How can I find the NID box or protector of my telephone service?

Question

I have no dial tone in my phone right now but my dsl is working fine. I am trying to check if the problem is inside or outside my house. I look around the perimeter of my house to find the NID box or protector of my telephone service but to no avail. The overhead cables going to my house are for cable TV and power only. I found only one cable that look like telephone cable running from the level of suspended telephone cable to the base of power pole to underground right in the sidewalk. It is covered by wood moulding but cannot find where it leads to as it goes underground. Can anybody help me with this situation?

Answer 1

if you are looking for the protecctor, there should be a green or gray box on the outside of your house, it will not likely have any markings on it, and can be opened by a hex wrench 7/16" i believe...

if you are looking for a NID, it should be located outside your home, it should be a gray or white box, and should say network interface device, and have a hex nut for the telco side, and a s***w (flat, or Phillips, or combination) for the customer side.

if wired properly, there should be at least 3 wires entering this box, one gray wire that is the ground, going to a water pipe, electric meter conduit, or copper rod buried in the ground, one black wire for the drop, and at least one other wire leading into your home which can be black, white, gray, blue, or whatever color wire the inside wire tech used...

if your home or the wiring into your home is much older, the wiring may enter directly into the basement, in which case it would likely be an antique connector block likely mounted on one of the ceiling beams in the basement...

DSL can work when there is a trouble on your line... DSL only requires one wire to be functional, the dial tone requires 2 wires...

if your phone rings busy when dialed, or goes straight to voice mail, i would start my troubleshooting by removing one by one each device in your home connected to a phone jack (phones, satellite boxes, alarm, etc.)

if your phone rings and rings, when you dial it, but not in your home, there is a broken wire somewhere.. likely an outside problem if none of your phone jacks work...

call your local phone provider and have them do a line test on your line...