Your Connection Point: The Network Interface Device (NID)


NIDThe Network Interface Device (NID) is a phone company installed device that connects your inside wiring to the telephone network. It is a gray box outside your house, probably mounted near the electrical meter. It contains a modular plug that allows you to disconnect all inside wiring and connect a working phone to test whether the local exchange network is working. The NID has two "sides" - one for the phone company and one for you, "the customer access" side. You should not attempt to enter the phone company side of the NID. All of the wiring you need to do is completed on the customer side of the NID. In some older installations, you may not have a NID. Instead, you will find a "protector block", a small plastic covered box where the cable coming out of your house connects to the phone company's cable leaving your house. The protector block serves the same purpose as the NID, but does not provide a modular jack where you can check if you are getting dial tone from the phone company. If a phone company technician comes to your home on a service call, a NID will be installed at no charge to you, if time permits. If you do not have a NID, one should be installed when you have a second line connected.

The information provided below is generic in nature.
Consult the label inside your NID and adjust to your particular installation as required.

Testing Your Phone Service at the NID

NID Test Jacks NID Modules
The wiring bridge modules in your NID may have two screw posts, as shown in the top of the diagram at the right , or four, as shown in the bottom of the diagram. If your wiring bridge modules have two screw posts, each line will appear on a separate module. If your wiring bridge modules has four screw posts, line 2 may appear on the black and yellow screw posts of the same module as line 1 (and as line 2 on the test jack of that module) or on the green and red screw posts of a separate module. Consult the labels inside your NID to determine how your lines are connected.


To install or replace your inside wiring at the Network Interface Device





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