Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
Wacle
Enthusiast - Level 2

Our home phone connect will not ring our phone periodically ( couple times a week at least). When you call it rings and eventually goes to voicemail. This has been an issue since I started using the service July 2011. We have tried moving the device, updating the PRL, exchanging the device for a Refurbished unit, unplugging the power, and pulling the battery. Verizon has checked cell strength and has found it to be excellent. I am at my wits end. The problem can't be replicated at will, it happens whenever. I have one last attempt in to have them actually check the call logs to see if the calls are actually being received by my modem. Otherwise Verizon thinks it may be my cordless phones since some phones don't pick up correctly supposedly. Now, my contention is this, my phone is electronic, if there was an issue it would not magically get better, it would stay broken. You can literally call one minute with no ring into the house and the next minute call again and it rings. This leads me to believe that it is the modem and not the phone. Verizon wants me to spend my money to replace the phone to see if that may be the issue. Ummm...NO. My phone worked fine before. Verizon says this is supposed to replace my landline, therefore it should work with my existing equipment.

Now I am out off the warranty period so I can't get another refurb unit ( they would not give me a new unit at all, I suspect the refurbs have this issue, hence refurb) even though this issue has been documented since I had the unit. My solutions are : Verizon sends me a new unit free of charge or Verizon sends me a cordless phone that they know that works to see if the problem goes away or I start discussions with verizon about leaving and getting money back since this is not home phone connect this is home phone connect mostly...this type of service NEVER EVER happened with the landline.

So I am asking for anything obtuse in help that may not be in the troubleshooting charts but might fix the issue or someone from Verizon to make this right. I have been VERRRRRRRY patient this last year troubleshooting but time is up. I have kids that I need to be able to contact.

Thank you for your time in reading this.

Wacle

Labels (1)
Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
rcschnoor
Legend

I know that this is not what you want to hear, but the fact that it never happened on a landline has nothing whatsoever to do with it. A landline is exactly that, a hardwired line connected to your phone. A signal will always get through on this dedicated connection.

Cellular is a different animal completely. It does not have the same "dedicated" connection to the network as a "wired" connection does and can experience momentary lapses in connection to the network. A cellular signal can be affected by obstacles in its path, atmospheric conditions, electrical disturbances and interference from other types of radio signals. This can also be seen by the "strength"(number of bars your phone is displaying) of your signal not always being the same even though you do not change location with your cell phone. If you happen to have a "momentary" loss in connection to the cellular signal the moment a call is trying to be connected, the call will automatically be transferred to voicemail. This is just the nature of the beast. If this is a problem for you, you should stick with a "wired" phone line in your home.

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Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
Wacle
Enthusiast - Level 2

Rschnoor, appreciate the feedback. However, I feel that I may not have adequatley stated my case since your response seemed to pooh pooh the issue.

Problem is:

1. They advertise Home Phone Connect as a solution to your landline. So yes it does have everything to do with a landline. My phone worked perfectly on the landline it. I am quite familiar with cell phones and cellular technology. To suggest that my phone may not pick up on their signal to ring one minute and then the next minute it can ring suggests issues with their equipment, not mine. No where can you find this supposed compatibilty issue on the Verizon page about specs needed nor is there a list of approved home phone that work with Home Phone connect.

2. My cell phone does not have these issues with the same service from the same Cell tower. It gets all of its calls and also shows all of its missed calls. So I do have a apples to apples comparison.

Ask yourself where would you stand  if your cell phone can't relied upon to get a call in a place with excellent reception 4 to 5 bars ( confirmed by Verizon) and can't be relied upon to even show a call came into your phone and this cell provider states that it can be your only line -it is that relaible.

Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
rcschnoor
Legend

You may think I am trying to pooh pooh the issue, but all I am saying is you cannot have the same type of reliability with a cell phone(i.e. Home Phone Connect) as you can with a landline. You just can't. I don't care if you have 4 or 5 bars, the reliability of the connection is not as good as a landline, regardless what any provider says. How often do you hear people complain of their landline "dropping a call". I don't think that mine has ever lost a call, unless of course I was on the line with someone on a cell phone.

Edit: This does not mean to say I don't think Home Phone Connect is a good idea, I do. I actually dropped one of my landlines in favor of a Home Phone Connect and it has worked fabulously. I do, however, still have a landline in my home.

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Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
vzw_customer_support
Customer Service Rep

Wacle, I regret to hear that you've been having issues with receiving calls on your Home Phone Connect. I know it can be upsetting for this issue to happen randomly when you have made no changes. When you say you have one last attempt to check the call logs, did technical support advise that a trouble ticket was opened? Do you have any problems with receiving calls from your cell phone in your house?

MarquiaF_VZW
Follow us on Twitter @VZWSupport

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Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
B33
Legend

I agree with ya Rc My Folks wanted to Try the H.P.C. and even though the Signal was Good the Reliability of the Unit was far a Cry from it. It dropped calls, Nose in the Back Ground, Echoing, to many issues to Justify paying $19.99 so they returned it and went back to the Land-line. 

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Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
rcschnoor
Legend

I went the other price plan with my HPC. I use my pool of 1400 shared minutes on my Familly Plan and only pay $9.99 a month for the HPC. Bad thing about it is that if I switch to the Share Everything plan, I will have an automatic 100% increase in price for the HPC which makes it not so attractive to me if I switch. If I switch, I would just drop the HPC and port it back to my landline, or possibly Google Voice.

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Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
B33
Legend

Yea that's a stinker Rc.. Well for the Folks it was basically a no brainer to switch they might have kept it but with the Issues that were happening More than once. And the fact my folks are old Fashion in a way.. it didn't take long to Switch Back and the Offer at&t give my Mom she said i'm not changing again. And arguing with Mother isn't going to happen that's for Sure.. 

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Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
Wacle
Enthusiast - Level 2

MarquiaF_VZW,

Technical Support did say they would open a trouble ticket. However, it has been over a week and I have not heard a thing, starting to get worried by a lack of response.

Not one problem with receiving calls from my cell phone, always gets the call. Somebackground info on this cell: it is a Verizon Branded Motorola Q Windows Smartphone which is with prepaid cell phone company who uses only Verizon towers. When I actually had Verizon through my work, my phone worked flawlessly also. So I know that the cell strength is fine and reliable for a cell phone.

Re: Home Phone Connect does not ring our phones
Wacle
Enthusiast - Level 2

Rob, the fact that you still carry a landline tells a great deal: You can't rely on home phone connect to replace your landline. AND THAT is my point: Verizon is promoting it as such.