Telephone Breakdown mystery solved....

[cobra]

Some may have been wondering why for two days this week the telephone service to Hopetown was down. As it turns out, someone has installed some Wireless Internet equipment on the roof of a private residence which blocked the telephone signal between the BTC tower in Hopetown and the BTC tower at Marsh Harbour.

After working for two full days, and changing out several ratio transmitters, the BTC Techs. discovered this rogue installation, and were able to restore telephone service to that Island.

Perhaps the guilty party should compensate for all the loss of business due to this act. I trust that URCA and BTC will do a thorough investigation and punish appropriately.

Some people. Sheesh!!

[bellavista]

Your post seems to suggest they intended to block the signal.
any evidence of this?
I have a wifi internet installation on my house as do dozens, scores or hundreds of other folks in Abaco.
are we all rogue?

Sorry this happened, but can't see this was intentional based on the info provided.

[cobra]

Now hold on a minute if you please. Perhaps you could copy and paste that portion of my post that supports your theory.

How could you read a simply informational post and become so defensive?

Too much drama! Sheesh!!

[minor]

I could be wrong but..
I don't see any standard wifi blocking BTC's wireless. I think something a lot stronger and requiring a license would be doing this.

[PELLUCID]

It's unlikely that standard wi-fi equipment in the 2.4Ghz band would cause interference with BTC equipment.

It's possible to buy in the USA high-powered equipment which operates outside the power and frequency ranges which the FCC approves for unlicensed use. This stuff is clearly labeled "for export only" or in some cases "for military use only". The Bahamas is, of course, outside FCC jurisdiction, and so people can do what they like. But anyone who activated equipment like this would have to know they were doing something that had the potential to inconvenience their neighbors.

[Vision Quest]

I think Hope Town Harbor is WAY overdue for another visit from the URCA. I would hate to see some kind of "cluster" there down the road.

V.Q.

[trubahamian]

Some may have been wondering why for two days this week the telephone service to Hopetown was down. As it turns out, someone has installed some Wireless Internet equipment on the roof of a private residence which blocked the telephone signal between the BTC tower in Hopetown and the BTC tower at Marsh Harbour.

After working for two full days, and changing out several ratio transmitters, the BTC Techs. discovered this rogue installation, and were able to restore telephone service to that Island.

Perhaps the guilty party should compensate for all the loss of business due to this act. I trust that URCA and BTC will do a thorough investigation and punish appropriately.

Some people. Sheesh!!

This is toooo funny cobra,because who has cost us more lost business than BATELCO themselves? They were the inventors of partime service wit a fulltime bill! ;)

[SamFamAustin]

My folks use VOIP and a computer through OII/Abaco-Inet or something like that. It costs like 15 cents a minute and is usually up if and when the power is on, except sometimes in the afternoon about 2-3 o'clock there is some major interference. I thought a bunch of peeps did that too?

[Vision Quest]

If you have a Google account try Google Voice, it's free (US & Can) till the end of the year. Can't help ya with the interference problem, doesn't happen with my internet provider (even when the power is out).

V.Q.

[SamFamAustin]

Great idea! But my dad says to be careful, because BATELCO says it runs a monopoly and they don't like pirates like us because we skirt the duty laws.

As to the interference thing, I can't see why an antenna is messing with a microwave repeater system for telephones which would be common in the islands, although I guess they work by line-of-sight. As Pellucid suggests, perhaps a high-powered broadcasting station could provide some static but shouldn't bring the entire system to its knees. For a regular PC router, for example, the signal has to pass through me, a refrigerator, and two walls but my wife gets screaming download speeds just I'm getting off the modem. Put a mountain of limestone or granite in between me and my wife's laptop, she would be out of business. So I guess I don't get it.

[Tingum]

I am surprised BTC could figure out the problem. They are worse than BEC! Our phone service has been out since before Katrina!!!!! At a meeting over the boat thefts we were told to call the police if we saw anything "suspicous", imagine the shock on our commissioners face when we ask how to do that with no telephone service! She did not have a clue!! She was going to get right on it. That was last winter, still no phones!

[anchor out]

I am surprised BTC could figure out the problem. They are worse than BEC! Our phone service has been out since before Katrina!!!!! At a meeting over the boat thefts we were told to call the police if we saw anything "suspicous", imagine the shock on our commissioners face when we ask how to do that with no telephone service! She did not have a clue!! She was going to get right on it. That was last winter, still no phones!


:eek::eek::eek::eek::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: :mad::mad::mad::mad:!!!

[Beer Baron]

I am surprised BTC could figure out the problem. They are worse than BEC! Our phone service has been out since before Katrina!!!!! At a meeting over the boat thefts we were told to call the police if we saw anything "suspicous", imagine the shock on our commissioners face when we ask how to do that with no telephone service! She did not have a clue!! She was going to get right on it. That was last winter, still no phones!

You should call BTC and complai - ...oh, right...:eek: