is the current system in Panama compatible with old US phones? (I'm clueless)

[Janeiac]

Hi there phone fans,

do any of you fine folks happen to know what technology is used in the country of Panama? I have a vacation home there and I'd love to put in some of my own old phones there. I suspect that it's a new-ish system that won't deliver enough juice to make an old phone bell ring, and may not even be compatible in the first place, but on the other hand most of the infrastructure there was designed by the US Army corps of engineers in the days of the US canal zone, so it might.

[dsk]

Not much to find on net about that, but they are probably following the same line as in the US.  It may work with one old ringer (302 or newer) and if you have an old exchange; more, and even acceptance of rotary dials.  Please test ad tell us how it turned out. 

[markosjal]

I Think the first question is what kind of service you have. If your current phone connects to a copper wire that comes from a pole on the street (possibly through a DDSL Filter) , then you have an old analog POTS Line. If the line connects to your (DSL, Cable of fiber optic) modem (not a DSL Filter) then you probably have a newer VoIP based service.


In the case of analog POTS line then yes it will probably work just fine even with a Rotary Phone and older ringer.

In the Case of a VoIP line it may or may not work to varying degrees. First is there enough power to ring the bell(s) off the phone(s)... The more phones you connect the more likely you will have ringing issues.

Also is the line capable of detecting rotary phone dialed digits...If not, and you want to use a rotary phone, then you can probably use a Rotation or similar device that does pulse to tone conversion.

Those are the two most probable issues you will face on a VoIP line and some VoIP devices will not have any of those issues. Motorola devices arre generally pretty good but the cheap Chinese Huawei is very common in Latin America and the ones I have tested did not support touch tone or high ring current.


In general, Panama has always been heavily US influenced (that canal was always too important) and uses the standard N. American 100V 60Hz power standard meaning it probably also uses 20 Hz ringing. It would not surprise me to see that Panama adopted a telephone system very much like the USA.

 

[markosjal]

oops I made a booboo that It has now been too long to correct.

I Wrote, "...but the cheap Chinese Huawei is very common in Latin America and the ones I have tested did not support touch tone"


I mean that "...but the cheap Chinese Huawei is very common in Latin America and the ones I have tested did not support PULSE DIALING".

[Janeiac]

The building was constructed around 2000. Everything is newish and there are no overhead cables or phone poles. It's a high-rise. I am almost certain (no proof) it's FIOS or something like it; the household internet and TV comes in the same way. There is also a "house phone" (ie, internal building intercom) that looks like a normal phone (RJ 11 plugs, full dial). I'm thinking that's probably physical copper wires, but again I don't know. How would I check? Bring one of my old behemoth WE phones in a suitcase and plug it in to see what happens?

[markosjal]

if you do not have a test set, then yes take the phone with you that you want to use.

I wish I knew more about the tech used in Panama but I do not.

If there is an RJ11 jack in the wall then I would assume there is probably copper wire out to the local telco, which is then the best situation you could ask for for an old phone.