@alioop70 I have a family member who would like to get Ignite Home Phone but is in a similar situation. I will be installing two Cat 5e Ethernet runs from the Ignite gateway location (on the main floor) to the electrical panel in the basement, with 8P8C jacks at each end. I will use one of those for telephone, patching one end into the Ignite gateway's telephone jack; the other end will get patched into the tip and ring inputs of the RJ-31x jack, that the alarm system connects to and that also serves as the connection point for the home's telephone jacks.
In plain English, basically I will be running a telephone extension cord from the modem location on the main floor back to the electrical panel, so that I can place the modem in the main living space but still connect the telephone service at the demarc by the electrical panel.
You could also run telephone cabling with RJ11 jacks at each end. Connect to Ignite gateway's telephone jack at one end. At the other end, disconnect the telephone line from the Rogers Phone modem and plug it into the other end of your extension cable.
@alioop70 where are you in the switch over process, still using the Hitron CODA-4582, or switched over to the XB7?
In the cases where a customer has an older alarm system which is connected to the house phone system, and which has to be the first device connected to the phone system, there are two alternatives for connecting the modem to the alarm system, assuming that there is a nearby telephone port:
1. Rewire the telephone cable that runs downstairs from that telephone port, that is to say, remove the two "in use" wires from the 66 block which is in the basement structured wiring cabinet, and connect those to wires to the input wires of the alarm system. The output of the alarm system would remain connected to the 66 block feed side.
In your particular case, you should have a telephone surface mount connector near the 66 block, which was connected to the previous Home Phone modem, assuming that the Home Phone modem has been removed. The Home Phone modem would have connected to that surface mount connector like this:
The alarm system wiring input (2 wires) would then be connected to that surface mount connector. The alarm system output (2 wires) would be connected to the left side of the 66 block. The house telephone cables would be connected to the right side of the 66 block.
Assuming that this is what you have in place, the easy solution, if a telephone port was available close to the modem, is to identify the particular cable on the right side of the 66 block, remove it from the 66 block and either install an RJ-11 jack, which would connect to the existing surface mount, or hardwire the 2 wires onto the correct contacts in the surface mount.
Identifying the correct wire pair on the 66 block is the hardest part of this.
2. Assuming that you have something like a Cat-5 ethernet cable in use for the telephone cable, only one wire pair of the 4 wire pairs is typically used for the telephone system. It would be possible to use one of the other pairs as a feed cable for the alarm system. That would require a wiring change at both ends. Upstairs, one pair would have to be identified, and used for installation of a telephone keystone. You would end up with two telephone ports on the wallplate, running on the same Cat-5e cable. One port for the phone in that location and one port to connect to teh modem's telephone port.
Downstairs, from that same cable, identify the same two wires and install an RJ-11 jack to connect to the surface mount connector, or, hard wire the two wires to the surface mount connector. Now, fwiw, this might be difficult if the original installation tech has done a neat job, leaving very little slack in the telephone cables where they connect to the 66 block.
So, this configuration would be unusual to say the least. I don't know if this would work as expected as you might run into cross-talk issues between the two wire pairs in that cable.
Do you have ethernet cabling in your home which could be used to connect to a wifi access point? Rogers uses pods which run over wifi, to extend the wifi coverage from the modem. Users have mixed success with those, but, it should be possible to run an access point at any location in the home where you have an ethernet port. That might make it possible to park the modem in the basement and still end up with reasonable wifi service, without relying on the pods, although the pods are supposed to provide good coverage (in theory).
Your frustration with the whole process of switching over is understandable. Personal opinion, Rogers has done a very poor job of detailing the nitty gritty details of switching from the Hitron modems to the XB6 and XB7. You're not the first customer to be caught out by this, and .... you probably won't be the last. While the theory is switching modems is simple, the reality is that homes are not built to accommodate Comcast's vision of how a home should support an XB6 or XB7, instead of the other way around.
Food for thought, contact your alarm system company and see if they have other alarm systems available which connect via cell phone for example. That would require switching the main alarm box, but, maybe they have a solution to the problem. You wouldn't be the first customer of theirs with this particular problem.
Does your home have any ethernet runs from the structured wiring cabinet in the basement to the upstairs rooms?
And, are there any telephone ports that are not in use that also happen to be located near a cable port, even if that means that the modem won't be in an ideal central location?
Is your basement finished, or unfinished? If its not finished, would it be possible to fish a couple of Cat-5e cables upstairs, from the basement structured wiring panel? I would actually run three cables. One for the modem feed to the basement alarm system, one to run back upstairs for the phone at that location and one for ethernet purposes to possible feed a gigabit switch in the basement which could then feed other ethernet runs for the home.
@amoreira How comfortable are you with installing a phone jack? You can do it for $30 worth of parts that you can find at any Home Depot. No special tools are required either; just a screwdriver, wire cutters, and a pocket knife to strip wires. If your modem is located on the first floor of your home, it's pretty straightforward.
You'll need a surface mount phone jack that you will install next to your electrical panel, telephone cable that you would run from your electrical panel (following the path of the coax cable) to the wall outlet where your modem is plugged in, and a coax/telephone wall plate that will replace your existing coax wall plate. You will basically be building a telephone extension cord.
The trickiest part is fishing the phone wire up through the wall, following the same path as your coax cable.
As for the connections, the telephone jacks at each end will have screw terminals for Green, Red (line 1) and Yellow, Black (line 2, optional). Connect each colour to the same colour at the other end. (If the bulk wire has Blue/Orange/Green pairs, here is how the colours match up.)
When you are done, connect your Ignite modem's telephone jack at one end, and connector for your old modem (that feeds your alarm system) at the other end.
Great info. Also wanted to mention, I'm a former telecom technician, depending on how the builder wired up the telephone wires in your house, you *MAY* be able to have Ignite Home Phone and your modem does not have to be in your basement, and still have your alarm system monitored via the phone lines.
I posted about this earlier, the way I did it was without running new wires, but instead use an unused pair of wires that is already inside the wall. You will still have to do some re-wiring of the RJ31X jack in your basement cus thats likely where the Alarms guy put it, but it can be done, if your uncomfortable with this and feel its not as much of DIY Job you were hoping for, then feel free to hire a trained telecom expert to do this for you.
I posted about this earlier, the way I did it was without running new wires, but instead use an unused pair of wires that is already inside the wall. You will still have to do some re-wiring of the RJ31X jack in your basement cus thats likely where the Alarms guy put it, but it can be done, if your uncomfortable with this and feel its not as much of DIY Job you were hoping for, then feel free to hire a trained telecom expert to do this for you.
With the instructions in my previous post, rather than connecting to the Green/Red screw terminals on the surface-mount phone jack, you could also wire directly to the Tip/Ring inputs of the RJ31X, replacing the wiring that previously connected to your old phone modem. However, the advantage of building that "extension cord", with phone jacks at each end, is that there is nothing to take apart and nothing to mess up. The parts are readily available, no special tools are required, and you can continue to use your existing wiring.
However, as @Pauly said, if any of this is beyond your comfort level, do yourself a HUGE favour and hire a qualified technician to wire the Ignite modem to your alarm system and in-home telephone wiring.
You can also contact your alarm company or provider and see what other methods they offer to monitor your alarm system.
When I had an alarm system installed 20 years ago in my old house, The ONLY way to monitor it was from the phone line.
In the last 10-15 years, technology has changed and improved. A friend of mine has an alarm system in his condo which does not need a phone line, its monitored thru the cellphone network, theres a sim card inside the main panel and it connects to 4G cellphone to communicate. This is good for people who dont have and dont want a landline.
There is also devices like the hub6 which you add onto your existing alarm (provided its compatible) and it enhances your alarm system so it can be monitored wirelssly.
There is also methods of connecting your alarm system to your broadband internet, which we all have now in our homes, this is also great for people who dont have a phone line.
Its really your choice, I'm not telling people to change, but I am telling them monitoring thru the phone line is not the only option any more, it may have been the only way 20 years ago tho so people may not be aware.
When I had an alarm system installed 20 years ago in my old house, The ONLY way to monitor it was from the phone line.
In the last 10-15 years, technology has changed and improved. A friend of mine has an alarm system in his condo which does not need a phone line, its monitored thru the cellphone network, theres a sim card inside the main panel and it connects to 4G cellphone to communicate. This is good for people who dont have and dont want a landline.
There is also devices like the hub6 which you add onto your existing alarm (provided its compatible) and it enhances your alarm system so it can be monitored wirelssly.
There is also methods of connecting your alarm system to your broadband internet, which we all have now in our homes, this is also great for people who dont have a phone line.
Its really your choice, I'm not telling people to change, but I am telling them monitoring thru the phone line is not the only option any more, it may have been the only way 20 years ago tho so people may not be aware.
@JillL wrote:
Thanks for your help. I understand now, but I will need some professional help tracing back that phone jack wire. Too bad Rogers didin't ask me initially if I had a security system. I could have avoided a lot of this.
Tracing the wires can be a challenge if the person or company who installed the wiring did not take the time to label the runs. My clients never had this problem as I always labeled every cable run and often left a telecom wiring diagram for the next contractor.
In all honesty, tracing the home phone wires may not be necessary if they were daisy chained. In this case All the jacks are connected with a single pair of wires. This is why alarm systems do not mix well, because they are required to be the first device (to seize the line) before back feeding to the rest of the house, and the panel is often in the basement near the hydro, and most people want the modem in another location in this situation.
Either way there ARE solutions, they can be complex and sometimes will require paying for a more professional install, or you can think about migrating your alarm system to something newer that uses cellular or internet based monitoring.
@DougW wrote:
I connected a splitter to phone port 1 (top left) on Rogers modem. I get a dial tone on both phones and can call out, but when I call in, I get dead air or sometimes goes straight to voicemail.
I would start off by connecting a single telephone directly to the Ignite Gateway, then call your home number from a cell phone, multiple times, to confirm that the telephone rings, that you can receive calls, hang up calls, and that subsequent calls do not get sent straight to voicemail. Once you confirm that your Home Phone service is working properly, you can then move on to trying to get wiring for multiple phones working.
@DougW wrote:
Did all that phone works properly with one phone directly connected to router. Other phone goes thru wall jack
A few years ago, I remember somebody else trying to use a line splitter to connect a phone and "backfeed" dial tone from the Gateway to the house wiring through a wall plate.
One attempt was connecting the telephone line splitter to the gateway, then plugging the phone into one connection and the wall plate into the other.
Another attempt was connecting the telephone line splitter to the wall plate, then plugging the phone into one connection and the gateway's telephone port into the other.
Both should work but, for whatever reason, only one did, and I cannot remember which one.
@DougW wrote:
I connected a splitter to phone port 1 (top left) on Rogers modem. I get a dial tone on both phones and can call out, but when I call in, I get dead air or sometimes goes straight to voicemail.
I had exactly that setup for a couple of years. Splitter on the Gateway, one connection to a wired phone and one connection to my wall jacks which then "backfed" all the other jacks in my house. Worked like a charm on all phones.
Remove the splitter and try connecting just one wired phone directly to the Gateway port. I believe you say that works.
Then try connecting just one connection from the Gateway port to the phone jack and see if the "backfeed" works to other phones in the home. If that works, then you may have an issue with the splitter not working right or introducing too much resistance. If it doesn't work this way, you may have an issue with the Bell (or other) connection, as mentioned by @-G- .
Many people simply use cordless phones throughout the home and have the cordless base plugged directly into the Gateway. That is what I have now.
@-G- wrote: Another attempt was connecting the telephone line splitter to the wall plate, then plugging the phone into one connection and the gateway's telephone port into the other.
I don't believe that works because the splitter has no internal cross-connection so you cannot go "into" one of the two-ports and "out" of the other two-port. You can only go "through" the splitter, not "across". See my post above for what does work.
@DougW can you post a picture or two of the telephone wiring in the basement, specifically where the telephone wiring terminate, or starts depending on your point of view.
Did you ever have an older model alarm system that was connected to the telephone system, with the alarm located in the basement. I'm assuming of course that you're in a house with a basement.
If you had an older alarm system, was it removed or is it still connected but not running?
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