Note: this page describes the phone wiring conventions in the United States. I'm not familiar with the phone wiring conventions outside the U.S., so the information here may not apply in your country.

In years gone past, it was the responsibility of the phone company not only to bring phone service to your house but to do the phone wiring within your house as well. This is no longer the case. When you order phone service to your house, the local phone company installs a network interface device, a sturdy grey plastic box usually mounted either in your basement or on an outside wall.

You can do your inside wiring yourself, or you can pay the local phone company or a third party (such as an electrician) to do it for you. Doing residential phone wiring is easy, however, and the local phone company's charges for this service are steep. Even if you have to buy wire and modular jacks, you're going to come out way ahead if you do your own work.

Installing extra lines can be a problem if you rent an apartment in a multi-unit building. The wiring between the network interface device and the apartment is not the phone company's responsibility, so you'll have to work out with your landlord who's going to do the in-between wiring if you need additional lines. Your landlord may not want you to do the wiring for fear you don't know what you're doing; but the landlord may also object to picking up the tab if the phone company does the work. Whose responsibility it actually is probably depends on your lease.

I once had a deadbeat landlord who I didn't even bother approaching when I needed a second line installed. Instead, I just ran my own wire out thru a hole I drilled in the window frame and down a six-story fire escape in the alley to the basement, where I had the phone company representative install an ordinary residential network interface device for me next to the big panel. When I moved, I just unhooked my piece of wire and rolled it up for my next wiring project, and then I spackled over the hole I had drilled. The landlord was none the wiser.

This page is mainly about installing additional phone lines, which is one of the most common phone wiring tasks in this age of modems and fax machines. What's described here are the color coding conventions for phone wiring, and how to make the connections. It's assumed that you know how to use a screwdriver and a drill.

It's also assumed that you have at least a rudimentary understanding of electrical safety. Phone wires carry low-voltage electricity, but you probably already know better than to do your wiring barefoot on a wet floor, for example. If you're touching the wires when the phone rings, you can get a substantial jolt; enough current goes thru to ring the old-type mechanical ringing devices consisting of a heavy clapper and some rather large bells, even though most modern phones no longer require so much current. Best policy is to disconnect your house at the Network Interface Device (see below) before working on wiring. Even a small shock can interfere with a pacemaker, according to one person who wrote to me. Also, for everybody, it's a bad idea to work on your phone wiring during thunderstorms.

In most residential phone wiring, the cable contains four individual wires. Most phone wire installed in the U.S. during the second half of the 20th century is of the following kind:

The kind of wire shown above has recently become obsolete. For all new telephone wiring projects, you should use Cat 5 cable. All of the Cat 5 wire I've seen uses the following color coding:

In either case, the important point is this: one phone line only requires two of these strands. In the vast majority of cases, the other two wires go unused-- but if you choose, you can certainly use them for a second line (i.e., a totally separate line with its own phone number, which the local phone company will connect to a second terminal in your network interface device). This means that if you are installing a second line for a fax, modem, etc., you usually don't have to actually physically run new wires; you can connect the extra two wires to the second phone line at the network interface device. Assuming that everything is wired properly thruout your house (i.e., nobody has cut corners by not bothering to connect the extra two wires somewhere along the way), this will give you "Line 2" service thruout the house.

If you're going to buy a two-line phone, there's nothing more you need to do, since a two-line phone expects "Line 2" to run on the yellow/black wires. For ordinary phone equipment such a modem, however, you have to convert a "Line 1" jack to a "Line 2" jack. One way you can do this is with a plug-in adapter, but the method described here involves swapping around a few wires in the jack.

Wiring at the network interface device

Don't be squeamish about poking around inside the Network Interface Device. It may look forbidding and official, but you have every right to be there.

The following two diagrams show the color coding scheme for the old kind of wire. This probably applies to your house if you're not running any new cable, and are simply running a second line thru the existing unused yellow/black wires. If you're running Cat 5 cable, you'll need to make the appropriate color conversions.

Converting a "Line 1" jack to a "Line 2" jack

Note that black is swapped for green, and yellow is swapped for red. Of course, it would also work if you consistently swapped the black and yellow wires the other way (black for red, yellow for green) but that is not the standard. Given that you have to be consistent between the two ends of the wire, you might as well follow the standard.

Converting a jack to Line 2 means that you will no longer be able to use it for Line 1. In practice, you'll probably want to install a second wiring block beside the first, and use a short piece of four-strand wire to extend the system from the existing block to the new one. This way, you can have a Line 1 jack right beside the Line 2 jack.

Caveat: It occasionally happens that the red and/or green wires become damaged and unusable, but that the black and yellow wires are intact. Repairpersons have sometimes remedied this by running the one phone line across the black and yellow wires rather than replacing the cabling. If this has happened, you won't be able to run a second line thru the four-strand wire. (This is uncommon, but it is a gotcha to be aware of).

Four-strand wire supports up to two phone lines. If you are installing three or four lines, you might also consider buying eight-strand wire. The color coding conventions for this kind of wire are as follows:

(There's also six-strand wire, which is the same as eight-strand wire with the brown pair left out. This color system actually extends up thru other colors to distinguish 25 different pairs, but even the most techno-geeky of us will probably never have that many phone lines in our homes. If you're interested, you can get the details to this system at Phone-Man's Home Page)

The conventions for eight-strand wire are as follows:

If you have very old existing wiring in your house, it may not follow the conventions described above, but new wiring should follow them.

If you think you've got everything hooked up correctly, but one or more of your lines is "dead" (no dial tone), the problem might be the local phone company's problem, or it might be in your own wiring. Be sure that the problem isn't in your own wiring or in one of your own phones before you call the phone company to check on the problem. If they determine that the problem is on their side of the network interface device, they have to fix the problem at no charge to you; but if they determine that the problem is on your side of the network interface device, they'll charge you just for having determined this, and they'll charge you a second time if you have them make the fix in your wiring for you.

So how can you tell whose problem it is? This is easy: when you open your network interface box, notice that there is a modular jack for each phone line. You can unplug the jack for the line in question (note that doing this unplugs your whole house from the phone company's network) and plug a working phone into the jack instead. This phone is now hooked directly into the phone company's network. If the phone works properly when connected in this manner, then the problem is in your own wiring. If the phone doesn't work, either your phone is broken or there's a problem in the phone company's network. Try a second phone which you know to work, and if there still seems to be no service on the line, the problem is probably on the phone company's side of the network interface device.

If the problem is in your own wiring, the following things might be wrong:

If you're getting static on the line, it's possible that there's a hole somewhere in the wire insulation which is letting in moisture and causing a short. Follow the wire from the network interface device to the jack and look for holes. For example, if you've used staples to fasten the wire to the wall, check for a staple puncturing the insulation.

There isn't any one right way to plan your house wiring. Some people prefer to run a separate wire all the way from the Network Interface Device to each jack (star topology); others prefer a system with branching at points other than the NID, and/or with one jack daisy-chained to the next:

Star topology potentially uses a good bit more wire, but it is easier to troubleshoot because each jack is independent of the others.

I use the branching/daisy chaining approach myself. Fishing the wire is probably the most time-consuming part of the whole job, so if I'm just putting in one new jack, I'd usually rather just jump off of an existing jack than take the time to run a whole new wire all the way from the basement to the second floor. However, if the house has old, premodern wiring, the advantage to running a whole new wire is that I know exactly what I'm dealing with.

This section doesn't attempt to cover all the gadgets and parts related to phone wiring. For the wiring jobs described above, you usually only need to buy wire and modular jacks.

Two gotchas when buying modular jacks. First, for ordinary residential wiring, you should buy the kind of modular jack with four contacts inside the jack; don't make the mistake of buying the wider modular jack with six contacts unless you're sure it's what you need (you've got to look closely to see the difference).

Second, you can buy modular jacks either with or without the wiring block (this is the heavy plastic piece which you mount to the wall, with screws to attach the wires to; see the picture higher up on the page). If you're installing a totally new jack, then you need the wiring block. If you're upgrading an existing, old-fashioned (pre-modular) connection to a modular jack, you might be able to use the existing wiring block, in which case you don't need to buy the kind of jack with the wiring block included; sometimes you can take the old cover off and just put a new modular cover over the old wiring block. In the store, it's hard to tell from outside the sealed package whether the block is included. Read the label carefully! More than once I've gotten home and realized I bought the wrong kind; it's an easy mistake to make.

As mentioned above, you should buy Cat 5 wire for all new phone wiring projects. The older four-color type allows more crosstalk between wires; this might be only a minor annoyance for voice lines, but it's a bigger problem for modems or DSL lines. Even if you don't have immediate plans to transmit this kind of data across your line, it's better to plan for flexibility in the future. Cat 5 is now the national standard.

A reader tells me that Radio Shack sells a handy two-line tester for $5 which allows you to make sure the polarity (red/green, yellow/black) isn't reversed anywhere (I generally don't recommend Radio Shack since their products tend to be of shoddy quality, but for $5 it's hard to go wrong). You can also check at the Network Interface Device to make sure the phone company doesn't have the polarity reversed; if they do, you should call them to have it fixed at no charge, since reversed polarity can reportedly damage some kinds of phone equipment.

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Obnoxious Legal Stuff: To the best of my knowledge, all of the information on this page is correct, and it is provided in hope that it will be useful. However, I assume no liability for any damages, direct or otherwise, resulting from the use of this information, and no warranty is made regarding its accuracy or completeness. Use this information at your own risk.

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Doing Your Own Telephone Wiring

For years, Wire-Sculpture.com has been committed to helping people just like you become highly skilled wire jewelry artists who love their work! From Daily Wire Tip emails to fun Free Wire Jewelry Patterns, everything we do is for one purpose: helping you succeed and grow as a wire artist!

If you're new to wire wrapping, you may be asking, "What exactly is wire wrapped jewelry?" Well, to find out, explore our website, visit What is Wire Wrapping, or pick up our Free Introduction DVD to see how it all comes together. We have many resources readily available to help you get started. From live classes and DVDs, to free articles and video, you'll pick up the essential wire wrapping skills quickly. We've filmed several DVD series in all levels, Beginner to Advanced, taught by talented wire artist Dale "Cougar" Armstrong, who has been creating and selling her traditional wire jewelry for 20 years. These high-definition DVDs have crisp, close-up shots so that you can clearly see each step as Dale walks you through the process of creating a wire wrapped ring, pendant, bracelet, or necklace.

But that's not all; the Wire-Sculpture team doesn't stop when you become a successful wire jewelry artist. We're dedicated to seeing you become a happy and successful artist, whether as a hobby, or as a full- or part-time career. We offer Gold Club Discounts of 25% on all of our Jewelry Making Supplies - Wire, Beads, DVDs, and Tools! This is a lifetime discount that never expires. Join our community on Facebook, or follow our Jewelry Making Blog, updated daily with questions from wire artists just like you, and answers and tips from Dale "Cougar" Armstrong. We're dedicated to giving you all the wire jewelry resources you need to succeed. Plus, you'll find great information in our Wire Jewelry Resource Center about every wire wrap topic you can imagine, from jewelry care to measurement conversion - even tips on selling your finished handmade jewelry.

If you ever need assistance, feel free to call us toll-free, 1-877-636-0608 between 8am - 5pm Monday through Friday (Mountain Time), or click here to Contact Us and speak with one of our friendly Customer Service folks. We're here for you as you begin your wire wrapping adventure - stay twisted!

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Wire Jewelry | Wire Wrap Tutorials | Jewelry Making Wire

The following article is complete reference for home/house wiring diagrams, codes and symbols. In this manual you will find various type of wiring diagram and electrical components symbols for house or home compliance.

This article covers discussion on Pigtail GFCI Outlets, Single Switch before and after light diagram, 3-way switch, 4-way switch, service entrance to breaker box, cable size diagram, outlet receptacles, residential electrical guidelines, cable checklist, circuit type and wire color, electrical switch symbols, fixture symbols, Outlet Symbols, communication symbols, plumbing symbols, electrical box, branch circuit, etc.

Find more information about House | Home Wiring Diagrams, Codes and Symbols here.

2003 Honda Civic Electrical (Body) System Diagram

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Ford Expedition Air Conditioning Electrical Circuit and Wiring Diagram (97)

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Sony Bravia LCD HDTV KDL - XBR Cable Connection Schematic and Wiring Diagram

home wiring diagrams,electrical diagram symbols,residential electrical layout,

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House | Home Wiring Diagrams, Codes and Symbols

Submitted by Makenzi Henderson on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:51pm.READ MORE:

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- The Azalea Festival home tour features a house that celebrates captains and seafaring.

The Smiths said they have owned the Greek-revival cottage at 321 S. 4th Street in Wilmington for 25 years. According to the Azalea Festival website, William Cooke, the captain of the original cutter Diligence, built it in 1844. It has the original fireplaces, wood floors and detached kitchen.Suzanne Smith said the detached kitchen is one of the only ones in southeastern North Carolina.

The Smiths restored the kitchen, shored up the foundation and replaced the old wiring. They said it's a lot of work, but worth it.

"Oh, it's completely worth it. I feel really happy. The only room we haven't done now is what I call the real kitchen, the one I cook in. But, we're out of energy right now," Suzanne Smith said while chuckling.

She went on to say that she and her husband, Herman, have added some nautical touches, like the bust of a Mermaid, to the home to honor the Captain Cooke.

The Historic Home Tour is Saturday, April 11 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, April 12 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are Tickets $25 in advance, and $30 on the day of the event. The ribbon cutting will be at the MacRae-Willard House at 520 Orange Street on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Click here for more information.

According to the Azalea Festival's website, the North Carolina Azalea Festival Home Tour is an annual event held by the Historic Wilmington Foundation. Proceeds from the Home Tour will advance the Historic Wilmington Foundations efforts to protect and preserve the irreplaceable historic resources of Wilmington and the Lower Cape Fear region. Since 1966, the foundation has successfully saved more than 200 historic properties from demolition.

Disclaimer: Comments posted on this, or any story are opinions of those people posting them, and not the views or opinions of WWAY NewsChannel 3, its management or employees. You can view our comment policy here.

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HISTORIC HOME TOUR: William Cooke House

Edmond police say they have located their biggest marijuana grow ever.

PHOTOS: Edmond police find massive marijuana grow in home

Investigators flooded the Copperfield development around noon Friday for a welfare check.

Video: Massive pot grow busted by Edmond police

The homeowner called us, said Jenny Monroe, spokesperson for the Edmond Police Department. When officers arrived, they saw the back door open and they could see a venting system and all the wiring coming out of the back of the house. They could see some plants and smell a strong chemical odor.

Inside the home, located in the 1300 block of Jamestown, investigators found roughly 500 pot plants, some as tall as 4 feet.

The entire home was covered with plants, said Monroe. Everywhere except the kitchen.

The operation was so large, investigators brought in a 22-foot U-Haul truck to clear the home.

According to police, their investigation started a few months ago when a utility company noticed the power had been cut off.

The marijuana growers were siphoning electricity from their neighbors to fuel their illegal activity, police said.

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Edmond police find 500-plant marijuana grow

Affordable Electricians-myhomehandyman.co.uk/jobs

By: Gagbamedia

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Affordable Electricians-myhomehandyman.co.uk/jobs - Video

The first quarter of 2015 has seen the average Internet download speed for the largest seven national home broadband ISPs in the United Kingdom crawl up from 24Mbps at the end of 2014 to 24.72Mbps now, while the average for the countrys primary Mobile Broadband operators reached 14.42Mbps (up from 11.71Mbps in Q4 2014).

As usual some providers, such as BT and Virgin Media in particular, tend to perform better for download performance because they have a higher number of subscribers taking superfast broadband connections and this affects the average.

Naturally Virgin Media continues to deliver the fastest download speeds (54.17Mbps) because theyre urban focused and their entry-level cable package is a 50Mbps service. By comparison the other big ISPs have to cater for rural areas with slower ADSL lines, as well as faster up to 80Mbps FTTC lines, which will hinder their performance.

But Virgins cable network isnt perfect and indeed their average upstream performance (6.63Mbps) isnt as strong as the up to 10-20Mbps capability of some FTTC lines, which allows BT, Zen Internet and PlusNet to all etch out a small lead over the cable operator.

Generally the big home broadband ISPs have all shown a gradual improvement over their score at the end of last year. Since then Virgin has announced a major network expansion to 17 million premises by 2020, plus a trial of DOCSIS 3.1 technology (here), and BT has pledged to roll-out G.fast speeds of 500Mbps to most homes over the next decade (here). On top of that the Governments Broadband Delivery UK programme is continuing to push faster connectivity into more areas, thus speeds should continue to improve.

The Fastest UK ISPs Average Download Speed (Megabits per second)

Average Speed = 24.72Mbps

The Fastest UK ISPs Average Upload Speed

Average Speed = 5.84Mbps

At this point we should say that the above ISPs arent the fastest home broadband operators and if we were to expand our list in order to include niche companies, which often only focus upon smaller or more specific areas, then wed immediately need to include true fibre optic (FTTH/P) operators like Hyperoptic and Gigaclear (there are others but most dont produce enough data to be included).

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The Top 7 Fastest National UK Home Broadband and Mobile ISPs Q1 2015

Installing Electrical Wiring in an Old Home
Bob meets up with electrician Barry Driscoll, who is wiring a third-floor subpanel. An electrical inspector reviews it for adequate size and proper location.

By: Bob Vila

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Installing Electrical Wiring in an Old Home - Video

Amherst fire fighters clean up following a house fire at 45730 North Ridge Road in Amherst Sunday afternoon. ANNA NORRIS/CHRONICLE

AMHERST Faulty front porch light electrical wiring is believed to have caused a fire that badly damaged a home at 45730 North Ridge Road, according to Assistant Fire Chief Jim Wilhelm.

No one was hurt in the fire called in at 12:36 p.m. Sunday, but five cats and three birds died. Homeowner Michael Tyson said he was home alone watching television about 12:35 p.m. when he saw a shadow by the front door.

I thought somebody was at the front door, he said. Then I saw the flames burning on the front porch.

Tyson said he called 911. By the end of the call, Tyson said his home, which he moved into in 2002, was filled with thick smoke. The 62-year-old retired Ford Motor Co. worker said he was forced to run out the back door.

I had to get out, Tyson said. Those flames were up to the top of my porch. I figured there was nothing I could do.

Wilhelm said Amherst firefighters, assisted by colleagues from Elyria Township, arrived at 12:42 p.m. The fire, which spread to the attic of the two-floor, wood-frame home, was contained about 1:15 p.m. and put out at 2:09 p.m.

Wilhelm said a sixth cat was resuscitated by firefighters and taken to a veterinarian. Tyson, who said he has homeowners insurance, said the American Red Cross Lake Erie chapter is assisting him and his wife with temporary housing.

Wilhelm estimated the fire caused about $125,000 in structural damage and $75,000 to belongings. The 1,600-square-foot home, which is valued at nearly $89,000, was built in 1900, according to the Lorain County Auditors website. Wilhelm said the homes balloon-frame construction, which makes flames shoot up into the top of homes during fires, made extinguishing the fire more difficult.

Contact Evan Goodenow at 329-7129 or egoodenow@chroniclet.com.

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Cause for Amherst house fire believed to be bad wiring

By Cui Guoqiang

In December 2014, Midea and Xiaomi Technology joined force to enter the smart home market. In the following month, a number of conventional household electrical appliance manufacturers have also revealed their intention to enter the market: Haier Group signed strategic cooperation agreement with Evergrande, Midea offered an olive branch to JD, Skyworth allied with Alibaba and Youku, and Hisense partnered with 11 online companies to enter the field...

Wang Jinliang, director of Midea Group's domestic market division, said that Midea has always focused on white electrical appliances, kitchen appliances, and small appliances, and is a traditional machinery manufacturer. "We need the help of professional internet software companies if we are to make breakthroughs in fields that we are not good at, such as the internet, cloud computing, and cloud services. The partnership with Xiaomi is an important measure for Midea's business expansion and strategic arrangement in the mobile internet era".

Changhong Group has also been introducing smart products. After the introduction of the CHiQ TV, the first smart TV that integrates the three networks in China, Meiling launched the CHiQ refrigerator that sports cloud image recognition technology, and a CHiQ air-conditioner that is equipped with human body condition sensing technology was also introduced later. Liu Tibin, general manager of Changhong Group, said that the "intelligence era" of white appliance will bring an end to the "functionality era"; Changhong will achieve full transformation ranging from product design to manufacturing, from marketing approaches to brand rebuilding, and from organization structure adjustment to information platform establishment.

"Changhong's TV would try to remember a user's preference, sense the user's emotion, and enable the user to choose programs to their likings; it can move a TV program from the large screen onto a small green within only click, making it possible to "watch video at any time and different places, of different types, and on multiple screens". Changhong's air-conditioner initiated customization, capable of meeting users' needs by means of various application scenarios rather than pure functions", said Liu Tibin.

After establishing partnership with Vanda Li Dongsheng, chairman of the board of TCL, said that: "TCL is now pushing ahead the "Double +" strategic transformation which features multimedia and telecommunication. The company has constructed an ecosystem of "components + terminals + content application + platform", stepping up efforts to enhance businesses like terminal content, application, platform, smart home, and cloud services. The strategic partnership would help the company to develop the capability to offer smart products and internet operation services from cloud to terminals".

In fact, Chinese companies are not the only ones that are rushing into the smart home furnishing field. Many foreign companies are also transitioning rapidly across the globe. In 2014, Google bought home automation company Nest Labs for US$ 3.2 billion; LG exhibited its smart home management system HomeChat; and Samsung launched the intelligent home platform SmartHome

Bai Siwei, vice president and secretary general of China Internet of Things Industry Association, believes that the current smart furnishing fad is a "chain effect" brought by mobile internet. In the past, consumption of smart home products remained in upscale villa areas, sold as part of decoration projects and smart home furnishing projects. Now, the consumer groups are apparently extending to ordinary consumers. With the rapid development of mobile internet and the appearance of new wireless technology, the smart home furnishing industry will see a period of opportunities for its development. Compared to conventional way, modern smart home furnishing incorporates many wireless transmission control technology, and as mobile internet and terminals become more popular, the modern way will largely replace conventional home furnishing that uses wiring extensively, making it more energy-saving, environment-friendly, and low-carbon, bringing outstanding user experience to users. In particular, with the promulgations of policies like the Development Plan of the Internet of Things during the Twelfth Five-year Plan, smart industries are explicitly named as the key areas of development in the future. The support and guidance of policies give companies great confidence, and many conventional home appliance companies are getting involved in this field.

"The advantage of home appliance companies lies in the intelligentialization of information household electrical appliances, and that of internet companies in platform-based operation and services; they are mutually complementary, and together can achieve the scale application, standardization, platform application, and connectivity of light and smart home furnishing", said Bai Siwei.

Bai Siwei believes that there are five major trends for the development of smart home furnishing in the future. Firstly, touch control will be a common control method for smart home, with an intelligent touch screen capable of controlling lighting, electrical appliances, curtains, security, monitor, and access at home. Secondly, mobile phone will be the most important mobile smart control terminal for smart home furnishing in the future. Via smart home apps or web approaches, a mobile phone will be able to monitor and control the interior of the house remotely, capable of opening door remotely, visitor image confirmation, and starting air-conditioner and warming equipments from afar. Thirdly, wireless control system and wire control system will integrate seamlessly; main line area will use wiring control system, and small areas will use wireless control system. Fourthly, a smart home will be a small version of the internet of things, with all objects in the house interconnected with one another. Fifthly, smart home system will connect to smart city system, smart building system, and smart community system seamlessly, and all smart home systems will certainly be compatible with the seamless control linkage of the bigger systems.

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Household appliance giants foray into smart homes