for the last week or so, i have been having trouble receiving calls. people would either get a busy signal or it would ring once and then immediately disconnect. eventually you could get through, but over the last two days it has stopped completely. i could call out no problem.

since yesterday i've only been able to get a dial tone sporadically.

i checked the box outside and could use the phone fine out there.

i guess it would be something wrong with the internal wiring but i'm not really sure how to check it/fix it.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks.

 

Unplug things first, then see. Then start disonnecting extensions to see if the have shorted.

 

if the phone box on the exterior of your home is a modern one, you should be able to take a telephone outside and plug it into the box. If you have a dial tone there, then the line is ok to that point. If you have the sort of telephone subscription where the phone company will take care of servicing your home wiring, they should be able to track it down. If not, expect to pay about $80 hr if a technician has to visit.

If you've gotten any rain or snow the past week, it could be inside the exterior box.

 

Sounds like an shorted phone cable. Take a known good phone outdoors to the NID and call time/weather and listen for a clear connection AND problems (e.g., noise, pops, crackle, hum, buzz, etc.). If the phone sound great at the NID, it is time to unhook all phone devices (eg., phones, fax, satellite rcvr, tivo, answer machine, etc) and test each wall jack with the known good phone. Once the problem(s) are detected it is time to repair/replace the problem jack a/o wiring...

Good Luck,

P2E

 

Hi!
I am having a very similar problem in my new house.
The box on the outside has a dial tone (I hooked a phone to it and it works) but none of the interior sockets have a tone. Is there anything I can do myself or do I have to get someone over?

It must be some sort of problem just after the exterior box since no socket is getting a tone, right? anything I can do about it???

Thanks!
-t

 

Obviously you can pay to have someone come over.

Can you do anything yourself? Of course.

Disconnect all the wires that lead into the house. Connect one set at a time. Find the jack that is now powered. If it works great. Mark it so you know which one it is. Repeat for each set of wires.

If any set doesn't work then simply replace that set or don't use it.

 

Take apart one of your interior sockets (jacks) inside and see which wires are connected. They should match the wires the are connected a your outside box (nid).

 

Sounds like you have a ground on the line somewhere. When ringing voltage hits, its going straight to the ground answering the line.

The ground could be in your house or anywhere. Call your telephone company or do a little trouble shooting by going to the nid and disconnecting as others have mentioned. Youdon't need a phone at the nid to section the trouble. Just disconnect everything and dial your number from a cell. If it rings no answer, then the problem is in your house.

Start connecting inside wire. It may be your phone but I'd be surprised. Be interesting to hear what happens.

 

Take the mystery out of the equation & goto your local radio shack to purchase a $5 phone line tester. This will tell you if your line if open, short, miswired or OK.

P2E

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103388