donna723
Well-Known Member
I may be the last person on earth who still has a landline phone! I also have a cell phone (that I almost never use) but I have to have the landline phone for my computer. My house is ancient and has only one phone line coming in to the house, in my living room. I am NOT one of those "constantly on the phone" people. I use this phone two, maybe three times a week. The main phone wire goes under an end table and is plugged into a splitter with two lines coming out of it - one to the landline phone set and the other to the modem for my computer. It's always worked fine ... until now.
A few months ago, in their infinite wisdom, the city aldermen decided to install a tornado warning system, a huge, tall, tower-like thing with giant speakers at the top. Peachy! They "test" the thing every Saturday at noon and, trust me on this one, it will raise you right up out of your chair! Only problem is that they put it in the public parking lot adjacent to my yard, 50 feet from my house! And little did they realize, they had just installed a giant lightning magnet right in the middle of town! And two nights ago, when the front of that storm system was coming through, lightning struck it! The "BOOM" was so loud that my clock came flying off the wall, the lights blinked off and on again. When I picked myself up off the floor, my TV just said "No Signal" (I have satellite TV) and I had no dial tone on the landline phone ... but I still had internet. The serviceman for DirecTV came the next day and got the TV working - it had fried the port the satellite wire goes in to on the TV - luckily there are two of them. If this one goes, my almost new TV is toast. But I still have no dial tone on the phone, but there is power going to it. I know the main phone line is OK or I would have no internet either. I bought a new splitter and new line to go between the splitter and phone set but it still doesn't work. Could it have fried the phone set too? That's about all that's left but I hate to spend money on a new one right before Christmas, and maybe it still wouldn't work. I was hoping somebody would have some bright ideas. My last resort would be to call the phone company. They will charge me out the ying yang and I just don't have it right now. Sigh .....
A few months ago, in their infinite wisdom, the city aldermen decided to install a tornado warning system, a huge, tall, tower-like thing with giant speakers at the top. Peachy! They "test" the thing every Saturday at noon and, trust me on this one, it will raise you right up out of your chair! Only problem is that they put it in the public parking lot adjacent to my yard, 50 feet from my house! And little did they realize, they had just installed a giant lightning magnet right in the middle of town! And two nights ago, when the front of that storm system was coming through, lightning struck it! The "BOOM" was so loud that my clock came flying off the wall, the lights blinked off and on again. When I picked myself up off the floor, my TV just said "No Signal" (I have satellite TV) and I had no dial tone on the landline phone ... but I still had internet. The serviceman for DirecTV came the next day and got the TV working - it had fried the port the satellite wire goes in to on the TV - luckily there are two of them. If this one goes, my almost new TV is toast. But I still have no dial tone on the phone, but there is power going to it. I know the main phone line is OK or I would have no internet either. I bought a new splitter and new line to go between the splitter and phone set but it still doesn't work. Could it have fried the phone set too? That's about all that's left but I hate to spend money on a new one right before Christmas, and maybe it still wouldn't work. I was hoping somebody would have some bright ideas. My last resort would be to call the phone company. They will charge me out the ying yang and I just don't have it right now. Sigh .....