[Toller]

My cable company keeps raising their rates. I call and threaten to leave them, and they roll it back a bit. I suspect I can get a much better rate, but they kinda have a monopoly. Only the telephone company offers any competition, but I am not sure if I have telephone service. (I presume it is available at the street, but it is not at the house AFAIK)

This is a photo of what comes up from the ground. Looks like too many wires for just cable; maybe there is telephone service also?

 

[joed]

Cable doesn't even appear to enter that box. You need to open to be sure but that could be a phone line. It might even be a fiber based on the size of it.

 

[AllanJ]

Telephone land line service may come to the house in the form of copper wire or fiber. Typically the connection made available to you is a 3/8 inch rectangular phone jack similar to that on a land line phone set and that has (usually 4) copper wires (of which 2 are usually used for one "phone line" and the other two for another "phone line").

You string your own copper wire from the connection point (network interface) attached to your house by the phone company. Some of that wiring may already be installed in your home, running to (usually the same kind of 3/8 inch rectangular) phone jacks in one or more rooms.

 

[Jim Port]

The Grey box shown is a telephone interface.

 

[ktkelly]

The Grey box shown is a telephone interface.

Well, it does have "Telephone Network Interface" on the box, so one would assume that's what it is....:biggrin2:

 

[gregzoll]

That is a standard NID. If you had Fiber, it would be a iNID. As for rate increases, all companies that provide telephone, CATV and Internet adjust their rates once a year. There is going to be a decrease on some items, increase on others. As they lose customers to what is called "Churn". They have to adjust the overall costs to be passed on to the consumer, for that revenue that they have lost.

If you get DSL from your Telephone company, it will be "Dry Loop". Very few Telco's are running POT's and DSL on the same line, since it is cheaper to do everything through Digital equipment in VRAD's.

I pay $80 for 45/6 with ATT for their U-Verse Service. In reality I get about 60 down and 8 up.

 

[gregzoll]

It also looks like someone took the Ground through the wall where that conduit enters, to be attached to I am guessing a UFER ground for the structure.

 

[AllanJ]

If a ground wire (equipment grounding conductor) from telephone equipment (or any other equipment) is connected to "its own" grounding electrode which might be a ground rod or a rebar within concrete, then that grounding electrode must be part of the building grounding electrode system which means being bonded to the service panel neutral bus using an appropriately sized wire (NEC sec. 250.66 and table 250.66), typically #4 copper for concrete rebar (sometimes called Ufer) electrodes and typically #6 copper for ground rods.

 

[gregzoll]

AllanJ actually any incoming com lines have to be connected to the same ground point for the house electrical. You never want to connect incoming Antenna, CATV, Telephone, Internet to its own grounding system then bond it to the house electrical ground. It all gets connected to the same grounding point, so that you never end up with someone coming along and removing a bond between the two points. Also it can cause high resistance or other problems if you place the com's to one ground point, then run a wire to the house ground point.

That means either at the ground rod for the electric meter or on the Ufer. You never want to "Float" the ground of a Com line, because if any surge hits them, it will end up frying any phone or computer gear and then go back into the house electrical.

I am sure that Toller already knows what sections that it covers, and if you wish to have it, I can post the link from the IEEE book that covers this area in detail.

 

[gregzoll]

If a ground wire (equipment grounding conductor) from telephone equipment (or any other equipment) is connected to "its own" grounding electrode which might be a ground rod or a rebar within concrete, then that grounding electrode must be part of the building grounding electrode system which means being bonded to the service panel neutral bus using an appropriately sized wire (NEC sec. 250.66 and table 250.66), typically #4 copper for concrete rebar (sometimes called Ufer) electrodes and typically #6 copper for ground rods.

http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf

 

[Jump-start]

Id be more concerned about being bonded to the building's grounding system.

 

[joed]

another simple question derailed way off topic.

 

[Nobr8ks]

Can you open that box and take another photo?

Really wish home builders would locate these inside house, or preferably garage or an outside closet. Moved mine inside garage.

Plenty of options out there if you opt to "Cut the cable". If you're lucky enough to reside in an area free of obstructions (Line of sight). HD antennas are viable solutions. Toss in some computers running Media Center (DVR) & SiliconDust HDHomeRun CONNECT.

If keeping just internet, even better. Attach RaspberryPi's to your TV's, lots of free content just waiting.

 

[Nobr8ks]

Cable doesn't even appear to enter that box. You need to open to be sure but that could be a phone line. It might even be a fiber based on the size of it.

Yep, coax appears to come from street, right into house. That beige cable is either your ground (Unlikely), or inside phone wiring.

 

[joed]

Those boxes are purposely outside so the TELCO can test and give you a good line without entering your house. Once you have a dial tone at the jack the rest is your problem. Moving it inside would defeat the purpose.

 

[Nobr8ks]

Yeah, I get it. Coming from the commercial side where dedicated rooms are used (Voice/Data industry since late 70's), externally mounted boxes just seem tacky to me.

I had Verizon run my fiber to my backboard.

 

[joed]

Fiber comes into the house because it usually needs a power device to convert it to the wire options in side the house.

 

[Toller]

In the picture, there is a heavy cable going into the side of the box that says it is for the telephone company, and a thin wire going into the side of the box that says it is for customer. The other side of the thin wire goes in the house.
I opened the box... the thin cable is not connected to anything.
In the house, the thin wire is attached to a similar thin cable that comes from the cable television modem. Both are attached to all the wires that go to the wires that go to the telephone jack. (I get my telephone service from the cable television company...)

So, is it fair to assume that heavy cable that comes out of the ground is a telephone line?

 

[Toller]

If you get DSL from your Telephone company, it will be "Dry Loop". Very few Telco's are running POT's and DSL on the same line, since it is cheaper to do everything through Digital equipment in VRAD's.

I don't know what those acronyms mean. What are you telling me?

 

[gregzoll]

Your Cable Co. is required to unhook the incoming wire in the NID when hooking up the eMTA to house phones.

That thick jacket cable is actually a 4 or 6 pair "Flooded" Cat-5e if newer in the past 10 years.

If your Telco pushes self install, tell them that you need a truck roll. Just do not tell them that you were in the box.

If you are like me, you would pull the lightning protecter that telephone hooks to in the NID, and that way when they say that they need to run a test before booking up, it will fail the loopback.

I think that there is a picture of the boxes for my Telco NID and CATV with Satellite in another on here. Both are grounded to my ground rod for my electric meter.