Some Phones Need Modems
Phones nowadays are quite a bit different than the old ones. The old phones that you plugged into the wall jack had their own power source. Actually, it was the phone companies power- separate from your other electricity source- that allowed those phones to work even if the power was off. Never knew that until a phone company guy told me. We have one of those old phones upstairs.
With the new cordless phones, it's not quite the same. Your power goes off, the phone's receiver won't work so no phone calls. I have our current cordless phone on a battery back. That might help but the battery is years old so maybe not.
Then there's the cable phone systems, which I think the guest writer in the Times- Standard is referring to. Must be, because our cordless phone doesn't have a modem. I was surprised to learn that those cable phones need a back up battery in their modem to work in a power outage. I guess they used to give everyone a back up free, but now they've stopped doing that. Check your phone's modem and see if you have one installed if you want to make calls during power outages.
Then again, there's always the cell phone for that.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:18 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Ironically , I am on my way to the Suddenlink office to complain about my continuing lousy service. I'll see what they have to say.
Do you know where the battery is on your modem? I guess I hadn't thought about it much but I assumed Suddenlink phone just plugged into the wall like the old ones.
My guess is that Suddenlink is using some type of analog to VoIP gateway to provide phone service over the internet. The analog gateway would allow you to continue to use your old POT phone sets, portable or otherwise. Suddenlink's equipment as well as the analog gateway would need some type of battery backup to keep the system powered during a power outage.
I wasn't planning on switching to SL phone, anyway, but I certainly wouldn't now. Seems a bit too complicated and thus more chances of problems with their system. Cost is pretty much the same as AT&T.
There are two issues.
The cable modem should have an internal battery, typically lasting at least 8 hours during a power outage. That's assuming the battery is fully charging. The percentage a battery can recharge diminishes over time.
Secondly, a good, modern cordless phone should power itself during a power outage. You leave one cordless phone in the main base station and the base station uses the battery in the handheld to power itself. You can then place and receive phone calls using any other cordless phone that came with the unit. Cordless phone sets usually come with 4 to 5 handhelds today.
Unlike a traditional phone used in conjunction with an answering machine... your cordless phone will still record voice mails during an outage.
Also, the lady who didn't get a battery in her cable modem doesn't live in Humboldt County. Her Internet provider is Comcast, not Suddenlink.
I wouldn't be too surprised if AT&T stops offering POTS (Plan Old Telephone Service) in the next 10 to 15 years. Technology has left this service behind.
"Secondly, a good, modern cordless phone should power itself during a power outage."
I never knew that. I'd love to try it, except we only got one handset with our phone.
"I wouldn't be too surprised if AT&T stops offering POTS (Plan Old Telephone Service) in the next 10 to 15 years."
I wouldn't be surprised if they stop offering it in five years, at least from what I've been hearing. I can probably count on one hand the number of phone calls I get in a year, but I still want to keep the phone. If nothing else, I've had my phone number for decades. It's almost part of me, silly as that sounds. But, if they do away with regular service, oh well.
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