What to do when your home phone has no dial tone?

Checking the basics

1. If you have a cordless phone, make sure its base is properly plugged into an electrical outlet. Remember that in the event of a power outage, your cordless phone cannot work because its base is no longer powered.
2. Make sure the (Arris) modem’s power cable is connected and that the socket is powered.
3. Check that the telephone wire that connects the modem to the wall outlet is connected to the TEL 1/2 port on the back of the modem and to the other end. If possible, test with another telephone wire.
4. Check whether the Power and Online green lights are on. If not, reset the modem.
5. Make sure the Telephone 1 light is on and not blinking. If it is flashing, it means your handset is off the hook.
6. Check if all phones or phone jacks are affected in order to isolate the problem. If only one of your jacks doesn’t work, try connecting another telephone or telephone cable (RJ-11) to check if the source of the problem is your telephone or the jack.

Resetting the modem

If the Power green light isn’t on:

1. Reset the modem. Using a pointy object (pen or pencil), lightly press the recessed RESET button on the back of your modem.
2. Hold it down for a few seconds. You’ll feel a slight click.
3. Wait until the Power, DS, US, and ONLINE lights turn green.
4. Check the tone again. If the problem persists, move on to the next step.

Connecting a phone directly to the modem

If you still don’t hear a dial tone:

1. Unplug the phone cable located between the modem and wall socket.
2. Connect a telephone to the back of the modem in the TEL 1/2 port (the same one connected to the wall socket).
3. If the tone returns, the problem comes from your home phone’s internal wiring. If not, do the same test using a fixed-line telephone.
4. If you still can’t hear the dial tone, contact Technical Support.