seta-san Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 i know this is the central hub of the phone system. i have no idea what this mess of wires really is... how they are really connecting. can someone explain this thing to me and what a good modern replacement would be Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoochieMamma Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) Looks like an electrical junction box. Is there a specific reason why you want to re-do the cabling? Might be best to get an electrician to give the house a once over and sign off if it's safe and if not, they will know what to re-wire (ie: install circuit breakers instead of fuses etc). edit: OK must be an American thing, our MDFs for phones look nothing like that. Edited December 24, 2017 by HoochieMamma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim K Global Moderator Posted December 24, 2017 Global Moderator Share Posted December 24, 2017 It is the demarcation point for your telephone service. I wouldn't bother with it as long as the telephones still work fine. If you do...maybe this thread can help.... http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=416.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoseyWales Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) It's a grounding strip for the phone circuit. It's old but I see no issue with it. The wires all look newer and I see no problems at all with the install. Aside from a newer block to pretty it up, you would see no improvement in line quality per say. It should be just fine judging by that photo.. You could upgrade it to one of these if you like. Edited December 24, 2017 by JoseyWales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seta-san Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) okay. what about this thing? i was thinking about setting them up with a structured media setup http://www.cnaweb.com/fasthome-telephone-hub-module.aspx?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI8fSsvsyi2AIVULjACh30YQRCEAQYCSABEgJenPD_BwE also looking at it the grounding wire looks like it was cut a long time ago. it used to attach to a cold water pipe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seta-san Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 i guess i got lucky and found the wire on the stapled on the far left is the hot one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 1 hour ago, seta-san said: i know this is the central hub of the phone system. i have no idea what this mess of wires really is... how they are really connecting. can someone explain this thing to me and what a good modern replacement would be In 2017, the word "Modernize" and retro land line do not go together. Although there is probably no English word to describe "Bring ye oldenish olde technology a bit up to date to the last time period where everyone then stopped using it to the best knowledge of archaeologists studying that culture" You could just run high speed fibre to the house. The connection will actually be modern. 1 hour ago, seta-san said: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seta-san Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) 4 minutes ago, DevTech said: In 2017, the word "Modernize" and retro land line do not go together. Although there is probably no English word to describe "Bring ye oldenish olde technology a bit up to date to the last time period where everyone then stopped using it to the best knowledge of archaeologists studying that culture" You could just run high speed fibre to the house. The connection will actually be modern. not helpful. the old timers are stuck in their ways. I'm looking to redo the wiring and actually move everything into a single, clean, structured media panel. i just had no idea what that device was and how integral it was to the whole system. now that i know that it was a grounding system that actually had it's grounding cut 15 years ago I'm not actually that worried about it. I'm now just looking for a new hub that would work well in a structured media panel. it's not just this. there's going to coax for the cable everywhere and eithernet for the few connections they have around the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 5 minutes ago, seta-san said: not helpful. the old timers are stuck in their ways. I'm looking to redo the wiring and actually move everything into a single, clean, structured media panel. i just had no idea what that device was and how integral it was to the whole system. now that i know that it was a grounding system that actually had it's grounding cut 15 years ago I'm not actually that worried about it. I'm now just looking for a new hub that would work well in a structured media panel. it's not just this. there's going to coax for the cable everywhere and eithernet for the few connections they have around the house. Between high speed internet and VOIP lines and Skype etc combined with everyone having a cell phone, there is an obvious huge trend toward simply letting those land line panels rot away since they are no longer connected to anything. I dumped mine years ago and I was being a bit of a retro hold out at the time... I know of almost nobody with a land line anymore, but perhaps this effect is geographic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seta-san Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 Just now, DevTech said: Between high speed internet and VOIP lines and Skype etc combined with everyone having a cell phone, there is an obvious huge trend toward simply letting those land line panels rot away since they are no longer connected to anything. I dumped mine years ago and I was being a bit of a retro hold out at the time... I know of almost nobody with a land line anymore, but perhaps this effect is geographic? yeah. look at my parent's panel there again. in the left side is the hot wire. on the right you will see SIX that go to phones throughout their whole house. what void service is going to service six phones? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seta-san Posted December 24, 2017 Author Share Posted December 24, 2017 this is what i want to do with their mess of a wiring situation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 4 minutes ago, seta-san said: yeah. look at my parent's panel there again. in the left side is the hot wire. on the right you will see SIX that go to phones throughout their whole house. what void service is going to service six phones? Well, I honestly thought you might have making a subtle joke with your first post. Realistically, I would use whatever technology made the most economic sense for my needs and respect the choice of anyone to do likewise. Depending on where you are located and what the costs of various services are, it may be least expensive to string 6 extension phones off of a land line. Alternatives would be one of those Panasonic wireless kits with a base phone and 4 extensions connected to a land line or VOIP. I use Line 2 (https://line2.com/) for VOIP since I get a free 888 toll free number with it that makes BOTH incoming and outgoing calls completely toll free across all of Mexico, United States and Canada. I can run the client for that on any cell phone or desktop PC and I usually have several PC's running it to listen for incoming calls. I can also add additional VOIP channels on top of it. But even for VOIP that is a non-traditional setup and the pros and cons break out very differently to retro land line and even traditional VOIP. Old school VOIP with hand sets that direct connect to internet breakouts around the house are probably closest to mimicking a land line setup. The equipment cost can be excessive and is predicated on a very high land-line monthly fee which actually exists and makes it economical depending on geography. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted December 24, 2017 Share Posted December 24, 2017 8 minutes ago, seta-san said: this is what i want to do with their mess of a wiring situation I have saved that picture for future joking around. I'm sure it is just marketing madness, but I had to LOL with a Wireless Access Point inside a metal utility panel... Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts