# Cordless Phone "Lights Up" w/ No Incoming Call



## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

I have an odd problem with my cordless phone. I talked to AT&T about it but all they could tell me was that it wasn't due to the line being bad.

Periodically my handset will "light up" (keypad/call ed info area/etc.) but not the "ringer light".

There is no call coming in when this happens, but it always distracts me and makes me think a call may be coming. It disappears after 30 seconds.

1. Is this caused by picking up a neighbor's cordless signal? If not, why?

2. Is it fixable?

My current phone is a model GE 28851 DECT 6.0, but it has happened with two other models of cordless phones as well. I can live with it, but it'd be nice to at least know why it's happening.

Thanks


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Does it do it anytime or just when it is not in the charger?
May do it to let you know you should put phone in charger


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

It lights up when the phone is in the charger, whether it's fully charged or not. It doesn't seem to be anything that the phone is supposed to do in terms of indicating anything. I'm guessing it comes from some kind of interference but I'm not sure why. I've had it happen with 3 different models of cordless phones.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

It might be your phone line is flaky, an open phone line will look like the phone is off-hook.


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

thanks for your reply. can you help me understand what "an open phone line" means. my concern is that it is the phone line, but at&t says it's not simply because they ran some test from their office. my thought is that since the problem occurs only once every half hour or so, the test wouldn't notice any disruption unless it occurred when the problem happened.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, I don't have a lot of faith in the fact that they "ran a test". 

An open line simply means that one side of the line is floating and doesn't connect to the phone. Try simply unplugging the phone line, and you'll get an indication that the line is off-hook.


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

Yes, I'm not so sure about this ran a test claim either. I have insurance so they won't make any money for sending out a repair person. The first person I spoke with said they would send out a repair person within a few days. The next day I rec'd a call stating there was no need to send someone out.

Thanks for clarifying the term "open line." To see if I could replicate the problem I've been having I disconnected the phone line from one of my phones that has been "randomly" lighting up, but it didn't light up when I unplugged it, or when I plugged the phone line back in.

So far I haven't been able to figure out what causes the lighting up issue. I've also tried picking up/pressing talk on another phone to see if that makes the other ones light up, but that doesn't do it either. It's quite strange.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

That sounds more like a defective phone in that case.

Another possibility is other wireless devices or phones on the same channel triggering the phone to thinking it needs to wake up.


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

I agree that it may be another wireless device on the same channel. The strange thing is that I've noticed a pattern. It happens exactly every half hour! 24 minutes after the hour, and 54 minutes after the hour!

My sense is that the phone isn't defective because I've had the same issue with 3 different models of phones. The mystery to me is what on earth (or at least near my phones) could be triggering it every half hour


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Hard to say, you'll need to look at your environment and see if you can identify it.


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

Thanks for your assistance. I'll continue to ponder this. The thing that I can't imagine is that anything in my home would automatically send a signal every 30 minutes.

If anyone else has any possible solutions, please let me know. Thanks.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Alarm clock?


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

thanks for the alarm clock idea. i double checked and the alarm feature isn't set  my sense is that since it has happened with 3 models of phones it's probably not particular to the phone. the more i've noticed it, the more i can see that it's always at 24 minutes and 54 minutes after the hour, but not necessarily every 24 minutes and 54 minutes after the hour.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

That's very odd, obviously something is triggering it. I'd have to suspect RF interference in this case. I have no idea where it might be coming from.


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## celife (Nov 4, 2009)

Yes, it's quite odd. Radio Frequency may be what it is indeed. I just can't figure out what would trigger it at such specific points in time. Hopefully someone who's heard of such a thing will run into this thread.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

It's certainly an odd one.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

One test is to let someone else use the phone that does not live close by and see if they have the same thing happen and then your find out if your picking something up over the air. 

Where I was living there were two phone lines in the house. Mine worked but the other phone was picking up a radio station somehow and you could always hear it in the back ground. That went on a long time and then I called the phone company about it and then weeks later it stopped.


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