In most areas, getting the phone company to repair a problem and or perform a simple installation is like pulling teeth. Here's how you can help yourself without any formal training and fix it yourself
Step 1
Before you work on a live line, disconnect it from the ONI (referred as the Outside Network Interface) first. To do this, go outside and look for the short, thin, gray wire that looks just like the one inside your house that plugs into the jack itself. It is usually inside a box. Depress the tongue and gently pull toward you until the gray wire is completely out. Sometimes there will be a rubbery substance inside, that's okay, as it's a waterproof gel that helps protect the connection from moisture and corrosion.
Step 2
Choose where to locate the telephone jack.
Step 3
Once the location has been chosen, then look at what tools and materials are needed to perform this task. Gather the items listed in the Things You'll Need section below.
Step 4
Go to your local home improvement store's electrical section and pick up a telephone jack. They may look different than the one you currently have, but they are all the same in as far as how the connect to your home wiring.
Step 5
Remove the old jack from the wall. Some jacks have a small screw to one side of the jack, others do not. Some have a notch on the sides. If your type has the screw, simply take the straight screwdriver and loosen the screw until the face comes off. If you have the type that has notches on the sides, simply take a straight screwdriver and insert it into the notch (on both sides) and pop the cover plate off. There are four wires on the inside, each one a different color, red, green, yellow and black. Take a Phillips screwdriver and loosen the four screws just enough to slide the wires out from around them. There may be one or two screws holding the jack onto the wall or baseboard. Unscrew them all the way.
Step 6
Take the new jack you just purchased and depending what type you have (most likely it'll be the one with the notches) and open it up. If you have one just like the one that you took off, it'll go back in the exact same place. If you have the other, it'll usually come with a small adhesive pad. Both sides are the same. Remove one side of the protective paper and carefully stick the pad onto the new jack. Make certain that it's on squarely or it'll look odd once you have placed it on the wall. Once you have done that, you may use the two small screws that also came with the jack and screw the jack securely onto the wall. The adhesive pad is used to hold the jack in place until the screws have been installed.
Step 7
After you have attached the new jack to the wall (or baseboard), you are ready to connect the wires. As mentioned earlier, each wire has its own color. One is red, the other is green, then there's a yellow one , and last, there is a black wire. If you only have one line (dial tone) in your home, then only the red and green wires need to be connected. The yellow and black do not have to be connected unless you just want to, because they are used for something else. Simply match the colors and reconnect (red on red, green on green and so on). It doesn't matter how many wires are exposed, as they all go together using the colors.
Step 8
Now that you have connected both wires (or all four)put the cover plate back on.
Step 9
Go outdoors to the ONI and reconnect the thin, gray wire. Plug the phone back into the new jack and check to see if you have a dial tone. If so, you're done! If not, see the Tips below.
Tips
- If you have an older home, there may be more than one wire on each screw terminal. Simply take them all off and push them aside. It is not necessary to label or separate them.
- If after everything has be done, you don't have a dial tone, there are a few simple things you can check for.
- See if there are any other phones off the hook somewhere else in the house.
- See if you reconnected the cord from the phone to the jack
- See if the gray wire inside the box (outside) is connected.
- If nothing works, check all connections once again and then see if anything has changed. It's a far cry, but I have run into a phone that was working one minute doesn't the next. If you think this may be the case, go to another room and connect that phone into the new jack. If it works, then you know what the problem is. If not, don't panic.
- If nothing works and you have done all that you can, the problem could be a faulty jack (yep, it happens to new ones right out of the box). Get another jack and repeat the steps
- If nothing works, there is no time and stores are closed, here is what you can do. Take a telephone that does not require power to make it work. Go outside to the ONI. Open it up and unplug the gray wire. Plug in the telephone you brought with you, and you have a telephone. Yes, it may be somewhat inconvenient, but at least you're connected to the outside world. You can use a cordless phone with an extension cord for this application (but not when it's raining).
Warnings
- The line voltage for a standard residential telephone line coming into your home has very little voltage. It is DC current or that similar to a nine (9) volt battery when it's dormant. However, when working on a live telephone line, one that has not been disconnected from the ONI, please take any and all necessary precautions.
- If you are working on a live line and the telephones ring, the voltage type changes from almost nothing to anywhere between 95-100vac (Volts A/C). This is known as a ringer voltage, and can hurt you!
Things You'll Need
- phone jack
- a good set of wire cutters (wire snips or diagonal pliers)
- a Phillips and straight screwdriver
- a pair of "needle-nose" pliers
- a good flashlight.
