Skip to main content

Questions tagged [telephone]

The tag has no usage guidance.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
1 answer
96 views

Grounding for exterior cable/phone interface boxes

I have a cable and phone (currently unused) media boxes on the outside of the house to which the service is connected from the alley aerially. The picture does not show the conduit that goes between ...
7 votes
5 answers
3k views

Safe to remove out-of-service 3-line landline junction box by myself?

We have lived in this house 13 years. It's wired for a landline, but we've never used it. Previous owners must have had 3 business phones lines to the house. There is a junction box for those ...
0 votes
1 answer
165 views

How do I connect to a 3-wire 1949 interior phone line?

I’m trying to connect a modern 4-wire telephone surface-mount jack to what appears to be an original 1949 3-wire telephone line: only red, green and yellow wires. I’m replacing the original four-post ...
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

How do I replace original telephone jack with a new one?

I have what appears to be an original telephone jack from the 1980's that I wanted to replace with a white face to freshen it up. When I opened the back, I found that the wires are directly attached ...
0 votes
1 answer
355 views

UK telephone wiring for smart doorbell? Is it strong rated enough?

I've just bought a reolink wifi doorbell, which says you can use the previous doorbell wiring to connect it up, so long as it's got the right voltage. I'm pretty sure mine currently doesn't as the ...
0 votes
1 answer
47 views

110 block vs UR IDC for telephone line connections [closed]

I have a landline telephone line that branches out to 5 telephone outlets. Would it be better to use 110 block or a UR IDC (red scotchlock) connector for the connections/splices? Would water/moisture ...
15 votes
7 answers
18k views

Am I OK cutting an unused cable TV incoming service cable attached to my house?

I have some tree limbs I need to cut but there is a wire under it going to a house I own and will eventually demolish. I think the wire is for internet. I called the local company to get it removed, ...
3 votes
4 answers
2k views

Mystery telephone connection block in old cottage

enter image description hereThis is the old connection block as the wires come into our cottage. We have been trying to figure out why the phone stopped working
2 votes
3 answers
234 views

How to merge two 66B4-3 phone blocks to join lines?

My house came with what I presume are 2 phone circuits. I've now connected one of them to VoIP service -- it works great for my wife's work. However, we'd like to move her office to a different room ...
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

Can I cut off ONE phone jack, not the others?

I have a landline and want to keep it. But I want to inactivate/close off one jack while keeping the others alive? Is that possible?
23 votes
3 answers
15k views

Repurpose telephone line to ethernet

I have a (UK) telephone socket in the same corner of each of the three floors in my house. My broadband router is connected to the socket on the bottom floor. The wiring looks like the following: ...
13 votes
2 answers
8k views

Mystery telephone wiring device in old house

This mystery thing is mounted to a ceiling joist in the basement of a 1940s house. I have a couple of questions: What is it? Is there any reason I couldn't rip it out and run new Cat 5e's from the ...
0 votes
1 answer
132 views

How can I understand phone lines are split or not?

I have an Open House telephone extension hub (ChannelPlus model H618). It has 7 Cat 5Es connected to it. 8th line is disconnected. In the house, I have 6 phone wall outlets. Still looking for the 7th ...
6 votes
1 answer
422 views

Is this odd device some kind of lightning arrestor or primitive fuse? Help identify

I found this in a junk box in an attic of a house built in the 1940's. The original house owner repaired appliances and took stuff in trade, so it may predate the house. It is on a ceramic base. It ...
1 vote
3 answers
4k views

Why do phone and cables companies leave their cables behind, and what to do about it?

Lately while walking the dogs I've noticed a lot of unused cable dangling down from the (quaint) phone poles all around our town. As far as I can tell from both its position on the pole and the ...
3 votes
3 answers
10k views

power surges causing internet dropouts?

What I now know is that the problem is the power and not from ISP. The frequent almost hourly dropouts to the adsl started when I began using a Powerline Adapter. The dropouts would affect the ...
11 votes
6 answers
11k views

Wiring Ethernet through Telephone Cable

I have been researching this for some time now and feel that I am almost ready to begin. I have run into a slight problem though that I can't seem to find any answers for. The telephone cables in my ...
4 votes
3 answers
3k views

What is an "indoor phone system" called?

I want to install a phone system that I can "call" within my house. What I mean is that I want to call my wife from my home office to my kitchen using a phone system; then my wife can use the phone ...
0 votes
0 answers
395 views

Can I remove a demarcation point for a telco that no longer exists?

Awhile back we had a new electrical service put in, and they put in a whole new service mast and the works. But the old service mast is still sitting there because there are other services connected ...
0 votes
0 answers
86 views

Unknown Phone Cable to Internet

My home is old (like over 20 years), and we just renovate it last years. Later on, I started to use another part of my home, and that part wasn't touched for a long time (not during the renovation). I ...
3 votes
3 answers
3k views

Can anyone suggest how to connect a CAT6 cable to the incoming 5 pair telephone cable?

The below image displays the incoming cable from the telephone provider. As far as I have searched it's a 5-pair telephone cable. I was suggested by the telephone company to replace the current ...
2 votes
4 answers
698 views

Adapting RJ-45 to RJ-11? [closed]

I'm planning to rewire the networking in my home with Cat5e or Cat6 throughout. The wiring will go to a central patch panel, where my router and main switch will be located. One issue, though, is that ...
4 votes
2 answers
3k views

Does anyone know if this is a Ethernet jack or a phone line?

I just moved in and I was wondering with this is? It has 6 pins but I have no idea what it is.
-1 votes
2 answers
649 views

Connecting two phone wires to phone socket

I am trying to connect ( 1 line ) 2 phone wires ( they are blue and white ) from the wall to telephone socket, but i am not sure where the wires go and how can i identify them and where to connect ...
10 votes
5 answers
66k views

What's the right way of removing an indoor telephone line?

I'm in the process of removing an old telephone jack that has wiring running along the wall. The jack is easily removed, but I'm unclear on what to do with the wiring. It seems short sighted and ...
0 votes
2 answers
821 views

Phone socket replacement

I have a faulty phone wall socket which I think needs replacing. I am not very familiar with this type of technology so I don't know what I need. I have attached a pic of the one I have now. The ...
0 votes
1 answer
570 views

Using a telephone wall-mount jack for an Ethernet-connected (VOIP) phone

(There are already a lot of existing questions here about converting telephone wire to use it for Ethernet. That is not my question. I already know that the CAT5 in the wall here is a straight run ...
1 vote
2 answers
827 views

No dial tone on phone jacks

The phone box is located inside my house. It had listed on it there were 3 phone lines in the box . Since I moved in never had a home phone . Just went to get Internet service needing a phone line . ...
2 votes
2 answers
4k views

Can I repurpose this RJ45 setup for phone to run as Ethernet?

So my home is wired with what I thought looked like Ethernet ports. After trial of plugging in my computer and seeing that the ports weren't working as Ethernet cables, I dug deeper. The wires that ...
1 vote
1 answer
244 views

Internal Only Home PBX Intercom Using Vintage Wired Phones [closed]

I would like to set up a home PBX that is INTERNAL only. All of the other tutorials I see include an element of hooking to an outside line. I assume this is to draw the power needed. I would like ...
1 vote
3 answers
2k views

How can I run voice over existing coaxial cable?

I've been doing home improvement projects for a while and one thing that I've made use of the most is taking advantage of existing cabling in the walls that isn't being used. The project that did this ...
4 votes
2 answers
4k views

Are there any disadvantages to switching from a punch-down distribution box to an RJ-45 one?

My house is wired for Ethernet, and it uses RJ45 jacks wired with Cat5 cables for POTS. I have no use for POTS, and I'd prefer to repurpose those jacks as additional Ethernet jacks. The Ethernet and ...
0 votes
1 answer
294 views

Laying your own telephone cable (from demarcation point)

So my telephone cable from the demarcation point to my apartment is broken and there's no way to get a proper technician to fix it in the next few weeks. So I tried to do it myself, but the router ...
1 vote
2 answers
104 views

Help identify wiring adapter involving Cat 5e cable?

We recently moved into a 1960's house. 4 of the bedrooms have dual RJ-45 and RJ-11 receptacles. When I got cable installed, they had to run a new wire from the telephone pole out front. I was told the ...
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Is it frequent to use two Ethernet cables for one phone line?

I'm experiencing some noise on my phone when it is connected in the wall. There's no noise when connected right in the modem. So I decided to check things out and I noticed something that seems odd ...
0 votes
1 answer
496 views

Telephone wiring question

I am trying to rewire the telephone wires in my home, and I appear to be not getting it. I have extremely familiar with running cat5, as I use it all day long for my job, and thought telephoney was ...
0 votes
1 answer
19k views

how to safely terminate phone cable

I took a phone jack off the wall and snipped the cable. I'm not getting any voltage between green and red, either AC or DC. I don't want to just leave a wire in the wall that could become live. How ...
0 votes
2 answers
166 views

Running a New Telephone Wire For Master Socket - Cross Over Electrical Cables

I have moved into a property that was built in the 1930's so the walls are double wall cavity and also inside the house its all rock solid brick. This causes me an issue whereby the Master Telephone ...
1 vote
1 answer
965 views

Is it within code to run ent conduit into a junction box on the exterior of the home?

I am in the construction process for a new home. I asked the Low Voltage Contractor to run conduit to about 13 places inside the house. In addition to that I asked for a run to the exterior of the ...
2 votes
3 answers
276 views

How to put telephone plate back to the wall

I have this telephone plate in the kitchen and the backsplash tile is brand new. I don't remember how it looks like before. There were only two wires coming out. Now I don't want to cut the tile and ...
0 votes
2 answers
312 views

Identify source of current in phone lines and reclaim use of phone lines?

I'm trying to use a VoIP system in my home's existing phone lines, which I have little knowledge of. The two bedrooms are connected. I can hook up my Obitalk adapter in one and get a dial tone in the ...
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

Moving a telephone jack and wiring it

Our telephone jack in the kitchen is positioned for a wall mounted phone, and I want to move it to near the countertop where the home phone sits. This is the wiring when I remove the cover. To me it'...
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

Re-wire Cat5e RJ11 jacks to RJ45 ethernet

I just moved into a new (to me, but built in 2008) condo and am assessing the telecom situation. I'd like to get Ethernet connectivity to as much of the unit as possible, for wireless range extenders (...
4 votes
3 answers
4k views

How can I modify telephone Cat5 cables and jacks into Ethernet ports?

We just moved into a new house and I found out they used Cat5 to run the telephone network in the house. I found the junction where all the network/phone lines come together and disconnected all the ...
1 vote
3 answers
1k views

How is telephone distributed in a home?

I know in modern commercial buildings, "phone" jacks are wired like data with CAT5e (or higher) cabling to a patch panel on a 19" rack. How does it work in small home with POTS?
1 vote
1 answer
2k views

Telephone Termination Block upgrade

I recently moved into a house which has a screw type termination block: I am trying to get DSL service and self-install is not working so they are sending a technician out. I will get charged $100 ...
6 votes
2 answers
948 views

What kind of socket is this?

I found it in my apartment's wall.
2 votes
1 answer
799 views

Do I need an ADSL faceplate if I am not using my phone line?

I have a bulky ADSL faceplate on my phone socket, and it's taking a lot of room, so I can't put furniture in from of it. I don't use my phone line, so I was wondering if I could use a slim standard ...
2 votes
3 answers
698 views

What's this wiring contraption in my closet?

I recently moved into an old apartment and found this contraption in a closet, with wiring going in different directions around the door frame. Some of the wires are cut in places mid-wall and have ...
1 vote
0 answers
2k views

What can I do about a phone jack protruding from the wall?

I just moved into a home built in 1962 and so there are still a bunch of land-lines connected. I just removed a telephone from my kitchen that had a phone jack behind it. See the picture below: What ...