How to protect phoneline & landline phone from lightning surges

[zannej]

You could drop back to cell phone service while it rains... maybe find out why it quits during rain... it's a pretty big savings each year... huge over a decade...

The problem with my cell service is that it is so spotty I have to go outside in the rain and reboot my phone to get signal (or else it tells me "emergency calls only"). My phone is sloooow. I'm holding off until the price goes down on a better phone to replace it. Also, standing out in the rain and holding my phone in the air to try to get signal really sucks. Even when I do connect the signal is weak- I get 1 bar-- and voices drop in and out.

My ISP has zero tech support so I haven't been able to get an answer from them on why my signal has been dropping during rain. Or why it suddenly lags for no reason. It was really good the first month I had it and the it got worse (and more expensive). But its still better than what I had before.

 

[Eddie_T]

If Starlink is using Ka and Ku bands rain attenuation is unavoidable. When more satellites are in orbit Starlink may be able to devise a way to pick the strongest available signal. If so it may only be for premium customers.

 

[zannej]

The nearest satellite to me is in Dallas. The weird thing is, the first couple of months we had Starlink the weather did not take the signal out. I don't know why it is happening now. Our TV went out but Starlink stayed up. But now it goes out. It also has slower speeds. I think we may need to move the dish again. It's also possible there may have been problems with the ground stations or the orbit of the satellite. It doesn't stay still, it roams.

At least the landline worked for my sister to call today.

 

[Eddie_T]

There are 1400-1500 starlink satellites currently in orbit. I think 30,000 are planned. Things should improve w/respect to common outages but rain attenuation at those frequencies is real. However when a large band of satellites are continually sweeping over you some of them may have a better signal. The question is whether (or not) there will be an on-the-fly algorithm to take advantage of it.

 

[AlexFullerton]

You might want to call your local provider and ask them to update the lines. I think you are pretty lucky it hasn't caused a fire yet.

 

[zannej]

You might want to call your local provider and ask them to update the lines. I think you are pretty lucky it hasn't caused a fire yet.

My local provider doesn't care one bit. It is difficult to even get ahold of them in the first place & they pretty much told me that we are their very lowest priority. We've asked about updating our lines and they pretty much laughed at us. They doubled the landline prices as well. Unfortunately, we need them since our cell service is unreliable.

 

[BuzzLOL]

My local provider doesn't care one bit. It is difficult to even get ahold of them in the first place & they pretty much told me that we are their very lowest priority. We've asked about updating our lines and they pretty much laughed at us. They doubled the landline prices as well. Unfortunately, we need them since our cell service is unreliable.

You can add Magic Jack landline to your satellite internet for about $3 month... keep same phone number... and there's no long distance extra charges... operates like a cell phone except have a dial tone... don't have to dial 1 for long distance... free call to anyone on the planet who also has Magic Jack... like in Guam...
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Oh geez... some idiot in a small silver car just ran into my 90 gallon wheeled garbage container out on the street and knocked it over... good thing the truck had just emptied it... they were prolly texting or something... glad it wasn't a little kid they hit... there is a warning sign out front warning kids play in the area... of course, they wouldn't have seen the sign, either...

 

[Eddie_T]

Sometimes cell phone service can be improved just by changing carriers. I live in the mountains and Verizon seems to be the only carrier with reasonable coverage. I use a MVNO that's on the Verizon network for about $3/mo since I use no data and am not a heavy user. I can get an unlimited talk and text plan for $10/mo or reasonable plans with data. I can't convince a friend to leave Verizon even though he's vision impaired and only uses talk. He's on his daughter's plan and thinks he's getting a bargain. He just got a new flip-phone and thinks it's free.

 

[zannej]

The only service that covers my area is AT&T. They also provide my landline. I've checked with other services and I am outside their coverage area. I have satellite internet that is unstable so using internet for phone won't work. If the power goes out, I can usually still plug in an old style phone to make calls. I got a surge protector for my lines-- reminds me I need to put the new longer phone cord on. Mom keeps accidentally unplugging the cord that is too short. I'll go do that in a few minutes.

 

[BuzzLOL]

The only service that covers my area is AT&T.

I did a free trial for a month of AT&T cell phone service, they showed me the bill if I had been paying, it was $200 for the month, they asked me if I wanted to continue as a paying customer, I said no thanks... plus, their service didn't work in areas where I really wanted to use it... I now buy minutes from Page Net for $2.50/month...
Does rain get on your satellite dish? Can you put a roof over it?

 

[afjes_2016]

I used Magic Jack for a few years. It worked very well in my home. Never had service problems and it was so so so much cheaper than an actual landline would have been. I installed Magic Jack because I had just moved into the area and my cell phone area code was no where near here so when I posted my telephone number for my business in local listings I used my magicjack # so that it had a local area code.

All you need is a good internet connection and most days now you will have that in most areas. Our area is notorious for lousy cell service unless you have AT%T (Cricket).

 

[Eddie_T]

Verizon shows a better coverage map for louisiana than AT&T. There are a number of websites that claim to show the best coverage for any zip code including outages.

Another good way to check with surety is to make a point to ask everyone that comes on your property what cell service they use and what is their signal strength. Mail carrier, UPS man, plumber, electrician, friends or whatever. People in a service industry have to have good coverage.

 

[Eddie_T]

I used Magic Jack for a few years. It worked very well in my home. Never had service problems and it was so so so much cheaper than an actual landline would have been. I installed Magic Jack because I had just moved into the area and my cell phone area code was no where near here so when I posted my telephone number for my business in local listings I used my magicjack # so that it had a local area code.

All you need is a good internet connection and most days now you will have that in most areas. Our area is notorious for lousy cell service unless you have AT%T (Cricket).

I am considering Magic Jack why did you only use it for a few years?

 

[afjes_2016]

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I am considering Magic Jack why did you only use it for a few years?

As I said I only used it so I would have a local area code for my electrical business. When I retired I no longer had a need for it and went back to using my cell phone for all calls. All of my friends, relatives etc used my cell phone # so no need for the MagicJack anymore.

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[zannej]

Verizon claims they have broader coverage in Louisiana but they don't in my area. I think their nearest tower is 30miles away. AT&T has a tower in town, but I'm out in the woods and just on the edge of their service so I get one bar of signal. There are also dead zones on along the road where signal completely drops off.

Buzz, putting a cover over the satellite would block the signal. It is supposed to handle rain and even snow. It has a feature where it heats up to melt snow if it lands on it. I have the flat rectangle kind of dish. The bowl shaped one apparently attracted cats during winter (because of the warming feature).

Mom just got up and its time to take her to vote.

 

[BuzzLOL]

Buzz, putting a cover over the satellite would block the signal. It is supposed to handle rain and even snow. It has a feature where it heats up to melt snow if it lands on it. I have the flat rectangle kind of dish. The bowl shaped one apparently attracted cats during winter (because of the warming feature).

I thought if the dish is aimed at an angle, maybe it could peak out from under a roof... maybe some plastic webbing could keep cats off the better dish...
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Hope your Mom isn't voting for more crimes, murders, inflation, wars...

 

[zannej]

Any sort of obstruction makes me lose signal. It isn't stationary aiming either. The satellite it targets is in constant motion so it has to follow it.