Home Improvement Stack Exchange
Home Improvement Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [phone-wiring]

54 questions
27
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1 answer

How do I remove this wall plate with no visible screws?

I'm amazed how complicated this wall plate is to remove. It is made of plastic and accommodates a phone jack and a coaxial cable. Please see the images that accompany this question. I've searched it thoroughly and there are no tabs anywhere on the…
Mark
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14
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5 answers

Installed Electric Tankless Water Heater - Internet loss when active

I installed an Ecosmart 27kw tankless water heater yesterday and as far as heating the water goes, everything works perfectly. The issue is when the water heater is running, I lose internet! Specs: Heater is 240v 27kw @ draw 112.5amps Breakers are…
Jon Barker
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12
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2 answers

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 NID to the wall jacks, just for the sake of…
alexantd
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12
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1 answer

What is this in my wall?

I am removing wall paneling and this is in the corner of the room and wondering if it is safe to remove
dbollig
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12
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4 answers

Mysterious cord running from wall. Safe?

My wife and I are preparing to sell our home and are discovering some weird things. Our home was built in 1958, so it is older. We found this in a corner that had some furniture in front of it. We are wondering What kind of wiring is this? Is it…
Josh Slate
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8
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1 answer

Phone line not working after jack removed

We had a phone jack in kitchen that we removed. We first cut the line then taped it individually. We noticed the phone line in the basement stopped working afterwards. I'm assuming the basement line is looped through the kitchen line. Is there a way…
Longroadahead
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7
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4 answers

Testing phone installation without phone service

Is there a way, such as a simulation tool, that would allow me to test some phone wiring + outlets without having actual phone service? A device that would fake signal from one end to another?
amphibient
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6
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2 answers

What is the purpose of power going into a Phone Receptacle?

It is my understanding that the following photo contains a phone jack (old style 4 prong) to the left and a standard nema-15r outlet to the right. Well, we had found some mold in our basement under some old wood paneling and when I removed the old…
Robin
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5
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6 answers

Phone/cat3 equivalent of network switch

I want to split the incoming phone wire across 5 rooms. For ethernet, I use a simple Netgear switch fed from my cable modem and then 5 ethernet connections going out of the utility room to each room of the house. But when I searched "phone switch"…
amphibient
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5
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2 answers

Old and unused power outlet

I have this old and unused hole that I believe was for an outlet or a light switch (bought a house with this capped with plastic). I also have a few old phone Jacks. I plan on removing the phone Jacks and patching the drywall in that hole. I thought…
Gio
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5
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3 answers

What is this four connector-post, square electrical device mounted to my interior wall?

I stumbled across this device while renovating the bedroom of my house. It is screwed into the wall. There is only one wire going into it. The wire has several small diameter wires inside the sheathing and those wires are connected to the device in…
Chris
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4
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1 answer

Buzz in the phone

Why do I get a loud buzz in my telephone when the overhead fluorescent lights are on in my kitchen and can it be fixed?
user1731
4
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3 answers

How do I update daisy-chained RJ11 to standard punch-down style keystone jack?

So I have a wallplate with just an RJ11 port on it. I have wired an ethernet connection and now want to swap the wall plate out for a 2 port keystone wall plate and leave the RJ11 connection undisturbed. The old RJ11 is daisy-chained, like so, but…
Cfomodz
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4
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1 answer

Drywall over phone line junction?

I have a covered electrical box high up on my wall in my kitchen. I removed the cover and it’s telephone lines spliced together. There’s no telephone jack just the splice. I know you cannot bury normal house electrical wires behind drywall per…
Danno
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4
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1 answer

How can I trace and troubleshoot phone lines?

I have a non-working phone jack that I'm trying to troubleshoot. My house has a lot of strange wiring, and many of the phone lines come together in a messy junction box with random color coding. I suspect one of the wires isn't hooked up correctly,…
Rob Napier
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