Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi, I recently just sold a little more of my soul to at&t when I moved into a townhouse and signed up for DirectTV and their internet. They came out to my house when I was at work to "activate" the internet, as they call it.
The modem works in my main bedroom jack but not in the spare bedroom. After I called them and asked if that was their area, they told me that they activate a random phone jack and they want $100 to come out and change that jack. I believe they do that in order to get me to buy their home-phone service, despite having two cell phones with them already.
My question, after much Googling to no avail, is there any way for me to switch it myself so that I can run the router in the spare bedroom?
To "switch" it yourself? Probably but you would need knowledge of wiring to do so. You could probably just bust into the wall and rewire it yourself but that is probably not feasible.
Or you could just get a really long cable and run it from place to place. Maybe you have a carpet and can just run it underneath?
Or get a wireless router and a wireless adapter or card for the computer (if it doesn't have one already). I hated the old days of running wires to various rooms.
Or get a wireless router and a wireless adapter or card for the computer (if it doesn't have one already). I hated the old days of running wires to various rooms.
Well I would suggest just MOVING the modem and trying it. Remove any special connector they might have added to that jack. If it runs on your phone lines it should run on EVERY jack...
The underlying issue here (fixing the POTS wiring) is usually easy enough to solve
and is probably worth doing even if you go wireless.
most commonly...
behind each of those jacks will be some cables with wire in them
these wires are daisy-chained throughout the house...
most commonly that cable will hold 4 individual colored wires
that attach to (ta dah) the four individually marked terminals on those jacks.
unless your knees are shot like mine are it will take about 3 minutes
to open each wall jack, look at whats there, and then put it back in place...
for the 2 or 3 that need anything done to them add another 5 minutes.
(hint: at least one of yours needs something done to it)
At the other end of the wires is the "demarc" box
where the wire from the phone co attaches at the outside of your house
it should be similarly simple to see what is or isn't right there.
Unless you have had multiple phone lines in the house
or it's new enough to maybe have paired ethernet wiring you're done.
Thanks all for your replies. To the first three posters: I have a wireless router but I don't want to either run cables through rooms, or use wireless pc cards due to a lack of speed. The room in question is the same room as my PC and my Xbox so running a cable 10 feet is fine. Peregrine, thanks but I have moved it, hence this topic.
Mr. Rational, I'll have to get in there and give it a try. I knew that the at&t guy came to my house and didn't need to get inside to activate the jack that he did. That's why I didn't know if there was just a few connections outside in a box I could move around. Thanks for your links, I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks all for your replies. To the first three posters: I have a wireless router but I don't want to either run cables through rooms, or use wireless pc cards due to a lack of speed. The room in question is the same room as my PC and my Xbox so running a cable 10 feet is fine. Peregrine, thanks but I have moved it, hence this topic.
Mr. Rational, I'll have to get in there and give it a try. I knew that the at&t guy came to my house and didn't need to get inside to activate the jack that he did. That's why I didn't know if there was just a few connections outside in a box I could move around. Thanks for your links, I'll let you know how it goes.
I don't understand the comment on the lack of speed. Can you elaborate? I'm not seeing a difference in speed, on my wifi network, when compared to wiring it to a router. It's not a big deal, but using wifi will eliminate the need to string wires throughout your home.
I don't understand the comment on the lack of speed. Can you elaborate? I'm not seeing a difference in speed, on my wifi network, when compared to wiring it to a router. It's not a big deal, but using wifi will eliminate the need to string wires throughout your home.
If he's running G and you're running N that's why... I use N on my laptop and it's a screamer. I go to other places where they are running on G and there is a noticeable lack of "snap".
If he's running G and you're running N that's why... I use N on my laptop and it's a screamer. I go to other places where they are running on G and there is a noticeable lack of "snap".
Then get N for both. I would, and have done that, to avoid stringing wires through the house. I've retired from running wires all over ever since G routers came out.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
