If your power goes out, can you power your Vonage equipment through existing phone lines?

[Shagger]

In case your power goes out, VOIP phones are dead, unless you have a battery backup. If you have no battery backup, and assuming your cable internet is up and your phone line is up, Does anyone know of a way to power the Vonage equipment using the power coming from the regular phone jack? I am sure that there would be legal concerns from such a device since AT&T gives nothing away, but I was wondering if it would be technically possible?

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: Shagger
In case your power goes out, VOIP phones are dead, unless you have a battery backup. If you have no battery backup, and assuming your cable internet is up and your phone line is up, Does anyone know of a way to power the Vonage equipment using the power coming from the regular phone jack? I am sure that there would be legal concerns from such a device since AT&T gives nothing away, but I was wondering if it would be technically possible?

I doubt it... off hook voltages only produces a mere and unsteady 20volts... and even the ring spike is only 48volts... not nearly enough compared to the standard 110 you plug into at the wall.

 

[imported_inspire]

If you have no battery backup, won't your cable modem be dead?

 

[icarus4586]

No. Not at all. First, the cable modem needs power to run, so you won't have any Internet connection. Second, the amount of power a phone carries is pretty small. I've seen varying numbers, but howstuffworks.com says that the phone line provides 6-12VDC and about 30mA of current. Another place I saw said 48V and up to 150mA of current. The first gives you 0.36W, while the second gives 7.2W. Even 7.2W is nowhere near enough to power both the cable modem and the VoIP phone.

 

[nova2]

if the electrical outage is large enough to take down cable line amps, then the cable modem won't connect. (or correct me if wrong)

eg: the massive blackout of 2003 in north america. (yeah, much more then a small electrical outage)

cell phones continued to work (in michigan anyways), but the cable modem wouldn't connect.

 

[BrownTown]

you coulda always just get a UPS if its that important, their not really all that expensive.

 

[Shagger]

I forgot about the cable modem being powered, D'oh! We were kicking around the idea at work and I wanted to see if anybody had created or heard of such a thing. Anyway, thanks for all the thoughtful replies. If / When I do go VoIP I'll definetly get an UPS for peace of mind. Thanks, again!

 

[HVAC]

A UPS is a definite requirement, especially if one doesn't have a different type of phone backup (cell, satellite, two cans and a string......)

 

[spidey07]

Normal VoIP phones are powered over their ethernet connection (power over ethernet)

If the provider ever gave you a straight ethernet connection you could power the phones that way. But my guess is no provider in their right mind wants to hassle with large scale power over ethernet and the additional cost associated with providing customers that power.

 

[ScottMac]

And besides, if your phone is disco'd, there won't even be the usual battery (-48 is the supply from the CO, ~90-100 VAC @ 20Hz for the ring voltage) on the copper.

Most of the cable line equipment (IIRC) are line powered and would probably stay up.

So, if you have a UPS, and you connect your cable modem as well as your VoIP interface, you'll *probably* be able to use the service.

I'm sure there are variances, depending on the system you connect to.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[Talcite]

depends on whether your cable service is even up at all. Cable isn't up in ALL the power outages, only in the localized ones.

IMO, VOIP just isn't stable enough yet. I'm actually using both, voip for long distance, old copper telephone lines for local.

 

[spidey07]

Talcite,

Many large fortune 100 companies are all VoIP. The relability is there for business, just not home use.

In business installations all the network gear stays up in a power outage - big UPSs keep all the network closets up.

 

[dkozloski]

To hell with the phone. I want to be able to keep the beer cold. A Crosley refrigerator is the answer.