"wheel" wrote in message
...
I admit this is not the rocket science question of the day. But during a
recent storm, I heard a huge bag on the phone as I was talking. That
phone seems to be dead. That line is full of serious static. Any phone I
put on that line renders bigtime static. I switched the wires that
handle that line from the box to the main phone jack and the static was
still there. Then I looked more carefully at the phone box and saw those
little connector wires going to the terminal area. I unplugged and used
a phone there and heard the static very clearly.

So, deduction of the day, the problem is not in the house. Right?

The only reason I doubt it at all is that when I placed the repair order
the phone company person tested the line and said it was ok. I'll have
to pay for the visit if it's a fault in the house. But probably the test
routine they ran wasn't very meaningful.


Their tests are pretty good, even from the Central Office. They've got lots
of high dollar gear, but the trouble is getting somebody involved with
enough of a clue to use it. If you do, then they can tell you whether or
not your line can "Whistle Dixie" and if not, which notes are off key. The
typical problem, however, is getting that person with a clue.

Your test at the box "doesn't count at all" unless you unplugged the cord
that goes from "their side" to "your side".

When you say "that line is full....." and "[a]ny phone I put on that
line...." are you talking about separate phone lines, or just separate jacks
in your house?

If you only have one phone line coming into your house from the telco, then
every jack in every room is in parallel with the incoming line. Something
screwed up on any one of them can manifest itself on all of them and without
isolating everything, you're accomplishing nothing.

Suggest you unplug every single phone in your house. Don't forget modems in
computers, your Tivo box, your cable converter, your DishNetwork or DirecTV
satellite receivers, and anything else that may have required or inspired
you to attach a telephone line to it for whatever reason.

Now go to the box and find the point where the telco's pair comes over to
your side and unplug that connection. If it's a relatively new junction
box, that plug is a regular male modular plug (RJ-11). Now you should be
holding telco's side of the connection in your hand as a male RJ-11
connector that's not connected to anything. You might have to make a Radio
Shack run at this point.

You need an RJ-11 "barrel" (female-to-female connector), an RJ-11 phone cord
(6' or so) and a real phone. Not a cordless phone, not any kind of phone
that requires any kind of battery. Not a phone that has a speaker phone
function. Not a phone that has any sort of memory or fancy stuff at all.
Just a plain old phone; the heavier it is, the greater the chances are that
it's just a plain old phone.

Connect the telco pair's RJ-11 up to one side of the barrel and plug your
cord up to the other side. Now plug up the phone and try it. Static or
not?

Only after you've done these basic things, can you say that you've really
tested anything at all.

If there is static, then it's probably "them"; if not, then it's most likely
"you".

Also, all bets are off if you have DSL or a home alarm system that dials out
to a security company.

Good Luck
trebor