Power Outages—Phone Modem (eMTA)
Your Buckeye phone modem (known as an eMTA) is powered by plugging it into an electrical wall outlet. In the event of a power outage, phone service (including access to 911 and any medical or security monitoring service that uses the Buckeye phone line) will be unavailable if you do not have battery backup. Buckeye does not provide battery backup for your phone modem; backup battery power, maintenance, and replacement are the customer’s responsibility.
- Without backup power source, your phone modem will not allow connection to the Buckeye network.
- You may purchase a battery backup and replacement on your own, or you may purchase at http://shop.surfboard.com/shop/batteries/arris-touchstone-modem-gatewayreplacement-batteries .
- Pricing and features (including, for example, the amount of active and standby time provided by the battery) will vary depending on the model selected.
- This notice is intended to provide general guidance, but the vendor from whom you purchase a backup battery will provide specific details regarding performance, storage, warranty, testing, recycling, and replacement. Please follow those details.
- Technology changes frequently—confirm that your phone modem is compatible with the backup battery you are purchasing or have on hand.
- Install a working and fully-charged backup battery before you need it. Please note that batteries degrade over time, so it is important that installation be performed correctly and that batteries be stored pursuant to vendor/manufacturer instructions.
- To use—connect a corded, single-line phone to the phone modem. A corded single-line phone may be powered by the battery in the phone modem by connecting it directly into the modem. Base stations for cordless phones may lose power too unless you supply a separate backup solution for that. You will need to have a battery backup or other power available for each piece of equipment you intend to power.
- Check your battery backup regularly, and know when to replace the battery. Some batteries will provide either an audible alarm or display a warning light when they need to be replaced. Check your user’s manual or vendor for information specific to your battery.
- When on backup power, use services sparingly, such as for emergency calls. For additional standby service time, some batteries allow you to “stack” – for example, to purchase two 4 hour batteries to get a total of 8 hours or standby time. Please consult your vendor and batter user’s manual for more information.
- Keep essential information like emergency numbers stored in a media that does not require available AC power, such as a notebook or a charged mobile device.
In addition, please note that your phone service uses the Buckeye network, which is powered by the electrical grid, and when the power fails Buckeye’s network may also fail. To minimize the risk of this, Buckeye uses both battery backup and generator support for its network infrastructure, but during an extended power outage the Buckeye broadband and phone network itself may become unavailable. You may also choose to rely on cell phones for a potential backup solution, however, cell service may also not be available