Once upon a time someinfo05 shaped the electrons to say... > My sister's phone service is out. The repair person thinks that it > might be caused by her TiVo unit "drawing too much from the line". > > Is this remotely possible? I've never heard of anything like that > happening.
Have her unplug the TiVo - does the phone work? Simple - why didn't she try that first? POTS phone lines support a certain number of ringers - IIRC the normal number supported is 4. Now, this is 4 ringers from WAY back when it was a mechanical arm hitting a bell. Newer phones, modems, etc, all have a REV - Ringer Equivalency Value - which is often something like .4. IE, the ringer on a modern phone may have the draw of 4/10ths of a 'standard' ringer. The way POTS lines ring is a higher voltage - the ring voltage - is sent on the line. If there are too many devices on the line - drawing too much total power - it can prevent all the devices on the line from ringing. If there is a problem with the wiring in a home, the number of devices supported could be far lower than it should be - because an loss in the wiring will also be a loss for the entire system. All POTS devices, even those that don't 'ring' - like a TiVo - will have some draw. This can kill incoming calls, since you'll never hear a ring, but it shouldn't kill outgoing calls. It is also possible for a device to short - answering machines, PC modems, TiVo, etc. If the modem is fried and you have a short, it can kill the phone line because it will always keep it 'off hook'. If she doesn't hear a dial-tone on the line, unplug the TiVo. If the dial-tone comes back - the TiVo's modem is almost certainly fried and is shorting the line. If she has a dial-tone but isn't getting incoming calls - unplug some devices and see if it starts working. If so, then the number of systems connected to the line are likely exceeding the ring capacity for her line. -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762 -- <URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org> Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098 <URL:http://www.megazone.org/> <URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/> Eris ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/rkgkPB/UOnJAA/Zx0JAA/eCTplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tivocentral/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
