[PLUG] quasi-OT: ADSL/phone issues... resolved!

[Art Alexion <art.alexion@verizon.net>]

I've been mostly offline since the beginning of the week due to a phone 
line problem.  Curiously, those calling here could not even get a ring 
-- just a weird buzz.  I could make outgoing calls, but it sounded like 
a circa-1962 transatlantic call (weak, echoed, and underwater); voice 
response reception systems (such as Verizon uses on their repair line) 
could not decipher my answers.  Even more curious, though, was that -- 
while the voice problem was constant -- I got intermittent and decent 
ADSL connections.

Further, plugging the DSL modem into the rp-pppoe enabled Linux machine 
produced more reliable connections than WinPOET on the w32 machine.  One 
thing, when chatting on the aim network, though pppoe would 
automatically reconnect -- sometimes so quickly I didn't even notice 
that I had lost the signal -- the aim server would drop the new dynamic 
IP, and I have to restart gaim.

Finally found the cause.  I had unplugged the chord from the back of a 
fax machine in my basement and let it dangle.  A spider decided the 
rj-45 would make a good nest.  That is what had knocked out every phone 
in the house and even prevented incoming calls.  A bug in the phone system!

--

_______________________________________
Art Alexion
Arthur S. Alexion LLC
arthur [at] alexion [dot] com
aim: aalexion
sms: 2679725536 [at] messaging [dot] sprintpcs [dot] com

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