# Loud Hum and static that comes and goes on house telephone LandLine driving us crazy!! FInally Fixed



## Don2222 (Oct 13, 2011)

Hello

Sure we still have a landline and yes I did the inside telephone wiring.

This is also worse on rainy days like today!

I connected a phone to where the wire comes into the house and the problem is still there.
Therefore no issues with inside wiring.

I just found out from an internet search that the problem can be a bad connection in the outside box or a bad Network Interface Box!

Also my friend had the same problem and the cause according to the Phone Co. Lines man was the Telephone pole wire connection and of course the rain makes it worse!!

So I called Fairpoint and the lady also heard the hum and heard it go away!
She asked if I tried it on the incoming line and I said yes I did. I also pulled out a DSL filter on the incoming line inside the house with NO difference. Sometimes it can be a bad filter I heard.

So she said they will send a truck out today or tomorrow and check the line!!

Click Pic to enlarge
Pic 1 - Outside network box on house
Pic 2 - New telephone pole within the last year but phone line is old.

*Has anyone else had the very Loud Hum and static problem?* So loud you cannot hear the person at the other end at times!


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## Adios Pantalones (Oct 13, 2011)

My land line goes out when it rains- even though internet and cable come in on the same signal.

I suspect that your phone is tapped.


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## Badfish740 (Oct 13, 2011)

We had this problem at my office.  The line bringing all of the phone lines into the building was an old lead sheathed cable.  The problem didn't go away completely until they replaced the whole cable.


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## semipro (Oct 13, 2011)

We've had this problem before.  We call it in and they send someone out to "dry" the lines up along the road.  A lot times you'll see a tank of inert gas like nitrogen laying near a manhole or phone connection box.  They are using that to pressurize and dry the lines.


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## Don2222 (Oct 13, 2011)

Adios Pantalones said:
			
		

> My land line goes out when it rains- even though internet and cable come in on the same signal.
> 
> I suspect that your phone is tapped.



That would be a dumb way to tap the lines because noone can hear anyone!!
They would be too bored anyways!! LOL

We will see what FairPoint says


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## gpcollen1 (Oct 13, 2011)

We have had the same problem off and on for 2 years.  ATT has been out here about 10 times to fix it.  They have replaced my underground line twice and worked the entire street many times.  Our underground lines just suck.  Our electric comes in on poles so I am not sure why ATT put them underground or just does not put them above ground on the poles.


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## Jags (Oct 13, 2011)

Typically a buzz in phone lines is due to a grounding issue.  Pretty common with old copper runs and it gets worse/more frequent with weather events.  The phone dudes can test your line from house to the nearest panel.  If that is good, just have them engineer a switch of pairs that feeds your house.


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## Badfish740 (Oct 13, 2011)

Semipro said:
			
		

> We've had this problem before.  We call it in and they send someone out to "dry" the lines up along the road.  A lot times you'll see a tank of inert gas like nitrogen laying near a manhole or phone connection box.  They are using that to pressurize and dry the lines.



Wow...you learn something new everyday-I always wondered what the purpose of that was.


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## mayhem (Oct 14, 2011)

Bad ground at the pole, or more likely down the street a bit if its also affecting your neighbor.  You could help pinpoint the spot they need to check by polling a few more neightbors in either direction and find out where the noise goes away.

Very common old copper problem.  Very hard to get the phone company to fix sometimes because they simply don't want to continue to maintain copper if they can avoid it.  In my experience the guy will come out to your place, backtrack from the box on your house and stop at the first or second pole where he'll find a loose screw or marginal insulation or something...he will repair it, tone it out at the pole and leave, not bothering to check the box at your house for tone quality, but the problem is actually still three poles down the street.

Don't let them let it slide.


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## JustWood (Oct 14, 2011)

Try unplugging all phones and using a different phone. Sometimes inexpensive phones will cause buzzing.


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## laynes69 (Oct 14, 2011)

We live in the middle of nowhere. We always have these issues. I always open our phone box and use a test phone, if there's still a buzz outside I call the phone company. The companies boxes down the road are always open and look like a rats nest.


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## semipro (Oct 14, 2011)

Badfish740 said:
			
		

> Semipro said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, I was so curious about this that I stopped and asked the guy working in the manhole.


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## Don2222 (Oct 14, 2011)

Hello

Well, Fairpoint came and checked the pole connection and the line to the pole. Then he said it was the house wiring. So he left and I did more testing on the house wiring. I found no problems with the house wiring but when I went thru the Telephone Network Interface Box or NID Network Interface Device (See pic Below) I got the loud hum

So I have to get those guys back again!! PITA

What do those network boxes do besides go bad and cause trouble??

Click pic below to enlarge!!


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## peakbagger (Oct 15, 2011)

I had a nearby lighting hit on a power line 5 years ago. It took out a ground on a telephone pole. My neighbors had more damage from the hit. I plugged into the interface and it was still there so I called the phone company. It took several phone calls to get them to come. They also did a "hard sell" for paying for a maintenance plan to fix any problems with the interior wires. Definite scare tactic, if I didnt buy the plan and it turned out to be an interior fault, I would have to pay a couple of hundred dollarss for the repair. 

A tech showed up after a couple of days and fixed the problem on the pole.


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## RNLA (Oct 15, 2011)

At our old house we had your problem. The telephone company did some quick checks and it was their supply line. The guy said they break internally and you can't see it. He installed about 250 feet of new line up the right of way in about 25 minutes, hooked it up in another 5 and boom no more static....


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## Don2222 (Oct 18, 2011)

Hello

It is fixed after 3 visits from the phone company Yay

This was not easy! I asked for a new Network Interface box since the line went bad on the inside wall of the house!!

I also found out the we had the old Fused Network Interface Box where the fuses do go bad eventually!
See photo below of the new one!

However this was not the issue. It was a initial installation flaw that cause the problem!!

The Telephone Interface Box must be grounded to protect against lightning strikes. It can be connected to the metal electric meter pipe or run into the house to be grounded on the electric circuit panel.

In my case it was brought into the house and grounded to the electric circuit panel. That is the best way.

The problem was the insulated one conductor ground wire went in thru the same hole as the telephone wire!!
We found a small cut in this telephone wire just before it emerged from the house texture 211 siding! Even though it was a cut in the jacket of the 2 conductor wires, the red and green wires still seem to have their insulation in tact. Since there was some inside slack in the wiring he pulled it out about 4 inches and the noise problem vanished!! So I pulled out my drill and Insisted I drill a second hole thru the house and we ran a brand new wire from the now brand new network box to the connection inside my house and this problem will NEVER happen again!

1st pic
Yellow arrow shows cut in outer jacket of telephone wire just inside the T211 sheathing. This was too close to the ground wire.

*This hum and static issue occurs when The red wire is somehow shorted to ground *

2nd Pic
Red arrow shows new hole for telephone wire ONLY
Black arrow shows original hole where both ground and telephone wire went into!

Click to Enlarge pic


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## Don2222 (Oct 20, 2011)

Hello

Well after a few days I was glad to have a line that was much clearer. Tonight I talked to a friend and it was great. Then I called another friend and the Hum was back with a vengeance

It seemed different this time. More Hum and less static although there was some static. I could not hear my friend speak so again it was unbearable.

So I quickly got the phone and plugged it into the outside network jack. No Hum

Then I connected it to where the wire came into the house. No Hum (That wire was fixed!)

So I said, WTF - What has changed in the last hour to create this bad hum inside the house!!

Then I noticed a difference. Someone is taking a bath

Well I have a Telephone Wall Jack in the Bathroom with NO phone attached!! The intensive water vapor in the steam getting into the open RJ-45 wall jack??
So I ran down to the basement and disconnected the wire to the Bathroom!   *Problem RESOLVED again!!*

So here we have it folks!!
This thread now contains all the Inside and Outside causes of one of the 2 telephone wires (Usually red or green) shorting to ground causing a load hum in the phone line

The line now is CRYSTAL clear absolutely flawless

Thanks EVERYONE, we certainly learned what can cause a Hum and some static in the home telephone lines!

See pic below of WET RJ-45 Phone Jack!!


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## heat seeker (Oct 20, 2011)

Good detective work!


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## cottonwoodsteve (Oct 28, 2011)

A good check method is get a normal phone plug cable. Cut connector off of one end and put on clip leads or buy one ready made.
Disconnect input wire from house and clip on test cable with phone. If buzz is still there it is the phone company. If it is gone then it is your house wiring.

This provides a good division point to start.


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## mayhem (Oct 28, 2011)

Who the heck has a telephone jack in the bathroom in the first place?  Thats just weird.

I think you need a vent fan in there...if the moisture in the air is sufficeint to ground out your telephone wires, its likely doing other hidden damage like mold spores inside the walls or light corrosion on the power lines that are getting similar moisture exposure.

Take this as a convenient warning and just check the room over to make sure you don't have any obvious hidden problems waiting to surprise you when its 6 degrees outside.


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