Telephone
Installation and troubleshooting of residential telephone wiring is very
straightforward. The typical modern residential telephone wire consists of two pairs (4
wires total) of which only one pair is used for each phone number. So, if you only have
one phone number coming into your house, you only have to concern yourself with one pair
of wires.
Network Interface
Your home telephone system starts at the network interface. The network interface is a gray box attached to the side of your house and is owned by your telephone company. It serves as the dividing point between your wiring and that maintained by the telephone company. Before you do any work on your telephone wiring, open the CUSTOMER ACCESS side of the network interface and disconnect the modular plug from the test jack. This will protect you from a nasty shock if someone calls while you're working on the wiring.
The network interface is also the first place to check when you pick up the phone and you aren't getting a dial tone. Take your phone and wire outside (make sure you aren't using one that has to have electricity to operate), disconnect the modular plug from the test jack, and plug your phone's modular wire into the test jack. If you get a dial tone, the problem is with the wiring inside your home. If you don't get a dial tone, the problem is with the phone company.
Adding a Jack
If you are adding a new jack for plugging a phone into, you need to run a new wire.
If you only have a few phone jacks now, run the new wire all the back to the network interface. Push the new wire up through the grommet in the bottom of the network interface and strip back a few inches of the outer jacket, being careful not to cut through the inner insulation surrounding each wire.