What Exactly Is Digital Voice? FAQ and Common Sense From An Old-School Engineer
What’s Happening? Who Am I? I’m an independent telephone engineer based in North-East England, blogger of some experience However, I have no crafty intent to try and sell anything. Recently, some of my customers have asked questions about Digital Voice. I thought...
A Checkatrade-Approved Phone Engineer in The North East!
We're the first Checkatrade-approved phone engineer team in The North East! In February 2023, we achieved two significant “firsts” as telephone engineering company, residential and business. (Don't switch off yet – they are important to you as a potential customer.)...
An Index of Telecomms Help. Moving a Master Socket, and Other Stuff
Since first blogging on telecomms matters around 2005 about moving a master socket, our series of blogs appears to have helped many people. We're often asked about topics that we've already blogged about, and that other folks have contributed to with helpful comments....
An Old Phone Junction Box – What is it? What can I do with it?
Hiding somewhere in your house may be an old phone junction box. In my job as an independent telephone engineer, customers ask what they should do with it. Usually, it sits on a window ledge and prevents work on a window frame or blind installation. Therefore, I...
Joining Phone and Data Cables – Why You Must Use This Tool.
It's not that difficult joining phone and data cables with “punch-down” connectors. I mean those found on the back of phone and ethernet sockets. Simply, all that's needed are the right components and tools. However, use the wrong tools, and you risk having a few...
“Phone dead, Internet Working”. (What’s going on?)
Phone dead, internet working. Impossible? Well no, actually. As an engineer, I was utterly baffled the first time that I encountered this problem . The customer must be wrong. A short conversation. "Are you sure that you're not using next door's wifi?" "Nope" (I...
The Secret Life of an Old Master Socket. Why You Might Need to Change It.
You may find that, when you take it gently apart, your old master socket has a bewildering number of components and terminals. Some customers have approached me, confused, asking for advice. It's obviously time to write something Changing your old master socket? Yes,...
What Type of Telephone Cable? An Engineer’s Advice.
"Cable is cable" isn't it? What type of telephone cable? Will anything do? Not really. Particularly for running cables externally. As a telephone engineer, I encounter many cases where internal cable has been used externally. See the picture above. It never ends...
Installing Cat 6a Cable – An Engineer Shares Some Advice
I've recently worked on installing cat 6a cable, but was reminded how it differs from cat 5e. Some folks may rush into installing cat 6a cable, thinking “cable is just cable”. However, even after some experience installing it, I find it a challenge. It has to be done...
“How do I install Cat 5 cable in my house?” (and other questions)
How do I install Cat 5 cable in my house? Google tells me that this is a frequently-asked question. There are also others. In this blog, I try and answer some of them. Who am I? An independent engineer,based in North East England, with experience of cabling houses,...
Telephone Cable – A Phone Engineer Answers Common Questions
Google claims that lots of questions are asked about telephone cable. Therefore, some of the popular ones are gathered here. They are straight from Google's "People Also Ask..." . What type of cable is used for telephone lines? - Copper cable, with a twist in each...
Phone System Maintenance. The Choice?
We are independent telephone engineers based in The North East of England. The whole issue of phone system maintenance is one we thought useful to blog on. Why? The Story So Far In an earlier blog we looked at a painful scenario. A customer had saved on annual...
