One is a new shelving area + coat racks and storage for our entry closet. The bi-fold doors we need are out of stock at HD, so I'm searching. But that's not the issue with this area. I'll get back to that in a sec. The other area is the downstairs "bonus" room. Started on the ceiling tiles, then the drywall. I wanted to see the joists and their condition. Not nearly as bad as I had imagined, so that will be messy but do-able. That is a whole 'nother thread. Back to the closet... There was an unused security system panel in it. Along with a keypad and siren. Well, it came out last night. And now my phone lines don't work. Yellow, green, black and red, all low-voltage, tried various combinations but phones are still out. Any tips?? Funny, the computer still works fine with them disconnected, but tie them together color/color, it won't work on-line.
You will likely only be using two wires at the jack, figure out which two. That should improve your chances. Usually the green and red are the ones use. When it is ringing, it should jump to 45 v DC, you could try calling...
It won't ring. I can't get dial tones. I called from my cell and nothing inside, just ringing in the cell phone. So, try just the green and red?
I mean let it ring and see which wires have the spike in voltage. You won't actually hear it ring, but the voltage should go up.
Probably, but not tonight. I have 3 bundles coming out of the wall, 2 are 4-wire, 1 is a black/red. The 4 wire will take some time to trace, not sure that I want to do that tonight. Honestly, my cell works, my computer works,......I may not miss the landline that much, if at all.
Last time I had a land line it was just for dsl and we were fighting interference. Bough a new box and $10 worth of phone line and ran brand new back to the service box. Might be your best bet here.
Jeff, only reason we have one is the cell reception in the canyon is "spotty" at best. To get more than 1 bar, you have to go into the spare bedroom, and stand on one of the beds. No joke. "Why do you sound out of breath?"- Cause I'm bouncing on the bed to get better reception!
That's what I figured. We used to spend time at a friends place in northern MI. To use a cell phone, you had to be reclined in a chair by the window. The chair on the right worked, but the one on the left was better. If you walked out and stood outside that window, you got nothing.
Reminds me of the days before cable tv . Tv's only had rabbit ears antennas used to wrap aluminum foil on them to help pull in the signal.
Dial tone should be on red/green. Alarm panels sometimes use a RJ-31x jack which will allow the alarm system to drop other devices from the line and call out if the line should be busy. That wiring should have been done at the alarm panel, but might be somewhere else further down the line towards the network interface box. If one of those jacks existed, you may have to do some rewiring. You may have a network interface box on the outside of the house. If so, unscrew the customer access side of the box and connect a standard analog phone to the RJ11 jack inside that interface. You may have to unplug that wire from that jack. All depends on what the telcos installed out in your area. You should have dial tone there. You may also see what pair is feeding dialtone inside the house if you can see the ends of the inside wire that feeds to the inside of your house. It could be miswired where you'd have tip on the red wire and ring on the black wire. I've spent countless hours chasing miswired dialtone in commercial buildings, but residential is usually pretty easy. Sometimes (not often anymore) the central office switch will knock the port that feeds your house out of service if you put a dead short on the line to protect their equipment. If there is no dialtone at the network interface on the outside of your house (if you have one) with your inside wiring disconnected, call your provider and they should be able to fix it without a site visit. Sorry for the long post. I've worked in telecom for 15 years. Edit - here's what I was talking about. See if you have one of these jacks near where the alarm panel was. http://wiki.hometech.com/tiki-index.php?page=How+to+Wire+an+RJ31X+Jack
343amc, thanks for the input. I'll try to track this down over the weekend. I'm still enjoying the peace and quiet. If it helps, the panel I removed is an "Ademco". Thanks, JB
