Forum Discussion

deanchat's avatar
deanchat
Contributor
3 years ago

Mystery Tel2 notice and Caller ID problem

Greetings,

I have received an email from Cox (quoted at end) a couple of times stating that my phone is hooked up to Tel2 which causes a number of problems including inbound called ID problems.  It also states that starting on 3/22 I may no longer have a dial tone.

The problem is that I don't have anything connected to Tel2, only Tel1.  A while back my phone was connected to Tel2 because that was the only port that was active.  On 11/1/21 my phone modem was re-provisioned and the active port was set to Tel1 and all equipment is connected to Tel1 now.  This was describe in the following thread:

forums.cox.com/.../tel2-provides-a-dial-tone-but-tel1-does-not

Incidentally, my caller ID service has gotten worse over the past few months and now I would say that less than half of calls show any caller ID info.  I am not sure if this is related to the "mystery Tel2 issue" being mentioned in the Cox email of if it is something else.

Is there something I need to do so I can be sure to have phone service after 3/22/22 and also restore my caller ID service to reasonably functional state?

Thanks,
Dean

Body of email from Cox...

"TELEPHONE MODEM UPDATE NEEDED

Your Cox technical team has identified your account as having telephone equipment plugged into the wrong input of your Cox telephone modem.

We can fix that, but here's what's happened: Your account has 1 line of service, and it's designed to operate on port 1 of the modem. Your phone equipment shows you're also connected to port 2, causing problems such as a “false dial tone”, dropped calls after 30 min, and possibly inbound caller ID issues.

Starting March 22nd, 2022, a device update will disable the false dial tone; any lines connected to port 2 of the modem must be moved prior to that date."

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III

    I would surmise your original Tel2 discrepancy (hardware) is fixed.  Although Cox corrected by re-provisioning your service, Cox just didn't update their records (software).  Since nothing is connected to Tel2, Cox can't disable anything.  This is, if Cox only targets Tel2.

    Caller ID issues, yeah, been there, done that.  Perhaps its a separate issue but my best fix has been to log into my Cox account and reset my telephone modem.  It's hit-or-miss but eventually it'll take.

  • Bruce's avatar
    Bruce
    Honored Contributor III

    You seem like you want your ducks in a row; however, with all the Cox mistakes...provisioning Tel2 in the first place, not verifying if you're currently connected to Tel2 & sending this erroneous email...you'll have difficulty getting Cox inline.  I hate to tell you to "wait & see" but you may need to wait & see what happens on 22 March.  Holy Tel2, Mr Magoo!

    • deanchat's avatar
      deanchat
      Contributor

      I have a TM3402A modem.  Yes, I am trying to preempt possible disconnection, if that is a possibility.  Will try to do the soft reset (via website).  I have tried the simple reboot of the modem by unplugging and it did not do anything.  Will let you know how it goes.  Thanks for all the ideas!

      • JonathanJ's avatar
        JonathanJ
        Former Moderator
        @Deanchat

        Emails or letters were sent to all our with a TM3402A modem letting them know if you're using port 2 that it needs they need to swap to port 1 by the deadline date. Since your modem is already provisioned for port 1 you should be fine.


        Jonathan J
        Cox Moderator