugged into different jacks with filters installed. I tested the phones at another residence and they work fine. Could it be a filter, burned wires, blown jacks(I may have taken a direct hit of lightning). Is there a way to test the jacks with a volt-meter or by other means? I've been out working day and night trying to restore electric service to customers, after the storm, and have not had the chance to look into the problem yet. I know little about phone systems and could use some info. Thanks

 

[Mos Eisley]

If your DSL still works then there's no issue at the Demarc, which is where their box is on your house. You said your phones are plugged into different jacks, different than your DSL modem? Have you tried unplugging your modem and plug your phone into it's jack?

 

[superdave65]

If you want to test it, at your box outside. You should see 45-52 volts and between 18-30 Milli amps and you will see about a 3k ohm short, DSl is very forgiving to line trouble. But definately plug in a phone directly to the line first to see if you have dial tone, if you do you may have a modem or filter problem

 

[steelhorse]

Thanks for the responses thus far. I haven't tried plugging in the phone to the modem but will when I get home(hopefully this evening). One of the phones that have no dial tone is plugged into a different jack(bedroom with filter) than the modem which has a power strip with surge protection. The modem is split off the kitchen jack(via a filter) with a 50ft cord ran thru the attic and dropped down to the power strip(I didn't have a jack where the computer is located). I can't get a dial tone on the jack in the kitchen but the DSL works which is ran from this jack to the strip/modem. Rather confusing.

 

[kinggabby]

If you have a box outside where your phone line leads into the house ( should be like a grey box with a phone symbol or say phone on it or phone companies name on it ) . Open the box and there should be a line plugged in that looks like the same type of plug like on the end of a phone cord. Unplug that and plug a phone directly into it and see if it has dial tone if so plug that line back in and try the phone in a regular jack ( don't know how but sometimes it will kinda rest the phone line ) . If you have dial tone at the box and not in the house after that then it will be a wiring issue inside the house. If there is no tone at the box then it is a wiring problem outside the house leading to the box.

Hope this helps.

 

[steelhorse]

I finally got the chance to plug the phone into the jack at the modem location (thru the filter and bypassing the filter) with no luck on dial tone. DSL still working fine. I'll try inside the phone box this weekend.

 

[Big House]

Remove the phone wall faceplate and check to see if the wires (2) are connected securely. If its piggybacked from another phone outlet, check that one too for loose wire connections.

 

[steelhorse]

If you have a box outside where your phone line leads into the house ( should be like a grey box with a phone symbol or say phone on it or phone companies name on it ) . Open the box and there should be a line plugged in that looks like the same type of plug like on the end of a phone cord. Unplug that and plug a phone directly into it and see if it has dial tone if so plug that line back in and try the phone in a regular jack ( don't know how but sometimes it will kinda rest the phone line ) . If you have dial tone at the box and not in the house after that then it will be a wiring issue inside the house. If there is no tone at the box then it is a wiring problem outside the house leading to the box.

Hope this helps.

Thanks I'll try that this weekend. I'm still confused as to why my dsl works and not the phone. I only have one phone line ran throughout the house. It may make more sense once I look into the box. I know that the phones work because I tried them at another residence.

 

[dowmace]

Your dsl works because it uses more power and is able to bridge wire breaks easier.

 

[nobuttbrian]

do you have the cox bundle/ if so, turn off your modem and remove battery, wait 1 minute and then replace battery and plug in.I have to do this about once a month to get either my phone or wifi to work. I got this "fix" from the Cox helpline.