Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!nucsrl!telecom-request
From: Bernie Roehl <broehl@watserv1.waterloo.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Reverse-voltage Phone Line Test
Message-ID: <6240@accuvax.nwu.edu>
Date: 10 Apr 90 14:26:47 GMT
Sender: news@accuvax.nwu.edu
Organization: University of Waterloo
Lines: 25
Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 10, Issue 246, Message 3 of 12


In article <6070@accuvax.nwu.edu> randyd@microsoft.UUCP (William R. Day) 
writes:

>>If I'm up late at night, I sometimes hear a short beep from the phone.
   ...
>Same here. It seems that every night at about 11:30pm the phones in
>our house give a short half-ring. What is going on? I've decided the
>regularity is too great for this to be random noise on the line.

It sounds like a hacker in your city trying to find systems to break
into.  They assume that computers will answer when they see the ring
voltage (i.e. instantly); they run through every phone number in each
of their local exchanges waiting for that instant answer, giving up
right away to avoid humans.

(Odd, though ... I assume you'd still get one complete ring, or none at
all ... maybe it's phone company testing after all...)


	Bernie Roehl, University of Waterloo Electrical Engineering Dept
	Mail: broehl@watserv1.waterloo.edu OR broehl@watserv1.UWaterloo.ca
	BangPath: {allegra,decvax,utzoo,clyde}!watmath!watserv1!broehl
	Voice:  (519) 747-5056 [home]  (519) 885-1211 x 2607 [work]