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sinkingfeeling

(52,976 posts)
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:09 PM Jul 2019

Okay, serious question. Please answer without being judgemental.

Who does one get to re-run landline phone wires in a house? An electrician? The service provider?

Apparently, some creatures have gradually destroyed all my wiring over the last 25 years.

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dawg day

(7,947 posts)
1. Call the phone company.
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:13 PM
Jul 2019

IF it's like it was when there was just one phone company, only they can work on the lines. Who is your local phone company? (In my town, it's in the phonebook under, no joke, Fone Company, because we have a lot of stupid people around here. They'll send someone out to fix everything.

No judgment here. My cell phone abruptly died on a weekend, and I have insurance on it so I didn't want to buy a new one if I could order a replacement from the insurer. Well, the replacement didn't come for two days. And during that time (such an addict!), I kept thinking, what if someone tries to break in, and I don't have a working phone, or a landline phone, to call the police???

I started to consider that maybe it was a mistake to decide to save $20 a month by giving up the landline.

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)
2. I wonder, it just might be cheaper and easier to just switch over to all wireless phones.
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:17 PM
Jul 2019

The current technology is incredibly great!

sinkingfeeling

(52,976 posts)
5. The ones I have are cordless, with only the base phone plugged to the
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:27 PM
Jul 2019

phone jack. My service is via my ISP, Cox Communications, so It's really through the modem????

RKP5637

(67,112 posts)
7. Yep, it would be through the router/modem. ... sort of. Usually there is a box on the side of the
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:49 PM
Jul 2019

house and they run a line from there to where the phone lines come into your house. A good electrician should be able to help you out. I doubt Cox Communications is going to look at your house phone wiring, but I just do not know. You need a clean phone line from the Cox Communications box on the side of the house to a phone jack in the house where you plug in your base phone. I can see exactly what your problem is (I think). I'm basing this on how mine has been hooked up with a couple of different cable companies.

customerserviceguy

(25,185 posts)
3. Well, Alexander Graham Bell is dead
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:18 PM
Jul 2019

Oh, sorry, you asked for no judgementalism, but I had to get that in there.

I would imagine that since the wires contain very low voltage at any time, anyone who had cabling knowledge (and we're not talking about an electrician here) would be able to do it. You certainly can ask the telephone company to do it for you, but don't be surprised if they're either not enthusiastic about it, orbi refer you to somebody expensive that they get a kickback from. They really are trying to get out of the landline business, it's too expensive to maintain the infrastructure, and too many people are opting out of traditional landline service, especially when they move. And the old folks who don't want any other way are dying off.

I'd find someone on TaskRabbit who has experience with Ethernet lines to do it. Not every business wants its information on Wi-Fi, they prefer the security of a wired Intranet. Chances are, you'll find an IT professional who took a cabling class like I did, who will be happy to do the work as a side hustle.

And sorry to hear about your critters, we had quite a problem a few years ago, but we had already gone to cell-only by that point. These little bastards were eating food out of the pantry.

PoliticAverse

(26,366 posts)
8. Check with your local phone company, they will tell you what part of the wiring they are...
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 04:58 PM
Jul 2019

required to fix as part of your monthly payments. Other wiring can be fixed by most anyone. Some handy(wo)man
services might do that work also.

matt819

(10,749 posts)
10. When I needed a T1 line
Wed Jul 17, 2019, 05:43 PM
Jul 2019

Run from the pole to the house, phone company told me to call electrician. The phone company made all the connections in the house.

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