Static on Lines

For the past few hours I have experienced heavy static on both of my phone lines that makes the phones unusable. I went through the on-line trouble shooting including resettinmg the ONT without success and then tried the Chat feature. Again no success even though the agent reset the external unit twice. They have scheduled a technician to come out Friday afternoon, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and what might have resolved it. I suspect that it might be weather related because of heavy rain, but am not sure.

Fortunately, I still have internet acess.

Regards, Dan

Accepted answers

Dan_Schumacher

Turns out the problem was a piece of corroded wire going from the NID into the house that finally broke. The technician wasn't here for more than 20-30 minutes.

Regards, Dan

All comments

specials1

If your phone lines are delivered by conventional copper cable, excessive moisture is likely to cause static.

There are many variables on what actually gets hurt by a heavy rain, but that's pretty much the bottom line. Lines get crossed when damp, as well as grounded - both of which can and will cause static, disconnects and possibly crosstalk.

Many a times these types of issues will "fix themselves" once the cable dries out.

Verizon should be able to run a remote test (aka MLT test) on your lines and determine where the problem resides.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

FranBG

Ever since Irene, we've had static on our land line. I signed into the repair page this morning, entered my phone number and Verizon ran a remote test. They found no problem in the network. Since I had already performed the in-house self-check to to avail, the next thing they want me to do is wait for the rain to stop and then check the external box. I tried to get through to a human to describe my problem but after receiving announcements and listening to music, I eventually lost the call (this was via my cell phone since the landline has too much static to hear the other person) I know Verizon is still catching up with people who have no service, but since I cannot do anymore here until it stops raining, I would at least like to register a request for a repair person to call me.

The online options have not offered me a way to do this. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Dan_Schumacher

As an update, the static has now become intermittent. Late yesterday we had a period where there was no static, and there have been some periods today without static. Heavy rain has continued today so I am still leaning towards a weather related cause. I haven't tried to look inside of the outside box to see if there is water. And I wouldn't expect moisture to affect the fiber run to the house even though much of its path is under water.

Regards, Dan

specials1

First and foremost, I apologize for not reading your original post in a more concentrated manner...

Never realized you were on fiber. That type of service should not be prone to static whatsoever.

No explanation to offer, I'm sorry to say.

Back in the old days of SLC-96 conventional fiber, static was always traced to the copper part of the run (e.g. post-fiber) or a bad card/slot...but that was pretty rare.

Nowadays none of that should be an issue.

Good luck and keep us posted on any resolution or lack thereof.

Dan_Schumacher

No problem about the misunderstanding.

The problem has actually gotten worse. Yesterday afternoon we also lost our dial tone. And this morning we got a call from one of our daughters (per caller id), but when my wife answered she couldn't hear anything. Can hardly wait for the repair technician to show up this afternoon.

Regards, Dan

Dan_Schumacher

Turns out the problem was a piece of corroded wire going from the NID into the house that finally broke. The technician wasn't here for more than 20-30 minutes.

Regards, Dan

SAM_MCFARLAND

My mother has terrible static on her line. we ran a scan and it was suggested she go to her indoor box and try to plug a phone in that jack. what would that prove?

How do I get a technician to look at her outside wires?

She's called the 800 number and had too many options.

She's 84 and probably won't be able to do much inside her home.

Jacque2

I have had an acute static problem for months and Verizon does not seem to know how to fix it. I am extremely frustrated as my land line is unusable. I am at the point of canceling Verizon altogether not. I will do so shortly, unless they fix the problem. I believe the problem lies with the internal wiring, but, although I have the wire maintenance plan, they don't seem to want to send out a technician to repair it.

lolagoetz

@Jacque wrote:
I have had an acute static problem for months and Verizon does not seem to know how to fix it. I am extremely frustrated as my land line is unusable. I am at the point of canceling Verizon altogether not. I will do so shortly, unless they fix the problem. I believe the problem lies with the internal wiring, but, although I have the wire maintenance plan, they don't seem to want to send out a technician to repair it.

Jacque, have you tried the Verizon Troubleshooter report and try to fix issues with your Verizon phone? You can access the Troubleshooter here: http://www.verizon.com/repair & it will also help you schedule a repair. You can find other tools on our Residential Support page that may help you diagnose your issue: http://www22.verizon.com/residentialhelp/.

KH-OrnEsh1

@SAM_MCFARLAND wrote:
My mother has terrible static on her line. we ran a scan and it was suggested she go to her indoor box and try to plug a phone in that jack. what would that prove?

How do I get a technician to look at her outside wires?

She's called the 800 number and had too many options.

She's 84 and probably won't be able to do much inside her home.

I'm sorry you are having difficulty. An agent with access to your account will reach out to you directly by email, private message in the Forums and/or the billing telephone number on your Verizon account for more information or to help you resolve your issue.

Rovery

I have had this static problem for several months. When it first started, if you stayed on the line long enough, it would die down. Lately though, the landlines cannot be used. The static is too loud. I have call and spoke to a "technician" twice and they have me running through the troubleshooting steps without success. I am at the point also where I want to cancel FIOS, all of it. I called today and could not get through to anyone in the technical problem department. I was on hold with my cell phone for over 50 minutes.

DaveBuffalo

I had a very annoying problem for months with Intermittent static on both the land line and FiOS line on my 2-line home office phone. Verizon checked out both the internal and external wiring and said it was OK. I tried a new phone and the intermittent static still occurred. I changed the cables. Somebody told me it could be interference from my CELLPHONE, and sure enough that was the problem! I would often leave my cellphone sitting on the desk just a few inches from the landline phone. That was causing the static... but only intermittently for like 20 seconds every 5 minutes.