fios troubl
join:2006-07-19
| [ fiber tech] Loose your emergency phone with FIOS :(
 I asked for FIOS for my internet, but they also switched to FIOS my regular phone, and I did not ask for that!!! Now when I have power outage more than 4-6- hours long (and I do, right now!) I CAN NOT REACH MY HOME even in emergency. My cell is not working there too. My family can not use the phone at all.  (( Verizon said "there is no way back to copper". God...
Be careful with Verizon FIOS. When battery goes bad. Besides, you are responsible for a new battery too. |
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NrGonline
join:2002-06-10
Rancho Cucamonga, CA | FIOS has nothing to do with copper phone lines. not sure why they're making people switch to FIOS phone. Although I dont have a land line, i'd hate to be in your situation. =\ |
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wmcbrine
Touched by His Noodly Appendage
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD
| reply to fios troubl
It's standard procedure. You'd have to ask for them not to do it. And even then, you'd better ask and ask again, and make sure, or they'll probably do it anyway.
Why is it standard procedure? Because it lets them a) eliminate the copper maintenance costs for that line (fiber is cheaper to maintain), and b) eliminate competitors, since the FCC exempted them from having to open their fiber lines the way they do their copper lines.
On the other hand, the line is a lot clearer. And I can't imagine living in a place that had 4-6 hour power outages; that's intolerable. |
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fios troubl
join:2006-07-19
| ...welcome to my world... (( I begged them, and got an "answer" : "Manager will call you back. We are not saying it is not possible, but it will be a long process". I am thinking of filing a complaint with FCC. |
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eXodus
Premium
join:2005-08-04
Rockaway, NJ | reply to fios troubl
Why not buy a huge BBU, a nice APC solution and put that before the fios BBU? Or you can buy a bunch of batteries and set them up so you have a longer battery run time.
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-eXodus |
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TexasAg1996
join:2006-01-05
Dallas, TX | reply to fios troubl
Complain all you want. Unless there's a law or FCC rule that says companies must give you a copper line, Verizon can do whatever it wants with Verizon's own copper lines (including remove them). |
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fios troubl
join:2006-07-19 | Well, the power is back, everyone is safe; at home. I am not sure about Verizon.  I will ask FCC, just in case. |
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John97
Over The Hills And Far Away
Premium
join:2000-11-14
Southampton, PA
| reply to fios troubl
The battery for the FIOS BBU is $12 at Home Depot. Look for a sale at CompUSA, Best But, Staples, etc. for a UPS. Get one and you won't have any more issues.
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So put me on a highway And show me a sign And take it to the limit one more time |
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madrhino
join:2004-07-03
 ·Verizon FIOS
| reply to wmcbrine
I live less than 10 miles from you and they will NOT do it under any circumstances in the state of Maryland.I got this from the Verizon CEO's office directly(it's OK to do this in HIS state though) after I had exhausted all other avenues.I also sent Senator Mikulski a letter about it but I guess Verizon got to her too because she's keeping her head down.
If you die during a power outage Verizon is not legally liable.They don't care because they don't have to. |
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Sizzlechest
join:2006-06-09
Ronkonkoma, NY | reply to fios troubl
You should screw down your battery backup to a wall. That way it won't get loose anymore. Problem solved. |
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FiosSteve
join:2005-11-07
Plano, TX
| reply to fios troubl
So since when does Verizon (or any phone company for that matter) owe you a never-failing, always powered, copper phone line? You did not contract for that, you contracted for a phone - get over it. EVERYBODY's gonna have this issue sooner or later - copper is dead and leaving soon. I think you're pretty lucky to have that nice BBU in your garage (or where ever) as it is ... Dell didn't provide me one of those with my new desktop ... think I'll call the Better Business Bureau! Hey, you wouldn't work for COMCAST now, would you? |
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fios troubl
join:2006-07-19 | reply to John97
hmmmm, how am I supposed to keep this spare battery charged??  |
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v35_pilot
Whoops, there goes another AMU
Premium
join:2005-12-12
Fayetteville, NY
 ·ViaTalk
·Verizon FIOS
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| reply to fios troubl
said by fios troubl  :Now when I have power outage more than 4-6- hours long (and I do, right now!) I CAN NOT REACH MY HOME even in emergency. Hmmm... your experience does not fit with what I was told: That is, that the battery is supposed to provide 4 to 6 hours of TALK Time, not standby time.
Worth it to ask that a) you have at least one "wired" phone in your house (as opposed to all wireless) and b) no one was using the Internet during the power outage (as in a laptop).
Finally, when did you lose phone service? Immediately or x number of hours after the power outage first struck? If less than 4 hours, I wonder if your back-up battery was not properly charging when there was power? |
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VZFiosFTW
join:2006-05-24
Williamsburg, VA | Blame the power company. |
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danclan
join:2005-11-01
Midlothian, VA | Blame the battery company for not making the battery last 12-16hours or more....really there is no real reason why they can't.....
Generator for the win! |
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aschlissel
join:2002-10-18
Valley Stream, NY
| reply to v35_pilot
I just had a 5 hour blackout. There was a lightning strike and the whole neighborhood went out. Very infrequent occurance.
Anyways, my FIOS battery is plugged into an inexpensive UPS and my PC's are plugged into better ones. Long story short, I had full internet while running on backup power before the PC UPS did an orderly shutdown. I had no problems using the phone over those 5 hours and my neighbors with VOIP needed to come over to make their phone calls. They brought refreshments and stayed to consume them over candlelight. Oh, and my cordless phones are on cheap UPS's too. Doesn't get much better than that.
The guy across the street had his FIOS transformer get zapped by the surge. VZ came over and fixed it first thing next day. He just bought a UPS.
One thing to note - glass fiber is not a conductor under most circumstances so they are potentially safer during an electrical storm. |
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johnsp
join:2001-02-07
Syosset, NY | reply to fios troubl
Your cell phone's not working also? You have bigger problems. How come VoIP cable customers never flame like this? |
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VZFiosFTW
join:2006-05-24
Williamsburg, VA
| said by johnsp :Your cell phone's not working also? You have bigger problems. How come VoIP cable customers never flame like this? Because people like to troll this new service. |
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v35_pilot
Whoops, there goes another AMU
Premium
join:2005-12-12
Fayetteville, NY
·ViaTalk
·Verizon FIOS
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | reply to aschlissel
said by aschlissel :I had no problems using the phone over those 5 hours and my neighbors with VOIP needed to come over to make their phone calls. They brought refreshments and stayed to consume them over candlelight. Looks like someone needs to visit www.Cabelas.com and purchase a few battery-powered LED lanterns.  Candles are so 1800s, which is a surprise considering everything else in your house is connected to a UPS. |
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Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA
| reply to danclan
The battery company probably does make bigger more expensive batteries. Also I noticed that the manufacturer of the BBU has an option to add an additional battery but Verizon hasn't enabled that. Anyway the thing uses 12 volts DC so if it's really a dire emergency you can probably figure out a way to hook up a car battery to it. |
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