FIOS doesn t work without AC?

[The Daring Dufas]

Er, I do believe I was responding to someone about the old POT's lines. O_o

TDD

[micky]

Some lines maybe, but I don't think any around here are going out more frequently.

IInteresting.

Retired posted says " your back-up battery will provide you with power for voice service for up to 8 hours."

Seems ambiguous. I'd be happier if it said voice usage. I"m under the impression that I have "phone service" even when I'm not using the phone. Still it is hard to believe that a " 12-Volt 7.2 Ah SLA Sealed Lead Acid battery" would run down in only 8 hours of non-use.

Plus that's with a fully capable battery. Sealed lead acid batteries get old and hold less charge as time goes on.

One more thing I have to keep track of, and then do.

More things if I do all that.

>

[micky]

Mine works in Baltimore. I just tried it again. I still have a standard black phone, as well as other phones. I think once they've designed a pcb or chip that handled both pulse and touch-tone, it probably costs no more than a penny extra to keep the pulse circuit. Of course some day they'll want a new circuit, like maybe with fios, and then they may not write a new pulse circuit.

[Tim Schwartz]

start removing copper and transition everyone over to fiber. Thus ensuring that in the event of a disaster nobody has phone service after a few hours. I asked about a [bigger backup battery for the FIOS phone] and was told that the charger they use isn't powerful enough for it.

never go back to it.

Well,

A FIOS backup battery, at least the one in my panel, is a 12 volt gel cell rated at 7.2 amp hours, which provides 'UP TO' 8 hours of backup. Remember, 2 hours is a subset of UP TO 8 hours. During this event, I got about 9 hours out of the battery.

Anyway, I'm sure the charge could handle a bit bigger battery, say 10 AH, but to hook up a car battery to it would be asking a bit much of the charger. On the other hand, when power is out those with some knowledge can add in more battery to run the panel while power is out. I do this, and I disconnect my external battery when I'm not at home, since there is no reason to run the panel when it will go to the answering system anyway.

Lastly, keep in mind that the backup is ONLY for phone, Video and internet goes away when the AC power is lost, at least on my panel.

Regards, Tim Bristol Electronics

[tm]

What about the rest of their network? Will it hold up for more than 8 hours?

[micky]

Posted and mailed, if you don't mind. .

Even though you weren't on the phone for most of that time? Maybe you talked for an hour and it still went dead after 9?

At first I didn't care about internet, because I don't have a laptop yet, but I plan to get one. With DSL that I have now, that works even when the power is out, right? (Assuming there is power at the telephone company.)

[micky]

Wouldn't that depend on where all the power outages are? Are there amplifers or whatever between the central station and one's home, that require power, and might not have any?

Are there back-up generators at Bell and Verizon telephone exchanges?

Wired phones run on batteries at the central station with generators to keep the batteries charged, but what about FIOS phone and Fios Internet?

[George]

start removing copper and transition everyone over to fiber. Thus ensuring that in the event of a disaster nobody has phone service after a few hours. I asked about a bigger battery and was told that the charger they use isn't powerful enough for it.

never go back to it.

If you were the phone company what would you do? You have an aging copper plant and you have a new fiber system that can perform all of the functionality of the copper plant plus add additional capabilities. Would you continue to maintain the copper plant and also the fiber plant?

[George]

You are talking about days of old. Less than 40% of the population has wired phones and phone companies see the handwriting on the wall. Many such as Verizon sold off a bunch of those systems (Verizon sold off 13 states) to companies that will run what remains on a shoestring budget. Stuff that they do retain will never again see the TLC of old.

[missingchild]

DSL requires power to the modem.

And yes, if I were the phone company and saw that some customers wanted cop= per and some houses had copper and others had fiber, is it that much more c= omplicated to service one OR the other?

Especially given what we've just seen, how communications falls apart in le= ss than a day in an emergency situation.

And when they sold my elderly parents on fios they told my mother her compu= ter would be faster- she thought that meant it would boot faster, not that = her email would be 0.000001 second quicker. They never mentioned that if he= r power goes out her phone service is gone in less than half a day. They do= n't even give the option to have a huge battery and bigger charger, not eve= n at an extra upfront fee (what'd that be, a hundred bucks?)

[dennisgauge]

Phone companies are not charities. They are losing money on copper land lin= e service, so they either go out of business and leave you with NO phone se= rvice at all, or they switch to something that they can market, namely FIOS= . Then they can upsell you for broadband Internet service.

Copper land line service is no good if the generators powering the switchin= g equipment run out of fuel, or are flooded, or get knocked over by an eart= hquake too...

[dennisgauge]

Both TV and Internet are continuous or near-continuous streams of data. Phone is intermittent. No data flowing == lower power requirements.

[dennisgauge]

wiring when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.

Eventually they will take it from you because it will simply be too costly to maintain the entire infrastructure for your one line.

Besides, at best your copper runs to the nearest switching site. From there it's all digital and fiber-optics.

[micky]

Oh, yeah. I forgot. Senior moment. I doubt I'll ever buy a generator but that still leaves the telephone.

and some houses had copper and others had fiber, is it that much more complicated to service one OR the other?

I wouldnt' think so.

than a day in an emergency situation.

would be faster- she thought that meant it would boot faster, not that her email would be 0.000001 second quicker.

Exactly. For email and newsgroups, and mostly-text webpages it makes no difference. I have a problem with my in-house phone wiring that comes and goes, and for the last 3 years or so, I have a wire from my upstairs bedroom/office down the front of the house to the NID.

I was getting DSL so slow I coudln't watch even Youtube in real time, but I found out the (posssibly cheaper than average) indoor round white 4-conductor phone line I was using was too thin, so I switched to thicker than average round white 4-conductor (R,G,B,Y) wire and I tripled my download speed. Now even for the web it's fast enough and I don't need no stinkin' fios.

less than half a day. They don't even give the option to have a huge battery and bigger charger, not even at an extra upfront fee (what'd that be, a hundred bucks?)

Sort of like digital tv they said would work better, even with an antenna, but it works worse for me.

[micky]

But what about FIOS. If there is a power failure at the exchange, do they all have generators? Are there amps or something on phone poles between the telephone exchange and my house that depend on a source of power that's neither the exchange or my house?

[micky]

start removing copper and transition everyone over to fiber. Thus ensuring that in the event of a disaster nobody has phone service after a few hours. I asked about a bigger battery and was told that the charger they use isn't powerful enough for it.

never go back to it.

But they are supposed to have agreed with the Public Utility Commission in some states not to remove the copper, for the sake of a later owner, even if the current one promises to always want fios.

[micky]

service, so they either go out of business

I don't think there is any chance they'll go out of business. If FIOS is cheaper for them, and I don't know why it would be, they can save money by putting in fios for those who want it (and leaving tghe rest of us alone.)

they can market, namely FIOS. Then they can upsell you for broadband Internet service.

equipment run out of fuel, or are flooded, or get knocked over by an earthquake too...

And how is that different from generators powering fios?

[Dan Espen]

Took a tour of a switching office once. They have power, then backup generators, then big racks of backup batteries.

The old copper system powered the phone from the switching office. Your lights could be out but you could still use the phone.

With FIOS you have a few hours of battery power then you're dead. In this last storm, my battery backup failed and had to be replaced before I could use FIOS at all.

[George]

service, so they either go out of business

They have already lost 60% of their subscribers. Do you think it makes sense to maintain an entire end to end copper plant for say a handful of users?

they can market, namely FIOS. Then they can upsell you for broadband Internet service.

equipment run out of fuel, or are flooded, or get knocked over by an earthquake too...

[George]

copper and some houses had copper and others had fiber, is it that much more complicated to service one OR the other?

than a day in an emergency situation.

computer would be faster- she thought that meant it would boot faster, not that her email would be 0.000001 second quicker.

You must have been in heybubs garage to get that. That cable was commonly called "quad station wire" and hasn't been commonly used for some time. The much preferred version is twisted pair especially when DSL is involved.

less than half a day. They don't even give the option to have a huge battery and bigger charger, not even at an extra upfront fee (what'd that be, a hundred bucks?)

I wouldn't go back to analog low def TV if they paid me.