Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!pyrdc!netsys!vector!nobody From: INTERMAIL@A.ISI.EDU Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Inside House Wiring Message-ID: Date: 6 Nov 88 12:01:44 GMT Sender: chip@vector.UUCP Lines: 74 Approved: telecom-request@vector.uucp X-Submissions-To: telecom@bu-cs.bu.edu (TELECOM Digest Coordinator) X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@vector.uucp (USENET Telecom Moderator) X-TELECOM-Digest: volume 8, issue 172, message 4 >I am trying to get my modem @ home to talk to the outside world. I am >currently time-multiplexing it, so that the modem can use the line at >night. I would like to have a separate line for the modem. I called >Pacific Bell (the local phone company), expecting a simple order request. >It turns out that the apartment building is not wired for two lines (how >short-sighted can you get!)............ That I find hard to believe. As far as I know, most apartment bldgs are are prewired with 12 or 25 pair multiconductor. It is unusual that an apartment bldg would not be prewired, those cases usually happen if the bldg is real old, or you have 3 units or less. >...........................PacBell will put in a second line, if I want. >There are two reasons why this is unacceptable. First, they want $45 for >the first fifteen minutes, and (I think) $12 for every 15 minutes after >that (make a rough guess how long it takes :-) Second, I don't see that >I should foot the bill for this apartment to have two lines. As an option, >I know I can move, but would like a better reason than that. >My question is, does anyone know of a way of solving this? It seems to >me, that if the phone line is ~5K bandwidth, and the actual line to the >exchange is maybe 10K, then I *should* be able to multiplex the line - >PacBell said no. Any comments? I'm sure this is a common problem, but I've >not seen anything on it recently. Yes, you could mux 2 lines on 1 pair (T-Carriers are usually 4 wire, and since 1 pair is each direction, it is usually easier to mux those than 2 bi-directional carriers.) Essentially, you would be muxing at the demarc since that is where the local telco cable pairs are coming into you. BUT, before you go through all this, look before you leap........ First, go find your entry point for the cable pairs from the pole/street, and find the Network Interface, where the protectors are. If you already have a line to your apartment, it HAS to be standard 4-conductor cable. If you do find that, the all you have to do is just use the unused pair (yellow and black) of wires, and then either seperate them in your apartment to 2 jacks or combine them on the same jack that the RJ-11/RJ-13 jacks allow for. Pac Bell WILL make sure you have dial tone at the Network Interface (or a 66 block if you are in a large apartment bldg). From there, it's your line to do whatever you want. Now this is if you are in a small apartment bldg with recent wiring. In a large apartment bldg, just look for a similiar color pair thats not being used at the interface, then in your apartment, take the wallplate off, and look for the same colored pair you hooked up downstairs. If you are in a large, old bldg, you most likely will have old 2-conductor running from the basement. What you want to look for then is an airshaft, and there are usually plenty in an old bldg. Then all you have to do is run a new line from the basement to your aparment. You will need the owners permission (you would anyway for Pac Bell to do it), because you most likely be 2 apartments away from an air shaft (I have been luckly, so far. I always ended up in an apt with a shaft next to the bathroom). What you do is run the telephone wire on the hallway ledge, the drop it into your apt underneath your door (run down from the ledge along your door, that way you dont need to drill anywhere, and with old plaster, you would not want to.....). I have been in enough apartments that one or the other HAS to apply. If you are in a situation that the above does not apply, I would *love* to hear about it. I will say, though, houses are a lot easier to wire. I finally moved to one, and I had it finished in 15 minutes, once they ran the 2nd cable pair to the house for the 2nd line. Robert Michael Gutierrez MCI Telecommuncations Western Region Customer Trouble Management Center Hayward, California. *(Of course) The above views do not represent my employers, ya-da ya-da ya-da.....