Phone lines into house

There are 4 distinct telephone wires entering my house. I assume they each feed a phone socket in different rooms. My call carrier is ESATBT (soon to be UTV) and all calls come through on the ESAT bill using the connection in the hall. However any calls I make from upstairs bedroom phone goes back through Eircom billing. Shouldn't all 4 be carried by the same carrier? How do I rectify this?

Thanks

..keep in mind stobear that if there are 4 lines then you will be paying 4 line rentals to eircon..

ninsaga

Ninsaga, but I dont! I only pay one line rental. They may not be 4 lines but rather 4 wires. If there is only 1 line then why do calls from one socket get billed to one carrier and other calls from a different socket to another carrier? Confused

There are 4 distinct telephone wires entering my house. I assume they each feed a phone socket in different rooms.

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this is standard installation. you have two copper cable pairs (=4 wires). only one pair is used, with one spare pair.

you therefore have one copper pair (local loop) back to your local exchange/switch.

i assume you are on carrier pre-select with esatb, as you say you still pay (eircom??) for line rental seperately.

your calls will be routed to your selected carrier by a catagory on the Line Interface in the eircom Exchange, which can be for any combination of Local, National or International calls. you will have selected your requirements with your carrier.

this happens automatically and you don't have to enter any codes, etc.

calls from various points from your house are carried on the same copper pair into the local exchange, and therefore will all be treated in exactly the same way.

that is, unless you are using a 5 digit over-ride code, which allows you to by-pass your carrier for that call only.

there is a pretty good explanation here: [broken link removed]

get back to me by PM if you want further info and i will endeavour to sort this out.

This is standard installation [...] only one pair is used, with one spare pair.

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...dannymur, is that right?

Not challenging you on it, just delighted to learn it! My house was built in 1992 — are you telling me that if I unscrew the (sole) 'phone socket box beside our front door, I'm likely to find a spare pair of 'phone cables connected back out to the local exchange? Because I want to run a (horribly circuitous) extension from this box through to the back of our dining room — for the purposes of an internet connection for our — and it would be great if I could simply run an extra cable back out to outside the front door, up and along the underside of the porch, round the side of the house and back in through an air vent in the dining room, instead of the internal route which involves all sorts of unsightly wiring running along skirting boards, up and over two doorways, etc. etc. (we've Junkers flooring, so I can't just run it under the carpet...)

Dr. M.

this is standard installation. you have two copper cable pairs (=4 wires). only one pair is used, with one spare pair.

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Concur with danny on that.

Dr., I don't quiet get your question? What is the significance of there being a spare pair back to the exchange, in your situation? If you wish to run an extension, you simply join a pair of wires to the pair that are terminated in the socket in your front hall. The spare pair are of no use/relevance to you.

.

Doc,

What danny says is true - 1 pair per PSTN line

Of course there are always a few exceptions on the spare pair front

Go have a look

What is the significance of there being a spare pair?

Just means
(a) that I could leave the 'phone & answering machine in the hall, where I want them, and run a separate line to the computer, without having to buy a splitter, and
(b) that I could leave the PC line permanently connected, instead of whoever's using it having to grope around and swap over the connection (which also means I could permanently stuff away all the cables nice and neatly behind/under the intended 'hideaway' workstation. Also,
(c) it just means a slightly neater wiring job around the hallway, because the incoming phone line(s?) are buried behind the skirting and plastering...

I'm easily pleased, you see!

you therefore have one copper pair (local loop) back to your local exchange/switch.

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this is all i said.

the "spare" pair does not usually go all the way back to the exchange (what a waste of expensive copper this would be), just to the nearest road-side connection cabinet. it is there in the event of a fault developing on the original pair into the house from the nearest road-side cabinet.

i don't understand the Doc's question about utilising this "spare" pair for internal wiring purposes!!

Phew! Ancient history.<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->Current POTS (plain old telephone service) requires 2 wires (Line A and earth). Older systems (the handsets with the mechanical bells) required 3 wires (Line A, earth, and bell shunt).<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->NB. An old line-powered handset will work during a power cut. That new gee-whiz DECT cordless yoke won't.<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->The cable from the wiring cabinet (hole in the pavement, freestanding cabinet, etc.) contains 4 individual wires. Their colours (typically) are orange/white, blue/white, white/orange, and white/blue. In the US the colours are red, green, black, and yellow (IIRC).<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->Only the orange/white and blue/white are used. Connecting anything to the other two is pointless.<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->Except when a second line is requested and then eircom attaches the white/orange and white/blue wires to a circuit in their cabinet.<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->But orginally asked about the phone in the upstairs bedroom. Hmm. Is the unit relatively new and was it perhaps purchased at an eircom store or dealer? It is possible that the unit is pre-programmed for [broken link removed] of eircom (a five digit pre-dialling code).

for Strobear from dannymur:

link regarding single billing from esatbt, as promised in our PM session:

EsatBT single billing

, why not go wireless in the home? I just glanced at the latest B&Q letterbox spam and they are offering a wireless ADSL yoke for < €130. Tuck it away in the front hall and forget the cost and installation of wiring.

You can get wireless DSL yokes [broken link removed].

Another gleaming example of "rip-off Ireland", eh?<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->Ms'. Harney and Foley have driven home the "shop around" mantra and embraced The Word.<!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END--><!--EZCODE BR START--><!--EZCODE BR END-->The yoke on offer (€18 / 26.9% higher than in Germany) is an Allnet ALL0276 not ALL0267.