Using 1 copper pair for 2 or more POTS lines? 4

[jstorino]

Hello all:

At one of my sites, they wish to add an additional POTS line. The only problem, the construction costs to get an additional line to this location would be cost prohibitive.

We do not have any more copper pairs available in any of the existing wiring.

The location is at least 500 feet of cable from the DMARC. To run additional cable would involve removing ceramic tile, and require the co-operation of other tennants in the mall.

Is there any sort of device that would be able to split one or two of my existing copper pairs into multiple lines?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[luv2ski]

its called...call waiting

6 months until ski season starts...sadly i must resign myself to the warmer weather"this will include a normal 8-5 work day, 5 days a week"

 

[skip555]

what Ive done in similar situations is looked to the neighboring tennants

can you "borrow " a pair from someone nearby and just cable from thier demarc to yours ?

probably need to get the landalord involved , lay it on him inadequate building cabling ect . suggest to him that you "borrow" a pair as the soultion . evulate the neighbors needs , convince them they will never neeed it.

call waiting dosnt help much in making outgoing calls

 

[ISDNman]

You might price out ISDN BRI. If it is available and cost effective this gives you the equivalent of 2 lines on a single pair. IN some cases it is actually cheaper than 2 POTS lines,

You would need and ISDN terminal adaptor to break this back out into 2 POTS lines.

If availability during power outages is a must, then you'll need a UPS or possibly a TA with built in battery backup.

Due you have broadband on site? Another possibility would be to use a VOIP dial tone provider on the broadband for the second dial tone.

Good luck.

 

[senk1s]

you are looking for pairgain ...

http://www.charlesindustries.com/main/te_quads.html

the COs use these, costwise may not be feasible

 

[senk1s]

here is another one

http://www.valiantcom.net/DPGs-2_Application_Diagrams.htm

 

[jlshelton]

High quality cordless phone with spare charger stand.

 

[dcphoneguy]

Get a couple of old T1 channel bank units with FXO on one end and FXS on the other, that will give you 24 lines over 2 pairs from your demarc or just order your lines as a T1 from telco or a c-lec

 

[jstorino]

Thanks DCphoneguy. I may have a couple of channel banks at other locations that are no longer in use. Can you tell me what FXO and FXS are? Please excuse the ignorance, I know just enough to be dangerous

 

[ISDNman]

Great idea DCphoneguy . I should have suggested it!

FXO = Foreign Exchange Office Interface = Connects to an office line (e.g. POTS loop or ground start). Expects to see 20 Hz ringing and sinks loop current when off hook.

FXS - Foreign Exchange Station Interface = Connects to a station (phone). Provides 20 Hz ringing current as well as 48 volt (typically) loop current.

The FXS ports are much more commonly seen, since they are used all over the place to connect T1 from the Telco to analog PBXes and such. The FXO ports are out there, but harder to find.

Obviously you'd have the FXO channel bank interfaces connected to the existing POTS lines and on the other side you'd connected the FXS to your POTS equipment.

If the channel banks have integral CSUs you can connect to the other end through about 3000 feeet of cable (with the line build out set to 0 dB). If the channel banks have no CSU you can still go about 600 feet (the exact number and wire gauge escapes me, it may be up to 900 fet).

The connect in a "null T1" arrangement - T and R on one connect to T1 and R1 on the other. I can give you a link to the cable pinout if need be.

About the only drawback to this is that the ring generators in some Channel Banks tend to be non-sinusoidal. This can cause crosstalk into adjacent pairs. Also some equipment may have troubel recognizing it. But these are both rare problems.

good luck

 

[mextera]

DCPhoneGuy and Senk1s have the best soulutions, A channel bank is the best soulution but dont limit all you traffic to the channel bank i.e. keep at least two trunks one for FAX and one for dialtone. This incase there is problems with the channel bank. ISDNman is correct about ring generatoration in the channel bank. But they also are notorious for low fax quality.

Mextera