In article , John Mayson wrote:
I hope this isn't too inappropriate a question for the digest.
Not at all; it's right on target.
The Time Warner website is rather sketchy and I'm having trouble
> finding an answer to this, so I'm asking here. I understand I can
> continue using my existing telephones and jacks with digital phone.
> But can I use my computer to make/receive calls on my digital phone
> number? I have both Windows XP and Apple Mac OS X at my disposal.
> Note, I'm not talking about using Skype. I would like to be able to
> place and receive calls on my home number from my computer regardless
> of where my computer may be. Is this possible?
I don't think you can. I have cable telephone from Comcast, but I would guess it's nearly identical to Time-Warner. My cable comes into my apartment building, and then over the in-building coax cable wiring to my apartment, where I have a special cable modem that splits out the Internet signal to an Ethernet cable and the telephone signal to a wire that feeds into my existing in-home phone wiring. Without the special cable modem, with its serial number registered on Comcast's system, I don't have telephone service; however, if I take the cable modem with me and plug it in somewhere else, it wouldn't work. (I would guess that even if I plugged it in on a cable belonging to another Comcast customer with the same services, it would still generate an error because of the mismatched serial numbers.)
I used to have RCN, also with cable/net/phone service. Their setup was a little bit different. The cable came into the building, but the phone signal was split off at the demarc into the existing in-building phone wiring, allowing me to use just a regular cable modem in my apartment for the Internet part.
I also haven't tested how or whether the phones work in a power outage. I think the Comcast system, since it relies on the cable modem in my apartment, probably wouldn't.
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[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: VOIP services
_will_ work when there is a power interuption assuming that you have a battery backup on the line. You would need to have your router and ATA get their power from the backup supply; something that might kick in when the power other- wise fails. Or perhaps you have, like myself, a power supply sufficient for your entire network, but only to allow for an 'orderly shutdown' of your computer system as needed. I experimented with this one day recently. I went over to the circuit-breaker box on the wall and flipped off the circuit serving my computer area. Instantly I heard something sounding like a 'click' as the battery backup started going. (Oh, on my battery backup I also have the telephone network wired in to it also.) After flipping the circuit breaker 'off' I went over immediatly to try this test: Dial '8' for the Vonage line; I heard dial tone, and dialed a number. Now, it would not work for very long; the battery is not that large, and it is mainly intended for the 'orderly shutdown' of my computers,
_not_ to just keep on using them. But you probably see my point. Now, if the cable service went out, that would be a different matter entirely. But if your telephone central office went on the blitz, you would not be able to use your landline phones very long either. Typically, when my power goes off for some reason or another (which would also affect my telephone system) I 'cheat' by plugging the phone line directly into the central office line, enitirely by-passing the mini-PBX I normally run everything through. Its not a trivial effort in any event. PAT]