First, thanks in advance for any answers. I won’t be able to check this thread for a while.
This phone is for my elderly mom who lives 2,000 miles away and whose support network doesn’t include any technical-minded people. She is in a remote area where no cell phones work. Phone service is currently provided through VoiP operated by the local utility through a fiber cable (so this cable also provides regular internet service.)
Problems arise when the electric power goes out, which happens quite often. Since the phones are connected though the cable modem, when the lights go out, the phone goes out. The utility will be installing a battery backup that will operate the modem for several hours during a power outage.
But the existing phones themselves are 900MHz cordless handsets, the kind we all used in the 80s. The base unit plugs into wall power, so even if there is battery-backed-up internet service, the existing phones still won’t work without electric power. I need to have a backup wired phone installed, which I think will be connected to the modem’s new battery backup. (The utility is unclear to me on this point, using some terms I don’t know. Their technician should be able to help with that installation.)
But they specified the backup phone which I am to purchase needs to be compatible with wifi fiber optic.
First recommendation, since the power goes out often, is to get a 10-15 KW portable generator and connect it through the electric meter using a Generlink. Keep a trickle charger attached to the generator battery so electric start is always available. Dual fuel (propane and gas) is a good option too. My power goes out frequently too and this arrangement runs everything in the house except the laundry. The cost of the generator plus installation of the Generlink cost me about $2500 about 5 years ago. Starting it involves pressing the start button and flipping a breaker switch on the generator once it’s running.
Second recommendation is to look into a UPS with multiple outlets that you can plug both the cable modem and the existing phone into. A larger battery pack, such those made by Jackery for campers and boaters might also be longer lasting, but if you have the generator installed a standard computer UPS should keep the phone working long enough to start the generator.
This is the obvious solution. These can run a PC for an hour or so, they should run a phone and cable modem for a long time, I hope. They come in assorted sizes, so depends how long power tends to go out for. The only other important thing to do with this is indicate in bold letters where the “no power - alarm silence” button is. I would recommend a generator solution if outages tend to last for more than a day at a time.
As I understand, the adapter for VoIP presents a standard phone jack - at least mine does (looks like an ethernet jack, but thinner 4 wires, not 8). You can plug any POTS (Plain Old Telephone Sysstem) phone into that. If she’s worried about the power, too, one option is to get a splitter and plug a regular no-radio, no-handsfree no-power-needed phone in also. (Still need the battery UPS for the VoIP adapter) The good old phones run off the voltage on the phone line, which the VoIP adapter would provide. Just don’t use a really really really old phone from the 70’s with the mechanical bell - those don’t get enough power over the line from modern phone systems - or VoIP - to power the bell.
A regular corded phone will work. Nothing special about working with VOIP, the current 900 MHz cordless phone was certainly not specially designed for VOIP. Avoid using a really old phone with a mechanical ringer (not all VOIP modems provide enough ring voltage/current to make the ringer work) or (gulp) a rotary dial. Obviously avoid any phone that uses a power adapter - you only want the phone wire with the RJ11 (standard telephone) plug.
It’s good to have more than one phone service, particularly for the vulnerable/elderly. So she might consider adding the satellite Starlink to T-Mobile’s Direct to Cell Service. There are a number of T-mobile plans. The cheapest would be the T-Mobile Talk & Text Only at $20 plus $10 for the satellite = $30 [plus taxes, etc]. But she should have a battery backup or the possibility of charging this in a car too for lengthy outages.
Although if the phone is the only thing she really cares about during an outage, I think just getting a UPS with a bigger battery would be nicer to use than a separate generator. The generator could power the whole house though.
I don’t thiiiiiiiink this is accurate. Can you get a clarification from the ISP (or whoever said that) about this?
It should be like @md-2000 and @Marvin_the_Martian said… any regular phone would work. If it takes power, you need to connect it to the UPS too. If it doesn’t, you should just be able to plug it in directly to the VOIP phone jack. The phone doesn’t “know” or care that it’s connected to VOIP.
The layers are all separate: the fiber coming into her home is one thing, the wifi is a separate thing, and the VOIP is a separate thing. It’s possible those functionalities are combined into fewer devices (i.e. your modem might also act as a wifi router and a VOIP outlet), but what it should expose is still just a regular phone jack that you connect any phone into.
There is a separate pathway for business VOIP using SIP phones that directly connect to the internet on their own, but that is not something a regular home user should encounter.
I would clarify this situation with the ISP if you’re concerned, but chances are it’s just a normal phone jack.
I appreciate the responses. We’re not doing a generator or UPS or anything expensive or that requires specialized installation other than what the utility technician will do when he/she installs the modem battery backup. I got a very nostalgic AT&T Trimline corded phone and perhaps that will work.
With our Ooma we have a very old (20+ years?) Panasonic 5.8Ghz 4-handset system where the base unit is plugged directly into the Ooma base; works flawlessly. The old Trimline should work fine as well.
How long does the modem’s battery backup last? Does it automatically turn off the wifi router function so only the phone line draws power during an outage?
If it’s only a few hours, it may not last enough through an emergency or natural disaster. Is that a concern?
If there are concerns about the phone working during a power outage why not just get the tried and true original? A regular land line phone like the old days.
Not VoIP and anything like that–just the old plug it into the wall Ma Bell set-up.
Is that still available anywhere? I thought they’d all moved to some sort of VOIP already?
Well, we’re just guessing here (that corded POTS handsets will work). But that contradicts what the guy told you originally, that she would need a special phone compatible with “wifi fiber optic”, whatever that means.
The issue with the utility backup battery is that they are (typically) meant to last through short power outages. Because it’s VOIP, they need to maintain a connection to the internet which is going to draw power and that battery is not going to last long under a constant draw and having to power a regular telephone is also going to reduce its available power.
Having a portable power station or UPS would help but the utility is not going to set that up for her. Each of those would last a bit longer for extended outages.
Actually we are not guessing, the OP already stated that a POTS phone is working with the modem:
He just wants one that will work without wall power.
The built-in battery will last 4-8 hours to maintain the conenction. The power draw of an idle corded phone is negligible when idle (on hook), a watt or less during a call. It’s just a speaker, microphone, some amplifiers, and a touch tone generator.
The landline wires or fiber may be independent of the power delivery. In my rural neighborhood, if the power goes out, that’s due to a tree falling on the power lines, but the tree may miss the separate non-power lines and the wired POTS will be fine. If any home telephone unit requires additional power (like for a wireless handset), that won’t work and a battery or generator backup will be needed.
My 1960’s-vintage corded phones (desk unit, Trimline, Princess phones) all work fine (ringer too) without power of any kind other than the phone line, and providing AC power won’t be any help to these units at all – the ringer is powered directly from the phone line. However, we are presently using copper to the home.
The satellite connection suggestions are worth looking into, but you still may need some battery backup. Ones that last more than a few hours can be expensive, and need to be replaced after a few years (3-5 typical), as they lose capacity over time. Just when you need them the most, they will die on you.
I believe that the OP has stated that the original question has been answered. However, I wanted to add my experiences with an AT&T U-Verse Modem/Router/Gateway that (supposedly) has internal battery back-up. It is a Pace Gateway unit with an external ONT for the fiber connection. The gateway came without a battery, but I was able to purchase one from Amazon and it seemed to work well.
Except that this unit does not keep the telephone connections (Line 1 and Line 2) active when it is operating on battery. Also, the ONT is separately powered by a wall wart and so it must also be powered or I have no connection at all. As far as I can tell, the internal battery basically just keeps the unit alive at a minimal level so it doesn’t have to reboot and re-establish a connection after power failure. This makes sense since the internal battery is much too small to provide ringing signal and telephone operation for more than a few minutes.
The solution was to buy an external 12 VDC power supply with an internal battery to serve both the Gateway and the ONT. Mine is a Belkin, I believe, and I think I got it from Amazon. It is not a UPS. It is much smaller and provides only 12 VDC through a cable with a small coaxial connector. I also bought a Y-cable for the coaxial connector so I could supply power to both units. Using this, ALL Gateway functions continue during a power outage and I can use a standard TT telephone set plugged directly into the back of the Gateway or to a household jack. (I backfeed my jacks from the Gateway.)
I came back to say, on rethinking - yes, the fibre optic modem (?) will probably require power, and a PC battery backup unit will be more than adequate. I assumed in all this discussion that the socket for the phone - RJ-11, thin plug - is also in this modem. (For my cable unit, I have both a tiny box downstairs separate from the modem, and two sockets on the cable modem itself). YMMV.
As a data point, I have fiber to the home. Besides internet, I have land line phone service (yes, I’m old). The fiber goes into a device in my basement. It has both internet and phone ports* there is also a power supply with battery. As far as my corded phone* is concerned, it is hooked up to POTS. The same 48v DC (the buttons light up when I pick up the handset) and 60 to 100V AC for ringing.
My phone/internet company also offers cable TV, in which case the device would have an “F” RF jack