One Phone Jack Not Working but the Others Are Fine - Why?

Question

We moved into our home in December and just today, the phone jack we use our phone for has stopped working. The weird thing is that we had a friend call us about fifteen minutes before the phone stopped having a dial tone. It's just that one jack. The phone (cordless) and the answering machine are working fine in another jack.

What would cause a problem in just one phone jack but not ruin the others? Will this problem last or will it go away? I don't really want to call anybody over if it will cost me extra money to sort it out.

I have a phone jack in every room of the house so finding another jack is not a problem, it's just more convinent to have the phone in the living room (where the problem jack is). We never had this problem before. Any ideas to help? I greatly appreciate it!

Answer 1

You could have a short in the phone line that leads to that particular jack.  If your phone service includes an "Inside Wiring" plan, the phone company will take care of it for you. If not, continue to use your cordless phone or plan on paying some money to get it fixed.

Answer 2

It is more likely an "open" connection rather than a short.

A short would probably render all lines inoperable.

Whereas, an open can easily only affect just 1 line, as in your case.

If the "open" connection is just a "loose" connection behind the jack, you may be able to just remove the wall plate and check the connection for loose wire.

It could also be that the "jack" has a bad crimp connection causing the connection to "open".  In this case, it is just a matter of getting a new wall-plate with new connector and replacing it.

Answer 3

Jeff b. is right in what he says. The only other thing you can try is a different phone in that jack or try the phone that was in that jack in one that you know is good. This will tell where the trouble lies.