rwatkins@BBN.COM (Ron Watkins) (02/01/89)
Having just received my ATT phone bill, I note there were 10 long distance calls that I didn't make...matter of fact, this second phone line has never had a "phone" on it....just my modem (and I only call one number). ATT service insisted that I or my wife made the calls, and even if we didn't, they couldn't do anything and referred me to New England Telephone. NET service was extremely helpful and even called those numbers (asking if they received a call from us...no, they don't know us...etc), thus NET belives that my wires are "cross connected" somewhere... My question is..if I "cancel" this number and get a new number...would that correct the cross connection at the central office (if the cross connection is there)...and if the problem persists (perhaps we notice that next month the same phone numbers are on the bill) then does it show that the cross connections is in the lines running down the street ? (dividing the problem in half). I was only concerned because NET said the problem is very hard to find and it could persist for months.... I live in Boxboro MA and I'm not even sure where my service comes from... thank you Ron
rpw3@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Rob Warnock) (02/08/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0043m01@vector.UUCP> rwatkins@BBN.COM writes: +--------------- | Having just received my ATT phone bill, I note there were | 10 long distance calls that I didn't make [on second phone line]... | this second phone line has never had a "phone" on it....just my modem... | thus NET belives that my wires are "cross connected" somewhere... | I was only concerned because NET said the problem is very | hard to find and it could persist for months.... +--------------- There exist boxes (try Radio Shack) that show you if a phone line is "off hook". (Basically, they measure the voltage.) And if your modem is at all standard, it will assert "Data Set Ready" iff it is off-hook. Thus, if you bought a telephone recording "tap" (~$20 at Radio Shack), and rigged it to run when the other box showed off hook *and* your modem did *not* show DSR, you should be able to tape the "other" traffic on "your" line as evidence. That is, it may be hard for NET to find, since they can't see your modem, but it shouldn't be too hard for you to give them a little help. (What can they do, even then? Well, if you called them and said, "That other guy is on my line *RIGHT NOW*, they might be able to run a TDR measurement and find out [approximately] where the other phone is.) Rob Warnock Systems Architecture Consultant UUCP: {amdcad,fortune,sun}!redwood!rpw3 ATTmail: !rpw3 DDD: (415)572-2607 USPS: 627 26th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403
johnl@ima.ISC.COM (02/11/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0051m03@vector.UUCP> rpw3@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Rob Warnock) writes: >[use a modem to log off-hook time on your phone line] >.. it may be hard for NET to find, since they can't see your modem, >but it shouldn't be too hard for you to give them a little help. > >(What can they do, even then? Well, if you called them and said, "That >other guy is on my line *RIGHT NOW*, they might be able to run a TDR >measurement and find out [approximately] where the other phone is.) Even better, when the phone is off the hook pick up the phone and say "Excuse me but your phone is cross-wired with mine, would you mind telling me your phone number?" It worked for me one time. Or when the modem goes off hook, tell it to send lots of noise so the other customer will complain and, with any luck, they'll figure out what the problem is. It occurs to me that there may be a worse problem here. I gather that each phone line really has two numbers, the number that makes it ring and the number used for billing. Normally both are the same but in some cases, e.g. DID trunks or other multiple installations, everything is billed to the customer's main number. There may be a line somewhere with a correct ring number but your billing number, so the other guy wouldn't even notice that anything was wrong except that he didn't get any toll charges on the bill. Regards, John Levine, johnl@ima.isc.com
dave@rutgers.edu (Dave Levenson) (02/12/89)
In article <telecom-v09i0051m03@vector.UUCP>, amdcad!amdcad.AMD.COM!rpw3@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Rob Warnock) writes: ... > There exist boxes (try Radio Shack) that show you if a phone line is > "off hook". (Basically, they measure the voltage.) And if your modem > is at all standard, it will assert "Data Set Ready" iff it is off-hook. ... If your modem is Hayes-compatible, it asserts DSR whenever it is powered up, whether or not it is off-hook. But if you flip one of its configuration switches, you can enable A-lead control -- which means that when the modem is off-hook, it closes a pair of normally-open relay contacts which connect the black and yellow wires in its telephone line cord. The old AT&T modems that don't have built-in auto-dialers were the last ones widely used on dialup circuits that use DSR as described above. -- Dave Levenson Westmark, Inc. The Man in the Mooney Warren, NJ USA {rutgers | att}!westmark!dave