time to move down

Defective solder connections on the main circuit board. Locate the bad connections and resolder with fresh solder and the set will be "good as new". Good luck, pw

Do you have a simple basic wired handset telephone available? If so, plug the same cable you would plug into the laptop, into the telephone. Pick it up - do you hear a dial tone? If not, work your way back by using another telephone-to-wall jack cable. Try other jacks in the house and note the results. Still no tone, or only on some jacks, and your normal telephone works? Then you have in-home telephone wiring problems and may need to call someone - and it doesn't have to be the telephone company. If you hear a lot of static during the tests, you may also wish to check the NID (network interface device) where you can unplug your house wiring (it uses a standard telephone jack/plug) and connect directly to the telephone company wiring. Static and noise can sometimes cause a modem to report "no dial tone" errors. Sometimes, simply unplugging and reinstalling, can clean up oxidized connectors which could be a cause of static/noise. The NID is the gray box usually mounted on the outside of the house and is where the telephone company wiring ends, and your in-home wiring begins. If you do have static/noise when plugged into the NID, however, then it's a telephone company problem and you should contact them.

While allowed on the two small appliance branch circuits, deeding on what other loads you commonly use it might be better on its own circuit. A toaster or other large load just about maxes out a circuit. Add a microwave or convection oven, even a large stand mixer and you can overload. Like every induction, the refrigerator compressor pulls a significant start up surge. If the magnetron in the microwave cycles on at the same moment the compressor starts 20 amps may not be enough (even with the 'slow-blow' of an inverse time circuit breaker). If the refrigerator is used frequently every day the odds of missing the power being off are pretty small (unlike the freezer in the basement on its own circuit). Even a coffee maker is a significant load when it is brewing.