That is just a phone punch block. Basically it just connects all the blue
wires together and all the white wires together.

Same thing as if all the white wires were stripped and twisted together and
all the blue wires were stripped and twisted together.

But the punch block makes everything neater and easier to add or remove
wires. There are little sharp metal scissor like pieces where the wires are
punched (pressed) into the block. When you punch a wire into a connection,
the metal cuts through the insulation and makes the connection.

There is a little tool called a punch tool which is used to punch each wire
down. There are different "heads" on these tools for different types of
punch blocks. Get the correct tool.

Your punch block can connect together 8 wires (called 4 pair). But you only
need two wires for a phone. Only two wires are connected on each terminal of
your punch block. The other wires are wrapped around each cable in case you
would want to use them in the future and want to punch them down.

It is important that you connect the correct color the the correct terminal
on the phone jack. It you were to install the colors backwards, you would
not be able to dial out.

Sometimes when a wire is not punched down far enough, the insulation is not
broken and no connection is made. If no dial tone, try removing the wire and
punching it down again. You can also strip a little insulation off the end
of the wire, then punch it if having trouble.

If you want to get the same type of wire, look on the jacket of a cable and
it will say "CAT 5", "CAT 3", etc.

Here is some basic information on CAT 5 phone wire...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable



"Steven Reynolds" wrote in message
I purchased a new home three years ago and I wanted to add an additional
phone jack. In my closet, there's the home "Media Center" behind a panel.
I see that there is a mainboard with 10 terminals that leads to the phone
jacks throughout the house, nine of which are in use, so I would like to
tap into the 10th set of terminals. My question is how do I attach the
phone wires to this type of terminal? Judging by the other wires already
attached, it appears you just push the insulated wire down into the slot in
which the insulation is pierced and held in place. I attempted this
without success. Below is a link to a photo I have taken of this
mainboard. I've asked around and nobody knows what I'm talking about and
my home builder was no help at all and did not include manuals for
do-it-yourselfers, rather "hire a qualified electrician." I would
appreciate any help and thank you in advance. Please Cc me via e-mail as I
don't always check news. My email is

Click this link to see the photo of the mainboard:

http://trainweb.org/reynolds/photos/phoneboard.jpg

Steve
West Sacramento, CA