DIY phone junction box for cable telephone service

22706 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by rjniles, Jun 17, 2009

eastie

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2009

We recently moved into a house that had been gutted and rehabbed by the previous owners. As part of the renovation all of the phone/cable wires coming into the house were removed (there are actually still 3 old phone NIDs attached in various places to the outside of the house, but no service line attached and no wiring leading into the structure, just empty boxes). New cable and phone drops were installed inside and the wiring run through the walls and terminated at a single point outside of the house (all were "home runs" for both cable and phone). We had Comcast out yesterday to re-run the service line and hook up for phone/cable/internet; we do not plan on getting dedicated phone service since we can get it through the cable company.

Here is the rub: since cable phone service is only active downstream from the modem, and all of the phone lines we have are "home runs" from the jacks to the common termination point outside, we actually need to tie them all together to get phone service throughout the house. Basically just bridge all of the lines off of the one that is downstream from the modem. Seems simple enough on the surface, but I'm having problems putting the pieces together.

Can we just reuse one of the existing NIDs/phone junction boxes (at least two of which still have the punch down blocks in them) and treat the interior phone line attached to the modem as the "service" line in this case (again, this line runs from the jack next to the modem and is terminated outside with the other phone lines)? Or would it be better to buy a new punch down and connect everything inside? Of the 4 phone lines we need to connect, 3 of them are routed to a common exit point in the basement; the 4th line runs outside on the first level so I would need to consider routing it back inside in that case. We likely won't want a phone in that location, so that may be a moot point.

One complicating factor: we may be getting an alarm installed. Does that affect our choice in junction boxes for the phone "service"? I'm guessing for security we'd want it all inside. The smallest punch down I can find is a 66, but that seems like overkill for essentially splicing 8 lines together (4 phone cables x 2 lines per cable).

Thanks!

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KeithM62948

· #2 · Jun 16, 2009

If a punchdown seems like overkill, use the "jellybeans" (telephone tap/splice connectors). I'm assuming there is some sort of weatherproof box where the cable & phone lines exit the house.

Splice all the lines together at the outside termination point & use the line from the outside to the jack near the modem as the 'feed' to the rest of the lines.

Check with the alarm company about any specific requirements they may have. I wouldn't worry about the box on the outside -- any thief that would get in the box would just cut the cable if the box wasn't there.

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eastie

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 16, 2009

Thanks for the reply, I'll look into the splice connectors. There actually was not a box housing any of these wires, they were just run out from the walls under an overhang and the openings sealed. The cable lines are now all terminated and housed in a NID, but the phone lines are still laying there bare. It might be easier to just cut and splice them inside the basement just prior to where they exit right now instead of dealing with mounting a new box outside.

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eastie

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 16, 2009

Oh, and these push type connectors are good for multiple cables? Basically I will take the matching wires from each twisted pair (2 pairs per wire x 2 wires per pair = 4 wires per splice) and connect them all together, or are these connectors only good for simple 2 wire splices?

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KeithM62948

· #5 · Jun 16, 2009

The splice connectors take 3 wire tips, the tap connectors clasp onto a wire anywhere along its length and allow you to branch from there with one wire tip. You would need to use a short scrap length of wire to splice from one connector to the another -- connector 1 would have line from modem + phone1 + jumper. Connector 2 would have jumper + phone2 + phone3. Or you could use the taps and tap the line returning from the modem 3 times right in a row. Using the splice type you would only need 4; using the tap type you would use 6.

http://www.telephoneparts.com/product/Telecom/Connectors+-+Splice

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rjniles

· #6 · Jun 17, 2009

KeithM62948 said:
The splice connectors take 3 wire tips, the tap connectors clasp onto a wire anywhere along its length and allow you to branch from there with one wire tip. You would need to use a short scrap length of wire to splice from one connector to the another -- connector 1 would have line from modem + phone1 + jumper. Connector 2 would have jumper + phone2 + phone3. Or you could use the taps and tap the line returning from the modem 3 times right in a row. Using the splice type you would only need 4; using the tap type you would use 6.

http://www.telephoneparts.com/product/Telecom/Connectors+-+Splice

You are making this harder than it needs to be. Twist the 4 conductors together and use a small wire nut that you can buy at any home center or hardware store. If it is an usually damp location they have gel filled wire nuts.

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