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Troubleshooting no dial tone on your home phone

When you’re experiencing no dial tone, you won’t hear anything on your phone set when you pick it up and you can’t dial in or out.  

No dial tone on your home phone may be because: 

  • Rogers equipment is disconnected from a power source 

  • Phone set has no power 

  • Telephone wiring is disconnected or damaged 

  • Network outage 

  • Issue(s) with the Rogers connection to your home 

This article provides tips on how to fix the above issues that may be causing no dial tone. 

Getting started 

This guide is meant to provide instruction should you find that a single handset or phone in your home is without a dial tone. Please make sure your home phone service is working on other phones in your home and that only one phone has a dial tone before moving on.  

Before troubleshooting the various reasons why your phone doesn't have a dial tone, confirm the issue isn't related to Rogers Voice service or the One-Way Voice feature. 

  • Rogers Voice: No dial tone on your Rogers Voice service that uses the Rogers Xfinity Gateway? This article will help you. 

  • One-Way Voice: If you don't hear a dial tone on your phone and you’re unable to hear anything when you pick up, even if the call is connecting, you’re likely experiencing One Way Voice. Here are some helpful tips.

Step 1: Check for network outages

If it’s more than one phone in your home that you are having issues with, there could be a network outage in your area. Visit Network Help & Outages to ask our Virtual Assistant Anna if there are any service issues in your area.

Fixing No Dial Tone

There may be No Dial Tone because of the following reasons:

  • Rogers equipment is disconnected from a power source
  • Phone set has no power
  • Telephone wiring is disconnected or damaged
  • Network outage
  • Issue(s) with the Rogers connection to your home

Try these steps in the following order. And only continue to the next step if the problem persists.

  1. Check if any of your other Rogers Services have stopped working.
    • If your Rogers Home Phone, Rogers Internet and/or Rogers Digital TV services have stopped working all at once, first make sure that all the Rogers Equipment still has power and are connected to cable outlets inside the premises. If they are, please contact Technical Support.
    • Otherwise, if just the Rogers Home Phone service has stopped working, go to the next step.
  2. Go to your Rogers Home Phone modem (usually beside the fuse panel in a home or by the internet home phone modem or TV in an apartment building), and check if there are any lights on the front face.
    • When the Rogers Home Phone modem is fully operational all the lights on the front face should be on except for Link – or Battery if it is dead or removed – and all the lights will be solid, with none flashing.
    • If no lights are on, the home phone modem has no power and the battery has discharged. Make sure the power cord is secure to the home phone modem and still plugged in at the wall. If plugged into a power bar, make sure it’s still turned on. If you cannot get the home phone modem to start up after confirming it’s plugged in and there is power in the outlet it is using by connecting a different device (or plugging the home phone modem into an outlet you know is working), please contact Technical Support.
    • If just the Power light is on, the home phone modem needs to be unplugged from power and the battery removed so it shuts down completely, then reconnected. These articles will help you get the battery out:
    • If the DS or US lights are flashing and the lights after them are off, your home phone modem has lost connection with the Rogers network. Make sure that the coaxial cable (the round cable) is screwed tight to the home phone modem and the wall. Then, press and hold the Reset/Reboot button on the home phone modem for 15-20 seconds to force it to reconnect to the network. These articles will help you find the button for your home phone modem:
    • If the Tel 1 light is flashing (or Tel 2 if it’s your second line that’s not working) but all the other lights are solid as expected, one of your phone sets is off the hook or a device connected to the home phone line is holding it open. Try removing phone sets and devices one at a time until the light stops flashing. If you’re able to find a device that is holding the line open, leave it disconnected and try a different phone set (if available).
      • Note: powered phone sets and devices like fax machines can “brain freeze” and refuse to release the line. Often simply unplugging them from power and plugging them back in will restore normal operation. However, if they continue to hold the line open after a power cycle, it may be necessary to replace them, the telephone cord connecting them or the wall jack they are plugging into.
    • If all the lights on the front of your Rogers Home Phone modem are solid except for Link and you still have No Dial Tone, press talk on one of your cordless phones or leave a handset off the receiver and then check if Tel 1 (Tel 2 if you’re troubleshooting the second line), starts to flash.
      • If Tel 1 starts to flash, you’re likely experiencing One Way Voice. This article can help you fix this.
      • If Tel 2 starts to flash, you’re plugged into the wrong telephone jack on the back of the Rogers Home Phone modem. You’ll need to move the telephone cord to the other grey jack to restore service.
      • If neither Tel 1 or Tel 2 starts to flash, there’s no connection between your telephone set and the Rogers Home Phone modem. This could be caused because the:
        • Telephone cord is currently plugged into the yellow or silver Ethernet jack on the Rogers Home Phone modem. If it is, it needs to be moved to the grey Tel ½ jack.
        • The telephone cord from the Rogers Home Phone modem or your phone set is disconnected from the wall outlet. Check and reconnect if necessary.
        • Intercom Users: You may have an additional device called a TLSD next to the home phone modem to make the building intercom work. This can sometimes stick on the Intercom line. To reset it, simply disconnect the telephone cord from the Rogers Home Phone modem, count to 10, and then reconnect it. This usually restores service.
  3. If not already done, Reset your Rogers Home Phone modem by pressing and holding the Reset/Reboot button on the back for 15-20 seconds.
  4. If your phone currently plugs into a wall outlet, disconnect it and then bring it to your Rogers Home Phone modem. Remove the phone line connected to Tel 1/2 and set it aside. Then connect your phone directly into Tel 1/2 (or Tel 2 if you are troubleshooting a second line).
    • If this fixes the problem, something about the phone wiring inside the home is preventing Dial Tone from reaching the outlets. You can contact us and we can investigate this for a fee. You can also use any local contactor or resolve the issue yourself as the wiring inside the home belongs to you. If you’re renting, we’d recommend you contact your landlord for assistance as they may have a preferred contactor for resolving issues with the property.
    • If you still have No Dial tone when you are plugged into the Rogers equipment with nothing in-between, contact Technical Support for further assistance.