dtynan@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Der Tynan) (11/11/88)
OK, first let me say thanks to everyone who responded to my posting. I got a
lot of replies. So, I figured I'd post the results in case anyone was in a
similar predicament.
As of last friday evening, I had *two* (yes 2) lines into my apartment. The
modem is now happily conversing across the planet. One of the most helpful
replies was the least obvious. Someone (sorry, can't remember names) said
to call the office again, and ask for the installation. Also, I happened
upon a PacBell technician in the street, and grilled him. I've always found
these guys helpful, and most of my telecom data has been gleaned from such
sources. He also said to call the business office again. Furthermore, he
said that if they still maintained a second line was impossible, I should
ask to speak to a supervisor. He said that the *only* way one could find
out if it was possible to install a line, was by actually coming out and
checking the building.
So, I called them again. THIS TIME, the operator/salesperson did the
order-entry right then. No problem. She even gave me the number. She asked
if I was going to do my own wiring - I, of course, said yes. On top of that,
she gave me a number to call if I had a problem with the installation. Phew!
She said it would be turned on in two days (which it was). Now to the next
problem. The BIG difference between them turning on the line, and me getting
a dialtone on a second phone. I pulled out the phonejack, expecting your
usual four-wire set, but no. There were at least six wire-pairs. I was
tapped into one of them. The others are for different apartments. This is
a BIG-TIME security hole. I checked the voltage levels on all the wires.
Except for the line I was using, the rest were dead. Great. Now all I needed
was access to the Network Interface. Naturally, the apartment manager was
NO help. He "didn't know where it was". I called the installation "hotline"
only to find out that there was going to be someone sent out from Pac Bell in
less than fifteen minutes. I had assumed (incorrectly) that when they "turned
on the line", it was done at the exchange, and that there wouldn't be any
need for someone to come out. When I found out, I was @ work, so a fast trip
home, and a long wait...
The guy who came out was as usual real helpful, and didn't seem to mind my
array of technical questions (of course, he wouldn't tell me what the test
codes were :-) Unfortunately, he ruined my optimism. He expressed doubts
that the line could be wired. I told him there were extra lines in the
wall. He gave me three choices.
1/ He could test the lines, and see if there were any free (again, this
cost $45 for the first 15 minutes, and $12 for every 15 after that).
He said he could probably check all the lines in about an hour, but
that didn't mean that there would be any free. Some are reserved for
other apartments, some are destroyed by fires, etc, and some are used
for power. Also, since deregulation, he had no way of telling what
the state of the lines was, because someone else may have worked on
them.
2/ I could get an independant contractor out to do the installation.
3/ I could lay my own cable from the box to the apartment. This wasn't
really a solution, because the current wiring goes through the walls.
Any additions would have to be external to the building, and there's
no way the apartment management would agree to that.
I swallowed my pride, and went with option #1. I figured, having forked
over the ~$35 for the actual exchange connection (which was NOT refundable),
I'd throw more money at it. Well, it turned out that he connected the first
group he found (I told him that there was a red (& red/white) pair besides
my own, which is green & green/white), which was apparently free. He found
the wiring, connected it at the interface, connected it at the phonejack on
the wall, and lo and behold! It worked! Elapsed time: 20 minutes or so.
He said that Pac Bell were *real* strict about the amount of time, and
that the 15 minutes was "or any portion thereof". But, he only wrote it up
as 15 minutes! Furthermore, while he did this, I bugged him with a load of
questions. One thing I asked him, is if it makes a difference if you get
the polarity wrong on the line. He said "No, not on the newer phones, but
some of the older phones had a problem with it, where the touchtones wouldn't
work". Well, guess what. I have an old "run-of-the-mill" phone that I paid
an arm and a leg for, in '82, when Pac Bell first introduced the idea of
selling the telephone. Anyway, this beast hasn't worked in a while. Yes,
that's right. No tones from the keys!!!
It turns out I was using a cable from a modem, which has the red and green
swapped for some arcane reason. I changed the cable, and the phone works
now. As does the new number.
So, in summary, thanks for all the help, and I hope this helps someone else
get a second line. By the way, as the technician was leaving, I asked him
if perhaps, the line-pair he had picked actually belonged to another apartment,
who didn't use it (ie, disconnected). What would happen if they decided in
the future, to re-install their phone. Or worse still, if they noticed their
line had been reactivated... He didn't really have a good answer for that.
- Der
--
dtynan@sultra.UUCP (Dermot Tynan @ Tynan Computers)
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