Splicing into existing home wiring

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 7

I'm working on connecting my VOIP adaptor into my house telephone wires. Rather than running a wire out to the network interface, I was planning on cutting the wires on the inside of the house to the network interface, and splicing a line from the VOIP adaptor. The only confusing thing for me is the extra yellow line from the interface connection (see the "Why??" in the diagram). It appears to go to a single jack in one upstairs bedroom. Here's a diagram of what I'm looking at doing:

Yes, I have a monitored security system and will do a test after I'm done, I believe it's a pulse tone system, and it had a radio backup.

HELP Exclamation

- Am I out to lunch here Question

? And where can I find Scotchlok™ connectors? I haven't checked at home depot - of course Radio Shack left me empty handed.
Thanks Much, Mike

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 9

It would seem that someone cross-wired the tip and ring from the two twisted pairs. Green & Red are the tip and ring for line 1. Black and Yellow are the tip and ring for a line 2. I'm surprised your upstairs bedroom phone works at all, unless somewhere else in your home they crossed a yellow and red.

BTW, my home is has a daisy and branched configuration. I found it easy to go directly from my Vonage router into the nearest wall jack. Then inside the NID, I used a RJ-11 connector to link the two branches. No cutting, no splicing.

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

Sasqui, your proposed configuration looks fine, though I, like you, am puzzled by that yellow wire business. Is that upstairs jack working??

The other thing of concern is that most security systems have a cutout feature that disconnects phone service from the house jacks when the system is trying to call in an alert. I don't see that in your diagram.

As Idgage pointed out, once you've disconnected the POTS landline from your wiring, you should be able to plug the Vonage device directly into a wall jack and be ready to go. (But that ignores the alarm cutout issue again.)

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 7

Thanks much guys - it is entirey possible that the jack upstiars is not connected to yellow line 2 - it certainly looked it from where the line headed, and the the wires behind the jack were green/orange (1 out of 2 possible grn/org lines). I'll dig and check a little more. That yellow wire probably is most confusing thing for me too.

And thanks for the tip about the Sec-Sys cutout - I now remember a service person mentioning something about that. That was one reason for installing it where the Interface jack enters, I'll have the source point at the same location it was before, so anything beyond that point is unchanged.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 7

Update - I should have dug into this before, but the yellow line is actually connected to the red in the NIC - it looks like they had so many splices inside to make, they needed an additional wire. The black is also connected to the green in the box, but cut off in the house. Thanks again.

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

So how is it going? Do you have it working yet?

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 7

I wish I could say yes! I just got a hold of a reel of Cat5e, scotchlok connectors (from eBay!), plugs, outlet and tools so I'm ready to wire... will attempt over the weekend and report back. ~Mike

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 12, 2006 Posts: 7

Woo-Hoo (sorry I had to say that!) I spliced and diced, crimped and cramped - not one mistake (pure luck)... now my house is live with Vonage, out with the EVIL phone company. And that's not the best part - my security system was live tested and communicating! I'm going to annoy them with a few more tests this week then bu bye evil, evil, evil money sucking phone company.