Disconnecting copper landline wires from the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box
Nick19380
Enthusiast - Level 1

To fully disconnect landline phone wires physically, after telephone service has been cancelled, the questions are:

- To disconnect the twisted pair solid-copper wiring from being connected to the house, is it simply a matter of pulling the RJ11 Modular Jacks, or must the wires be unscrewed from the terminal screws? 

- Is there also a ground wire to be aware of, and can the homeowner disconnect this themselves (or does Verizon need to do it, contractually)? 

Can the customer / homeowner completely disconnect the copper twisted-pair wiring on the Customer Side of the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box mounted outside the house? Is it simply a matter of pulling out the RJ11 Modular Jacks from those Testing Ports, or does the solid copper wiring have to be unwound from the color-coded screw terminals? Does simply pulling the RJ11 Modular Jacks out entirely disconnect all phone signal coming from the street-side, and prevent it from entering the house-side? 

Also, is there a ground wire at all, to be aware of?

In my setup, another service provider's VoIP solution is now being used (via an VoIP adpater unit connected to broadband internet). And, the idea is to "backfeed" the house from the VoIP adpater box to an RJ11 wall-mount box inside the house, which will distribute the VoIP service's dial-tone through the house (which, corded and cordless phones in other rooms can then be connected via the house's existing twisted pair copper wiring...).

Any solid answers about properly disconnecting the phone signal fully from the house is appreciated. Can the customer do disconected the copper phone wires, and is there a separate ground wire, too? Or, does Verizon need to send a Technican out for this type of disconnection? Thanks.

0 Likes
Re: Disconnecting copper landline wires from the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

Not sure why you want to bother.  Leave them connected.

If you insist it depends on how yours are connected.  Mine have always been wired not plugged in to the jacks  Just determine where the wires going to your house are conncted and disconnect.  For most households their are only two wires connected.  The ground wire should be left intact, and I believe is always on the Verizon side of the box..

0 Likes
Re: Disconnecting copper landline wires from the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box
Nick19380
Enthusiast - Level 1

The reason I'm interested to know about disconnnecting the traditional solid-copper twisted-pair wiring from the street at the Verizon Network Telephone Interface box is because I would eventually be "back-feeding" Voice over Intenet Protocol (VoIP) from an Ooma Telo 104 unit's RJ11 jack into a house's existing copper telephone wiring network within the walls, to distribute dial-tone capability throughout the house.

Here's an schematic from Ooma about it:

http://support.ooma.com/home/distributing-ooma-to-all-telephone-jacks

And so, to do that, the the physical connection of copper wiring(s) must be broken outside the house, so that VoIP signal doesn't collide with Verizon's powered system (and/or Verizon's powered dial-tone doesn't "fry" the Ooma Telo VoIP box's circuitry).

So, as a homeowner customer, I'm curious to know: Does pulling out those  RJ11 Modular Jacks within the Customer Asccess side of the NTI box fully break the connection outside the house, or do the copper wires need to be unwound from the screw termnial posts instead? (Are these RJ11 Modular Jacks simply Test Ports of some kind?...). And, is there any Ground Wire in Verizon's POTS setup? Is that something the customer can disconnect, or is it locked within the Verzion Access side of the NTI box?

Verizon indicates that there is no monetary charge to have their Technician do a disconnection at the NTI box? Is this true?

0 Likes
Re: Disconnecting copper landline wires from the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

As I said, the RJ11 were never connected inside the NTI at my homes.  It was always wired,.  Its not hard to disconnect, loosen the screws and pull the wire.  Insignificant voltage so it not dangerous.

No idea if Verizon will disconnect the wires for free,  If you are a customer they might do so if you insist when you terminate service.  Otherwise I would be surprised if they would.

0 Likes
Re: Disconnecting copper landline wires from the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box
Nick19380
Enthusiast - Level 1

Is it known if there is a Ground Wire attached to the Network Telephone Interface box? Is it something a homeowner customer could disconnect from the main grounding rod, or might the Ground Wire connection be inside the Verizon Access side of the NTI? Does it even matter, when back-feeding the house with VoIP dial-tone (from an Ooma Telo, for example); would leaving a ground wire attached be a good thing, in any event, anyway?...

0 Likes
Re: Disconnecting copper landline wires from the Telephone Network Interface (NTI) box
tns2
Community Leader
Community Leader

Its a good idea to leave the ground wire connected.  Since it will not be connected to any of the household wire it has absolutely no effect on the customer's internal phone wiring.