I agree with the other suggestions of poor or corroded connections, because
I had a similar situation a number of years ago.

Intermittent ringing and noisy connections any time it would rain. The
service guy would show up within a couple of days, when it wasn't raining,
and find no problems.

This went on for months, and I had installed all new interior wiring (from
the network box terminals) and new wall jacks, so I was certain the problem
wasn't inside.

Finally, about 4 guys showed up, and after wandering around up 'n down the
street, finally determined that there was corrosion in the jack in the
network box that was making it very sensitive to moisture (probably about a
$1 part for the telco), after numerous attempts of troubleshooting and
finding no problems.

Punchblocks in damp locations (basements etc) can also be sources of
corrosion related problems.

If you don't know the age of the wall jacks, it's best to replace them all
with quality jacks, so you know that the connections are clean and secure at
each jack. A little dust and moisture/humidity (or an insect) can lead to
serious oxidation or corrosion problems over time.

--
Cheers,
WB
..............


"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
.com...
(And by telephone I mean the kind God intended us to use, a regular old
land line, not those Dick Tracy cell-phone thingies.)

Client has a bunch of phones in their house. Starting a few days ago,
several of them don't work; pick them up, no dial tone. (Confirmed with a
good set which I used to test all the jacks.)

But get this: while I was there, at least one of the phones that doesn't
work (a wireless phone) rang on an incoming call. WTF?!?!? It rang, but
when picked up--nothing, dead. No dial tone trying to make a call.

Anyone familiar with the inner mysteries of the telephone system care to
try to 'splain this? How could a phone not work, but still ring on an
incoming call?


--
The fashion in killing has an insouciant, flirty style this spring,
with the flaunting of well-defined muscle, wrapped in flags.

- Comment from an article on Antiwar.com (http://antiwar.com)