On Sat, 31 Mar 2007 01:04:22 -0500, Milhouse Van Houten
wrote:
mm wrote:
It's NOT a standard jack - It's an RJ-31x. It has shorting pins
inside, so when the cord gets disconnected the shorting pins allow the
phone voltage to go back out to the NID - (when it's plugged in the
panel's relay does it)
Thanks. Didn't know about those. Is that so someone in the house
won't accidentally unplug the alarm and defeat the phones? Since I'm
the only one that lives here, that's not a risk for me. Is there
another reason?
I'll remember about these jacks if I talk to others again.
Hmmm. If it has shorting pins, does that mean all he has to do is to
unplug the phone wire from the jack and that will be the same as
bypassing the burglar alarm? That would be really easy.
I meant here that that's all the OP or his sister would have to do to
test her suspicion that the alarm was causing her low internet speeds.
I wasn't even thinking about a burglar doing this.
At least in my n'hood I don't think the burglars are anywhere up to
speed on these things. I wonder how expnesive a n'hood I would have
to live in for the burglars to know this kind of stuff.
We have had 3 strings of burlaries in this townhouse n'hood in the
last 28 years, and I think 2 of the burglars were caught. Although
alarms didn't play a role. I don't think many people here had alarms
then, though a lot do now. I think all three strings were more than 20
years ago.
One guy was caught cashing a stolen check or using a stolen credit
card that came from a neighbor's house, and not too far from where we
live, fwiw.
Another guy, the police wouldn't give me details, but somehow they
figured out who he was, were outside his home in the morning, and
followed him around until he went to burgle a neighbor. They let him
break in and waited outside with reinforcements, including a dog and
iirc a helicopter. (that was a few blocks from here, if they had one.)
When he came out they arrested him. The cop wouldn't tell me how they
figured out where he lived, but now that I think about it, the obvious
answer is that he left a fingerprint earlier, even though I don't
think they fingerprint for burglaries.
The owner was annoyed that they let him break in, but I presume he got
over that and figured out it was the best thing to do.
Both of these guys ended up in jail, I was told.
The second one I think was the one who used to ring the doorbell and
if no one answered, he would go around back and break in there. In
some of the houses, that is the basement, so he broke in there and was
headed up the stairs. At the same time, the mother of one of the
owners was visiting, and it took her a while to put a robe on and head
downstairs. They both heard each other on the stairs and both ran the
other way.
The third guy wasn't caught, but he went in through the little
basement window, and everyone bought bars.
Plus the break-in at my house 24 years ago, which
afaik was not part
of a string. They didn't catch him and he didn't take anything, I
guess because the very annoying, always barking, waking me up dog next
door, scared him off. This burglary was between 5 and 7 on a summer
Sunday evening. He kicked in the front door.
If the OP want's to sort out what we have talked about, then let's
wait until he has more questions. We have gone way beyond his skill
level if he is a novice.
The RJ-31x is an FCC requirement. It is intended as a disconnect from
I think I may have one after all, that came with the alarm. I'm sure
if a jack came with the alarm, it's the proper jack. I'll check
tomorrow or so.
the alarm panel if things go awry. If the dialer locks up for
instance, the customer needs a way of defeating line seizure to get
his telephone back - so he simply unplugs the cord from the RJ-31X and
then the shorting pins will allow the telco voltage to flow back to
the NID (where the house phone wires are spliced), bypassing the
control panel's relay that usually handles it.
Control panels should be located in an area that is not easily
accessible by a burglar, in a closet for instance. The RJ-31x should
ALWAYS be mounted outside the panel (not in the can) per. FCC
requirements.. this is a security risk, yes... But nonetheless is
required.
You are right about unplugging the jack.. But "we" are betting the
burglar cannot find the jack in time to prevent the alarm
transmission. I place my panels up high too, so he would need a
ladder even if he did find the jack within the 30 second delay period
(if he kicked in a delay door) - other zones are instant..So there is
no time to find the jack.
There are other ways to circumvent the dialing, but will not be
discussed on an open forum.