When I got Verizon Fios Internet I also got my standard home wired phone connected to the Fios too. It works okay but now the volume is very loud. It’s so loud you have to hold the phone away from your ear. Has anyone experienced this or know what to do about it? I’ve got the phone’s volume control turned down as low as it goes and it’s still very loud!
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Standard wired landline phones too loud on Fios
Home » Forums » Outside the box » Outside the box – miscellanous » Standard wired landline phones too loud on Fios
- This topic has 20 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 1 year ago.
AuthorTopicViewing 7 reply threadsAuthorReplies-
n0ads
AskWoody LoungerMarch 23, 2024 at 8:54 am #2652559Most likely the RX gain (receive dB) in the FiOS modem is set too high and, unless you have access to the modem settings and know exactly what you’re doing, messing with it could make things even worse.
It’s also highly likely Verizon will simply “overwrite” any change you make during their next remote update cycle used to ensure their modem continues to work properly.
I suggest contacting Verizon FiOS support to let them know about your issue and have them turn the RX gain down to a more usable level for your particular phone.
Doing that would also mean the new setting will have been saved in their system as applicable for your modem so it should stay the same during the next update cycle.
1 user thanked author for this post.
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Charlie
AskWoody PlusMarch 23, 2024 at 2:26 pm #2652630I forgot to say that I did call Verizon about that and some other things, but the technician tried something but didn’t get the volume lowered. I’ve got a large .pdf file on the Fios modem/router that explains a lot of the settings, but I didn’t see anything about phones. I will check again though now that you mentioned RX gain. Thanks!
Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
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PL1
AskWoody LoungerMarch 23, 2024 at 3:21 pm #2652661Most likely the RX gain (receive dB) in the FiOS modem is set too high and, unless you have access to the modem settings and know exactly what you’re doing, messing with it could make things even worse.
Fios handles POTS with VOIP, and they do not have modems. They supply an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) and a router. It’s not like cablecos modems with phone service built in.
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n0ads
AskWoody LoungerMarch 23, 2024 at 4:21 pm #2652684Fios handles POTS with VOIP, and they do not have modems. They supply an ONT (Optical Network Terminal) and a router. It’s not like cablecos modems with phone service built in.
ONT’s simply provide a fiber ⇒ ethernet connection and aren’t capable of any sort of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) connection for a phone!
Just like the VoIP enabled modems cable companies use, there’ll be an RJ-11 port on the VoIP enabled FiOS router (i.e. fiber modem) if they’re providing VoIP service.
And somewhere in the modem settings “should” be a control to set the TX/RX gain needed to adjust the volume levels (the Obi200 I use with Google Fiber for VoIP has such a setting.)
BTW, TX = transmit/RX = receive.
Charlie
AskWoody PlusPL1
AskWoody LoungerMarch 23, 2024 at 3:51 pm #2652675What I don’t have to put up with just to try and have what I took for granted in the 1960’s! Still researching.
I think what you are seeing is the demise of POTS. I think most young people today skip the home phone and use their cell for everything. It is possible that you could call Verizon to install a true POTS landline.
1 user thanked author for this post.
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Charlie
AskWoody PlusMarch 23, 2024 at 4:25 pm #2652686Where I am in the U.S. Verizon is already not doing any service calls on POTS. My original POTS line was working just fine until one day I picked up the phone and there was nothing, it was dead. I called Verizon and got their usual answer – “We don’t provide service for copper land lines anymore”. I was told I could get Fios and since I wanted Fios anyway, I got it and added the phone to it.
Yes indeed, I’ve been aware of the demise of POTS for some time now. One upside to this is that I no longer have to pay “Long Distance” charges within the U.S. That is great.
Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's1 user thanked author for this post.
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pmcjr6142
AskWoody PlusMarch 24, 2024 at 6:26 am #2652842I have a landline phone which is part of my Spectrum bundled service…TV, internet, and phone. Several advantages…don’t have to give my cell phone number out to everyone, phones thruout the house (don’t have to carry my cell phone from room to room or run back to wherever I left it to answer a call, caller ID shows on the TV, and people can be on the same call from different rooms (everyone doesn’t have to huddle around the cell phone, and, for us, a $5/mo Asia calling plan, which is very useful…try using your cell phone to call abroad and see what that call cost you.
iPhone 13, 2019 iMac(SSD)
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Charlie
AskWoody PlusMarch 24, 2024 at 12:50 pm #2652945Yeah, I’ve got RJ-11 telephone jacks in the walls in every room except the bathrooms. I only have phones connected to the ones in the kitchen and recreation room. I agree with you about giving out my cell phone number, only a few people have it.
Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
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PaulK
AskWoody Lounger-
Charlie
AskWoody Plus
PL1
AskWoody LoungerMarch 24, 2024 at 8:05 pm #2653062ONT’s simply provide a fiber ⇒ ethernet connection and aren’t capable of any sort of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) connection for a phone!
I have Fios but I do not have Fios Digital Voice. I just know that you can use any router you want. According to Verizon, the ONT does supply the FDV. https://community.verizon.com/t5/Fios-Digital-Voice-and-POTS/hardware-installation-question/td-p/1578755
If you get the Fios Digital Voice this is a Voip but the software is handled at the ONT. You do not have to plug your phones into a modem as you would use your existing phone jacks in the house. We connect the existing copper wire up to the ONT.
Frank_VZ
Here is a press release https://www.verizon.com/about/news/press-releases/fios-digital-voice-heres-how-it-works
And here is a picture of my ONT with the RJ11 jacks.
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Charlie
AskWoody PlusMarch 25, 2024 at 1:22 pm #2653401This back box looks exactly like what I have installed on a wooden board in the basement, and this is where my phone line is connected (L1). It also has the Internet connection line running up to the “modem”/router upstairs. I don’t see anything adjustable on the outside, and a Youtube video only describes what the you see on the outside and what the LED lights indicate on the other side. They don’t say what that little clear opening is for and that intrigues me, but I dare not fool around with this unless I could be absolutely sure of what I was doing.
Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's1 user thanked author for this post.
PL1
AskWoody LoungerMarch 25, 2024 at 2:02 pm #2653413This back box looks exactly like what I have installed on a wooden board in the basement, and this is where my phone line is connected (L1). It also has the Internet connection line running up to the “modem”/router upstairs.
The coax on the left also connects to the router for MoCA and QAM, since I have TV and Internet, no FDV phone.
You should really force Verizon fix your service. Maybe it needs a new ONT. If not, look at alternatives. For example, I currently use the VOIP service Ooma, where I am Grandfathered in on their free, no tax service. (They still say it is free after paying for the adapter, but they now charge monthly taxes.) But, I would first demand support if FDV is what you want.
1 user thanked author for this post.
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Charlie
AskWoody PlusMarch 25, 2024 at 2:45 pm #2653437Yeah, if I can get through to a person with some smarts and clout I might be able to threaten to go with Ooma as way to get them off their rear ends. Failing that, I may have to put an appropriately sized resistor on the little speaker in the AT&T model 210 Trimline phones.
Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's
Charlie
AskWoody PlusMarch 27, 2024 at 4:54 pm #2654258It’s looking like a 400 ohm resistor in series with the speaker will bring the volume down to a normal level according to what I’ve read on Google. The only thing I need to figure out is whether to use a 1/4, 1/2, or 1 watt resistor. 1 watt would be the safest if I have to guess.
Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's-
Bob99
AskWoody MVPMarch 27, 2024 at 5:06 pm #2654261…I may have to put an appropriately sized resistor on the little speaker in the AT&T model 210 Trimline phones.
We still have a REAL AT&T Trimline 210 I bought back in 2012, and it has a slider on the side of it to change the speaker’s volume. That slider has 3 settings to it, and I usually use it on the lowest setting.
BUT, perhaps your model is one of the older ones that still has the metal base, so it may not have that slider??
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Charlie
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