Troubleshooting Telephone Wiring and Twisted-Pair Cable

If the telephone wiring is in the bus topology and the twisted-pair cable tester is connected at the embedded multimedia terminal adapter (EMTA) with the remote unit connected to the last outlet in the loop, what is the quickest way to locate the incorrectly wired outlet if the tester indicates a wiring error?

Break the loop into smaller sections and retest the two sections to identify which one has the wiring error. Continue to divide the section with the error into smaller sections until the wiring error is identified.

In the customer premises, what could cause some dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) touch-tone telephones to have continuous dial tone caused by polarity reversal, but not other DTMF telephones?

The telephone wiring polarity is incorrect, and the customer has a mix of older and newer DTMF touch-tone telephones.

After resolving the problem with the premises wiring issue, which of the following is the next step in the six-step process that the technician should take?

Verify that the problem has been resolved and that phone service is running perfectly on all phones.

What should be checked as a possible cause of hum on a customer's telephone line?

Shielding problems in the station wiring, poor terminations, or poor grounding and bonding connections.

What is the likely problem when there is dial tone on one phone connected to an outlet, but not on two other phones connected to two different outlets?

An open circuit caused by a break in a conductor, poor contact in a modular connector, or an incorrect wire connection.

A customer reports a problem of no dial tone (NDT). Upon inspection, the technician notices that new carpeting has been installed. What should the technician do next?

Look for a cable that runs under the carpet; it is likely that the cable has a short from the carpeting tack strip.

In unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable, what is the term that describes when an information-carrying conductor makes contact with a grounded conductor?

Ground fault.

How is silver satin cable used to connect telephone equipment to wall outlets typically pinned?

Reversed at opposite ends, or cross-pinned

What is the difference between the wiring configurations for a residential, 8-position, 8-contact (8P8C) modular plug and jack in the Universal Service Order Codes (USOC) and ANSI/TIA/EIA 570-B?

The placement of pair numbers 3 and 4.

How should the digital multimeter (DMM) be used to troubleshoot problems in the telephone wiring?

Use the voltmeter function; both the network interface device (NID) and the embedded multimedia terminal adapter (EMTA) provide a steady on-hook voltage.