I am sure there are many similar stories
but had a number of hard-to-find issues with old dial up networks...
Poor electric fences put up by farmers, you could hear the click-click-click of them working just by picking up handset - Modem baulked at this however finding the offending fence/farmer was far more tricky than the diagnosis.
Another line failed when it was wet and windy, I was a bit greener round the ears when this kicked off, but soon worked out that there was a wire chafing over the roof in the wind and rain was shorting it out. This was however the utility networks, not ours and they were not happy about re-routing it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
