DSL question

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Originally Posted by aquariuscsm
I took the cover off the phone box outside,and it's a very old primitive setup. It's just 4 or 5 different colored wires screwed into the terminals (reminds me of the old speaker terminals where you wrap the bare wire around the screw,and tighten it down).

May be old and primitive but that's completely normal looking. There was NO phone jack ? Might want to look again. There might not be but I'd be surprised. What size was this box, like 4" x 4" or larger, maybe 8" x 10" with (2) doors ?


Here's the box. This place was built in the 70s and I'm sure the box is original:

 

[mk378]

The phone company should replace that box with a modern one at no charge. The wiring inside the house will still be your responsibility though.

Disconnect the wires that go inside, leaving the heavier wires that go to the phone company connected. Connect the top two posts (red and green wires) to the red and green wires on a new wall jack. (or if you're using a punch down type, the blue-white and blue wires) Plug your modem into that jack.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted by mk378
The phone company should replace that box with a modern one at no charge. The wiring inside the house will still be your responsibility though.

Disconnect the wires that go inside, leaving the heavier wires that go to the phone company connected. Connect the top two posts (red and green wires) to the red and green wires on a new wall jack. (or if you're using a punch down type, the blue-white and blue wires) Plug your modem into that jack.


Thank you!

 

[mk378]

I think if you have the old block with no test jack, you can't troubleshoot the regular way, so they have to come out at least to update the NID. Even if the problem turns out to be your wiring they won't charge you for that trip.

For test purposes you could take simply an old phone to wall cord, cut off one plug and strip that end to connect the red and green wires (or the two wires in the center no matter what color they are) to the terminal block, then plug the other end into the modem.

That looks like cat 3 wiring going into the house, which is suitable for DSL. But you should set up a "home run" where it goes from the outside directly to one jack where you'll plug in the modem (ideally near the center of the house for best results when using the built-in wifi) and disconnect all the other phone wiring in the house.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by mk378
I think if you have the old block with no test jack, you can't troubleshoot the regular way, so they have to come out at least to update the NID. Even if the problem turns out to be your wiring they won't charge you for that trip.

For test purposes you could take simply an old phone to wall cord, cut off one plug and strip that end to connect the red and green wires (or the two wires in the center no matter what color they are) to the terminal block, then plug the other end into the modem.

That looks like cat 3 wiring going into the house, which is suitable for DSL. But you should set up a "home run" where it goes from the outside directly to one jack where you'll plug in the modem (ideally near the center of the house for best results when using the built-in wifi) and disconnect all the other phone wiring in the house.


I'd go one further on this and use a whole house VDSL filter/isolator if he plans on leaving the other lines connected.

 

[mk378]

If there's no analog service on the line just have one unfiltered run to the modem and cut all the other old stuff loose.

But yes if it is a combined service have one filter for the whole house and as little unfiltered wiring as possible.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by mk378
If there's no analog service on the line just have one unfiltered run to the modem and cut all the other old stuff loose.

But yes if it is a combined service have one filter for the whole house and as little unfiltered wiring as possible.


Yup. Back when I was on VDSL2 and running 99% RCO, I replaced my NID and then ran CAT6 from the NID into the house where it terminated into one of these devices. This is where I placed the DSL modem, to keep the line length as short as possible, as I was getting ~25/5 on a line that was close to 2Km long. I eventually eliminated the analog service that was associated with it and just ran a dry loop. Didn't bother to disconnect anything as testing, with the isolator in place, yielded no difference.