If you still have a "landline"

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hs_hopeful
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If you still have a "landline"

Post by hs_hopeful »

For those who still have this sort of phone service, an often overlooked item is a phone that does not require electricity to function. I have several, although only one is in a place where it could currently be used.

brianj
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by brianj »

If landline phones don’t require electricity, what are the wires for?

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inho
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by inho »

Why does the phone still work when the electricity goes out?
Between your house and the phone company's office there is a dedicated pair of copper wires for your phone. Those wires are almost always buried, so ice storms and hurricanes will not cut them. The phone company supplies the power that your phone needs using your dedicated copper pair.

So even if the power goes out in your house, the phone still gets the power it needs through the phone line. And at the phone company office there is an extensive battery system, as well as a backup generator, to supply power during a power failure. If the power goes out, the batteries and generators keep the office fully pow­ered. Therefore, all of the phones connected to the office are fully powered as well.

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gkearney
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by gkearney »

Landlines do in fact require electricity to work. It just requires low voltage DC current which is supplied by the telephone company itself. In the event of a power failure the phone company maintains backup generators and batteries at the site of the switching systems. These keep the system running until conventional power is restored. However should electrical service be lost for an extended period of time even thes backup would fail and the phone service would no longer function.

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Robin Hood
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by Robin Hood »

I have a landline and have a couple of phones that I can use in this way.
They're cheap as chips to buy.

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kittycat51
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by kittycat51 »

I sorta wish we still had our landline for that very purpose of "back-up". I remember in times past when the power would go out, I would call my mother and talk to her until the power came back on. But atlas it seems that before we disconnected our land line all the calls we seemed to get were dreaded sells people. Nothing was worse than to stop what you were doing to go and answer the phone in the other room just to see it was someone with something to sell or try and scam you out of. I always wanted to try the Seinfeld thing of asking for their number so that I could call them back later...perhaps during their dinner.

Ha-ha thinking on terms of phones, when my hubby and I were first married, we lived in an "apartment" ward where they put married couples together to jointly home/visit teach. I liked that idea! I kind of wish they did that always. I know my husband would actually get his visits done if I was his partner. ;) Anyway one of the couples we had been assigned to, their phone number was the same one as what my family had for 10 years or so. I thought that was funny, that was MY number. :!:

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cyclOps
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by cyclOps »

Robin Hood wrote: November 7th, 2017, 7:57 am I have a landline and have a couple of phones that I can use in this way.
They're cheap as chips to buy.
And by chips you mean french fries?

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Robin Hood
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by Robin Hood »

cyclOps wrote: November 7th, 2017, 9:55 am
Robin Hood wrote: November 7th, 2017, 7:57 am I have a landline and have a couple of phones that I can use in this way.
They're cheap as chips to buy.
And by chips you mean french fries?
Yep, pretty much.
French fries are thinner than chips, but you're basically correct. :)

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David13
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by David13 »

gkearney wrote: November 7th, 2017, 7:49 am Landlines do in fact require electricity to work. It just requires low voltage DC current which is supplied by the telephone company itself. In the event of a power failure the phone company maintains backup generators and batteries at the site of the switching systems. These keep the system running until conventional power is restored. However should electrical service be lost for an extended period of time even thes backup would fail and the phone service would no longer function.

Kearney
When I was a kid my father worked at the telephone company. When there were storms and power outages he could work 24/7 if he wanted. One of the things he had to do was go to the basement of the telephone company building and start the generators if needed.
Not everyone knew how to do that, so it was not always done. Also, sometimes the generators had to be fixed or fuel obtained.
Then too if the lines are down to your house, you will have no phone til someone comes and puts the line back up.

Someone above said if the telephone doesn't require electricity what are the wires for? For the voice transmission, that's what. But that does travel by electrical current. It just doesn't necessarily always require outside electricity, if whatever generator or other source the company has works.

So depending on how widespread the power outage is, and how long term, the landline may not work either. Or it may.
dc

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harakim
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by harakim »

The telephone system uses the internet now, so I doubt many landlines will work if the power is out.

JohnnyL
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by JohnnyL »

BTW, for those with cell phones: text will often work when calls won't.

OCDMOM
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by OCDMOM »

I still have a land line. When the power goes out we hook up the old corded phone. The cordless will not work.

brianj
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by brianj »

harakim wrote: November 7th, 2017, 4:06 pm The telephone system uses the internet now, so I doubt many landlines will work if the power is out.
I wondered if anybody would catch this.

brianj
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by brianj »

JohnnyL wrote: November 7th, 2017, 5:49 pm BTW, for those with cell phones: text will often work when calls won't.
I have been in areas where earthquakes happen and seen both landlines and cell phones mostly useless for calls because the networks are flooded. But text messages still went through.

And those cell phone towers: they have battery backups just like the phone company. If I can't plug my phone into the wall to charge it I can use a solar panel I purchased to recharge the phone and my e-reader, use a backup battery I have for my ham radios, or recharge it in the car.

buffalo_girl
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by buffalo_girl »

Landlines do in fact require electricity to work. It just requires low voltage DC current which is supplied by the telephone company itself. In the event of a power failure the phone company maintains backup generators and batteries at the site of the switching systems. These keep the system running until conventional power is restored. However should electrical service be lost for an extended period of time even the backup would fail and the phone service would no longer function.
When landlines were carried in those copper bundles, the phone company had remote backup power. Our 'landline' is through fiberoptics with a battery backup in the house if the power goes down. Unfortunately, I've had the backup battery go dead within a couple of hours of the power being disrupted. A couple of years ago, a main electric line in the county broke on December 23 with an outdoor temperature of - 20 F. The phone went dead within an hour. I guess it really didn't matter. We drove into town and got a couple of propane tanks for those 'Mr. Heater' shop heaters so the pipes wouldn't freeze (neither the furnace nor the well pump work without electricity), and to add some heat to the one room we used until the power was restored almost 12 hours later.

I truly wish the old copper phone lines hadn't been replaced!

davedan
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Re: If you still have a "landline"

Post by davedan »

My landline is a free Google Voice VOIP number via my internet connection.

But I have a HAM radio.

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