How to Send a Phone Line Through House Wires

You receive phone signals from the telephone company through wires that terminate in the network interface device (NID) located just outside your home. From the NID, it's your responsibility to install house wires to the telephone jack on your wall. Telephone house wires typically use color-coded 24 gauge AWG standard copper wires. Installing house wires for your phone line is simple and straightforward.

• 1

  Disconnect power from the telephone company by unplugging the modular connector inside the NID from its jack. The NID or network interface device is a plastic box that contains the terminal post where your house wires and the telephone company's wires meet. Unplugging the connector will make it safe for you to work on the wires and prevent low-voltage shock. You can locate the NID by following the telephone cable that runs from the utility pole into your house.

• 2

  Get a telephone cable and strip off 3 inches from its sheath, using diagonal pliers. Stripping the sheath will reveal the color-coded wires inside. Strip off 1/2 inch from the tip of the red and green wires, using a wire stripper. Pass the cable through an opening at the base of the NID and pull the cable up by about 12 inches.

• 3

  Loosen the green and red terminal screws inside the box by turning them counter-clockwise, using a slotted screwdriver. Hook the red wire clockwise around the red terminal screw, and hook the green wire clockwise around the green terminal screw. Tighten the screws by turning them clockwise using a slotted screwdriver.

• 4

  Run the telephone cable along baseboards, inside ceilings, or in between walls to the spot where you wish to sit a telephone. Avoid placing the cable along power lines to prevent poor data transmission. Pull the cable out of the wall, leave 12 inches extra length at the end of the cable and cut it using diagonal pliers. Peel the cable of its outer covering at its end by about 3 inches using diagonal pliers, and strip off 1/2 inch from the insulation of the red and green inner wires, using a wire stripper.

• 5

  Hook the red wire clockwise around the red terminal screw, and hook the green wire clockwise around the green terminal screw of an RJ-14 telephone jack. Tighten the screws by turning them clockwise using a slotted screwdriver. Mount the jack on the wall using screws supplied with the jack.

• 6

  Replug the modular connector inside the NID to restore power to your phone line. Plug a phone into the new jack and lift the handset to listen for a dial tone. Place a call to test the phone line.