So, I have a CAC 7600 NID on my house. The house was built in 2001, so the NID is whatever vintage was common at the time.
I started getting bursts [of] noticable noise on the line about a month ago, but not enough that I called to complain. When the line stopped working entirely, though, I tried to determine whether [my wiring was causing it]. This was confusing, because every time I plugged into the RJ, my phone line (I have 3, but only one was bad) worked, but when I connected the inside wiring, it stopped working. I eventually realized that if I connected my inside wiring to the RJ in the NID, things worked, but if I used the screw terminals, they didn't.
I think the customer module in the NID--the little block of electronics with a RJ-type disconnection mechanism that actually terminates the wires coming from inside--was poorly designed, and there were brass ring terminals crimped to the wires going from the modular plug to the screws for the inside wiring. Those ring terminals corroded through. I looked at the other two modules, and their terminals were green with corrosion, too, but not yet actually broken.
So I called the phone company and explained the situation. The sent a repair guy, but he showed up at 8:30am instead of his 1:00-4:00pm 'appointment' time, so I wasn't home to talk to him.
When I got home, I found a *new* NID, about five feet away from the old one, with a few clamps holding some *inside* station wire from the old to the new. All the modules had been removed from the old NID, with UY2s connecting the buried wire to the station wire going to the new NID. Inside the new NID was a single protector block. The other two lines were just spliced to the inside wiring. The telco has closed the repair order, so it's not a temporary thing until he can come back for a permanent repair.
So, I was less than happy that he had drilled a bunch of new holes in a stone foundation, but I'm even less happy that he left two lines without transient protectors. I plan to call and to ask for whoever manages outside plant in this area whether this meets their quality standards, but I expect to get a run-around.
Is there some regulatory or industry standard that requires protectors on every line?
Thanks, Heath