Eircom ISDN Wallbox question

Quorthon

OK I have my new pc (in case you didnt know by now ) and I have a question about connecting two pc's to the eircom wallbox that they install with ISDN. I dont know if they are all the same, but the box that was installed for me around 2 yrs ago has two ISDN ports (RJ45 type) and two regular phone ports. It also has a power socket although from the word go, it would only work when the power was NOT connected!!

My dilemma is now that I intend to keep both PC's and I just assumed that I could connect my new TA up to the second port. I did this to find it wasnt working. I tried it in the first port and hey presto its fine. (so I know its not the new pc). I now reasoned that maybe when there are two ports connected it might then need some power (there has to be some use for the bloody plug they installed after all). However, when I turn on the power neither port works??????

Is there any way I can run both of the pc's (each with their own TA's) off this box without having to keep switching cables in port 1???

Q

BKtje

this wont help you much to answer your question but
the engineer that installed mine told me that the ISDN takes power from the phone lines and that the extra power is only used for the analogue ports.

eg if u have the box unplugged ur normal phone wont work but u can still be connected to the internet over ISDN.

I know this probably doesnt help much but i thought i'd say it incase it does

Quorthon

hmmm Im not doubting that the engineer said that, except I actually do have an analog line running off the box atm and its fine without the power

Thanks anyway


Q

Gavin

Any serial numbers or name or anything on the box ?

Gav

yankinlk

the second port is for testing afaik

do you use the analogue ports? if you dont then you can ask eircom for a different box, i had one...it has two isdn and NO analogue. its for folk that install an isdn line in addition to a phone line.

if you are handy at wiring you could go down to a computer shop and buy a network wall point... take an isdn line and split it so that you have two ports...a bit dodgy but, isdn only uses two wires so it wouldnt be terribly difficult.

Gavin

Would those two wires match up with an ordinary phone splitter ?

Gav

Cake Fiend

Sounds like a dodgy box. IIRC both ISDN ports worked fine on mine, also I could go online using one ISDN line and one phone line with a modem (don't know if both ISDN lines are supposed to be able to work independantly, I only had one TA).

Legion

The ISDN boxes had some issues with dodgy power connections,they phoned me last year to say they were coming out to change it.

I have 2 PC'S Connected to the ISDN box with 2 TA's both connected at 64k for gaming, so you should be able to do the same.Sounds like a faulty box to me so get on to them to change it for you.

AFAIK the power has to be connected,for you to use the ISDN lines,if you have a power cut the analogue will work but the ISDN won't ( but in your case it seems to be the other way around).This is what the engineer told me when he installed it.

BlueDrax

D'Oh!

I was told that the ISDN box had to have power, so I've an extension lead running across the floor ( rented flat - not allowed to drill holes in the wall, mess with the electrics, etc. )

Just unplugged it and the analogue phone and ISDN are both working fine.

So, the question is, what does it need power for?

BKtje

AFAIK the power has to be connected,for you to use the ISDN lines,if you have a power cut the analogue will work but the ISDN won't ( but in your case it seems to be the other way around).This is what the engineer told me when he installed it.

Kinda weird. When i have it unplugged my ISDN as i said worked but my phone isnt.
I can hear it clicking which tells me that the phone is ringing somewhere in the house.

Would these differences be to do with how its programmed?
When i got it i had to program it a bit with that o so handy booklet which didnt confuse the hell outta ya

Quorthon

yeah, I think the box is definitely b0rk3d - Ive tried every possible permutation I can think of and it certainly seems to be something odd. I do remember the scare concerning the power connections referred to by Legion above - only Eircon never contacted me and it seemed to be working ok so I didnt do anything about it. Will get on to them this week and see what they say.

Q

Legion

Quorthon,the power scare was only connected with the actual power connection on the box,it was affecting certain box's issued on a certain date.The problem was due to loose pins inside the unit or something to that effect

It should not however effect your ability to connect two PC's to the isdn ports and have both of them using 64k.