"orangetrader" wrote in message
...
I have one corded phone and three cordless phones in the house. Recently
there is a high frequency of the call getting terminated in the middle of
a
call, followed by no dial tone for a period of time (30 minutes to 2
hours).
When I talked to the phone company about it, they told me this is usually
due to the fact that one of the cell phones have broken, and will cause
the
entire line to drop, even cause the no dial tone problem. She recommended
that I disconnect all wireless phone and only use the corded one for a
while, and then introduce the wireless phone back in one at a time until I
can figure out which one is bad.

Is this true? I have never heard of this before. Anyone?

I agree. All the phones are connected to the same telephone line. If any of
the phones go faulty, or depending on the type/model the rechargeable
batteries in the cordless hand sets wear out, or external sources of
electrical interference misoperate one or more of the cordless phones it can
'tie up' the telephone line.
The situation is much the same as if you had a tenant using a phone
connected to your line and they kept knocking it off hook or deliberately
left the handset off!
BTW if they were 'cheap phones' it may be better to chuck them out rather
than run the risk of not having service when essential/vital. See PS below.

Couple of semi technical points.
1) House phones that do not have the handset wired to the phone unit are
often referred to as 'Cordless' or 'Wire free', although they have be placed
back on the unit to recharge.
2) The term 'cell phone' (also called mobiles in some countries outside
North America) generally refers to a portable phone that is connected via
radio towers; has nothing to do with the telephone service coming to ones
house by means of wires. Although the services can be coordinated or
packaged into one bill; it is a completely different technology.
3) The term 'wireless', which was the original name for any communications
through the ether and which for a long time was referred to as 'radio' has
come back in use once again, although more in connection with computer
devices that can connect, to the internet via a 'wireless hub' in a building
or home. So while it is correct to say some of your cordless phones are
connected 'wirelessly' it is not the same technology as connecting say, your
PC, via a wireless connection to your internet service.

As an example my neighbour has had several phone problems and depends on his
phone for contract work. A number of times I have gone over and found out
for him whether the trouble was inside his house or outside. Twice it was
bad line outside; couple of times it was HIS equipment. The first two were
repaired by the phoneco. But if he'd called them and they had determined it
was his faulty phone/fax/announcement unit they would have charged him $45
per hour and sales tax. And it wouldn't be their responsibility to fix the
phone/fax because it was not provided by them! This is the risk you take
when you add other gear; same as if your fridge is faulty? Once you have
decided the power is Ok you don't call the powerco to fix your fridge! You
either fix it yourself or call a refrigeration/electrical repair person.
Same thing with phones!

Hope these comments help. Good luck.

PS. A most serious case of using poor quality phones involved a community
volunteer fire captain. His sons obtained some cheap phones and plugged them
in to the family line; whereupon he could not receive any calls and missed
several fire callouts. Telephone company investigation found the problem and
once the cheap phones, even though they appeared to make outgoing calls OK,
and sometimes would or would not ring on incoming calls, were removed
telephone service returned to normal. Also anything using radio/wireless and
attached to a telephone line is likely to be that more sensitive to
misoperation; so the moral is 'check your own telephone equipment first'!