Land line not working when power was out?

[C.H.]

Typically the landline still works when the power is out, it's the only reason we even keep it.  Today when the power was out the landline was also out.  Anyone know why this is?  We are in the Bar-K
Thanks!
Chris

[John Hardman]

C.H.  When we had the Cal-Wood Fire, my CenturyLink phone service worked for a while after power was OUT, same as today.  It did go off-line later. We were told that the backup generator that powers the phones switch, had run out of gas. They had to refuel it.  This was in JT.  In the old days the lines would stay on. For re-sellers it may not be the same as "the old days".  Maybe that's your deal too?

[O'B's]

Hi all-
the CL switch ( at the lower park) has a battery back-up since telephone is low voltage. The batteries will last for a few hours which is typically enough for most power outages. Anything really lengthy requires a generator to back the switch batteries up. At one point the town had considered using some of the recovery funding for a generator that could be stored at the firehall be the tennis courts and pressed into service when needs to keep the lines hot.

[Jackie Dow]

Typically the landline still works when the power is out, it's the only reason we even keep it.  Today when the power was out the landline was also out.  Anyone know why this is?  We are in the Bar-K
Thanks!
Chris

My landline didn't work when the power was out today, and when we had the forest fires, it stopped working too.
I called the phone company and they didn't know why, said it might be my phone, which does not make any sense because it started working when the power went back on or sometime after. My reason for having a landline, is to be able to make local calls when the power is out, or to call and  find my cell phone when I misplace it.
I think I should cancel the land line , but still mulling it over. I came here to see if anyone else had issues.

---

I replied in the wrong place. I'm still having trouble with navigating this site...
My phone wasn't working during the power outage, the main reason I have a land line...
I'm thinking about canceling it now, it also stopped working during the fires, and I ended up evacuating with my dogs because the phone wasn't working.
Seems like it might be time to ditch the land line if it's not going to work when there's a power outage.
I could swear there were no generators or batteries involved in land lines in the old days.
Unless, there was a phone pole down.

[JamieP]

This has been an ongoing issue in the bar k. The phones immediately go out with the power. Without fail. I’ve tried multiple ways to communicate with CL and let them know the issues this causes and have not heard anything back or made progress.

I think the issue is at the entrance of the bar k at the phone box there and last I heard it involved upgrades that need to be made to that system.

I’ll try to reach them again sometime soon.

[Jackie Dow]

I had them on the phone today and should have canceled the landline. I just wanted to see if it was from a phone pole that blew down before cancelling the service.
I only check to see if it's working if I need to make a call, otherwise I enjoy the power outage . I needed to make a call today.
I think this is the last straw for the land line. Next time I can wait on hold for more than 20 minutes , I'm cancelling, and I'm not paying the current bill.

[Tom P on Ranch]

We canceled our land line.

[Sandy Maschan]

Has anyone else NEVER received reimbursement for the handful of outages over the past year or so, promised and otherwise?

I wish there was an easy way to "class action" on these greedy clowns.

[CheyenneWills]

In the "old" days, phone lines were made of copper and used power from the phone system (even the phone handset in your house was powered by the phone line). The benefit was that a power outage didn't effect the phone system since they were independent of each other. The disadvantage was that each phone line required its own circuit, meaning thick cables with lots of individual wires.

Now, the thick cables have been replaced with fiberoptic cables which reduces the number of individual lines between the phone system station subsystems. The downside is that the fiberoptic cables cannot be used to power the phone station subsystem. When the power goes out, the substation has a battery backup, but that lasts only for so long. That battery backup needs to supply power not only for the equipment in the substation, but also sends power to the individual lines going to each house (you can still have an old fashioned phone in your house). Battery backups do not last that long. A generator could be used as well, but would require fuel.

[JamieP]

Thanks for sharing that Cheyenne!

I’ve been in my house in the bar k for almost 7 years and it used to be that the landline lasted up to a full day without power. Now it goes out with the power.

What I’m recalling now is that at some point a neighbor talked to CL and they acknowledged that they needed to upgrade the battery backup, but was probably 2 years ago at this point?

[Jackie Dow]

I'm about to call and cancel the land line. The only reason we have it is for power outages.

[Aztoma]

When the power goes out, I switch my phone to a basic landline phone I keep on hand. It takes 4 AA batteries and works without power. Here is a link to the type of phone I am talking about:

https://www.amazon.com/AT-Trimline-Corde...156&sr=8-3

[JamieP]

Aztoma - are you in the Bar-K? Have you had connection with it staying on these last few outages? 

My wall mounted landline takes batteries as well and I that's unfortunately not the issue. I think the issue is a connection issue with the battery backup with CL. My hard wired landline still shows it has power, I just don't have a dial tone. I think this is the issue amongst most of us in the bar-k but I'm curious to hear if you're in the bar-k and if your phone has been staying connected with a dial tone.  

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Jackie Dow]

Has anyone else NEVER received reimbursement for the handful of outages over the past year or so, promised and otherwise?

I wish there was an easy way to "class action" on these greedy clowns.

I just talked to them and was told I'd get a credit or refund , but I want to cancel anyway. They have to hear it from my husband, the account is in his name.
I'm up for a class action, since the reason we have been paying $60 a month for years is to have a phone when the power goes out, and the phone has been out every time lately, or the last couple years. I want a refund for the last couple years. Maybe I could buy a generator for emergencies.