[Metallo]

Hi,

three months ago I moved to my home and did a bundle package for TV+FiberOP. Yesterday I decided to add the phone line, so I called Bell and they gave me a number while online, saying I just needed to plug my phone in and I was all set.

I went down to my basement and opened the cabinet where both electrical panel & telephony is.
Since my home is 10 years old, I found lots of phone wires and two gray boxes, but nothing market Bell.
I went outside, there is another gray box, bigger, which seems to gather a number of TV cables but, like the ones inside, it was pre-existing.

Basically, I cannot find a phone jack which is what I would have expected when you get a service.
I phoned Bell, they said that probably, because the tech came to install TV + Fiber Op, he didn't bother too much installing a phone jack, so a technician would cost me 90$.
Obviously, I find this unfair, especially because you buy a service and they do not provide you the way to access to it, it's like buying a car without the keys to put the engine on.

So, I decided to tidy up things and install the jack myself, but I need a starting point, that is why I am asking your advice based on the pictures enclosed.

As you can see, I have many phone cables, two gray boxes, a number of phone sockets all over the house, no jack at the demarc point.
I just need a line which I will use with my VoIP/fixed line wireless phone, but I need to identify the main line and put a jack.

Can you help me?

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?ds7066769rdlv5q
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?z8gnfzumzbz6buj
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?1i4m7c0ahzbqql3

Thanks
Alex

 

[martinic]

Has this house ever had Bell phone service? If not (e.g. Rogers Voip service) then there may be no line from the pole to the house. If this is the case, you'll need to have a Bell technician run a line to your house.

If the house previously used Bell phone service, then look for a line coming into your panel from the outside. This compound wire will look like those in the first picture with the many multicoloured wires and two boxes. If the house had Bell service before, then a disconnected wire like this should be in the panel area and should reach the boxes. Alternatively, a wire (or two wires) from these two boxes may go to a third located on the exterior of your home and the disconnected incoming wire may be located there. The exterior boxes are usually locked.

 

[CharlesK]

The box labelled DSL indicates the home did have Bell Aliant service before (Rogers wouldn't install a DSL filter).

Are you sure there aren't any jacks in the home? You have at least four runs of inside wiring (image 1553).

If you can't find an existing jack, you could hook up a new one by connecting red to red and green to green on the box that says TELEPHONE on the top pair of terminals (where the other wires are). If you find more than one jack and none of them work, or connecting a new jack doesn't work, you probably need to contact Bell Aliant for a service visit.

You might be billed for inside wiring work (so if you can't easily figure things out, ask a handy friend), although I don't think so on a new install (definitely on a repair call though).

good luck

 

[beercoaster]

In the box on the right, use one of the posts on the left for TIP (green) and one of the ones on the right for RING (red).

The box on the left looks like a demarcation point for phone/data jacks.... you don't have any other jacks in the house? Those are internal wiring runs.

 

[Metallo]

Hi,

thank you all for your feedback.

Yes, I have a number of jacks in some of my rooms, some of them are working and put me in the condition to use the phone.

I just want to put a female jack so that I can put my phone base in the cabinet and take the line from there, together with the LAN for my VoIP.

Which point (box) should I connect the cable?
Can I measure it with the tester?
Should I look to the green/red colors?
Which voltage should I expect to find with the tester? I know it is low but how much?

Also, I want to mark which cables go to which plugs in the house, what's the best method to do this? Tester?

Another question:
I have been looking for the Bell rates in their website, but in vain. I cannot understand this total lack of transparency but I understand very well why they can afford to keep their prices so high, unbelievable.

I enclose a couple of pictures of the outside box

http://www.mediafire.com/i/?vy6iu5vpitkmeo5
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?rcre14r8yxpd2r5

Thanks guys for your help

Alex

 

[JamesK]

^^^^
There are many articles on the web about phone wiring. You might want to read some. Red/green pairs are from old style cable. These days 3 pair CAT3 is generally used, but 4 pair CAT5 also works well. With those cables, red corresponds to blue/white and green, white/blue. The phone line voltage, with the phone "on hook" is nominally 48V. There are a variety of testers avaialble designed for phone use. As for marking the cables, the best way is to mark the cables, before you pull them in and then mark the jacks accordingly. If you're working with existing cables, you'll have to measure continuity, but make sure there's no voltage on the pair first. Another method that techs use is a "toner" which injects noise onto the line which can be detected with a sensitive receiver. As for the Bell rates, you might want to read this article.

 

[Metallo]

Hi,

thank you for your reply.

Yes, the article points exactly where the problem is, coming from another country this is disconcerting, I lived in many countries and I never found such a monopolistic situation for both telephony and air carriers.
I am glad the consumer association is fighting this but without the support of the government I doubt we can achieve something, also because we are talking about the same lobby.

Thanks for the other tips

Alex