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(Billccm) wrote in
:

Hello All:

Our telephone line is giving us some trouble. It has a loud buzz, or
hum, and our internet dial up connection performance has degraded.

I took a phone out to our 'network box', and plugged it in. No hum, or
buzz. I reconnected the network box, and took a cordless phone back
out with me. It seems that I can reduce the hum by touching wires that
are connected to other phone numbers (at one time this house had FOUR
phone numbers). I am not sure of this is a clue, or not.

The phone company wants $85 to come out and troubleshoot, that's
TROUBLESHOOT, not repair. They have this long speal that they may not
be able to make the repair, and it will still be $85 hour. I'd gladly
pay the $85 an hour IF they would repair the problem.

So, any suggestions on what to look for, how to troubleshoot, or even
a third party repair person would be helpful.

Thanks for any advice. Have a nice day,

Bill

Several pieces of information and/or conjecture for you:

* It is likely that some, or all, of those telephone numbers are still
connected, physically and electrically, to the telephone company network.
Disconnects these days are generally done in software at the switch,
allowing for emergency service, and simple re-connects.

* The telephone company provides its own network power, DC, at -48V. Each
of those lines MAY have power over it, depending on its physical connection
status in the world.

* If your telephone sounded clear when your network interface was bypassed,
then the problem MAY be in your 'inside wiring'. 'Inside wiring' is a
regulatory, legal term, denoting where you, the building occupant, are
responsible for the problem. The 'demarcation point' is generally the
network box, or interface.

* The telephone company may have installed an active multiplexer (DAML in
some company lingo) at some time. They don't last forever, and can cause
problems with modem performance, new or old.

* In many, if not all, of the United States, the rates for an inside wiring
call are determined by regulation. Historically, this was to foster
competition, and make certain the monopolist wasn't cross-subsidizing
repair services, to drive others away. Not every plan works out the way it
was supposed to.

So what to do:

If it were my home, I would disconnect all of the inside wire, not
currently in use, at the network interface. In other words, if I had only
one number active, I would see that there are no other lines powered.

I would have the telephone company check the lines physically, at the
network interface. Many of these have become, over the decades, a rats'
nest, with moves, adds, changes, and all sorts of stuff over the years.
With competitive telephone providers, DSL and cable companies, things get
changed, and not always for the better. If the problem is on their side of
the interface, there should not be a charge to you.

And $85 for a visit isn't too bad. Most installers/repair persons really
want the problems to go away. Wierd wiring in your building often causes
problems elsewhere, too. The ones I know take great pride in their work.

Hope this helps.

Patriarch