Telephone Jack Replacement - 7 Easy Steps

A lot of people often ask me how to fix a phone jack. Telephone jacks, or phone jacks can last many years without giving you any problems, but when they break down, I usually recommend that the jack be replaced. The following are the procedures I suggest to replace a wall jack:

1. Find the network interface device (NID) which is a small plastic box mounted by the telephone company on a wall just outside your home. 
2. Open the NID cover, find the short telephone cable (about 2 inches long) inside and unplug the cable from its jack.
3. Go to the telephone jack that you need to replace, unscrew its cover plate (for flush type jacks) or pry its cover open (for surface mount jacks). Unscrew (counterclockwise) each wire and remove the wires from the jack.
4. Remove the jack by unscrewing the surface mount jack from the wall, or by prying out the jack from behind the cover plate of a flush mount jack.
5. Connect the wires to the new jack by wrapping each colored wire clockwise around its matching color-coded terminal screw and tighten each screw firmly.
6. Screw the new surface mount phone jack back onto the wall, or  snap the jack onto its slot behind the cover plate of a flush type phone jack. 
7. Plug the short telephone cord inside the NID back into its jack to resume power and signals from the telephone company.  Plug a telephone into the new wall jack and call your friend to test the connection.

Reference:
           The Family Handyman: Replace a Phone Jack