Telecom Demarc point: what is inside this box?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Telecom Demarc point: what is inside this box?

dymatrixnz

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#102654 19-May-2012 00:33

Hey fellow geeks.

I have a telecom Demarcation point at my house or Im pretty sure it is anyway. It has a cable tube running from the ground.

I was wondering if anyone could Identify what was inside this particular one? I want to bust it open and have a look but its raining and I'm a little scared of doing that when I don't know exactly what it is.

I'm thinking of smart wiring my house with RJ45 and a Patch Panel in a cupboard somewhere. Small house so might be a no go. Still I'm keen to know if anyone has a pic of the inside of one of these things or has a diagram.

Thanks in advance!

1 | 2

8279 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 585

Trusted

#627608 19-May-2012 02:08

Typically inside is the end of the cable coming in from the road/ground which will contain two pairs/lines and one line will be in use and connected to your internal wiring via gel caps.

coffeebaron

6304 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3566

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#627639 19-May-2012 09:47

And don't try cracking it open with a philips or flat blade, get the right tool to unscrew it.

Rural IT and Broadband support.

Broadband troubleshooting and master filter installs.
Starlink installer - one month free: https://www.starlink.com/?referral=RC-32845-88860-71
Wi-Fi and networking
Cel-Fi supply and installer - boost your mobile phone coverage legally

Need help in Auckland, Waikato or BoP? Click my email button, or email me direct: [my user name] at geekzonemail dot com

dymatrixnz

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#627682 19-May-2012 12:40

Yeah I haven't seen one like that before. Is it some kind of key you use to open it?

I will crack it open and take photos when I find if I have the tool or not :p

geekiegeek

2513 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 625
Inactive user

#627705 19-May-2012 13:51

Seriously I wouldn't bother. Its 2 wires joined together and that's it.

I used to install them.

dymatrixnz

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#627753 19-May-2012 18:02

So is that also known as the termination point? If there are 2 wires in there... Does that mean only 2 phone lines? and additional phone lines would need to be run?

Or can you connect virtual lines through a VLAN and a Genesis config instead?

Just trying to get my head around phone lines and signal thing.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2638
Inactive user

#627762 19-May-2012 18:33

coffeebaron: And don't try cracking it open with a philips or flat blade, get the right tool to unscrew it.

lol..... an appropriately sized flat head does the trick. But no you are right, get the tool! I always leave it in the van and use my flat head most of the time lol.

But if you stuff the screws then it's your problem..

edit:

So is that also known as the termination point? If there are 2 wires in there... Does that mean only 2 phone lines? and additional phone lines would need to be run?

Or can you connect virtual lines through a VLAN and a Genesis config instead?

Just trying to get my head around phone lines and signal thing.

It is two cables. Probably just one pair is joined through to make your phone/broadband work. It gives you a pair from the local cabinet/exchange and lets your ISP make stuff work. If you want more phone lines then VoIP is the 'virtual lines' you are talking about -which you probably already are getting out of your Genius box.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

raytaylor

4076 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1296

Trusted

#627855 20-May-2012 09:55

You should have a cat5 cable coming from your telephone plug inside the house to this ETP box

Inside the box will also be a cable coming in from the street. It will be a two pair, 4 core cable capable of carrying two phone lines, and/or two DSL lines on top.

If you want any more lines, you will need to get more trenched in from the street, or run voip inside the dsl on the lines.

So two cables will be inside the box. A pair from each of the cables will be joined together using gel caps which are also called scotchloks
They are a simple design where you push the wires in, and press down on a button and it joins the wires together.

There might possibly be a dsl filter if you have a master splitter installed. In which case there will be a second pair from the internal cat5 cabling connected which goes to a different telephone outlet in the house.

So if you are looking at wiring the house with a patch panel, you would normally run a cat5 cable from this box on the outside of your house, to a dsl filter attached to the back of the patch panel in your cupboard. You would connect the blue pair (main line) to pins 4/5 of ports 1+2+3 via a dsl filter, and the brown pair (second line) to pins 4/5 via a dsl filter of ports 4+5 on the back of your patch panel.
Then the dsl output from the dsl filters would connect to pins 4/5 of port 6 and port 7

Port 8,9,10+ will go to various RJ45 wall outlets around the house.
Then you use cat5 rj45 patch cables to join ports together.

So if you wanted telephone line 1 to go to an outlet in your kitchen which happened to be port 16, you would use a short patch cable to join port 1 on your patch board to port 16. Then in the kitchen plug a phone into outlet 16 and your line is connected.
If you also wanted telephone line 1 in the bedroom on outlet 13, you could use port 2 on your patch board and patch it to port 13.

For internet, you would connect your dsl modem to the dsl output on patch board port 6 or 7. The ethernet ports would then connect into the other ports on the board to go to the outlets around your house. If you have more than 4 outlets, you use a switching hub inside your patch cupboard and join more ports together.

By keeping your telephone on the blue pair (4/5) you cannot do any harm if you plug a telephone into a network outlet or viceversa around your house.

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

dymatrixnz

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#627891 20-May-2012 11:02

Thanks Ray that was really informative.

I have a picture of the inside of it because I couldn't help myself and cracked it open with a head that seemed to fit.

What are those red things?

So that White cable is the Cat5 Cable running into the house and the black one is from the road.

Things make more sense when you bust them open.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2638
Inactive user

#627915 20-May-2012 13:00

Yea so the black cable is a 2-pair cable going to the street meaning you can have two physical lines in to the house. Being that there is duct there it is probably pretty easy to pull a new cable through with more pairs if you need them.
The white cable isn't Cat5 but a 2-pair internal cable. Cat5 has 4 pairs.
The red things are just insulators. They just stop the ends corroding and have no contacts or anything in them, just gel.
The yellow thing is a test terminator which is only there to make the automated test service work as most modern jacks don't have any resistors in them so the test service says it as an 'open circuit'. With that yellow thing in place it see's 'standard termination' and can give semi-accurate results. It isn't the end of the world if you remove it to make space for a splitter for example.

dymatrixnz

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#627916 20-May-2012 13:16

Ah right cool.

I'm still digesting the previous post but I have a clearer idea now.
So the internal wiring, what kind of cable is that? Cat anything?

raytaylor

4076 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1296

Trusted

#627999 20-May-2012 18:31

Probably cat3 but it could be anything. Cat just refers to the quality of the copper. There is even a possibility that it could be aluminuim (really bad)

The red things are the scotchloks - they just join wires together really quickly.

Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2638
Inactive user

#628071 20-May-2012 21:21

dymatrixnz: Ah right cool.

I'm still digesting the previous post but I have a clearer idea now.
So the internal wiring, what kind of cable is that? Cat anything?

The brand name is 'Homelan'. It is a 2-pair copper cable.

dymatrixnz

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#628361 21-May-2012 14:29

Homelan? Wow that must be pretty old. Google isnt bringing up anything.

The house is about 15 - 16 years old.

jayd

35 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 2

#628377 21-May-2012 14:51

There looks to be only 3 pairs in that wire going into the house. Maybe the white/green pair has been cut off? If so, it could well be cat5 or some type of 4pair cabling. The sheathing is usually blue, but maybe its been painted over?

cyril7

9073 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2499

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#628378 21-May-2012 14:51

Hi, and that Homeplan cable is infact cat5 rated (latter batches maybe cat5e but otherwise cat5), so techically you can run fast ethernet down it.

Cyril

1 | 2