How to I move my telephone box inside my house?

Question

This past Thanksgiving, my house was broken into. Despite my alarm sounding, the police did not come because my telephone wires had been cut. I did some research, and I found out that the phone company can move my phone box (the grey one on the outside of my house) inside my house. Where inside of my house would the box be placed? How much would they charge to do this (ballpark figure)? I read into the line-cut service that ADT (I have Brinks) has, that will increase my monthly monotoring fees plus their website states that once my phone lines have been cut, they will be notified within 24 hours. That is unacceptable.

Answer 1

You can actually have it anywhere in your house you want.  The thing to consider here is how it will look and the ease of accessing it.  Depending on how many wires you have connect in the SNI (telephone box) it would be a very messy job.

Most people how have the SNI or Protector in their homes either have a basement or dedicated wire closet.

As to the cost that would depend on who is doing the work, how their charge and how difficult the work would be.  You should expect any thing between $0 to $80 an hour.

I don't understand why there was no Police response to your break in.  A break in the phone is usually high on the alarm company's list for a response.  However, they also take into consideration the number of false report that generated by you.

Moving the SNI into your house is not going to solved your problem unless the cable to your house is buried.  If it is expose from a pole to your house it can still be cut.  For this situation your best defense is to pay the alarm company the little extra per month for the additional cellular service.  If your phone line is cut they can still reach your transponder to determine what is actually happening.

Answer 2

This will not fix your problem, though it may address one way that the system can be bypassed. Typically the thief will already be gone by the time that the police arrive. The break-in will still occur.

Do you know why your house is attractive to thieves? Have you secured high-value items that are easily taken?

Answer 3

An important bit of information is missing from your question.

How is your telephone line delivered to your house?

Is it above ground, or burried?

I guess I should assume above ground, as the culprit was able to cut the line at some exposed point.

If your neighbourhood uses burried cable and it is burried all the way to your house, but then rises above ground to the entry access point, then it is possible for the phone company to relocate the entry point.  But where depends on your house layout.

Do you have a basement?  If you do, then the burried cable can be delivered underground through the basement wall.  Usually, it will be located near your electrical panel.

If you don't have basement, then consider having  burried cable enter somwhere just under the house floor joists.

Most important point is, if it is possible, anywhere there is outdoor exposed telephone wiring, make sure it is run inside steel conduit for protection.  If the exposed (accessible) phone line running anywhere along side the house is enclosed in steel conduit, it will be very diffincult to cut (not impossible, but difficult).  Typical locations inside the house for access to telephone terminal box is somewhere near the electrical circuit-breaker panel.

Once you identify which solution is feasible for your situation, just talk to whoever will be doing the work, and get quotations first before committing to the job.  Too many unknown factors for me to even try to estimate.  If you are a do-it-your-selfer, you can save a lot of money by doing part of the work.  Otherwise, just get quotes (with no commitment).