Beeping FiOS terminal After Battery was Removed

After our FIOS only connection started the routine of two beeps about every 30 minutes, I removed the battery. Tech support said this would solve the problem and that no battery replacement was needed in our case b/c we were using FIOS without a land line phone connection.

But, the beeping has continued, and any thoughts on what to try next to stop the beeps would be appreciated.

Accepted answers

majorml

This from 2015 article in USA Today (but I have not tried it yet):

If you disconnect the battery, the Fios “battery backup unit” should stop nagging you about replacing it.

That’s “should” but not “will,” because the answer depends on the age of the Fios hardware in question, Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell explained. If yours was installed after March 2013, it’s already programmed to silence the battery-replacement alarm if you pull the battery.

With an older unit, Mitchell’s advice was to experiment: “Try pulling the battery; it won’t harm anything and, if the alarm goes quiet, it’s problem solved.”

If you get a different result and your Fios installation is as old or as older as mine, you should try asking Verizon for a replacement battery-backup unit. Mitchell said Verizon will replace “early-generation” backup devices at no charge.

All comments

RTNevins

I had beeping in my house for a few days last week. It took me a while to realize it was not a smoke detector or a UPS. In my case, the FIOS base station was indeed beeping and a red light indicated battery replacement was needed. I went to the Battery Warehouse on Gude Drive and got a new battery of Friday. I installed installed it that afternoon and the beeping and light stopped.

I think the tech gave you incorrect information if you were told just to remove the battery, or maybe your understanding was off. The battery has to be replaced! My new battery cost me some $28 or so.

— RTNevins

smith6612

Not all of the ONTs stop beeing when you remove the battery. Those ONTs simply need a new battery. $20-30 and you've got yourself multiple years of life where you should not hear a thing from the ONT unless the battery undergoes a deep discharge.

Szyphoid

WE have to buy a new battery for a piece of equipment we don’t own?

lasagna

Yeah ... and what's with Verizon not replacing the batteries in their remote control when the wear out either? :Sarcasm:

Seriously though, the battery is classified as "user servicable equipment" in the FiOS contract you agree to at installation. Verizon gives you one as part of the initial install and will replace it within the first year (warranty) but after that it's your responsibility just like anything else you buy which takes batteries (the manufacturer often includes the first one, but after that it's your responsibility to replace them). By the same token, if you discontinue FiOS service, you would have every reason to expect you could keep "your" battery if you replaced it.

As some have indicated, you don't absolutely need it, but without it you have no battery backup if your local power fails. I've personally not encountered any units that couldn't have the alarm silenced, but then there are numerous models and I'm sure I haven't seen them all. What I've heard most from folks who run without the battery is that it will start beeping again every once in a while -- but in almost every case, when I asked them to think about it, they also remembered having to reset the clock on their microwave, etc. around the same time -- which means the unit simply lost power and went back to beeping as a default.

UPS batteries cost more than regular batteries because they are rechargable, but they also last for four or five years under normal circumstances. I've had my current one going on 5 years without any issues. At around $20 or so to replace it, it's no big deal.

Hubrisnxs

as low as 12 dollars at amazon.com

search 12v 7.2ah sealed lead acid battery f2 connector

smith6612

@lasagna wrote:
Yeah ... and what's with Verizon not replacing the batteries in their remote control when the wear out either?
Seriously though, the battery is classified as "user servicable equipment" in the FiOS contract you agree to at installation. Verizon gives you one as part of the initial install and will replace it within the first year (warranty) but after that it's your responsibility just like anything else you buy which takes batteries (the manufacturer often includes the first one, but after that it's your responsibility to replace them). By the same token, if you discontinue FiOS service, you would have every reason to expect you could keep "your" battery if you replaced it.
As some have indicated, you don't absolutely need it, but without it you have no battery backup if your local power fails. I've personally not encountered any units that couldn't have the alarm silenced, but then there are numerous models and I'm sure I haven't seen them all. What I've heard most from folks who run without the battery is that it will start beeping again every once in a while -- but in almost every case, when I asked them to think about it, they also remembered having to reset the clock on their microwave, etc. around the same time -- which means the unit simply lost power and went back to beeping as a default.
UPS batteries cost more than regular batteries because they are rechargable, but they also last for four or five years under normal circumstances. I've had my current one going on 5 years without any issues. At around $20 or so to replace it, it's no big deal.

Same deal with Alarm Systems, laptops, computer CMOS batteries, mobile phones, cordless phones, or vehicles for that matter. They always include a battery, but when they start to go bad, it's the user's job to replace it or to pay to get someone to replace it. From my own experience, a well-kept Sealed Car battery will last 5-8 years. Up north where I am, the batteries if you discharge them enough do die faster when it's cold out, but that's really it. My alarm system for my home had a sealed battery last 8 years, even after it had a few deep discharges after a few lengthy power outages. That thing only started giving us problems a few months ago. I simply went to the store, picked up a new battery and installed it to the panel to stop the alarm panels from going off at 4AM during an intense video gaming event. I expect that to last just as long. My laptop battery, despite being 3 years old and being through a few deep discharges, has only lost 19% of the capacity it is able to carry. The machine still runs for 4 hurs, but I can't expect Dell to go replace the battery past the 30 day battery warranty (as after all, I could be ruining the battery before the warranty ran out by deep discharging it! The battery won't degrade enough in a month to claim it as defective). I simply go online, get the $50 battery, and replace it.

So ultimately, it's the same deal with Verizon. If you don't want to replace batteries for the ONT every several years, I would suggest getting Verizon to hook you back up with Copper service. The battery changing is then their responsibility as mandated by law for the upkeep of the copper telephone service. Verizon was kind enough to at least supply one for your convenience during a power outage, and for the protection of that expensive ONT. They aren't mandated to since their end of the network will always work up to the ONT, as COs don't lose power unless they are flooded or cannot generate their own any longer. The cable company in my area is also under no obligation to ensure phone service works, either. Since they offer a VoIP Product, while the nodes are battery backed to prevent power blimps from killing their equipment, the Phone/Modem Gateways they hand out do not have batteries handed out along with them. If you want to make the modem run, you'll need a UPS or a compatible battery which will be your responsibility anyways. Also, cell phone service is also not guaranteed out here during an outage. Though the cell sites have batteries and Diesel generators to run them, some of the sites do not run for very long during an outage. Usually, old batteries that have died too often, or a diesel generator that will not start for whatever reason. They're under no obligation to make sure those towers work during an outage, either. For mobile phones, the carrier is under no obligation as well to ensure your phone gets days of runtime out of it. Most smartphones can barely manage a day of usage out of them on a brand new battery if used a decent amount. Either way when the battery dies or gets weakened, you have to change it out.

dareynol33584

But the problem is the battery isn't even needed in the OPs situation. I'm in the same boat: internet only, no phone service. The battery in the ONT supplies backup power to the PHONE ONLY, NOT THE INTERNET. I've only had Fios for two years and the battery died about 4 months ago. There is an alarm silence button on the ONT power supply, but it does not seem to work in this case.

majorml

This from 2015 article in USA Today (but I have not tried it yet):

If you disconnect the battery, the Fios “battery backup unit” should stop nagging you about replacing it.

With an older unit, Mitchell’s advice was to experiment: “Try pulling the battery; it won’t harm anything and, if the alarm goes quiet, it’s problem solved.”

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