topic Re: Land Line Issue in Electronics

Land Line Issue

occasionalrain — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 18:19:41 GMT

Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.

Re: Land Line Issue

kare29 — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 18:29:46 GMT

Can you do a system refresh on-line or a manual restart to your modem?

Re: Land Line Issue

occasionalrain — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 19:34:05 GMT

@kare29 Thanks, I try the modem.

Re: Land Line Issue

Mz iMac — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 21:32:07 GMT

If your landline is a cordless phone, have you checked your battery?

If rebooting your router/modem does not work, call Comcast or better yet, post in Comcast forums. Others may be having the same issue(s).

Re: Land Line Issue

LilacTree — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:05:11 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.

@occasionalrain

odd you should bring up this issue. I also have a landline phone and Comcast is my cable provider. What’s happening with me though is, very often I will say something and electronic version of my own voice will repeat the last word or two or three after I have said them. As you said the person I am talking to does not hear this, only I do.

I have called Comcast about this and of course they say they’ve never heard of it and it must be my phone. Now I dont think it is, I think it’s Comcast and they dont know how to fix it. It’s happening more and more which is very annoying.

I ‘m going to call them again tomorrow, too tired right now.

If I get anywhere with them, I will let you know.

Re: Land Line Issue

Eileen in Virginia — Wed, 05 Jun 2019 22:21:37 GMT

@occasionalrain We have a problem similar to yours with our Verizon land line. It crops up about every year or so and is a problem with the line that runs into our house. Sometimes the problem is that the place where the line connects to the transformer at the pole has gotten wet, resulting in a bad connection. Most recently, the line got loose where it enters the house, again resulting in a bad connection. You should get Comcast to send an experienced technician toyour hometo check it out.

Re: Land Line Issue

hckynut — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 00:00:26 GMT

@occasionalrain @LilacTree

Don't know if you are using cordless phones. We used Panasonic cordless phones for years without any issues. I decided to upgrade to DECT 6.0 when it came out. Stuck with Panasonic because of our good experiences with them.

Got them an set them up and much to my dismay, all 4 phones sounded like an echo chamber. I had my wife call from another room. Same thing on my end, but her end was just fine. Went through every possible setting to no avail. Still had the older Panasonics and they worked just fine.

Ended up sending them back because I knew it was those phones, otherwise the older ones would have the same issue, they did not. Went with a 4 handset Vtec DECT 6.0 and they worked just fine for years.

I then saw a much more feature laden Panasonic 5 handset on HSN and decided to give it a try. Much newer phones by several years, so I thought, no problem. Well !!! Same problem with the echo, only on my end. Had more things to try with these updated phones, but no go, and my Vtek worked just fine. Sent them back.

Decided to try my former employer, AT&T. Bought a 5 handset with most of the new features, most of which I never use. However the 1,000 number Smart Call Block I love. These phones work great and through all this, it never had anything to do with CenturyLink, our phone and Internet provider.

Maybe this will help someone, maybe not. Was my experience with a good brand, but they changed something that just won't let them work with our phone system.

hckynut

Re: Land Line Issue

glb613 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 00:21:27 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.

If Comcast is providing you phone service, you don't have a landline. You have a landline if it goes through the telephone wires supplied by companies like AT&T. You have an internet phone service with allows you to use your Cordless phones.

Re: Land Line Issue

LilacTree — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 01:27:39 GMT

@glb613

I don’t think so. This phone is a Panasonic phone (John, my brother worked for Panasonic for 36 years)@hckynut. So you are probably right that it’s the brand causing the problem. I never thought to ask him!

@glb613 The phone has a deskset and a coiled wire from the handpiece attached to the deskset. It is not a cordless phone. I can’t walk around with it. It sits on the deskset next to my bed.

Re: Land Line Issue

LilacTree — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 01:36:25 GMT

@hckynut

Is it possible they only have this issue with landline phones? (Meaning Panasonic)

Re: Land Line Issue

occasionalrain — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 01:38:35 GMT

@glb613 You are right so that means if I lose my internet I lose my phone.

@hckynut I have a vtech 6.

I did the modem and the background noise disappeared at least for now. If it comes back, I'll call Comcast but I don't enjoy calling them.

Thanks everyone.

Re: Land Line Issue

January121 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 01:44:50 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.
If Comcast is providing you phone service, you don't have a landline. You have a landline if it goes through the telephone wires supplied by companies like AT&T. You have an internet phone service with allows you to use your Cordless phones.

@glb613 ..... I m so glad you wrote this .... I was sitting here scratching my head thinking my understanding of a “land line” was incorrect but, you verified what I know to be true .... in order for anyone to have a “land line” you have to have service on that phone through a telephone company like AT&T or Verizon & NOT a cable company like Comcast or Spectrum etc,.

Hopefully, this sets everyone straight who thought they have land lines & they don’t.

Re: Land Line Issue

glb613 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 09:25:39 GMT

@LilacTree wrote:
@glb613
I don’t think so. This phone is a Panasonic phone (John, my brother worked for Panasonic for 36 years)@hckynut. So you are probably right that it’s the brand causing the problem. I never thought to ask him!

@glb613 The phone has a deskset and a coiled wire from the handpiece attached to the deskset. It is not a cordless phone. I can’t walk around with it. It sits on the deskset next to my bed.

If Comcast provides a modem and your phone service, you DON'T have a landline.

Re: Land Line Issue

glb613 — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 09:29:03 GMT

@January121 wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.
If Comcast is providing you phone service, you don't have a landline. You have a landline if it goes through the telephone wires supplied by companies like AT&T. You have an internet phone service with allows you to use your Cordless phones.
@glb613 ..... I m so glad you wrote this .... I was sitting here scratching my head thinking my understanding of a “land line” was incorrect but, you verified what I know to be true .... in order for anyone to have a “land line” you have to have service on that phone through a telephone company like AT&T or Verizon & NOT a cable company like Comcast or Spectrum etc,.
Hopefully, this sets everyone straight who thought they have land lines & they don’t.

They don't but try and explain. They have a regular handset or telephone and think it's a landline. It isn't. Their phone is using an internet service to make and receives calls. If the internet is down, so is their phone service. With a true landline, that doesn't happen.

Re: Land Line Issue

geezerette — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 14:45:49 GMT

@January121 wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.
If Comcast is providing you phone service, you don't have a landline. You have a landline if it goes through the telephone wires supplied by companies like AT&T. You have an internet phone service with allows you to use your Cordless phones.
@glb613 ..... I m so glad you wrote this .... I was sitting here scratching my head thinking my understanding of a “land line” was incorrect but, you verified what I know to be true .... in order for anyone to have a “land line” you have to have service on that phone through a telephone company like AT&T or Verizon & NOT a cable company like Comcast or Spectrum etc,.
Hopefully, this sets everyone straight who thought they have land lines & they don’t.

@January121

I thought the same thing and was thoroughly confused! My landline has nothing to do with my internet.

Re: Land Line Issue

SilleeMee — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 15:08:54 GMT

@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.

What you are hearing might be what is referred to as 'DTMF talk off'. Simply put, it has something to do with the electronic tones being communicated between devices and the communication centers (phone company 'switch boards'). It is most likely not your phone but an inherent problem with the electronic tone language and voice interpretation of that. When you speak into a phone, your voice is electronically interpreted so that it can be delivered through the network and onward to the receiving end. What the listener on the other end hears is not your actual voice but an electronic interpretation of it. So sometimes this network of tone interpretation gets messed up and delivers the wrong tones, dial tones can be one of them.

Re: Land Line Issue

DJs mom — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 18:18:43 GMT

@glb613 wrote:
@LilacTree wrote:
@glb613
I don’t think so. This phone is a Panasonic phone (John, my brother worked for Panasonic for 36 years)@hckynut. So you are probably right that it’s the brand causing the problem. I never thought to ask him!

@glb613 The phone has a deskset and a coiled wire from the handpiece attached to the deskset. It is not a cordless phone. I can’t walk around with it. It sits on the deskset next to my bed.
If Comcast provides a modem and your phone service, you DON'T have a landline.

@glb613 you are correct. Comcast provides VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). It is NOT a landline. Comcast calls it Xfinity Voice.

Re: Land Line Issue

hckynut — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 21:46:05 GMT

I made the copper wires that were used for only telephone communication. These still exists in my home, and most others, at least those built prior to the 1990's. There was no internet/VOIP/WiFi or even Fiber Optics at that time. Heck my job at Western Electric wasn't even manufacturing Fiber Optics until the later part of the 1980's!

There seems to be a lot of confusion over what method one's land line phone connects to their 2nd party. Just because a phone looks like a regular telephone does not mean it's connections are via any type of cable, not in this era of telecommunication.

Sure, my DSL connection is not via a satellite or other type of beaming device. My DSL operates strictly off of the copper insulated(24 gauge) wires I made for over 25 years for WE and later, AT&T. If my phone line is down, were it run through the exact copper wires as my DSL? My Internet would also be down.

However, when the phone tech came to install my DSL I asked him to wire it directly from a different pair of copper wires, from the power box to my home, thus making it independent/faster and not reliant on my telephone pair of copper wires. Should my DSL be down, my true land line, will still be fully functional.

Electronics can be very confusing even for those that have above the basic knowledge of it's many differences. Land Line, by my definition, means it has a direct connection to ones home via some type of cable.

hckynut

Re: Land Line Issue

January121 — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 00:18:21 GMT

@geezerette wrote:
@January121 wrote:
@glb613 wrote:
@occasionalrain wrote:
Yesterday and today my land line phone has what sounds like a dial tone during calls. The person on the other end doesn't hear it. It get louder when I speak. I have two phones and it happens with both phones. Do you suppose it's something wrong with the phones, some interference in the neighborhood, or could it be Comcast? My tablet, computer, and tv is unaffected.
If Comcast is providing you phone service, you don't have a landline. You have a landline if it goes through the telephone wires supplied by companies like AT&T. You have an internet phone service with allows you to use your Cordless phones.
@glb613 ..... I m so glad you wrote this .... I was sitting here scratching my head thinking my understanding of a “land line” was incorrect but, you verified what I know to be true .... in order for anyone to have a “land line” you have to have service on that phone through a telephone company like AT&T or Verizon & NOT a cable company like Comcast or Spectrum etc,.
Hopefully, this sets everyone straight who thought they have land lines & they don’t.
@January121

I thought the same thing and was thoroughly confused! My landline has nothing to do with my internet.

@geezerette correct .... the land line is completely separate from the internet .... if you have a land line you get a bill for the land line from the telephone provider & a separate bill from your internet provider for your cable & internet.