FIOS when electricity is off
cjjjjj
Enthusiast - Level 3

We recently had FIOS installed in a new apartment. This morning the circuit breaker tripped and we immediately lost phone and Internet. At the last place where I had FIOS it had a backup battery which kicked in if there was a blackout, for example. So what is the story with this FIOS installation? Does this mean that if there is a blackout we will be completely cut off? What do I have to do to obtain continuing coverage for at least a few hours?  Unfortunately, I did not arrange for this installation (my partner did) so I don’t know what arrangements he made. 

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Re: FIOS when electricity is off
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

This picture should help there is a small input on the power supply where the D cell backup plugs into. Its number 6 on picture. 


image

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Re: FIOS when electricity is off
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

The back up battery only works the phone.  TV and internet will always go off in a power outage. Since there is no power to your TVs or computer. The new apartment you either have a dead battery or the power supply has been upgraded to the new one without a battery. Which is why everything went out immediately. 

Re: FIOS when electricity is off
cjjjjj
Enthusiast - Level 3

The phone went off, too. This is the first time I heard "upgrade" refer to a reduction in service. So how do we arrange to have the phone work if the power goes off? It is outrageous that you cannot even call 911. Even a cell phone lets one do that.

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Re: FIOS when electricity is off
cjjjjj
Enthusiast - Level 3

And the computers all have batteries, so it is inaccurate to say one loses internet because there is not power to the computer. You lose it because there is no power to the fios setup

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Re: FIOS when electricity is off
jonjones1
Legend

@cjjjjj wrote:

And the computers all have batteries, so it is inaccurate to say one loses internet because there is not power to the computer. You lose it because there is no power to the fios setup


You need to have internet to have access to Fios. The battery backup is for your phone service. However you must make sure the battery is operational or that you have batteries in the power reserve units. (They take 12 flashlight batteries) if you have the old ont you may have one of those clunky brick batteries. But again only for phone use up to 8 hours.

now what I have done is buy an APC backup battery unit from Best Buy which on the higher end can last 10-12 hours and will operate the ont and the router and cordless phones and tv. I purchased 4 of them and when power went out in last winters storm everything connected to them was operational. This is the way to go.

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Re: FIOS when electricity is off
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Like the other poster said the ONT connects 2 ways. The old BBU with the 12v battery. That is an uninterrupted battery backup. Power goes off ONT goes into battery mode and only supports voice. TV and Internet shut down in this mode. 

The second is the upgraded power adapter. The reason it is an "upgrade" is because the old BBU's regularly fail. It has no built in battery option. There is an additional D cell tray that takes 12 D batteries. But it is not uninterrupted. When you lose power ONT will shut down and you will have to turn the switch on the D cell tray to power up the ONT. Again in this mode ONT will only support voice. 

I'm not sure which type you have but you either need a new 12V battery or get the D cell tray and have 12 D batteries on hand.

Re: FIOS when electricity is off
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

@cjjjjj wrote:

And the computers all have batteries, so it is inaccurate to say one loses internet because there is not power to the computer. You lose it because there is no power to the fios setup


It's not inaccurate because yes the computers have batteries but your router do not and again the ONT only supports voice when running on battery. 

Re: FIOS when electricity is off
cjjjjj
Enthusiast - Level 3

These do not answer my question. When the electricity went off we lost FIOS phone service IMMEDIATELY! This means that if there is an emergency and a blackout, we could not call 911. My understanding is that a FIOS phone is supposed to work for 8 hours after electricity goes. If this is not correct, what do I have to do to have make this phone work, at least for a few hours if there is no electricity. if it should have a back-up battery, how do i get it to work. Please answer in plain English, as I don't know what all those initials mean.

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Re: FIOS when electricity is off
jonjones1
Legend

This has been answered the best that it could.

on Fios the battery backup unit or the new power reserves make the phone portion of the service continue in a loss of power situation.

without the battery back up unit you have no service. Have either yourself or Verizon verify the battery is operational so you can continue to use the phone up to 8 hours.

Re: FIOS when electricity is off
cjjjjj
Enthusiast - Level 3

Sorry, how do you determine if the backup is working, or if it was even installed? This is a new service, and there were no instructions provided

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