Hearing other people dial then hangup

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 13, 2005 Posts: 5

Over the last few weeks I have been on the phone talking and hear what sounds like other people picking up a phone and dialing then hanging up. It seems like they hear my conversation then hang up.

This happens on all phones in my house including one wired and wireless ones.

I have a pap2 hooked to netgear WGT511T and a Terayon cable modem that is DOCSIS 2.0.

Has anyone else experienced holding a conversation then hearing another person attempt to dial or even talk? It appears like lines are getting crossed but just unsure how with a phone that is wired.

I have also experienced problems with person on the other end not hearing like others.

Any suggestions as at all?

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

Is your Pap2 connected to your house wiring? If so, did you disconnect the outside POTS connection? Very wierd that a wired phone would do that. I could see a portable handset, but wired phone is wierd.

Would anybody be interested in wire-tapping your phone?
Very Happy

Posts: 2257

bwiz wrote:

Over the last few weeks I have been on the phone talking and hear what sounds like other people picking up a phone and dialing then hanging up. It seems like they hear my conversation then hang up.

This happens on all phones in my house including one wired and wireless ones.

I have a pap2 hooked to netgear WGT511T and a Terayon cable modem that is DOCSIS 2.0.

Has anyone else experienced holding a conversation then hearing another person attempt to dial or even talk? It appears like lines are getting crossed but just unsure how with a phone that is wired.

I have also experienced problems with person on the other end not hearing like others.

Any suggestions as at all?

Yes, disconnect your wireless phones and go out and buy secure ones. I think someone is (either by accident or on purpose) using their handset with one of your base units to use your line to make calls. You would, of course, hear the conversation on your wired phone if that were the case.

Since the other end of the line is hanging up without comment and not indignantly complaining about you stealing their line (as you would expect someone to if they thought it was their line and YOU were the interloper), I suspect they are pirating your phone line, and it's probably happening over the wireless section of your phone network. Though, I wouldn't rule out someone tapping into your outside phone jack if you have your Vonage unit hooked into house wiring.

Posts: 18 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Nov 11, 2005 Posts: 18

Let me inform you all as to what the "other people" noise really is.

First off, "stealing" someone's telephone line to use, is really insane. It would be loud and easy to hear.

In reality, what this is, is interference. The lower frequency your cordless phone uses, the more interference you will recieve.

900 mhz = worst
2.4 ghz = average (cities with lots of cell phones will give interference)
5.8 ghz= the best

It's not your phone connections, it's your phone.

Happy hunting!

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2005 8:30 pm Post subject:

Cyrus255 wrote:

First off, "stealing" someone's telephone line to use, is really insane. It would be loud and easy to hear.

"Loud and easy to hear"? How so? If I'm not using my phone at the time, I probably wouldn't notice the "in use" light lighting up on my cordless base, assuming I even had one.

Interference is most certainly a possibility, though it's kind of odd that the people on the other side hang up each time without comment. However, you are very likely right. "Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to interference." Wink

Though I'm still confused as to how a wired handset could pick up that interference. If the wireless handset is not in use, then it shouldn't be receiving any signal, so how could the "other call" get in there?

I'm not saying that it's being stolen for certain, but it is a possibility with unsecured handsets. Just tune a handset to match the base you want to hijack, which requires very little in the way of specialty equipment. My brother had several hours of International calls made on his line using the same technique a few years ago, and it's not hard to do. Pick up, and if you get a dial tone, make the call. If you hear someone pick up while you and the person you just called were talking, then just hang up.

Many newer cordless phones have a simple security code that gets renegotiated each time you hang the phone up to charge. This helps ensure that the handset and base "know" about each other and don't respond to the wrong unit.

However, on second thought, there is one very easy way to tell if your Vonage line is being used. Look in the call log. If there are calls there that you didn't make, then chances are your line is being hijacked. If not, then it's probably interference. I forgot Vonage had the call log feature because I rarely use it. Handy little bugger. Wink

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

Any way you look at it, the first step is to eliminate cordless phones and see if the problem goes away. Better yet, disconnect from the house wiring and plug one corded phone into the adapter. If the problem goes away, we can investigate further from there.

Posts: 18 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Nov 11, 2005 Posts: 18

I've worked in the telephone industry, and well, telephone line theft is very uncommon.

However!

When you pick up that cordless phone, your phone sets itself to a "channel"

If two people are close to each other using the same channel, you can have some interference, and hear each other occasionally.

Most phones auto-select their channels, so they will try to get out of that channel, as it is full of interference.

As far as avoiding it entirely, think of your frequency as a moving target, and it's much less likely to be "hit" by other frequencies the faster it goes.

Hope that helps!

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 13, 2005 Posts: 5

As stated in my original message, it is both the hardwired phone and my cordless phones that are getting the interference. My cordless phones are 5.8 ghz and Yes, my phone line coming into my house is disconnected.

No one is stealing the line because the activity shows nothing out of the ordinary.

Also, has anyone experienced anything with Caller ID not working? Also sometimes I hang up after a call and that person calls back withing 10 secs, they end up getting voicemail?