Where I lose all brain cells from a single Instant Message conversation...

My friend enlists me to help her since she is setting up a wireless router in her home.... she uses a Mac, so she's not too comp savvy, and this router is so her husband can now access the internet... this is what happens...


[17:51] MyFriend: help?

[17:51] MyFriend: happy birthday

[17:51] MyFriend: i need home networking help

[17:56] MyFriend: i broke the phone line

[17:57] Me: ....

[17:57] MyFriend: we moved the router and the phone didnt work cuz its digital so we got a new cord and plugged it back into the phone jack and the cable

[17:58] MyFriend: so the downstairs one works

[17:58] MyFriend: but the one that WAS plugged in the router/modem wont work now

[17:58] MyFriend: the phone upstairs

[17:58] MyFriend: its dead

[18:00] Me: Uhh...

[18:02] Me: Why is the phone involved?



To me this was not a stupid question. I have never heard of the phone being involved in setting up a router... sorry, maybe I'm old school, but this was news to me...


[18:02] MyFriend: it's digital service

[18:02] Me: Soo... it uses a different cable than a normal phone I assume?

[18:03] MyFriend: um..it uses a regular phone line cord

[18:03] Me: Thenn....

[18:03] MyFriend: but the modem thing has to be on

[18:03] MyFriend: like when the storm hit and there was no power, the phone died because the modem battery went out after 8 hours

[18:03] MyFriend: cuz its digital

[18:03] Me: ....

[18:03] Me: I have no idea how to help you unless I see it maybe

[18:04] MyFriend: ok

See? I'm being nice, and helpful, I'm TRYING to help her, THIS IS WHERE I SCREWED UP, DON'T EVER BE NICE TO YOUR FRIENDS


[18:06] Me: How does your phone plug in? Does it plug directly into the wall?

[18:07] MyFriend: the one upstairs is

[18:07] MyFriend: the one downstairs is plugged into the modem now

[18:07] MyFriend: but i had a double jack upstairs before, so they were both in the wall

[18:07] Me: Why does either phone have to plug into the modem?

[18:08] MyFriend: well otherwise i need a phone splitter

[18:08] MyFriend: cuz um

[18:08] MyFriend: i forgot

SHE FORGOT?? SHE FORGOT WHY SHE HAS TO PLUG A PHONE INTO A MODEM?? 'Cause she said the phones worked previously PLUGGED INTO THE WALL. The first of my brain cells die...


[18:09] Me: Okay... what kind of internet do you have?

[18:09] MyFriend: cox

[18:09] Me: So.. cable

[18:10] MyFriend: yes

[18:10] Me: THEN MY BRAIN HURTS

[18:10] MyFriend: haha

[18:10] Me: I hate you, leave me alone with your weird questions :'(



[18:12] Me: The way internet works in my head is modem: plug into wall for electricity, plug into cable line for internet... computer: connect with modem for internets, OR router: connect to modem for internets, computer: connect to router for internets...

[18:12] Me: PHONE is not anywhere in those equations

[18:12] MyFriend:

[18:13] MyFriend: we need a non digital phone service

[18:14] Me: Okay, if the digital phone plugs into the wall then... why would you ever plug it into the modem?

[18:14] MyFriend: there's a phone jack on there

[18:14] MyFriend: and the phone jack is taken up by the modem

[18:14] Me: ....

[18:14] Me: Why is the modem using your phone jack?

[18:15] MyFriend: because without it, the phone has NO service, it's digital and I assume it goes through the cable line

[18:15] Me: ....

[18:15] Me: You completely lost me there...


Someone please let me know if they followed that one...


[18:22] Me: http://www.simplehelp.net/images/cable_modems/terayon_tj715x.gif

[18:22] Me: See that?

[18:22] Me: That's a modem

[18:22] Me: NO PHONE JACK

[18:22] MyFriend: well MINE has a phone jack

Me getting angry and popping more brain cells.. so I looked up an image of a modem with the digital phone plug thingies...


[18:24] Me: Mm kay

[18:24] Me: So

[18:24] Me: Plug from wall to modem, from modem to phone?

[18:25] MyFriend: yes

[18:25] Me: Does it matter which goes into which hole?

[18:25] Me: For instance, does the wall line have to be in slot 1?

[18:25] Me: And the phone only to slot 2?

[18:25] MyFriend: i only have one phone jack on the modem (not two), but yes it says which is for the phone

[18:25] MyFriend: oh well i guess that's the two jacks

[18:25] MyFriend: YES

[18:25] MyFriend: it matters

[18:25] MyFriend: we had it backwards first

[18:26] Me: Ummm...

[18:26] Me: Did I solve your problem?

[18:26] MyFriend: no

[18:26] Me: Or are you yelling at me?

[18:26] MyFriend: lol

[18:26] MyFriend: no

[18:26] Me: Uhm...

[18:26] Me: Okay, so, phone plugged into modem no workie?

[18:27] MyFriend: that one DOES work

[18:27] MyFriend: other does not

[18:27] Me: Other phone is plugged into?

[18:27] MyFriend: wall

[18:27] Me: ....

[18:27] MyFriend: originally both phones were plugged into the wall

[18:27] MyFriend: cuz i had a double jack

[18:28] Me: I think I just had a fucking aneurism...

[18:29] MyFriend: think for a while

[18:29] Me: I don't think I can!!!

[18:29] Me: You BROKE MY BRAIN

[18:29] Me: It is DONE

[18:29] MyFriend: then bug ‘husband’

[18:29] Me: No, no!

[18:29] Me: I am NOT breaking anyone else's brian

[18:29] MyFriend: haha

[18:29] Me: You sick twisted zombie!

[18:29] MyFriend: ill ttyl

[18:30] MyFriend: go rest

[18:30] Me: No, you won't, I will be drooling into a cup...

[18:30] MyFriend: bye


Lesson of the day? PEOPLE WHO USE MACS NEED TO FREAKING DIE!!!

ROFL! just get a spliter, plug the spliter into the wall, and put the modem into the spliter, and the phone into the other part of the spliter.... that OR, does the modem have a port in the back?... Cos That is the only thing I can think of...

SEE? SEE? This is where we ALL are wrong, 'cause the phone plugged into the modem WORKS, the one plugged into the WALL does NOT, even though beforehand both phones were plugged into the wall and both worked.

Well then its the cable from the modem to the phone line....

She said it HAS to be that way, so I don't know what the hell is going on.

I have no idea about any of it, but I truly enjoyed reading your conversation with her... very funny.

Brain freeze....need Captian Morgan and BFH to solve this one.
Sounds like your friend has dial up service to me.
I have Vonage and I had to unhook my land line out at the box so when I hooked it up the rest of the phones in my house would work other than that I have no idea what they are even talking about.

Ok, I think i can provide assistance on this as i too have digital phone service through my internet provider.

One cable, co-ax, comes into the house and goes to modem.

From modem, phone line goes to either 1 phone or into wall jack to provide service to rest of house using existing lines/jacks.

She should have a splitter at the jack nearest the modem. One line going to the modem and the other to the phone.

Phones throughout the house should now get signal from the jacks that originated from the modem.

See website:
http://www.arrisi.com/support/guides/_docs/TM602_User_Guide.pdf

Though the actual modem may differ, set-up should be relatively the same. Have her turn to page 34ish for set-up instructions.

I Feel your pain. I get asked so many questions to where my brain cells start dieing too. Except all of my brain cells are dead, they just think they are alive.

Chainer has it right. The cable/phone/internet company put everything in my room. From the phone jack itself there is one line running to my phone and nother running to my modem. All the rest of the phones in the house are plugged into the other outlets that now feed off the modem for service.

Chainer, thank you so much, I just e-mailed her your comment, and hopefully it will help.

Believe it or not, ours does the exact same thing. Seriously. We have digital, and one phone line goes right into the modem, but the others go right through the normal wall jacks. Somehow the modem bounces the signal through the wall wiring and then when it reaches the modem again, it goes out that way. Its fairly pimp when you think about it, but trust me, when the cable guy told me it works that way, it messed with my noodle at first. However, my dad knows some about old pair analog phone wiring, and he told me your whole phone system is on a circuit, so they all basically working off the one primary jack normally. So in that case it makes perfect sense....but it STILL mess with your noggin.