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dewdude
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join:2010-03-27
Manassas, VA
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dewdude

Member

[FiOS Phone] Is the NID really necessary anymore?

Hi,

I'm going on my fifth year of having FiOS. I've never had any serious issues with the service; just a minor disagreement with customer service during my last renewal over movie channels. Everything has worked perfectly. I have, however, been tidying up some of my inside wiring as I'm getting ready to install a generator. I started by removing most of my phone extensions as with DECT 6.0 phones I only actually need 1 working extension, and left two additional for hard-wired phones. Every extension in my house with the exception of 1 was a direct home-run to where the main phone line comes in. I (incorrectly I'll admit) used a 66 punch block to punch the extensions down and simply ran wires to facilitate this. Since it's just voice and not data it works well.

Anyway, when my FiOS was originally installed, the installer ran the phone line from the FiOS box directly in to the old copper NID; disconnecting the original copper line and connecting a new cable from the FiOS lines directly in to it. I'm assuming he did this as it was easier/more secure than trying to patch in to the existing run; which was barely long enough for the existing line (when I had the NID replaced a few years ago, the installer actually used crimp splices to extend it a few inches.

I'm going on the assumption that I don't actually need to feed in to the NID anymore due to the way FiOS phone lines work. I'm not on copper anymore (in fact, when they came to bury the fiber line a year after install the guys sliced right through the old copper); so I see this as an extra unnecessary connection in the path. I'd like to just rerun a new line from the ONT directly to the house wiring; but I'd like to make sure there's no technical reason I need to have the NID in the middle..since I'm just dealing with a single cable.

I'd also like to take this now non-functioning box off my house so I can mount my generator there and shorten the amount of cabling I have to run to it.

More Fiber
MVM
join:2005-09-26
Cape Coral, FL

More Fiber

MVM

said by dewdude:

I'd like to just rerun a new line from the ONT directly to the house wiring

As long as you're running your own connection from the ONT to the inside wire (IW), there is no reason to keep the NID. As you inferred, the NID was simply a convenient place for the installer to tie into your existing IW.
dewdude
pfSense on xcp-ng Asterisk geek
join:2010-03-27
Manassas, VA
·voip.ms
(Software) pfSense
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1 edit

dewdude

Member

This was my assumption, I just wanted to make sure. All of my IW is mine; even the coax I'm using for FiOS was one we'd run years ago to fix an old cable TV problem. The installer was even over impressed with my inside wiring; he said most houses are a mess of wires.

Thanks for the confirmation; I wanted to make sure there wasn't a reason for it other than ease of install.

*edit: This is done. Pulled IW feed out of NID, used some red-button crimps to splice lines together. NID removed and old piece of severed copper out of ground.*

former qwest
Premium Member
join:2014-01-04
out there

former qwest

Premium Member

now where's your demarc? "used some red-button crimps to splice lines together"?

PoloDude
Premium Member
join:2006-03-29
Aiken, SC

PoloDude

Premium Member

The NID is the ONT

ILpt4U
Premium Member
join:2006-11-12
Saint Louis, MO

ILpt4U to former qwest

Premium Member

to former qwest
The FiOS Demarc should be the Fiber ONT now, instead of the Copper NID

"Red-button crimps" I assume refers to Scotch-Locks
dewdude
pfSense on xcp-ng Asterisk geek
join:2010-03-27
Manassas, VA
·voip.ms
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dewdude

Member

Well, I was surprised to find this had replies after I'd basically finished this project.

Most of the questions were answered by the two posters; and they were right. My demarc is basically the ONT; as I'm no longer on copper at all. The "red-button crimps" are the ones like the phone company uses. I guess Scotch-Locks are what they're called, I always called them "red button" since I deal with people who need a physical description when I do it. I think mine are made by 3M...a buddy of mine who does network/telephone gave me a few thousand of them.

»i.imgur.com/NCWcetD.jpg

That's what it looks like now instead of running through the old copper NID as the installer did; which as said earlier...was mostly for accessability. The box they're running in is the enclosure a cable company installed over 20 years ago. I haven't had cable in over 14 years and they never took it off the house (and has changed hands twice since), so I'm making use of it.

»i.imgur.com/QkifV1I.jpg

You can't see the white cat5 that's carrying the phone out of the fios box...but you might be able to see a hint of where it went in to the NID. I was here when the installer hooked it up; he merely just opened up the telco side, removed the original copper and put the new lines from the ONT in to it. Since the lines from the ONT are already designed to go directly to your phone...this was done just to save the installer a few seconds. It's actually a replacement; the original copper NID was brittle and I had a few internal mods I made after I cleaned up the copper and the screw terminals broke (it was that old).

»i.imgur.com/UipsmpD.jpg

The new one wasn't hanging on by but two threads of a screw...and the original copper had been sliced when the fiber was buried...so I took it off to clean it up a bit.