Just wanted you to know that I experienced the same frustrations as you
in getting dial tone to other phones in my home. I had AT&T landline service
for many years. My internet provider is Time Warner cable. I elected to have
my telephone number transferred (ported) to OOMA. The transfer was completed
two days ago. I followed the instructions provided in the the OOMA Start Guide
which was supplied when I purchased the device. Yet, the only phone that would
work was the one connected directly to the device. I troubleshooted the wall jack
in the room with my computer as well as purchased a new telephone cord to connect
the OOMA to the wall jack. Incidentally, my computer and OOMA Telo is also in an
upstairs room! I called OOMA customer service several times for assistance. They
told me to make sure my AT&T service is deactivated. I contacted AT&T and they
assured me that it was cancelled/deactivated two days ago. Still, I was unable to get
dial tone on my other phones. Today, I finally resolved the problem by disconnecting
the telephone wire on the outside telephone box. In my case, I had a jack that simply
needed to be disconnected in the telephone box. If, as I believe you later describe, you
only have wires that are connected to terminals (and no jack), I would think that all
you would have to do is disconnect the wires from the terminals. That's provded you
have no other services passing through your in-house telephone cable.
Today, my OOMA service works great! Regarding the splitter that I saw being referred
to in several postings, I used one from Walmart called a Duplex Jack that plugs in
the back of the phone port of your device. To this you connect both the cord from
the wall jack and your telephone next to your device. For you and others that may
experience these frustrations in the future, I offer this advice. When contacting your
telephone landline provider and if you're having your telephone number ported, it isn't
enough to tell them to cancel or deactivate your service. You must use the term
"disconnect your service" which can only be done at the box which is usually outside
the house. All it takes is a screwdriver unless you want to pay to have a technician
do it for less than 5 minutes of work.
I hope that you have your OOMA service up and running by now. Hopefully, this posting
will help others down the road. Also, if you have an answering machine elsewhere in
the house that you want to keep as your primary phone for receiving messages (as do
I), I will be glad to assist.
