Home Phone Problem

rjcruiser · Jul 7, 2010

Okay...Home phone issue.

I can't receive calls through my home phone. I've got a dial tone, I can make calls, but can't receive them.

So far, it isn't the alarm, I've tested that by bypassing it and again, dial tone, but can't receive calls.

It is from the box on the outside of the wall to the inside somewhere because I can plug into the box outside in the test plug and make and receive calls from there. There's a dedicated line that comes in to the alarm (red, green, yellow and black) going to the rj25 switch (or whatever it is called) and is split into a bunch of lines. The yellow and black then go back to the box and tie into the main lines (just two blue lines...one that is striped, one solid) that go throughout the house.

Is this something that I can fix? or am I going to have to pay AT&T to come out and figure out my phone lines?

243Savage · Jul 7, 2010

Is it the same problem on all jacks in the house?

Jim Ammons · Jul 7, 2010

Have you replaced a phone in your home? Just had this problem with mother's home phone. Dial out but could not receive incoming calls. New phone verified by telephone technician as a bad phone-plugged old one back in and works fine.

rjcruiser · Jul 7, 2010

243Savage said:
Is it the same problem on all jacks in the house?

2 out of the 3 have the issue. Haven't tried the 3rd upstairs. Also, I can still get online through my dsl...so that doesn't make sense to me.

To add more detail, the dedicated line going to the alarm is the only one in the box hooked up to the the wires coming in. The red and green are attached to the incoming line. Then they go to the alarm rj25 box. Then from the rj25 box, the yellow and black go back to the outside box and hook into the solid blue and blue/white line. The blue line then goes to a main junction box which splits the signal to 3 lines going throughout the house.

rjcruiser · Jul 7, 2010

Jim Ammons said:
Have you replaced a phone in your home? Just had this problem with mother's home phone. Dial out but could not receive incoming calls. New phone verified by telephone technician as a bad phone-plugged old one back in and works fine.

No...I don't think so...I only have one phone w/ 3 handsets. But to test the outside test plug, I took the phone outside and it can receive and make calls from outside.

It would be a lot easier if I had an old phone that didn't need a plug...getting out the 50 foot extension cord isn't easy just to do a simple test :banginghe

243Savage · Jul 7, 2010

PM sent

rjcruiser · Jul 7, 2010

243Savage said:
PM sent

Thanks...tried it and it didn't work

When I call, I hear the ring once and then it picks up and it is just kinda staticky on the line.

Maybe I need to try another phone and another line....that is what it seems like to me, but again, why would the phone work out at the box, but not inside the house? And why would I get a dial tone and be able to make outbound calls, but not inbound?

I've got a tone producer thingy and I plug it in and can hear the tone all throughout the house.

HBC4570 · Jul 7, 2010

as andy taylor says,"call the man".

jmfauver · Jul 8, 2010

If you are using DSL are you using the same filter to test all your internal connections?If so try another dsl filter...

Ed in North Ga. · Jul 8, 2010

rjcruiser said:
2 out of the 3 have the issue. Haven't tried the 3rd upstairs. Also, I can still get online through my dsl...so that doesn't make sense to me.

.

could it be you have too many phones on the main line? theres a limit to how much you can have on there and still have them work- deals with voltage. Each phone uses electricty when it rings, and you only have so much available on the phoneline itself.

try unplugging one that works, then try one that dont to verify.

georgia357 · Jul 8, 2010

rjcruiser said:
When I call, I hear the ring once and then it picks up and it is just kinda staticky on the line.

A ground on the ring side of the line will do what you are describing.

rjcruiser · Jul 8, 2010

georgia_357 said:
A ground on the ring side of the line will do what you are describing.

So how do I fix that? Since it is on all of the lines, it is probably on the main line coming in to the alarm and then going to the splitter box.

Do I just need to pull a fresh line? or should I call AT&T?

FX Jenkins · Jul 8, 2010

AT&T is going to charge you an arm to fix the issue beyond their service demarc....You might have a phone problem, not a line problem...

Disconnect all the phones and start with the phone that worked at the outside service jack...then plug it up at each jack in the house..

If it works at each location, then you need to repeat with the other two phones ( i think you said you had 3?)

Anway, if it doesn't work anywhere in the house, then you've isolated it to the internal lines...This is pretty simple stuff. I'd ask around and find a phone service tech that wants to moonlight a little if you don't feel like tracing them out.

Has anyone done any work on the house, baseboard trim or siding, that kind of thing..

dawg2 · Jul 8, 2010

This is why I ran a "home-run" to every jack in my house. In the event of a ground or short, I only lose one phone until I pull a new wire. Get the indoor wiring plan protection, then call them out. I would keep it for at least a year until you make sure nothing else messes up.

rjcruiser · Jul 8, 2010

FX Jenkins said:
AT&T is going to charge you an arm to fix the issue beyond their service demarc....You might have a phone problem, not a line problem...

Disconnect all the phones and start with the phone that worked at the outside service jack...then plug it up at each jack in the house..

If it works at each location, then you need to repeat with the other two phones ( i think you said you had 3?)

Anway, if it doesn't work anywhere in the house, then you've isolated it to the internal lines...This is pretty simple stuff. I'd ask around and find a phone service tech that wants to moonlight a little if you don't feel like tracing them out.

Has anyone done any work on the house, baseboard trim or siding, that kind of thing..

I have one phone that has 3 handsets. I'll try and get an old phone that is not cordless to try around the house.

No work has been done for a while. Home was built in 2000, so it isn't too old.

Funny thing...it stopped working when my mother-in-law was over at the house. I'll blame it on her :biggrin2:

I guess if I can isolate it to which line coming into the house, I can just pull some new line and try and bypass the ground (if that is it).

I'm cheap and would rather do it myself if possible....as far as the line coming into the house from the box, there is a green and a red colored screw for the line to hook up to. If I totally bypass the alarm, the main phone line has 2 greens, 2 blues, 2 oranges and 2 yellows in it (solid/strip etc etc). Currently, the blue lines are the only ones being used....so do I use the solid blue to the red and striped blue to the green? or vice versa?

chiggerjoel · Jul 8, 2010

There might be a light short in one of your jacks. I know you are using only one jack with your phone set up, but it might be in another jack. Check all of your jacks, especially ones that are on an exterior walls for any corrosion (green or black marks or discoloration on the pins or on the screws). Or using a volt/ohm meter, ohm the blue/blue white wires at your demarc and look for any shorts.

georgia357 · Jul 8, 2010

chiggerjoel said:
Or using a volt/ohm meter, ohm the blue/blue white wires at your demarc and look for any shorts.

This would be the easiest. Just disconnect everything inside and also the wire at the outside box. You shouldn't read any shorts or ground looking back into the house.

rjcruiser · Jul 8, 2010

georgia_357 said:
This would be the easiest. Just disconnect everything inside and also the wire at the outside box. You shouldn't read any shorts or ground looking back into the house.

So I guess I need to get an ohm/volt meter.

Any suggestions? They pretty easy to use? Never used one before.

FX Jenkins · Jul 8, 2010

I'll bet you its a bad phone or a short in one of your jacks..maybe the room where your mother in law stayed....or either she put a bug in one of your hand sets...

do like you suggested with an old model phone and check each jack...the color of the wires don't matter as long as you use the same wire on each end of any given connection. One for the tip and one for the ring.

Sometimes rodents can chew the insulation off the trunk line or jack lines and cause a short but it usually happens when someones had the carpet replaced or yanked it against a staple under the house or something...

chiggerjoel · Jul 8, 2010

I still say it is a light short. If you can get dialtone and make calls o.k. from the inside but it trips when it rings and has static when it rings it is a mild short. Culprits could be a jack on an exterior wall, an outside jack or an extension jack like in a garage or shop. IMO but monkeys fall out of trees.

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