Over a couple of days my phone service deteriorated until there was nothing. Then, after a day, the ADSL came back (that's how I'm doing this) but not the dial tone. I unplugged all the phones and put them back one by one, but still nothing.

Any suggesitons? Verizon is going to charge me about $250 to come out for an hour.

ML

It depends on how capable you are but you can pretty much imitate the phone company engineers tests to at least eliminate a fault in your system which will remove you obligation to pay the fee if it is the phone companies equipment that is at fault.

1. Don't just remove all appliances, disconnect the extensions that run around your house so you are left with the bare minimum of just the master telephone socket. Try plugging a phone into this alone and see what happens.

2. If this fails you've isolated the problem to a short length of telephone cable and a single socket. Check the wiring in and out of this socket. If the ADSL still works it sounds like you still have connectivity. Dropping just the voice side could be due to an ADSL filter failing. Depending on where this is intalled though.

I'd need more info about the installation to help you more but it is likely to be the following if ADSL still works:

1. Something is causing the phone to appear "off hook" due to a broken or loose wire
2. The ADSL filter (low band pass) had failed if it is a central one serving the whole of the phone links? Individual filters will be easy to check
3. Sounds like a fundamental problem further upstream in the exchange or local routing box.

You can go to the telephone interface box which will be located most likley outside, where your telephone service comes in (normally somewhere near the electric meter). You will notice there is a panel for customer access. This is where you can add lines and test your wiring. Use a screw driver, or what ever tool is nessesary to access the customer access panel. Inside you will find a "test jack" just like the wall jacks in your house.

I think the test jack actually has a phone cord plugged into it. If you unplug this, you will unplug your house. Plug a regular corded phone into this test jack. If you hear a clear dial tone, then the problem is in your house wiring, if you do not, then the problem is in the phone companies lines.

It should be noted, that if you use DSL, then there will be some static in the line. You may use one of your DSL filters on this test jack to elliminate the static.

Also, you may want to get on verizons phone maintence plan, where I live, verizon charges a fee, of I think a few dollars a month that will waive the cost of having a tech come out and repair inside house wiring. I think now they even offer one for phones too.