When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone
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anon @ 5th Nov 10:11AM:
When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

We've been getting lots of calls about switching and bundling... but our neighbors (2 of them) whenever the cable is down... they have no phone service. It is important for my husband who works out of the home to have communication by the computer or by phone. If we switch to bundle and save money.... would he have any communication at all? They said you could do a battery back up, but isn't that just for if the power is out?
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psafux @ 5th Nov 11:50AM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

yes if you lose power, the modem that controls the phone service will not be powered on. a battery backup will give you power for a short amount of time.

yes if there is a line outage, the phone service will be down as it uses the coax line for the VOIP service.

It only uses POTS in the home, to connect to your existing telephone wiring and phones.
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anon @ 5th Nov 01:54PM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

That's what I thought. That could've been a costly situation for us to switch and then to have to switch back. Thank you!
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psafux @ 5th Nov 02:47PM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

no problem.
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cork1958 @ 6th Nov 04:23AM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

Exactly why I never went their phone service when I was on Charter.

Power goes out/flashes around here WAY to often for that. Not to mention I turn the modem off every night.
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Darkk @ 6th Nov 08:19AM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

The question isn't quite as simple as it might seem...

If the subscriber's telephone line goes direct to their local telco central office, the central office's generator will power the CO and also supply power down the phone line to power the subscriber's telephone. Note that this won't work for telephone handsets like cordless etc. that have a separate wall power supply. However, if you have a line powered telephone handset and your local power goes out, it is very likely that you can still make calls. I can in my area, and this is the primary reason I have not switched to Charter telephone.

I keep a few line powered handsets around just for this scenario, as the fancy telephone handsets and cordless sets are useless in a power failure situation.

Sometimes the subscriber's phone line is fed via a SLC (subscriber line concentrator) sort of a phone line splitter/compressor. This is one reason some users have such dismal dial-up performance. In this case, you would have to know if the SLC had a generator too. Most do not, but they generally will operate on stationary batteries for at least 12 hours.

Charter line power supplies are lucky to operate for 4 hours, and a power outage anywhere between you and the Charter head end serving up the telephone service will put that 4 hour limit in place for you. So you might have power and still see a cable/telephone outage from Charter.
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Rampage522 @ 6th Nov 09:27AM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

said by cork1958 :

Not to mention I turn the modem off every night.

Not particularly relevant, since the phone service uses a distinct modem from the one providing your Internet service.
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MOTO6809 @ 7th Nov 10:55AM:
Re: When the cable is down... do I still have service for phone

said by Rampage522 :

said by cork1958 :

Not to mention I turn the modem off every night.

Not particularly relevant, since the phone service uses a distinct modem from the one providing your Internet service.

Depend on where he/she lives. My friend has Charter and he gets phone and data over his Arris MTA.
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