New Self-Installation, DSL works, Telephone has very low volume

Question

I recently did a self-install of DSL and telephone at my home. The DSL is working great, but it seems like the local exchange never took the telephone service out of "emergency-only" mode. There is a very weak dial tone and very low volume when I call the phone from my cell. It does ring when called, and I can dial out but otherwise it's useless. Honestly, I didn't even want or need phone service but it was required with my DSL plan and if I'm paying for it, I might as well have access to it. Unfortunately, I only have one cheap corded phone to test with that I ordered from Amazon, so I can't be sure if it's a device issue. I tried calling customer service and never got to a human, just an automated troubleshooting guide and a warning that if I schedule technical service, I might have to pay for it. I would certainly hope not, because this is a new installation and the phone never worked and I already have an installation fee on my account even though all they probably had to do was flip a switch to turn on the DSL, if that.

jonjones1 · Accepted Answer

@jonnykashwrote:I recently did a self-install of DSL and telephone at my home. The DSL is working great, but it seems like the local exchange never took the telephone service out of "emergency-only" mode. There is a very weak dial tone and very low volume when I call the phone from my cell. It does ring when called, and I can dial out but otherwise it's useless. Honestly, I didn't even want or need phone service but it was required with my DSL plan and if I'm paying for it, I might as well have access to it. Unfortunately, I only have one cheap corded phone to test with that I ordered from Amazon, so I can't be sure if it's a device issue. I tried calling customer service and never got to a human, just an automated troubleshooting guide and a warning that if I schedule technical service, I might have to pay for it. I would certainly hope not, because this is a new installation and the phone never worked and I already have an installation fee on my account even though all they probably had to do was flip a switch to turn on the DSL, if that.

Quick question did you install the dsl filters on each phone line that you will be using.

sometimes that can have the affect of lower frequency on lines you use for calling.

you could try a different phone, or a different jack if one is available for your use.

verizon use to offer dsl under a dry loop hookup. This way no phone use other than the dsl connection. I don’t know if they still have that available.

dsl is slow and not good today since Verizon wants to boot customers off of it and onto the Fios digital service or wireless service. See if that is available to you.

Good Luck