Introduction: How to Organize an Old Telephone Home Wiring Block

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My house was built in 1962 and it still has the original telephone wiring block. Although I have asked the telephone company to install a network interface device, which is the gray box attached to your home outside, the technician suggested to keep the set up that I have, because that makes the telephone company check my home wiring without any charges to me. Since I plan to add more telephone jacks about the home, I decided to simplify the process.

Step 1: Installing a Duplex Surface Mount Jack

First thing that I installed was a Duplex Surface Mount Jack. It is basically a double jack. I started by installing the hard core wire to the wiring block. Since I plan for this set up to be permanent, I crimped a solderless terminal to each wire. The jack came with a double sided tape. With the jack stuck on the beam I screwed the jack to secure it firmly in place. Later I plugged a telephone line tester. The red light let me know that the polarity of the wires was incorrect so I corrected the problem before I continued. The reason for installing a duplex or double jack is to allow one open jack for testing or, to allow for future expansion.

Step 2: Installing a Modular Plug Strip

Once the double jack has been installed, I worked on the Modular Plug Strip. The Strip allows me to install other jacks about the house and it will allow me to easily isolate jacks for troubleshooting problems.