The end of POTS?

[TelePlay]

So I read somewhere that AT&T is pushing Satellite TV now that they bought who...Dish(?) and are not pushing Uverse as it is more expensive to provision than Satellite which is already set to go. And whatever I was reading showed net loses of Uverse TV customers. While the cost factor may be true that seems unbelievable to me that they would stop building and provisioning for the future and would push Satellite TV instead.

Here we are installing Fibre to the Home like crazy, building and upgrading IPTV (same system as Uverse) and decommissioning Satellite TV once customers can be converted to IPTV.

Has anyone heard anything about Uverse TV backing off?

They bought Direct TV and supposedly put up more satellites to deal with weather outages.

[andy1702]

Probably depends on your carrier. Verizion territory they techs have been instructed to not repair copper lines. Instead they want to give the customers a wireless interface for their home line.

ATT is transitioning to uverse. But no, no fanfare or advance notice. I expect you will wake up one day and be forced to changeover, or have nothing.

What is a "wireless interface"? Do you mean something that couples between their phone and router? Or is it more like a wifi link to some place in the local community serving xxx hundred homes? If the latter how would they have enough bandwidth to carry audio, even encoded, in dense areas of population? If it's the former then isn't that just bog-standard VOIP? Either way, it sounds like it's going to require uninterupted electricity. Not good in the aftermath of disasters, war zones or extreme weather.

[trainman]

i am hearing people complain about the satellite tv service.  and as far as i know, as far as voice goes, i dont know of anotger voice plan than mixed in with the whole uverse deal

[twocvbloke]

They bought Direct TV and supposedly put up more satellites to deal with weather outages.

Kind of silly putting up more satellites when all they need is a bigger dish, here in the UK we have Sky who for the past 20-ish years used 43CM* "Zone 1" dishes as a "compromise between aesthetics and functionality", problem is, a bit of rain wiped out the signal, in recent years they upped the size of the Zone 1 to 50CM*, but, they still like to fail in poor weather, they also offer a "Zone 2" dish (60CM*) for the more northerly (aka Scottish) subscribers, suffers the same issue up there, but in the Zone 1 territory, a Zone 2 dish is a vast improvement, even if the size difference is only 10-17CM, it makes a huge difference to the signal reception, so long as it's fitted properly (see pics)... 

And yes, that's my dish, fitted by me, and cold weather made the metal contract and the U bolts came loose as a result... 


(*43, 50 and 60CM is measured vertically (top to bottom), rather than width on these elliptical dishes compared to standard "round" dishes)

Pics, first is Zone 2 on the left, Zone 1 (being replaced) on the right 2nd is how it should look, 3rd is what happens when you put a dish up in summer and forget to tighten the bolts up before winter comes!!

[Dan/Panther]

I recently upgraded my internet service to fiber optics. Along with the service you can get unlimited phone service with all the bells and whistles for an additional $20.00.
My Mom and me live on the same property, and her landl9ine is constantly shorting out when it rains. So I told her about the phone service and I said i would let her have the phone service because mine landline works great. She has one of my old phones, and I told her she can"t use that anymore. She was VERY disappointed. Is there any aftermarket transformer that I can plug into the wall that will give her the 48 volts she needs to get the phone to ring ?

D/P

[twocvbloke]

Is there any aftermarket transformer that I can plug into the wall that will give her the 48 volts she needs to get the phone to ring ?

48vDC is the base operating current, it's 90vAC that makes the ringing happen...

[Dan/Panther]

Is there any aftermarket item that will provide this ?
D/P

[twocvbloke]

Is there any aftermarket item that will provide this ?
D/P

A quick search of the forum leads to one of these:

https://www.vikingelectronics.com/product-details.php?pid=219

Not sure where to get one of those, but it plugs in and provides boosted ringing current...

[poplar1]

I recently upgraded my internet service to fiber optics. Along with the service you can get unlimited phone service with all the bells and whistles for an additional $20.00....
Is there any aftermarket transformer that I can plug into the wall that will give her the 48 volts she needs to get the phone to ring ?

Isn't the company that furnishes your internet providing 1 or 2 voice jacks on their equipment? If so, these should work with any Touch-Tone single line sets, for both calling out and receiving calls. The ringing may be less than 90 V but still able to ring at least one or two standard phones.

[dsk]

Now it is time for ending the POTS in our house, they have actually done something so the rotary does dial wrong digits pretty often, so I guess the exchange has been replaced by some ATA like stuff.

Next week we get VOIP to 1/3 of the cost, and I just plug in my dialgizmo and hopes for the best. Her do they not port pots to mobile, so this is the best way to keep the  number.

dsk

[dsk]

By the way, even the VOIPcompanies are getting fewer, and when I was looking for RJ11 jacks, even those are less common than what they were. 
Now I we have the VOIP, with a locked Linksys SPA 2102, completely locked, non parameter may be adjusted.  But it works. I have 2 dialgizmos and the first I tested kept on holding the line, and I am not sure about the second one either.

It is always some new things to consider when you get a new solution!  Maybe I have to use a Mitel Smart1 or something else with an external power source?

dsk

[Jack Aman]

I am having excellent luck with an X Link BTTN between my home wiring and my cable (phone) modem.  I am running two 302's two 202's and one 102.  Both 302's and all three subsets ring strongly with incoming calls, and that is without the "extra ringing power" you can set in the software.  If your dials are a little gritty/slow, you can adjust for that too in the software settings. Have never had a misdial on any of my old phones.  My wife and I both pair our cell phones to it as well, so there are effectively three lines in to the house when we're home.  Works very well indeed.  The house line rings with a conventional North America ring, my wife's cell calls ring with the British "ring-ring" pattern, and my cell calls announce with a custom ring pattern...all settable in the software.  Really clever gadget and works very well.  The phones act just like they're on POTS...maybe better... certainly dialing is very reliable.  The "press one now, press two now" commands that we all live and die by these days even work!  Much better, cheaper, and more versatile solution than dialgizmos in every phone.  About fifty bucks from Amazon.  Just need to be sure your house wiring is physically disconnected from POTS/copper.

[Jim Stettler]

I am having excellent luck with an X Link BTTN between my home wiring and my cable (phone) modem.  I am running two 302's two 202's and one 102.  Both 302's and all three subsets ring strongly with incoming calls, and that is without the "extra ringing power" you can set in the software.  If your dials are a little gritty/slow, you can adjust for that too in the software settings. Have never had a misdial on any of my old phones.  My wife and I both pair our cell phones to it as well, so there are effectively three lines in to the house when we're home.  Works very well indeed.  The house line rings with a conventional North America ring, my wife's cell calls ring with the British "ring-ring" pattern, and my cell calls announce with a custom ring pattern...all settable in the software.  Really clever gadget and works very well.  The phones act just like they're on POTS...maybe better... certainly dialing is very reliable.  The "press one now, press two now" commands that we all live and die by these days even work!  Much better, cheaper, and more versatile solution than dialgizmos in every phone.  About fifty bucks from Amazon.  Just need to be sure your house wiring is physically disconnected from POTS/copper.

I totally agree. I think X link is a very easy and reasonable way to get the rotary phones to work. It is a lot better than using dial gizmo's. You can also use it as an incoming line to a 308/616. The BTTN sounds like the nicer unit to buy.

Jim S.

[Jack Aman]

The BTTN is the only one that provides for a hard line (POTS, VOIP, what ever)  The other one just ports cells to house phones.

[Fennec]

For those of us in Canada, I have a Cogeco Cable supplying my TV, Internet and Home Phone - all through a single modem.

I am still experimenting, but I have the following connected to my self-installed home network:

1. AE40
2. WE304 (wired as 302)
3. British GPO232
4. WE202 w/ 634-BA subset

All phones are basically unmodified, factory original components and wiring (except GPO - I have added a capacitor in series and a resistor to drop the REN to just below 1).

All phones are dialing out using standard pulse, so I am guessing pulse-to-tone conversion happens on the modem level. All are happily ringing too, with ~ 90 VAC, standby voltage is around 50 VDC.

I am guessing that whatever modem is being used by Cogeco, it is compliant with the legacy telephony standards, and is likely good to a full 5 REN (or 100 LN, as the case may be in Canada).