Terrible humming on phone line

[Mike S.]

The other day I noticed a lot of static and humming on my phone lines. Then today I noticed that sometimes I can't get a dial tone, it sort of goes in and out. I also noticed that the upstairs phones are the ones that have more problems with getting a dial tone and the static. So I went out to the phone box (NID) and tested the line with two different phones. There was static and humming on both but it wasn't terribly bad.

It seems the static is not so bad at the NID, at the downstairs phones it gets worse and then on the upstairs phones it's horrible. Since I get static and humming at the NID, that indicates the problem is in the outside wiring. If the problem is outside, then shouldn't all the phones have the same amount of static? Why would it be worse upstairs if the problem is outside? Is it some sort of signal problem? The further the line goes, the worse the problem gets?

[Lena]

Disconnect ALL the phones and any other devices on the line (answering machine, satellite TV box, etc.). Plug in one phone, corded preferably, and see if it is noisy. If so, a line problem. If not, one of the phones is bad. Plug in one phone at a time until the noise returns and you found the culprit.

Lena

[Beachcomber]

The above is good advice, however, the problem may also be with your house phone wiring. If it's just a bad phone, or answering device... consider yourself lucky.

I had a similar problem with static and hum and it turned out to be the crimps in one of the junction boxes inside the house where all the cables joined had gone bad. It took a while to find it.

Severe hum on a phone line usually means a short to ground (or another phone line) in one way or another. Static usually indicates loose connections, oxidized intermittent connections, or electrical or RF interference of some sort.

Beachcomber

[Jim Elbrecht]

I find that my wireless phones exacerbate any ground or intermittant semi-open problems.

*If* your outside box is the same as mine-- if something is plugged into it into it, you've disconnected all inside lines.

So if you have *any* noise there, it is time to call the telco.

Jim

[John Lawrence]

[CJT]

Did you disconnect all of your phones before testing at the entry?

Are any of the phones powered by wall-warts?

[trader4]

If unplugging all phones and other devices, ie modems, answering machines, etc doesn't eliminate it, then go to the NID and disconnect the house from the incoming line. Put one simple phone on there and if there is any noticeable hum, noise, etc. call the phone company it's their problem. If not, then it's in the house wiring, which you'll have to trace and diagnose section at a time.

[Oren]

The modem receptacle may have accumilated dust and needs cleaning or the RJ plug may be damaged.

Oren

They have computers, and they may have other weapons of mass destruction. Janet Reno, Attorney General, Friday, February 27, 1998

[NickySantoro]

Had a similar problem. It was caused by corrosion in one of the jacks in the basement. Replacing the jack was the cure.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Me too. Another time it was cause by the portable phone with batteries about dead.

[mm]

The phone company should be called so they can fix their side of the NID.

Maybe. Check with Static Allocation Board.

Are you using cordless phones or real phones?

[mm]

This is what he did when he connected to the NID. You can't connect a phone to the NID without disconnecting the house.