[OT] RBEM56G-100 - tone b0rken but pulse works?

[Bryce Alexander]

Hi Michael,

Yes, it is possible for lightning to zap your modem through the phone
line, The Telco works hard to prevent it, but it can happen, get a surge
suppressor that has phone in and out connectors to prevent it in the
future.

There is another possibility; tone dialing is polarity sensitive where
pulse is not. It may be worth your while to open up your jack and
reverse the polarity of the wires that go to the center pins of the
connector (usually red and green). This is more common if there has been
some new jacks put in, or if someone has been working on your line
recently. Polarity problems rarely happen from the cable splicers out in
the trenches, but stranger things have happened.

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org
[mailto:owner-freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Michael W. Oliver
Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2004 6:37 AM
To: mobile at freebsd.org
Subject: [OT] RBEM56G-100 - tone b0rken but pulse works?

Hey there mobile users, I have a OT question for you.  I bought a
RBEM56G-100 some time ago, based on the recommendations of a few folks
on this list, and have been extremely happy with it... until yesterday.
I started getting the strangest behavior out of the modem and wanted to
get your take on it.

When I try to dial a number using pulse dialing, it works fine.
However, when I try to dial a number using tone dialing, the call
doesn't go through.  In fact, the modem isn't even sending the tones to
the line... the dial tone keeps blaring away through the speaker even
the tones are sent.  I can pick up an extension and hear the pulses when
using pulse dial, but when using tone dial, I hear no tones through the
handset on the extension.  I can hear through the PC speaker that the
tones are being generated, but it is as if there is now some sort of
disconnect between the tone sending thingamajig and the line.

BTW, I am in central Florida and we had a whopper of a lightning storm
yesterday.  While I did hear a few pops on the line, none of my other
equipment has been affected (fax, two other phones, modem on another
pc).  Is it probable that this RBEM56G-100's modem is so sensitive that
it was zapped while none of my other equipment suffered?

So, in your opinion, should I start hitting eBay for a new RBEM56G-100?

Thanks for your time.

-- 
Mike
perl -e 'print unpack("u","88V]N=&%C=\"!I;F9O(&EN(&AE861E<G,*");'