NIC Phone Box: Right Hand Side For "Customer Side" ?

[Robert11]

Hi,

Just want to be sure, before I get started:

Is it the right-hand side of the Verizon NIC outside phone connector box that is the "Customer Side" ?

Thanks, Bob

[professorpaul]

Yes, the one with the actual wires to your individual phones.

[Jim Redelfs]

Different telcos use different manufacturers for their SNIDs.

The customer side SHOULD be clearly marked (embossed/raised-letters visible even through a coat or two of paint) "Customer Access". A common, flat-bladed screwdriver should open it. If it has not been opened since last being painted, it may take a lot of banging and coaxing to break the paint "seal".

Regardless, the customer side will be more easily "unlocked" than the telco side which should require a special tool. Good luck!

[Jim Redelfs]

Most new, residential construction these days is done with a dedicated 4-pair for each outlet in the home and extended to a common area, usually near the furnace. The same is done with prewired coax.

Then, a SINGLE cable is run from that bundle out to the SNID or CATV box on the outside of the premise.

If adding a "leg" to this "hub"-type of network (phone or TV), it is preferable to begin at the bundle rather than the box on the outside of the house.

[Doug Miller]

The "customer side" is the side that's _clearly_labelled_ "customer access".

[mm]

My box is too low and stuck in a corner, or I am too old to get down that low, to read what it says on it. :)

But mine works so: One standard screw has to be loosened to open the cover on one side, and only after that is open can the second cover be opened because the first cover overlaps the second cover.

So the first cover is for the customer.

The second cover has something additional keeping it closed, and I've never tried to open it. There isn't much in there, is there?

[Doug Miller]

And that's another way to tell the difference: the customer side can be opened with a standard screwdriver. You need a "security" screwdriver to open the phone company side.

[Thomas Horne]

It will vary from one NID manufacturer to another. The customer side is the one you can open without a can wrench. Just unscrew the screw labeled customer access, open the cover, and the terminals thus exposed are the customer wiring connections.

-- Tom Horne

[Tekkie®]

Spooky stuff in there!

[aemeijers]

Chuckle. Things live in mine. I definitely recommend wearing gloves when you open it, and blowing it out with a shop vac if you see spider eggs and whatnot. Those spider bites are nasty.

aem sends...