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From: Robbie Hatley on 16 Jul 2010 16:54

David Farber, regarding your phone wiring confusions, I have some comments.

Firstly, what is a "splitter"? That's not any kind of electronic component I've
ever heard of. Is is a multiplexer? A joint? A wire-pairs separater? Or
something else completely? Try checking it with an ohmmeter, or read the
manual if you have one, to find out what it really is.

Secondly, yes, polarities often get switched in phone wiring, sometimes
*several* times between the service entry and the telephone. (Obviously,
if the number of swaps is odd, the polarity will be wrong on other end.)

Thirdly, don't trust wire colors, those change too, sometimes *several*
times between the service entry and the telephone. (This, and the
polarity swapping, are because phone cables tend to be "dropped" from
the attic into the walls as separate snippets, and pasted together in the
attic. So a blue/white pair from the entry might become orange/white,
then green/white, then white/purple by the time it gets to your phone.

Fourthly, don't assume that because you get a dial tone, you have the
wire-pair you think you do. Call your own phone number. If it
rings, you do *not* have the right wire pair! You're illegally stealing
service from someone else instead. Instead, try other pairs until you
find the pair and polarity that not only gives a dial tone, but also gives
a BUSY SIGNAL when you dial your own number. That's your pair.
This is especially true in apartment buildings and businesses, but can
even be a problem in single-family homes, if multiple lines (some
possibly no longer in use) are installed.

Once I accidentally tapped into a pay phone that way at my apartment
building. Since the service entry is in the rear, and the pay phone is
out front, the installers ran the wires through my bedroom. Interestingly,
I was able to make phone calls without paying the $0.75 the pay phone
normally charges. I disconnected it immediately, though, both to stay out
of trouble, and because it wasn't the line my DSL was coming in on.

--
Cheers,
Robbie Hatley
lonewolf [[at]] well [[dot]] com



From: Wild_Bill on 17 Jul 2010 00:16
One aspect I can comment on is, around here (other side of the country from
you) I've seen the blue/white pair used for a separate line in a single
household.
That would be Line 2, and Line 1 would be the common red/green pair.

Much of the newer phone hookup wire is 4 pairs, instead of the conventional,
decades old, 2 pair.

All of the lines should be connected inside of a network box (possibly
outside), but there may be other junctions between the wall jacks and the
network box.

There may be a jack and a pigtail cable to screw terminals, for each line in
the network box, at least that's the way they're made around here.

The other items, I'm unfamiliar with.

--
Cheers,
WB
..............


"David Farber" <farberbear.unspam(a)aol.com> wrote in message
news:i1l557$pla$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
>I moved into a new house and have new voip phone service via the local
>cable company. The way it's configured is the cable from outside goes into
>the modem, model number Arris TM502G, then the output of the modem, labeled
>Tel 1/2 goes into a telephone line splitter, then the single ended part of
>that splitter, goes into a telephone wall jack which is supposed to feed
>the rest of the house. The third connection of the splitter goes to my
>Uniden portable phone system, model EXAI3428, which I will call system #1.
>It works fine.
>
> To avoid confusion with another Uniden system, a model EXAI5688-3, I'll
> call that system #2. I want to hook up system #2 at a different wall jack
> in another room. When I did, there was no dial tone. System #2 was working
> last week in another home so I am fairly certain that it was ok. I have a
> telephone line polarity checker probably better known as, "The Fox," made
> by Triplett Corporation. The l.e.d. lights up when I plug it into the back
> of the modem. When I remove the telephone line from system #1 and plug in
> the Fox into the splitter, it doesn't light up. I disassembled the wall
> jack and sure enough, if I hook up the red test lead to the green wire and
> vice-versa for the green test lead, the l.e.d. lights up. Question 1, does
> it make sense that system #1 can work if the polarity is reversed? I
> removed the Fox and plugged system #2 in the same jack. System #2 didn't
> work. Then I reversed the red and green wires in the wall jack and tried
> system #2 in the wall jack in the other room. Still no dial tone. So I
> disassembled the wires in that wall jack. The wires were so snug that I
> could only pull it out from the wall about 1 inch. I looked behind the
> jack and saw that the phone wires were the old style red, green, yellow,
> black wiring. When I reversed the wires in the wall jack back in the room
> where system #1 was, I noticed the wires were a white/blue pair. I then
> plugged the Fox into a jack in a third room. The Fox lit up. I plugged in
> system #2 into the third room and got a dial tone. Question #2, is there a
> way to get the red and green wires in the wall jack that isn't working
> tied into the blue/white pair at the outside box? And finally, why does
> the telephone line splitter reverse the polarity? I tried another splitter
> and it did the same thing.
>
> Thanks for your reply.
> --
> David Farber
> Los Osos, CA
>

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