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Author Topic:   Computer Help Please?
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 166 of 236 (771720)
10-28-2015 11:54 PM
Reply to: Message 164 by New Cat's Eye
10-28-2015 9:36 AM


Re: cords from modem
DSL comes into your house over a phone cord.
OK that's clear if what's at issue is the type of cord itself, but DSL has to do with the internet and not the phone, it merely uses the phone line for its source of power, right?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 164 by New Cat's Eye, posted 10-28-2015 9:36 AM New Cat's Eye has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 167 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 1:31 AM Faith has replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 167 of 236 (771726)
10-29-2015 1:31 AM
Reply to: Message 166 by Faith
10-28-2015 11:54 PM


Re: cords from modem
No. DSL is a clever way of transmitting large amounts of data over an ordinary telephone line. The filter - the gizmo that was plugged into the jack - splits the voice signals from the DSL signals. The modem does all the conversion between the computer and the DSL signals - both ways.
As I believe you noted the DSL modem has a separate power cord. That's where it gets power (so if you lose power your phone won't work now, even if the telephone line is OK).

This message is a reply to:
 Message 166 by Faith, posted 10-28-2015 11:54 PM Faith has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 168 by Faith, posted 10-29-2015 1:52 AM PaulK has replied

  
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 168 of 236 (771727)
10-29-2015 1:52 AM
Reply to: Message 167 by PaulK
10-29-2015 1:31 AM


stuck with a lemon?
so if you lose power your phone won't work now, even if the telephone line is OK
I know, that's why I said I regret getting this system though they weren't really giving me a choice. The only advantage to it is the discount they gave me, and the long distance calling I'm supposed to have free. But I don't like the idea of not having phone service in a power outage or when my computer crashes. I'm going to check out RAZD's links to cell phone possibilities, but I don't think it's right that I'm driven to that as a necessity. I think AT&T has put some of us in a dangerous position by taking away our independent phone system and there's some degree of fraud involved in that. I'm not going to protest, that isn't my thing, but it does bother me that they would do this to us.
ABE: I may end up being glad I have a cell phone though so it may work out in the end. It won't be much use here though because nobody gets cell reception inside their apartment and they all walk up and down outside "entertaining" the rest of us with their calls, oh joy.
Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 167 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 1:31 AM PaulK has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 169 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 2:19 AM Faith has replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 169 of 236 (771728)
10-29-2015 2:19 AM
Reply to: Message 168 by Faith
10-29-2015 1:52 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
I don't think that your telephone service depends on your computer, only on the modem (which needs power) and the Internet connection. There's no reason why it should be like that.
If you can show that you were mis-sold then you have a valid complaint. If the limitations were there in the literature but not obvious it's more difficult.
You could try going to AT&T and asking to be let out - although you should watch out for cancellation charges. It's not certain that they will refuse or ask for unreasonable amounts of money. It may be a bit of a long shot, but if you don't ask for it you certainly won't get it.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 168 by Faith, posted 10-29-2015 1:52 AM Faith has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 170 by Faith, posted 10-29-2015 2:33 AM PaulK has not replied
 Message 171 by Faith, posted 10-29-2015 2:48 AM PaulK has not replied

  
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 170 of 236 (771730)
10-29-2015 2:33 AM
Reply to: Message 169 by PaulK
10-29-2015 2:19 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
I might call them to find out if there are any options but I'm not up to it right now. They called ME in the first place to get on this new system because supposedly the neighborhood internet traffic is getting too heavy, so I'm not sure I could even go back to the way it was. Besides which it would involve another tech visit. No, I'm not up to it. And getting a cell phone may be possible and solve a lot of things at once. I've many times thought I should have one whenever I'm out. I may look into other service providers some time though.
Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 169 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 2:19 AM PaulK has not replied

  
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 171 of 236 (771731)
10-29-2015 2:48 AM
Reply to: Message 169 by PaulK
10-29-2015 2:19 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
I don't think that your telephone service depends on your computer, only on the modem (which needs power) and the Internet connection. There's no reason why it should be like that.
You were right. Turned off the computer and still had the phone. That's a relief. That helps a lot. If it's only power outages and internet outages that can affect the phone I can probably live with that well enough.

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 Message 169 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 2:19 AM PaulK has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 172 by Jon, posted 10-29-2015 6:56 AM Faith has not replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 172 of 236 (771736)
10-29-2015 6:56 AM
Reply to: Message 171 by Faith
10-29-2015 2:48 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
You may also have phone in a power outage. The stand-alone splitters/filters don't require separate power to work; I see no reason why the splitter/filter inside the modem would be set up to require it.
I used to have a setup identical to yours. I can't remember if the phone worked when the modem was powered down or not, but it'd be pretty easy to check for yourself: just disconnect the power plug from the back of the
modem and pick up your phone.
Edited by Jon, : No reason given.

Love your enemies!

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 Message 171 by Faith, posted 10-29-2015 2:48 AM Faith has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 173 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 7:03 AM Jon has replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 173 of 236 (771737)
10-29-2015 7:03 AM
Reply to: Message 172 by Jon
10-29-2015 6:56 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
I'm afraid you've missed the fact that Faith doesn't have a voice telephone connection any more. It all goes over DSL.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 172 by Jon, posted 10-29-2015 6:56 AM Jon has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 174 by Jon, posted 10-29-2015 8:29 AM PaulK has not replied
 Message 175 by Percy, posted 10-29-2015 9:12 AM PaulK has replied

  
Jon
Inactive Member


Message 174 of 236 (771744)
10-29-2015 8:29 AM
Reply to: Message 173 by PaulK
10-29-2015 7:03 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
Well ain't that some silly irony!
They tell Faith they have too much Internet traffic, so they fix it by making everyone's phone run over the Internet.

Love your enemies!

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 Message 173 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 7:03 AM PaulK has not replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22388
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 175 of 236 (771745)
10-29-2015 9:12 AM
Reply to: Message 173 by PaulK
10-29-2015 7:03 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
PaulK writes:
I'm afraid you've missed the fact that Faith doesn't have a voice telephone connection any more. It all goes over DSL.
In the absence of an actual manual describing the 5031nv, it doesn't seem impossible that, as Jon suggests, it merely has a passive DSL filter, and that VoIP connections would be to the Ethernet ports. That's how it was done at the alst place I worked. Every phone had only a single Ethernet wire connected to it. It was a modified Ethernet connection that also provided power.
But I did find a manual (AT&T U-verse® Voice), and it says you need battery backup if you want phone availability during a power outage (so it's obviously not a passive DSL filter inside the 5031nv box).
Faith, a battery backup is just a box with plugs that has a battery inside. It plugs into the wall. While your power is working it keeps the battery inside your battery backup unit charged, and it sends electricity to anything plugged into the plugs of the battery backup unit. When the power goes out it seamlessly switches power over to the battery for the devices plugged into your battery backup unit. When the power comes back on it seamlessly switches back to power from the wall.
I highly suggest a battery backup for your modem. If your phone also requires power (plugs into the wall), it can use the same battery backup. The manual suggests you go here: Learn About Battery Backup - AT&T Digital Phone Customer Support. I've already gone through it, I found it exceedingly poorly organized, but here's some helpful information that it provides:
quote:
To support your U-verse voice service the battery backup you purchase should provide a minimum of 75 watts and 125 VA (volt amps.) You can purchase a battery backup from a variety of retail locations. Pricing starts at approximately $39, but will vary depending on the amount of time the battery provides backup power.
Now here's what I suggest. Assuming you can afford it, buy a battery backup for less than $100 that would power all these devices for several hours in the event of a power failure:
  • Modem
  • Phone
  • Computer
  • Computer monitor
If you did this then when your power goes out you would still have full phone and Internet capability in the event of a power failure. I have set up my work area in this way and it is wonderful, though of course I'm working in the dark by the glow of my monitor.
If you can't afford a large enough backup battery for all that then at least buy a small one that can handle your phone and modem.
Here's one AT&T suggests: APC - Back-UPS 125VA Network UPS. It's small and inexpensive ($30) and would power your modem for several hours. If it also had to power your phone it might be half that.
Bigger battery backups are, of course, more expensive, but the other ones suggested by AT&T are way overkill for you. If you'd like to power your modem, phone, computer and monitor with a single battery backup then I suggest you just go down to your local Best Buy, tell them that's what you want to do, and that you don't want to spend more than you have to, and I bet they can suggest one for around $60 or $70. Or maybe have your brother or someone do this for you.
If you ever have power outages that last several days then you'll need a bigger battery backup unit. The more hours you need it to work, the more devices plugged into it, the bigger is has to be.
--Percy

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 Message 173 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 7:03 AM PaulK has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 176 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 9:37 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied
 Message 177 by PaulK, posted 10-29-2015 10:45 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied
 Message 178 by Faith, posted 10-29-2015 6:28 PM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.3


(1)
Message 176 of 236 (771748)
10-29-2015 9:37 AM
Reply to: Message 175 by Percy
10-29-2015 9:12 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
Faith said it was VOIP, and if it had not been the phone should still have worked plugged into the old filter. It certainly sounds as if voice service has been cut off.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 175 by Percy, posted 10-29-2015 9:12 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
PaulK
Member
Posts: 17822
Joined: 01-10-2003
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 177 of 236 (771752)
10-29-2015 10:45 AM
Reply to: Message 175 by Percy
10-29-2015 9:12 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
The Wikipedia entry in AT&T U-Verse identifies the Pace 5031NV as one of the modems supplied. That has built-in VOIP..

This message is a reply to:
 Message 175 by Percy, posted 10-29-2015 9:12 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 178 of 236 (771780)
10-29-2015 6:28 PM
Reply to: Message 175 by Percy
10-29-2015 9:12 AM


Re: stuck with a lemon?
Thanks for the information. I'll keep it alongside RAZD's info about cell phones.
Now that I know that a computer crash wouldn't take down the phone I'm going to try to live with whatever other problems might occur. We do get power outages but they usually don't last more than a couple hours. One was caused when wind downed a power pole and that did take days to fix but that's too rare to worry about. If I run into problems I can't live with I'll have your suggestions at hand. Thanks.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 175 by Percy, posted 10-29-2015 9:12 AM Percy has seen this message but not replied

  
Faith 
Suspended Member (Idle past 1444 days)
Posts: 35298
From: Nevada, USA
Joined: 10-06-2001


Message 179 of 236 (782827)
04-29-2016 10:21 AM


I've been plagued with popups trying to get me to accept Windows 10 which I keep rejecting because my computer usually has to downgrade to older systems to run right so I don't want to tax it with a new system, and because I've heard about a lot of problems people have with Windows 10. The popups are very irritating, often derailing something I'm watching on Netflix, but they offer no way to end their interference.
Advice?
Also I've been getting calls from people with Indian accents claiming to be from Microsoft or Windows. I figure they are a scam and hang up on them.

Replies to this message:
 Message 180 by jar, posted 04-29-2016 10:28 AM Faith has replied
 Message 181 by ramoss, posted 04-29-2016 11:53 AM Faith has not replied
 Message 194 by nwr, posted 04-29-2016 3:40 PM Faith has not replied

  
jar
Member (Idle past 393 days)
Posts: 34026
From: Texas!!
Joined: 04-20-2004


Message 180 of 236 (782828)
04-29-2016 10:28 AM
Reply to: Message 179 by Faith
04-29-2016 10:21 AM


The calls are a scam. What operating system are you currently using?

Anyone so limited that they can only spell a word one way is severely handicapped!

This message is a reply to:
 Message 179 by Faith, posted 04-29-2016 10:21 AM Faith has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 182 by Faith, posted 04-29-2016 12:24 PM jar has not replied

  
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