What is a NID?
NID stands for “network interface device”. It comes from the old “Bell Telephone” system. They would install a gray box on the outside of your house. One side you could open to hook up your telephone wires, the other side was their network wiring & you couldn’t open it. We identify this point as the demarcation between the customers wiring & ours, by the installation of a ground block & grounding system outside your home.
A device that terminates copper pair from the serving central office at the user’s destination and which is typically located outside that location. Old NID on left. Modern on right. Open for a illustrative purposes. Tampering with Telco equipment may result in fines and/or lose of service. Antique NID Here are some older protectors that some people will still have in their homes. The one on the Left was used in the 40’s-60’s. The customer wire is on top (historically correct). This is where you would install your own wiring. The fatter gray (olive) wire on top is the ground wire. The fat black wire on the bottom is the drop (not customer serviceable). The brass rails are shunts, which bypassed the red fuses underneath. The black bakelite (sometimes brass) round piece is the cover for carbon protectors, which shunt any over voltage to ground. The protector on the right dates back to 1914. Notice it has no shunts and still used the red fuses. The carbon protectors are under the brass ca
