I am posting this for a friend in the hope that someone may be able to help him.

Here is his situation.

On Friday night I was at his house, his missus and daughter were using the internet, no problem there. When I got there it started raining and didn't stop till sometime last night, around 24 hours later.

Yesterday afternoon I get a message on my MSN to pop around there, he needs advice and help. When I get there, he shows me that there is no dial tone whatsoever on any of his house phones. BUT his ADSL intermittently works, enough for him to get a message through to me on MSN. He told me he tried to contact Telstra FAULTS about it, and everything checked out fine up to the pole outside his house. They told him that it was out of their hands and that he needs to call an approved technician with an Austel licence. First thing that came into my head is "What a load of BS, he's paying for the services, they should fix it!".

After getting a braindead response from the clowns at Telstra, we decided to investigate ourselves. When I rang his number, it rang out like normal on my mobile, but we couldn't hear the house phone ring. His Bigpond ADSL works when it feels like working.

OK, next step we grabbed a multimeter to check the voltage in his phone plug, which was registering between 0-1 volt. When I rang his number again on my mobile, the voltage jumped up to around 2 volts at each ring. He checked all the cable under his house and it seems to be in order.

Next step, we examined the pole at the front and there's a white box there with the phone line coming out of it and going to his house. We noticed it wasn't on properly as there is a wire hanging out the bottom, and he actually hooked the top and pulled the box down a few inches.

We have concluded that his problem is to do with corrosion in his phone line at the box on the power pole. The wierd thing is his Bigpond ADSL still (sometimes) works. Telstra won't help him, so hopefully by posting here, someone may be able to give us some advice or help in some way. Any help would be appreciated.

This guy is so persistent in fixing it, it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up losing his patience and getting a ladder and checking out the white box on the pole himself. One can only be so patient I suppose.

Space Goat writes...

Telstra won't help him,

Where does it say you called Faults? 132203. Tell them you have no dialtone. Get them to look into it.

Sorry I forgot to mention that. He did call Telstra faults, and they told him everything checked out fine up to his phone pole and that anything after the pole is out of Telstra's hands and he would need to pay a technician to fix it. The problem is it's at the pole's end where the wire comes out to go to his house.

It used to be that Telstra had to handle stuff thru to the terminal box in your house

Have they unilaterally changed that in their T&C?

The Possum writes...

Have they unilaterally changed that in their T&C?

I'll get him to ask that question when he rings them again tomorrow. He's waiting the weekend out in the hope he can talk to someone higher up to get this sorted out. He's paying for a service he can't use so he is not very happy with Telstra's response so far.

The Possum writes...

It used to be that Telstra had to handle stuff thru to the terminal box in your house

The techies have some special word for the "terminal box in your house" which they may let you know, so that the BP/Telstra types don't fob you off with "NO all we cover is to the pole"

um if the phone isnt working properly skip the fact the adsl is borked, and report the line fault. wiht normal phone line faults. get the phone line issue resolved, and its likely the DSL may resolve itself aswell.

if this *power pole* you mention is within the property. e.g. the poles get put in with power/phone whil a house is being built and then run in to the house, then yes that would be the boundary point, and its the owners responsibility from there in.

around 80v AC gets sent down the line to trigger the phone to ring btw.

3x0dus writes...

if this *power pole* you mention is within the property.

The pole is out the front of his next door neighbour's house.

around 80v AC gets sent down the line to trigger the phone to ring btw.

I thought it was around that. We got about 2 volts when I rang the number up from 0.xx volts on no ring.

Thanks for your posts guys, I'll pass the information onto him in the morning and hope he can get it resolved.

If ADSL works then the line is fine. Have he tried by plugging in another phone. It could be that the phone is broken, but the line is good.

He's tried 3 different phone lines and different phones, with and without the ADSL filter. And nothing. The ADSL only worked in intermittent bursts, enough for him to send me an MSN message a couple of times.

Exact same issue at my Dad's house. Twice now we have lost dial tone for a day or two, ? related to rain.

During those times the internet (ADSL) may work but is very crappy.

We've contacted Telstra and they've always said that the line is OK. Unfortunately the problem seems to rectify itself by the time they come around.

I've heard rain can affect the line but exactly where from the exchange to the house I don't know. I don't think that Telstra tries hard enough to localise the problem. If it is not in your house's actual wiring it is definitely a Telstra problem that they should fix. How to prove this I don't know.

oz geek writes...

If ADSL works then the line is fine

Not always , there are a couple of line fault types which will cause loss of dial tone but the ADSL still works.H/R open circuit, short or someone pulling the wires of the exchange device side at the exchange.
In this case re report it as a no dial tone fault.Checking to the pole box is not the boundary point but may have been as far as the tech could go at the time due to no access to check further.

Space Goat writes...

He did call Telstra faults, and they told him everything checked out fine up to his phone pole and that anything after the pole is out of Telstra's hands and he would need to pay a technician to fix it. The problem is it's at the pole's end where the wire comes out to go to his house.

If you are pretty sure the problem would be within the pole's, call telstra fault again and make appointment.

You will not get charged for incorrect call out fee if the problem is with the line, but will be charged if issue with your equipment.

0-2 volts is normal, we talking about DC voltage for phone socket, not AC voltage.

You should get 50v DC at the socket for the phone to work. I think the problem is one wire of the phone line is broken between the pole and the socket.
If both wires broken, the ADSL should not work either.

pyc writes...

You should get 50v DC at the socket for the phone to work.

Lonsdale writes...

0-2 volts is normal, we talking about DC voltage for phone socket, not AC voltage.

So which is correct?

I thought phoneline voltages were much higher than 2 volts

Thanks for your help guys. He has contacted Telstra again. This is what he said on MSN this morning while I was away from the keyboard (expletives edited out hehe):

King Kong!! says (9:28 AM):
its ****ing working again but still no dail , welcome to "ghost net" how the **** dose it work like this its really lost me ......... one for the record books
King Kong!! says (9:29 AM):
looks like a nice day , any way they told me when i rang today that some one will be here by thursday at the latest that stinks...
King Kong!! says (9:30 AM):
bad luck if i have a heart attack or my house burns down
King Kong!! says (9:32 AM):
how would i ring , its like they think every **** has a mobil reli on , ****ing telstra
King Kong!! says (9:35 AM):
i did notice a slight hissing on the phone line this morrning but thats gone now and still know dail tone but the ghost net is still working its slowly drying up i take it hey
King Kong!! says (9:37 AM):
and they did tell me thats all they could do for me

Thanks for your posts and info guys. I will pass the info onto him shortly.

One thing that stinks, they told him they will there by Thursday, which means someone's got to be home all the time until the technician comes. Pity if they both worked at the same time hey. C'mon Telstra, lift your game, we pay you enough money!!!

Space Goat writes...

they will there by Thursday, which means someone's got to be home all the time until the technician comes

Tell them you are working (maybe even a "working family") and they will "need to" nominate a morning or afternoon on Mon or Tue or Weds or Thurs when they will reliably turn up

"someime between now and Thursday" is totally unsatisfactory

Space Goat writes...

One thing that stinks, they told him they will there by Thursday, which means someone's got to be home all the time until the technician comes. Pity if they both worked at the same time hey. C'mon Telstra, lift your game, we pay you enough money!!!

You do have the option of having them contact you before hand so you can meet them on site as long as the lead time is reasonable.Also leaving a key with a neigbour is another option as long as they can stay on site with the tech.Most times these type of faults would be outside and its just unfortunate that in this case it looks to be on the property.

drekkus writes...

Most times these type of faults would be outside and its just unfortunate that in this case it looks to be on the property.

If it infrequent, they should have no problem in nominating a 4 hour window when they will turn up in the next four days (and schedule other calls around that)

This is not a new issue

The Possum writes...

If it infrequent, they should have no problem in nominating a 4 hour window when they will turn up in the next four days (and schedule other calls around that)

It probably should have been done as an appointment rather than a commitment.Its been proved up to the pole outside so access is required(assuming the last tech did their job properly).

Once again, thanks for the info guys, you've been really helpful. He will be reading this thread as soon as his "ghost" internet kicks in again.

Upon looking at the white box on the pole in daylight, there's definitely a wire hanging out the bottom of the box on the pole. Our theory is that water got into the box and corroded the wires causing one to break. If that's the case then he's lucky as that's not on his property.

pyc writes...

You should get 50v DC at the socket for the phone to work.

AFAIK, the phone socket is only max 5v DC (for a normal/good land line). More than 5v DC, will causing noise, cross talk, or even no dial tone.

Space Goat writes...

One thing that stinks, they told him they will there by Thursday, which means someone's got to be home all the time until the technician comes.

so your friend made appointment? if that the case, then yes, someone has to be at home, can be anyone as long as > 18 yrs old

Lonsdale writes...

AFAIK, the phone socket is only max 5v DC (for a normal/good land line). More than 5v DC, will causing noise, cross talk, or even no dial tone.

Your correct for a line with the phone in an off hook condition, it would be around 5v but put a meter across a line direct with nothing else plugged in and you should normally get around 50v.

Lonsdale writes...

so your friend made appointment? if that the case, then yes, someone has to be at home

OR

Telstra need to be capable of fixing a techie arrival within a 4 hour window in the next 4 days

The Possum writes...

Telstra need to be capable of fixing a techie arrival within a 4 hour window in the next 4 days

From the way the OP posted, that Telstra will come to premises and adv someone has to be at home, most likely telstra adv the OP about the 4 hrs window for this thursday.

Lonsdale writes...

most likely telstra adv the OP about the 4 hrs window for this thursday.

Most working people can't just "adv" their employer at the last minute that they'll be absent just to get the phone fixed

Just in case the problem is not up the Telstra pole

The Possum writes...

Most working people can't just "adv" their employer at the last minute that they'll be absent just to get the phone fixed

Well, i guess if u want your phone to be fixed, then u have to put some effort. Also the OP has the option to choose which day/time that suit them well. If the agreed time is thursday, that means that suit them ok. Make sense right?

Also like i said before they don't to be at home if they can't, but they have to get someone else as long as older than 18 yrs old

Note: Possum, i didn't expect this above question/statement came from you. I thought you know better than this. All the time you complained about telstra and tried to help other peoples that have issue with telstra. I guess you learn something new every day.

Lonsdale writes...

Make sense right?

Made no sense at all

A bit of an update, they fixed his line today. I'm going there later tonight when he gets home from work to check it out. All he said was this:

King Kong!! says (3:55 PM):
i show when you get here i got this real fancy new phone line that makes the net work better

Sounds interesting. Looks like he is happy with the outcome.

It turned out the wires on the pole were blue with corrosion. It wasn't in the white box that we first though, the problem was at another part on the pole.

His phone and internet is all working good, his new problem is he's getting NTLDR missing or corrupt and can't boot Windows now, even after a system recovery off the disc :\ He's really not having a good week. At least his phone problem is solved.