Intercom blocking phone line

Moog

This is beginning to wreck my head!

I just moved into an apartment in an old Georgian building. The landlord told me that some of the apartments had phone lines, and that she thought a previous tennant had installed one in my apartment but other than that she wasn't able to offer much help.

When I called Eircom they confirmed that there is indeed a line running into my apartment and that it is active.

There is one old style (6-pin?) socket in the bedroom and two blank faceplates. When I checked behind the faceplates I found Cat5 cabling. Behind one faceplate in the hall the cable hadn't been jacked but behind the other (in the living room) the cable looked as though it had previously supported a phone so I jacked into it - all I got was the audio from the building's intercom at street level.

The building intercom isn't used but still seems to be active. There is an intercom handset in my apartment. The buzzer isn't functional but when I lift the handset I can hear the audio from street level, and when the telephone handset is also off the hook, it's possible to talk between the two, but no audio goes from either of these back down to street level.

I tried jacking into one of the other twisted pairs. The telephone and intercom handsets could still hear one another, but now only the intercom handset could hear street level as well.

I opened the intercom to see 6 wires from the Cat5 cable connected to separate terminals. I disconnected them alternately and then altogether but it didn't make any difference; all I got from the telephone was the audio from street level.

I opened the 6-pin socket in the bedroom which was wired for two lines (4 wires, 2 pairs, in the 2/5 3/4 configuration or whatever), but when I jacked into these I got nothing whatsoever.

I tried a few different wiring configurations, thoroughly testing my severely limited DIY skills in the process, but still no joy. Before I fork out on an electrician who will likely just cut one or two wires and charge me a fortune in the process, does anyone here have any ideas about what might be wrong? If the intercom and telephone are on the same line is it possible to fit a filter? I have already tried using the phone side of a Z-splitter but to no avail.

Any help is much appreciated.

WizZard

Where does the eircom line terminate. eircom will support a line only until the first point (usually in the hallway)

Call eircom and ask them to call out as you can't find the line/it doesn't work. The engineer will be able to tell you where it terminates and sort it out. I think this call-out should be free (esp if you are signing up to new services)

Don't fiddle with anything else or you could risk damaging something.

I would doubt that the intercom is interconnected with your phoneline at all (you're likely just looking at the wrong cables)

cgarvey

The phone line almost definitely won't be anything to do with intercom (given that it's just a small development). You're just tapping in to a 3-pair intercom system (1 for audio, 1 for buzzer/ring, and 1 for door release) which is wired in multiple places. Chances are the speaker downstairs is broken (so you don't get audio from apt. to street). The bedroom wire is just an extension (without door release, probably).

So, it sounds like you need to look elsewhere. Anything beside the fuseboard, or just inside your apt door? Any trace of wire being shuved under the skirting board (rather than behind) in the hallway? Can you ask your neighbours where their line is?

Moog

Thanks for the advice.

An electrician was over yesterday and isolated the intercom line. There was still another line running in to the bedroom where the old phone socket was but he wasn't getting a peep out of it. I called around to a few other apartments, none of whom had a phone socket. The landlord doesn't know where the main line comes in.

I called Eircom and spelled out the problem, reminding them that I'm being billed for a line I can't access, and that I'm also out of pocket for hiring a sparky to resolve my "internal wiring issue". They're sending out a technician "within 28 days" and as far as I can tell the only cost is having to listen to their gadawful hold music.

Now why do I get the feeling that I'll be waiting more than 28 days for an Eircom technician, only to have him tell me that it's "an internal wiring issue..."?? :mad: