How Do You Troubleshoot Home Telephone Wiring?
Home telephone wiring is your responsibility as a homeowner. The phone company is only required to provide a working telephone signal to your Network Interface Device (NID), which is the box on the outside of your house where the phone lines enter from the street. Finding a problem inside your house can be challenging. Troubleshooting is complicated by the lack of wiring diagrams of most household installations. Finding the problem may require a bit of trial and error. Locate the NID box outside your house. It is typically attached to your house with wires running into it, either from underground or from a utility pole. Remove the screws and open the NID box. The NID is your property, and is designed to be accessed by the homeowner to troubleshoot phone service. You do not need the phone company’s permission to enter this box. Examine the interior of the box. There should be one or more RJ type connectors plugged into sockets. Remove each of these and plug a corded telephone into the s
