I just moved into a new house and have a problem with the phone system.
We get a dial tone and can make calls, but when someone tries to call
us they get a ring which then breaks into static; the phone doesn't
even ring at our house (This happens, by the way, if only one working
phone is plugged into a jack or even if no phones are plugged into any
jacks in the house, so it's not a problem with my phone.) I took a
phone outside and plugged it into the jack at the network interface and
was able to receive a cell phone call fine, so I'm guessing the problem
is in the house.

Last night I opened an access panel in the basement to check the phone
wiring coming into the house -- quite a tangle of wires! -- and, with
assistance from various websites on the Internet, was able to finally
make some sense of all the connections, though the problem wasn't
immediately apparent.

I'm hoping someone could tell me what might be causing this. Can a
problem at one of the jacks cause a problem with the whole system even
if no phone is plugged into that jack? Or is the problem more likely
to be with the wires coming into the house? Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any insight or suggestions.