Radio Shack, and possibly others, make phone jacks that use your AC house wiring for connections. You plug in one unit, the master, where there is an existing phone line and an AC outlet. The other unit is plugged into AC where you want the additional phone. The two units then communicate over the house wiring the same as a “wireless intercom” does.
I want to use this connection for my Dishnetwork receiver’s phone connection because I wasn’t smart enough to consider the need when we built the house.
We had such a setup a few years back when we put our computer in a room that had no phone jack. The connection was definitely not as good (e.g. we’d get 24,400 when a directly-connected 'puter was getting 40K and higher). I believe it also interfered with the computer operations - the computer wouldn’t boot up too well if the CPU was next to anything that might interfere (like, say, the MONITOR). Anyway - depending on how the Dish Network uses that phone connection it might work OK, or might not.
It’s not all that hard to install phone jacks yourself, especially if it is your house and you have access to the attic. All the parts are available at Home Depot, and probably, Rat Shack as a last resort.
While you are at it, go ahead and make yourself a complete phone/network closet.
Well, when we were building I ran phone wires to all the places they’d be needed, but forgot that the Dish receiver needed/would benefit from a phone line.
There’s a finished ceiling below the area where I want the jack, and no phone lines run through the attic. They are all in the floor trusses. So unless I want to surface wire, and I don’t, or cut holes in the downstairs ceiling, it’s this or nothing.
I’ve not really needed the phone line in the last two years as I haven’t bought any PPV movies. You can get them by phone or on line, but I think they might charge extra. Maybe I’m better off without the phone hookup.
Yes, these remote phone jacks would be perfectly adequate for your Dish receiver. They’re not 100% as clean as regular phone jacks, but for this purpose, they will work fine.
As you stated, the only times the Dish receiver will use your phone line is if you order a PPV movie, or use their interactive menus for paying your bill or other support issues. If you don’t do any of this stuff, you’ll never need the phone line anyway.
I tried them for a TIVO and they were worthless- I actually threw them away a few weeks ago or I would have sent them to you for shipping cost. In my testing, they worked OK, if your outlets were on the same run (ie all on the same electrical circuit, usually meaning in the same room, or one right next to it). They were pretty much worthless when they were further away though. I tested them with a regular wired phone to see if they worked and >50% I couldnt’ get a dial tone when they were on separate circuits. Now this was in a house with probably 30 or 40 yr old electric, so you might get them to work in a house with 5 or 10 yr old wiring, but do yourself a favor and make sure you can return them first, if you buy them.
Well, I did stop at RS on the way home and bought the units they sell. Cost was $89. After I got home and thought about it, and reading the posting from FatBaldGuy, I realized that I wouldn’t get $89 woth of value from them. So I’ll be returning them unopened tomorrow.
Maybe I’ll look for a trained squrrel that can get into the ceilingfloor area and run the wires for me!
