Q&A for How to Diagnose Landline Phone Problems

The easiest way to wire a telephone jack is with a CAT 5 or CAT 6 keystone jack, in which you would strip the wire, separate the conductors, and then place those conductors in their respective colored ports on the back of the keystone connector or wall plate connector. Then you can use a punch-down tool to push those cables all the way in and make the connection.

Try unplugging the phone and letting it sit for about 10 minutes. This should reset the phone. Try taking the battery out and then unplugging the base from the power and phone line.

Assuming you're using ADSL or similar, try disconnecting the internet and just plugging the phone directly into the wall. If this fixes your issue, you will need to replace your ADSL filter.

Use a different phone in place of the one you are using now. If you still can't hear a ring tone, then call the phone company and have a repair man check out the phone line. But if you do hear a ring tone with the substitute phone, then the first phone is bad.

One incident that can cause a phone to not have a dial tone is power. Make sure your phone is plugged into a wall. Another cause could be if there was a storm in the area, there could have been an outage. Check with your local telephone company.

It sounds like your battery isn't holding the charge, so you should replace it.

Your phone might be broken. Check for frayed wires, kinked cords, etc. Maybe it's just time to get a new phone.

This could be a damaged microphone inside of the phone, you may need to replace it.

That is because you are charging it and it is easier for the signal to show as busy than to say phone is dead.

Your microphone is ether muted or broken. Try to un-mute it or replace the phone if the issue continues.

If you want three lines, you need to split it up into four, two wire lines. Most telephones need two wires.

Restrictions on the account, a problem in the telco switch, something in the telco translations, or forgetting to dial a 1 before the area code.

Check to see if there is a signal from the NID. One way is by using a voltage meter. If there is no power, then call your telephone company, and say that there is no signal coming from the NID. Otherwise, the wiring inside the home may be faulty.

First thing I would try is unplugging the power on the base. If that doesn't work, try plugging into the same jack that the regular landline phone is plugged into. Also, take the hardwired phone to the jack where the cordless is not working. This will tell you if the wall jack is working or not. If the jack works with the other phone and you haven't already solved the issue, try removing the battery from the handset. You also want to check the cord. If none of this works, you may need to buy a new cordless phone.

You might want to call AT&T tech support or your telephone service for this.

This could be due to defective wiring, defective phone or a problem at the provider's end. Get a basic phone that you know works, 100% tested on someone else's line. Unplug all your other equipment plugged into you phone line. Plug this known working phone into the first socket where the phone line enters your house and test it there. If it works, it's not the line, so it could be your equipment; for example, a fax machine can cause this. If the phone fails in the first socket, it's either wiring into your house or a provider problem.

911 always goes through, even if your service has been turned off. All landline phones can connect to 911 in case of emergencies.

Check to see if the phones are bad, otherwise make sure the phone jacks are all wired properly, older houses have the jacks daisy chained, so one bad connection stops phones later in the chain from working.

Check to make sure the ringer volume is set to an appropriate level; the ringer may have accidentally been "muted" by being switched off. If the fault is still present, consider a request for a replacement of your landline.

Your microphone might be broken or muted. I would probably recommend replacing the phone.

It is most probably a problem with your carrier. Call them and tell them about your problem. Most likely they will send you a technician.

If you have dial tone, then you have something wrong with your phone if it is saying no line. The other simple possibility is you are not plugged into a phone jack that's live; try a different phone jack in your house.

This could mean a few things. If you use a dial-up modem, it may be the signals and sounds from that. You may be receiving fax transmissions from a family member, friend, business or auto-dialler. If your phone has caller ID, make a note of the number and check it against local businesses. Try making a call from your mobile phone to your landline. Check for accessories connected to the phone, such as dial-up modems, fax machines and alarm systems. If this does not help, there may be an error from your landline provider that is routing fax calls to your number. Call them, from your mobile, and ask for an engineer.

Remove your handset and its cord from your phone base. Take your handset, along with its cord out to your phone box. With a flat head screwdriver, unscrew the cover and open it. There is small about 1" x 2.5" rectangular latch at the top inside. Use your screwdriver if you can't carefully unhinge it by hand, and carefully unlatch this piece, like opening a little door. Plug in your handset and see if you get a dial tone, static, or nothing at all. Put it back together and call the phone company and tell them what you just did and what, if any, was heard. They need to know this information to know if its trouble on your phone or on their end.