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Underground phone line and interface box on house?


LabattBlue

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Haven’t had a landline in years. Line is underground to house.  Want to remove interface box and cut cable at ground level. I can only imagine what Verizon would say, so I’d rather just play dumb and remove it. 
 

Am I asking for trouble with Verizon by doing this?

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They own everything up to and including the box. Have them remove it.

 

Phone lines carry power, so cutting the wire and leaving the cut part in the ground could cause trouble. (Maybe they cut the power when your service was disconnected, but I wouldn't take the chance.) If they troubleshoot it and find where the cause is, they could give you a hard time.

 

Edited by WhoTom
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1 hour ago, mead107 said:

Still have a land line.  Sometimes our cellphone are not great. Town putting in cell tower later this year. 

 

 

I think that's smart. If you are going to have a landline in the house, might as well be a REAL landline and not one that requires external power.  With that said, I no longer have one.  But once the Zombie Apocalypse starts (I think in a week or two), it might be the only way to communicate remotely. :(

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4 hours ago, mead107 said:

Still have a land line.  Sometimes our cellphone are not great. Town putting in cell tower later this year. 

Cells will get busy in emergency.  Best to keep LandLine. 

 

There is 24 volts  on a LandLine.  You can hack a charge  off it.  Why anyone wants to remove this infrastructure  is beyond me.  Just  leave the NIC box there.  It's  like a "Sleeping Jesus" in the event of a disaster or emergency. 

 

 

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On 6/14/2020 at 7:17 PM, WhoTom said:

They own everything up to and including the box. Have them remove it.

 

Phone lines carry power, so cutting the wire and leaving the cut part in the ground could cause trouble. (Maybe they cut the power when your service was disconnected, but I wouldn't take the chance.) If they troubleshoot it and find where the cause is, they could give you a hard time.

 

 

On 6/14/2020 at 7:28 PM, Happy said:

Have Verizon come out and remove it.  Better safe than sorry.

I will give them a call.  Thx.

 

[edited]Pleasantly surprised.  Not only is Verizon coming out to remove the interface box, there is no charge.  I didn't include in my OP that underground wiring if still needed would have to be relocated as we are having a concrete pad poured where wiring comes out of the ground to the interface box.  So at this point, why bother with a relocation.

Edited by LabattBlue
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7 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Cells will get busy in emergency.  Best to keep LandLine. 

 

There is 24 volts  on a LandLine.  You can hack a charge  off it.  Why anyone wants to remove this infrastructure  is beyond me.  Just  leave the NIC box there.  It's  like a "Sleeping Jesus" in the event of a disaster or emergency. 

 

 

I think when I cancelled my landline 3-4 years ago, basic service was up to $55-60 a month.  Best to keep your landline?...I don't think so.

 

PS in an emergency, I can charge my cell phone off my car battery. ;) 

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4 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

I think when I cancelled my landline 3-4 years ago, basic service was up to $55-60 a month.  Best to keep your landline?...I don't think so.

 

PS in an emergency, I can charge my cell phone off my car battery. ;) 

I think the line still has voltage on it even if you're  not  paying. 

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3 hours ago, mead107 said:

Only saves $20 to drop it from spectrum 

 

I think Spectrum's "landline" like Comcast's and AT&T U-Verse's, isn't really an old school landline. It runs through the internet. You will need external power for those to work. 

 

One way to check. Put an old fashioned (no power cord needed) phone in the jack. Kill all the power to the house. See if you get a dial tone.

 

IMO, those are simply spam call collectors. But if your cell signal is bad, you may actually need one to make emergence calls and such. You can get a VOIP landline for about $40-50 a year.

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1 hour ago, The Dean said:

 

I think Spectrum's "landline" like Comcast's and AT&T U-Verse's, isn't really an old school landline. It runs through the internet. You will need external power for those to work. 

 

One way to check. Put an old fashioned (no power cord needed) phone in the jack. Kill all the power to the house. See if you get a dial tone.

 

IMO, those are simply spam call collectors. But if your cell signal is bad, you may actually need one to make emergence calls and such. You can get a VOIP landline for about $40-50 a year.

New tower going up in town. Will end when it is working. 

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11 minutes ago, mead107 said:

New tower going up in town. Will end when it is working. 

 

 

I ended mine, and also ended my VOIP a few years ago. BUT if I could get an old school landline connection for a reasonable fee ($15/month maybe?) I'd considerate it for real emergencies. I wouldn't keep a phone on it for the most part, but it would be there to plug on into in case of emergency.

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The  Corps Districts  used to a have radio systems.  Repeaters, etc... IMO, was a mistake  that they ripped  it all out.  I always liked having the capabilities to call the lock  in Taiwan  ??  during a Zombie Apocalypse, world ?  meltdown.   They'll be sorry!

 

I hate to tell  @BringBackFergy & @Cripple Creek this bad news. They probably  won't  rest easy at night anymore!

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