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New user question on Verizon POTS telephone line circuits

Started by CoalMinerRetired, July 15, 2012, 08:33:16 PM

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CoalMinerRetired

Background: I'm completely new to VoIP services and to Obi.  I just got an Obi202 for my residence, am becoming familiar with it, and am now thinking of helping a relative setup one, to replace their landline.

How will this scenario work on a land line replacement: The environment is a multi-tenant residential building, (multi story 24 unit apartment bldg) it has older telephone line punch blocks and 'what I know as' twisted pair phone cables in various service rooms in the building. The stuff is way old, looks like 40 years old.  The local POTS company is Verizon. The relative ported their landline to a T-Mobile line (knowing they might do the GV porting it works ok for me), and the Verizon landline service was "automatically" cancelled.  I've read on here you can do this, and I tested it in the apartment myself: Plug any one of the phone cords into an Obi device, receive a call, and all the phones in the apartment ring. I also read the power supply on the Obi202 is purposely upsized to accommodate the amps needed to ring multiple phones.  So far so good.   

The question in all the above: Tonight there is a thunder and lightning storm in the area. What did Verizon do when the landline service was cancelled, did they come out (roll a truck they call it) to the apartment building and physically disconnect the land line circuit in the building? If this were in a home that you owned, you'd go to the little grey network interface box and check or physically disconnect the wires, but in an apartment or condo building it's not so easy. Does the dialtone the Obi is putting on the landline go all the way back to the Verizon CO?  And if yes to that last point, is there a risk a lightning storm is gonna zap the circuitry in the Obi that puts out the dialtone?

Felix

Are you saying that the goal is to plug different phones into different outlets of the apartment? In this case the results are unpredictable; moreover, in apartment environment it may even burn the phones if the service is not disconnected on a circuit level.

Ideally, you buy a base with multiple handsets ($30-100 depending on number of handsets, brand, and other features), and everything you described becomes a moot point.

CoalMinerRetired

> Are you saying that the goal is to plug different phones into different outlets of the apartment?
Yes, it's something I've thought about after reading what others are doing. I've read home owners go and physically disconnect the two wires to the local phone co central office, and this all works for them.  And Obi devices enable this with high power levels to drive multiple phone ringers.

> In this case the results are unpredictable; moreover, in apartment environment it may even burn the phones if the service is not disconnected on a circuit level.
Can you elaborate on why you say this, please. I am asking because in the past,= I've worked with local telco "technicians", getting their wires to hook up to some phone lines at the mine sites where I worked. What I learned back then was the local phone cos have very standardized (and well thought) out ways of doing things with physical wiring, as they were fond of saying, engineered to insure call quality, signal levels, and uptime. They took this to the extreme of people thought they were in their own little world. But it all worked, all the time (the three 9s availability, 99.999). Extrapolating from that, I'd have no reason to believe they have gotten any less thorough or exacting in their standards 20 years later, but anything is possible.

Thanks in advance.

QBZappy

CoalMinerRetired,

According to the specs OBi is designed to handle power at 5 REN. From what I have read that means it should be able to ring 5 phones. How many phones where you thinking about?
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

CoalMinerRetired

Just two or three phones.

But the concern is more so how far do the landline/circuit wires extend to the phone company office (CO), and what is the likelihood of someone or something shorting those out and damaging the electronics in the Obi in the apt?  Am I worrying too much about this?

QBZappy

Quote from: CoalMinerRetired on July 15, 2012, 08:33:16 PM
Does the dialtone the Obi is putting on the landline go all the way back to the Verizon CO?  And if yes to that last point, is there a risk a lightning storm is gonna zap the circuitry in the Obi that puts out the dialtone?

OBi dial tone is only going to be heard by the phones connected to it directly and/or through the house telephone wiring. Verizon CO does not receive dial tone from the box. The Verizon CO connects to the OBi line port. The wiring in the apartment may not be setup for what you want to do. It is not clear to me at this moment. The simplest way to do it would be to get yourself cordless dect phone. For the price I would consider one with builtin voip.

eg: (lots of models to choose from)
http://www.grandstream.com/products/ip-voice-telephony/enterprise-ip-phones/dp715_710
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Warranty-CORDLESS-TELEPHONE-Networking/dp/B004K3601G
Owner of the 1st OBi110/100 units in service in Canada & South America. 1st OBi202 on my street. 1st OBi1032 in Montreal.

MurrayB

Re: What I learned back then was the local phone cos have very standardized (and well thought) out ways of doing things with physical wiring, as they were fond of saying, engineered to insure call quality, signal levels, and uptime. They took this to the extreme of people thought they were in their own little world. But it all worked, all the time (the three 9s availability, 99.999). Extrapolating from that, I'd have no reason to believe they have gotten any less thorough or exacting in their standards 20 years later, but anything is possible.

Forget all that! That is so far in the past. Ma Bell and her standards are long gone.

I would go the multiple handset cordless Dect phone route. No telling where the existing wires are connected and if they are isolated.

CoalMinerRetired

> Forget all that! That is so far in the past. Ma Bell and her standards are long gone.
That is not what I wanted to hear. But thanks in any case for the info.

Felix

Quote from: QBZappy on July 16, 2012, 01:43:21 PM
For the price I would consider one with builtin voip.

eg: (lots of models to choose from)
http://www.grandstream.com/products/ip-voice-telephony/enterprise-ip-phones/dp715_710
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-Warranty-CORDLESS-TELEPHONE-Networking/dp/B004K3601G
I don't dispute - SIP DECT phones have many benefits... but "for the price" is a questionable one  ;)
Grandstream model that you are linking to is $170 (DP715 base and two DP710 extensions); where as 3-handset Uniden system is $35... 5 times cheaper