First off.. This site is awesome! I have a million things I can search for help with on here.

Here's my dilemma: My phone lines have an unnerving amount of static on them. Sometimes I can't even get a dialtone. This happens on both corded and uncorded phones, so I scratched my wireless network off the list of possible suspects. I then had the phone company come out, and they tell me it's the way my alarm is wired, so I call ADT... This is the point where I get a little disgusted. They want $80 just to come out here, plus a fair hourly rate, plus any parts that they may need to repair said wiring. I plan on canceling my account tomorrow, because I refuse to pay them to repair something they installed incorrectly.

Here's my question: How can I disconnect my alarm from my phone line? Would it be done from the phone box on the outside, or from the locked ADT box that resides in my laundry room (where's the key)? I have an ADT Safewatch 3000...

Please give me as much direction as possible, because I'm a young up and coming DIY guy with little experience.

 

Somewhere there is supposed to be a telephone jack that the alarm system is plugged into, unfortunately that somewhere may very well be inside the locked cabinet. There is also the possibility that a jack was not installed and the alarm panel was hard-wired to the telephone system.

The jack that should be installed is NOT a "standard" telephone jack but is classified as "RJ-31X or RJ-38X and has special contacts/wiring that will disconnect the telephone(s) in the house in case of an alarm. This is so that leaving a phone "off the hook" (or someone talking) will not disable the alarm system.

Unplugging the alarm system from the jack will allow the house phones to work normally, provided that there is not a problem with the jack. Unfortunately the alarm system probably "monitors" the telephone line and when you unplug the alarm system from the jack it will (after a period of time) sound a "trouble" alarm. The alarm system will either need to be programmed as a "local only" system or you will have to disconnect both the AC and battery power to the system rendering it as no system at all.

Do you lease your system from ADT or do you own it? If you own it there should be no reason to have the cabinet locked with a key that you do not have.

 

Also, have you plugged a phone into the test jack on your Telco NID? If you do so and there is still static, then the problem is really the telco's problem. If it goes away then it's your house wiring

90% of the time, static is usually due to damaged wire insulation, or water infiltraton, a bad phone jack or phone cord, or a combination of the above. The easy way to trace it is go to your NID and disconnect 1 pair at a time, checking between each disconnection. When the static goes away, the phone jacks that don't work now, are the ones you need to check.

The RJ-31 will nearly always be in or on the security system cabinet. It's an oversized jack with a rj-45 plug. Simply unplugging it removes the alarm from the equation. These jacks and cords _can_ go bad, but it's pretty uncommon.

The alarm is almost never the problem. It's usually the house wiring (You would be amazed at how many noisy phone lines turn out to be pet chewed phone cords).

 

Thanks for the replies!

MrRonFL - I'm not exactly sure what theTelco NID is.. Is that the box on the side of the house? If so, I have plugged it in there, and there still was static.

 

Also, I found the key to the locked ADT box. It was *cough* on top of the box...

 

NID stands for Network Interface Device. Yes, the box where the telephone company (Telco) wires connect to your house wires. As MrRonFL states, if you have noise when you unplug the house wiring and substitute the telephone the noise is the Telco responsibility...unless the telephone you use has a problem.

You may wish to borrow a friend's telephone, one that you KNOW does not have a static/noise problem, to make the test at the NID.

 

When you unplug that jumper in the box outside, and plug a handset into it, you are connected directly to the telephone provider lines, no house wiring can be blamed. If the static is in that test jack on a known good phone, then your phone company needs to get off the stick and do what you are paying them for.

Telco tech's have a nasty tendency to automatically blame alarm line siezure wiring rather than engage in any real troubleshooting. It's one of the less than subtle ways for them to push people into buying the "line maintainance" fee that the telcos all push.

 

Thanks for all the help!

I'm going to do some testing tomorrow, and if it comes to getting the phone company out here. I have some knowledge thanks to you guys.

Thanks a bunch!