How to identify Bell Home phone inside wiring problems

Listen to sounds on your phone line

Listen to sounds on your phone line


Ensure that your inside wire is connected properly at the demarcation point. You can determine a lot about the inside wiring problems by listening to sounds on your telephone line:
  • Static: Wires could be wet, pierced or loose at a connecting point. Carefully check all wires and connections.
  • Buzzing: A wire may have come into contact with metal, other than the connection terminals. Is any exposed copper wire touching the box or other metal around the jack? Check that colours have been matched correctly.
  • Dead Air: Wires may be crossed. Is there a contact between any exposed copper from wires of different colours (red crossed with green if 2-pair wire is being used; or blue crossed with white if 3-pair wire is being used)?

Check connections, wire and pins
Isolate the inside wiring problem
Listen to sounds on your phone line

Listen to sounds on your phone line


Ensure that your inside wire is connected properly at the demarcation point. You can determine a lot about the inside wiring problems by listening to sounds on your telephone line:
  • Static: Wires could be wet, pierced or loose at a connecting point. Carefully check all wires and connections.
  • Buzzing: A wire may have come into contact with metal, other than the connection terminals. Is any exposed copper wire touching the box or other metal around the jack? Check that colours have been matched correctly.
  • Dead Air: Wires may be crossed. Is there a contact between any exposed copper from wires of different colours (red crossed with green if 2-pair wire is being used; or blue crossed with white if 3-pair wire is being used)?

Check connections, wire and pins

Check connections, wire and pins


  • Check that all connections have been made properly. Are all the coloured wires connected to the right terminals? Is the exposed copper wiring making a solid contact with the right terminals?
  • Check the wire. Is it broken or split? Is it pierced by a staple, nail, screw or other object? If it is, replace the entire section of wire from end to end.
  • Check that the pins or connecting terminals inside the jacks are not touching each other and that a jack itself is not damaged.

Isolate the inside wiring problem

Isolate the inside wiring problem


  1. Locate your wire distribution device (connector block) at your demarcation point.
  2. Disconnect one pair of wires from the distribution device.
  3. Check to see if your service has been restored at other jack locations in your home.
  4. Continue disconnecting wire pairs, one pair at a time, to determine which wire is causing the trouble.
  5. Once you have isolated the problem circuit, we suggest you replace the entire section of wire that is defective or the jack, if it is causing the problem.

If you are unable to repair or isolate an inside wire problem yourself, call our repair department at 6-1-1 from a Bell landline.

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