Telephone DialTone problems

[AndrewJ]

Gday All

Just got back from 2 weeks away and the home phone has no dialtone.
I can connect to the internet via my ADSL splitter on the same line, but no dialtone to the phone.
I removed the splitter and connected only the phone station, no dialtone.
I went to the cupboard and got my trusty backup "windy" phone from the 80s and again no dialtone.
Uncovered the wall plug and measured the L1- to L1+ voltages.
Using L1- as common, i get L1+ as being -290mv.
It stays at this if the plug is open, or the phone is plugged in.
My understanding is i should have around 48V DC here???
Soooo,
a) why is my ADSL working??
b) Is there anything else i should do before getting onto the "your time is important to us " queue.

Andrew

[bojan]

Go To Queue

[AndrewJ]

Hmmm. after 19mins, they agree its probably a line fault.
Technician is booked with a due date of anytime
between now and the 28th
I cant believe it can take up to 10 days to get a tech in this day and age????????
Wonder if phone techs can come in under 457s??

Andrew

[The_bluester (Paul)]

Don't know about a line fault as such if you still have your DSL working. More like a removed or broken patch at the exchange end or a dead card in the exchange.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Paul
Dunno about a dead card, but anything is possible.
ie i would have thought the 48V bias was from a general supply rail, and hence affect lots of people if it dropped?????
The person on the phone tried resetting the ( port/card/thingymajiggy) and repowering the line. I could see the DC bias drop from -290mV to zero and back to -290mV when he did this.
Also, if it was a card, then i would have thought lots of others would also be reporting it, but he said i was the only one, but i dont know how long my line has been dead ???

Andrew

[acropolite (Phil)]

The most likely cause is either a faulty Line Interface in the exchange or the jumper (interconnecting wire) may have been accidentally removed. It could also be that you have a cable fault although usually there would be some voltage present if that were the case.

In some cases it's Telstra's own (auto) provisioning equipment that disconnects the Telephony.

The cable pair is common to both the DSL and Telephony but both have different equipment attached at the exchange. The Telephony circuit is fed through a device called a DSLAM which injects the DSL signal in to the physical cable pair.

It's not uncommon to have DSL still working under severe telephony fault conditions.

There is also another possibility, if there is NBN FTTN provisioning within your area it's possible for your line to be incorrectly jumpered within the FTTN node pillar.

The reasons for such slow service restoration are low staff numbers, high workload and lack of expertise as highly trained staff are replaced with often unskilled contractors on low pay rates.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Phil

Thks for the info on how it works
It shouldnt be NBN related, as i am still not even on the radar to find out when we get on the radar :-)
but re

It could also be that you have a cable fault although usually there would be some voltage present if that were the case.

As i noted, i do have a solid 290 mV across the pair, and this did drop to zero and come back up when he tried resetting it????
I know the pits in my area flood at times, but if that was the case, i would have expected more people with problems ( unless im the lucky one with a leaky plastic bag around the crimps :-)

Andrew