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We recently had FIOS installed in a new apartment. This morning the circuit breaker tripped and we immediately lost phone and Internet. At the last place where I had FIOS it had a backup battery which kicked in if there was a blackout, for example. So what is the story with this FIOS installation? Does this mean that if there is a blackout we will be completely cut off? What do I have to do to obtain continuing coverage for at least a few hours? Unfortunately, I did not arrange for this installation (my partner did) so I don’t know what arrangements he made.
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This picture should help there is a small input on the power supply where the D cell backup plugs into. Its number 6 on picture.
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The back up battery only works the phone. TV and internet will always go off in a power outage. Since there is no power to your TVs or computer. The new apartment you either have a dead battery or the power supply has been upgraded to the new one without a battery. Which is why everything went out immediately.
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The phone went off, too. This is the first time I heard "upgrade" refer to a reduction in service. So how do we arrange to have the phone work if the power goes off? It is outrageous that you cannot even call 911. Even a cell phone lets one do that.
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And the computers all have batteries, so it is inaccurate to say one loses internet because there is not power to the computer. You lose it because there is no power to the fios setup
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@cjjjjj wrote:And the computers all have batteries, so it is inaccurate to say one loses internet because there is not power to the computer. You lose it because there is no power to the fios setup
You need to have internet to have access to Fios. The battery backup is for your phone service. However you must make sure the battery is operational or that you have batteries in the power reserve units. (They take 12 flashlight batteries) if you have the old ont you may have one of those clunky brick batteries. But again only for phone use up to 8 hours.
now what I have done is buy an APC backup battery unit from Best Buy which on the higher end can last 10-12 hours and will operate the ont and the router and cordless phones and tv. I purchased 4 of them and when power went out in last winters storm everything connected to them was operational. This is the way to go.
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@cjjjjj wrote:And the computers all have batteries, so it is inaccurate to say one loses internet because there is not power to the computer. You lose it because there is no power to the fios setup
It's not inaccurate because yes the computers have batteries but your router do not and again the ONT only supports voice when running on battery.
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These do not answer my question. When the electricity went off we lost FIOS phone service IMMEDIATELY! This means that if there is an emergency and a blackout, we could not call 911. My understanding is that a FIOS phone is supposed to work for 8 hours after electricity goes. If this is not correct, what do I have to do to have make this phone work, at least for a few hours if there is no electricity. if it should have a back-up battery, how do i get it to work. Please answer in plain English, as I don't know what all those initials mean.
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This has been answered the best that it could.
on Fios the battery backup unit or the new power reserves make the phone portion of the service continue in a loss of power situation.
without the battery back up unit you have no service. Have either yourself or Verizon verify the battery is operational so you can continue to use the phone up to 8 hours.
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Sorry, how do you determine if the backup is working, or if it was even installed? This is a new service, and there were no instructions provided
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@cjjjjj wrote:Sorry, how do you determine if the backup is working, or if it was even installed? This is a new service, and there were no instructions provided
Call 1-800-VERIZON they can pull up your records. Or you can look at the ont that is either inside your house (usually the basement) or if outside it’s on your home you will see where the cabling is plugged into. The ont has to have power to make a connection to Verizon. If inside you will see a black brick type device that holds the batteries and then plugs into the electrical outlet.
If old model ONT the battery is located either inside the box or pretty near to it.
calling is the best bet if you are in doubt.
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Thank you, that was a great answer...it didn't occur to me to call Verizon. So I found out that the old answer, that you have FIOS for 8 hours after the electricity goes out is obsolete. Now you lose phone service immediately unless you buy an external backup. However, my question now is how you install the backup battery. The tech quy on the phone didnt know. He kept telling me that there was a door where you installed a battery, and there isn't. Does anyone know how to install it? My ONT type is I-211M-L. It's a black box about 3"x6"x1". Do you disconnect the wire that comes from the smaller power box and attach the external battery there?
I keep asking because I am elderly and have a family member with a health issue, so in a blackout we might need to be able to call 911. At this point, i am wondering why we need a FIOS phone!
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I am also elderly...however it’s not as difficult as it may sound.
first off you want to buy an APC like from this link.
They vary in price, so you buy the one that gives the longest period of service.
then where the ONT is plugged into the wall (yes the ont has to be plugged into a 110 outlet) you first unbox the APC power unit, and the plug it into your homes power.
then you unplug the ont from the power outlet and plug it into the APC power reserve
unit. Now when your power goes out it kicks in and keeps the ont and phone service from losing power. You must remember if you are using any powered phone there must be a power unit for that as well.
you could install this yourself but if uncertain have a tech savvy kid or adult install it for you. Or go to http://www.apc.com/us/en/ and there are installation videos and instructions
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This picture should help there is a small input on the power supply where the D cell backup plugs into. Its number 6 on picture.
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You need a backup power supply for your ONT and you need a backup power supply for your router and laptop/desktop computer.
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Like the other poster said the ONT connects 2 ways. The old BBU with the 12v battery. That is an uninterrupted battery backup. Power goes off ONT goes into battery mode and only supports voice. TV and Internet shut down in this mode.
The second is the upgraded power adapter. The reason it is an "upgrade" is because the old BBU's regularly fail. It has no built in battery option. There is an additional D cell tray that takes 12 D batteries. But it is not uninterrupted. When you lose power ONT will shut down and you will have to turn the switch on the D cell tray to power up the ONT. Again in this mode ONT will only support voice.
I'm not sure which type you have but you either need a new 12V battery or get the D cell tray and have 12 D batteries on hand.
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You are right. this is why it was so dumb for the government to let companies like Verizon replace land line service with internet based phones. Now there are few phones that work during emergencies. Dumb move. Plus Verizon took out the battery backs up intentionally like they were doing us a favor. Probably hated all the calls they got after power outages. Yet now we are sitting ducks because there will be emergencies I bet where cell phones won't work.
