One of the most common problems in homes is the lack of telephone jacks where they need to be. This problem is simple to solve if you have about an hour and the will to do it.
REMEMBER: You must unplug the main feed coming in to your telephone distribution box BEFORE doing anything to a telephone jack. Failure to do this can result in electric shock if the phone were to ring!
You will need:
-Flathead screwdriver
-Drill
-Wire strippers (or scissors)
-Surface mount telephone jack (ANY home improvement store, even Wal-Mart will have these)
-Telephone Wire (Cat3, Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6; sold in 100 foot rolls or 500/1000 foot boxes)
The first thing to do is to decide exactly where you want to place the jack. It is usually best to place it near the floor, where the wire is least visible. After you decide where you want the jack to go, the next thing to do is decide how you want to run the wire. There are two ways: you can come out of an existing jack in the same room, or you can run a new line from the box outside your house. It is usually easier to run it by “jumping off” the existing jack. This means you unscrew the jack and connect the new wires to the back of the existing jack where the wires are currently coming in.
Start by drilling a hole just big enough for your wire to go through in the floor directly underneath where you want the jack to go and another under the existing jack (if surface mount). Then, unroll the telephone wire (only if you are using a 100′ roll) across the room so it won’t become tangled. Then tie a loose knot in one end (so it won’t fall through) and insert the other into the hole. Go under your house, find the wire dangling down, pull it to where your other hole is and push it up (several feet just to keep it from falling through). On the way out from under your house, open the telephone box on the outside of your house and unplug the incoming line (it should look just like any other telephone plug). Then go inside, unscrew each screw one at a time from the existing jack, connecting the same color wires to the jack (usually red/green) and replace the jack. Connect the wires to the other jack and close it up. You now have two options: use the supplied screws and screw it to the wall or use the supplied double-side tape to attach it to the wall (either is perfectly acceptable). Reconnect the plug outside your house and check for a dial tone on your phone. If you get a dial tone (you probably will) you have successfully added a telephone jack. Otherwise, you probably did not attach one of the wires to the correct place (the terminals are color coded).
If you were to run a new line from the box outside your house, follow the same procedure as above and connect the wires (usually red/green) to the terminals inside the box (be sure to unplug it first!)
If you have any questions about this entry, leave a comment below or email technologysolutions4@gmail.com
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