Checking Your NID

Take a telephone with you and go to the NID (the box on the outside the house). A modern NID can easily be popped open with a screwdriver or butterknife. Pop the NID open and unplug the existing line and plug in a telephone (do not use a cordless phone unless it can be plugged into electricity while checking the NID). Use the phone to try to recreate the trouble (EXAMPLE - if the problem inside is no dial tone, plug the phone into the NID and pick up the receiver. If you have dial tone on the phone, that means that the problem is with the inside phone or the wiring to the jack. If you do not have dial tone, that means that the problem is somewhere on the phone companies side). By checking the NID, you will narrow down where the problem is.