[Sunshine3123]

I do NOT have a house phone, and currently have DSL set up through a dry loop. I have had problems w/ connecting for 3 months. DSL provider sent me a new modem/router which solved most of the problem. I think the remaining issues are within my wiring. I have an old house, and the wires from the NID come in where they are hooked to something that looks like the insides of an old dial phone mounted on a board in my basement wall. I want to install a new phone jack with phone wiring and a data jack, with CAT 5. I am pretty clear (Thank you, Google!) on how to connect the phone line. I am a bit unclear on the CAT5. Do all NIDs have the capacity for a data connection? Thank you for any help you can offer.

[medic-dan]

The NID is your connection to the phone companies network. If you have FIOS or a similar service then you'd have a data connection.

Your data connection comes at the DSL modem.

All you need do is run two wires from the NID to the phone jack that you plug your DSL modem into.

If you want to hardwire a computer or other device, then you can run Cat 5 or better wire to the router.

[ebaines]

Let's be clear about what NIDs do - the Network Interface Device is the interface between the TelCo network and the phone wiring inside your house. Phone wiring is a single pair. So from the NID to that interface board is a single pair of wires, and then I am guessing at that board there are splices that connect the single pair to the various extensions in the house. Hence the NID passes both voice and DSL signals into the internal house telephone wiring to the modem.

I assume that the DSL modem that has been giving you problems is located at one of those extensions upstairs, right? Please explain where you plan to install the CAT 5e data jack, and what you plan to do with it. Are you planning to move the DSL modem into the basement to be near the NID? You coud then take the output of the DSL modem and patch it into a Cat 5e cable that runs to another room where your router and PC are - is that the idea?

[Sunshine3123]

Thank you both for the answers! The line from the NID comes into my basement, where my modem/router is. I have wireless that I use through the house, and cell phone only, so I don't need an actual phone line. I only need the one jack to connect the modem/router. I was hoping I could run a new line from the jack to the NID, and do away with the other wiring coming into the house. The folks all tell me there's a lot of problems with my lines when I call tech support - some say it's the line going to my house, some say it could be in my house - but they keep making appointments to come to my house, and I keep taking time off from work, then nobody shows up. If I run a new line and eliminate the existing "mess", that should fix any problem on my end of the wiring. I keep hearing that CAT5 is better for DSL than a "regular" phone line, so I wondered if I should run CAT5 to the NID instead of phone line.

[ebaines]

Keep in mind that the line from the NID to the panel in the basement is yours, so you really don't need the phone company to show up at all. You can use Cat 5e cable from to the DSL modem if you want, but be aware that it's a 4-pair cable and you only connect 1 pair at the NID, so a good telephone cable is really all that's needed. In your home you could terminate the other end of that cable on a RJ45 C5e data jack if you want, but really a standard RJ11 is all you need (again since you are only terminating one pair). Then plug the DSL modem into that jack and you're good to go.