How to Install Modular Jacks by Yourself - AT&T Archives

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Modular jacks and plugs were developed for the phone system after 1968, to allow for easier hookups of external equipment. The modulars were developed in the next few years; made available starting in 1976. This film, from 1984, shows the customer how easy it was for each and every one of them-men and women-to install phones and phone equipment themselves, without having to bother the phone company.
The fundamental plug/jack model was patented by a cadre of Bell Labs engineers in 1973 (filed in 1972): Charles Krumreich, Edwin Hardesty, Albert Mulbarger, and Stephen Walden. A slight revision was filed shortly thereafter; that model is what became the common telephone plug and jack. It commonly is called the RJ-11 or RJ-14 (RJ standing for "registered jack"). The simplest plug contains two wires, which represents one phone line. More commonly today, even the simplest contain six. The RJ-11 is by far the most common phone connection in the world. Only a handful of countries don't use this jack system at all. An awesome chart of all the modular jack systems around the world is at phone-jack.org; it reflects both the politics and technological growth of countries during the 20th century.
The wire pairs are arranged in what is called a "tip and ring" formation, which corresponds with the wiring in the bell system when phones were connected via the operator-the "tip" refers to the tip of the operator's plug connection, the "ring" is the ring around the plug. Green and Red were "tip and ring" for the first pair, Black and Yellow for the second.
A modern ethernet cable uses a similar design, but includes more wires within the plug and jack.
Footage Courtesy of AT&T Archives and History Center, Warren, NJ

[@RJSchex]

AT&T first came out with modular cords in 1973. According to the Bell System Practices, Western Electric was still making "hardwired" phone sets in 1977; they would be phased out completely by the end of 1979. Modular sets were denoted by an "M" in the model number; e.g. "500DM".

[@ATTTechChannel]

Anyone else expecting a bomb to go off when she clipped the red wire?

[@josephtafur]

Yes

[@WinstonBleubon]

AT&T Tech Channel lol

[@gregward1419]

I like phone

[@jtlovescodelyoko]

Ummm, no

[@NortelGeek]

You didn't show us what happened at the CO, so... We only have half the story. 😉😂 💢 Kabloooey! 💢

[@DanaTheInsane]

Just in time for the hubby to drive up in his Renault Encore. One of the biggest bombs of the 80's.

[@ModMokkaMatti]

Renault - the one to watch! 👀🙄

[@mharris5047]

@@ModMokkaMatti Renault -- the company that only makes cars for dwarfs. If you were over five foot three and/or over 90 pounds you couldn't fit in the Encore.

[@W1RMD]

I'm not sure what was worse, the car or that guy's mustache!

[@whatever123651]

I was the queen of all modular. I was a kid but fixed all of them so I can take phone around the house. I would buy, well my parents, huge loooong cords, 25ft and added coupler to take all over the house or to sneak in my room at night. Omg soooo funny yet great memories.

[@watershed44]

Enjoyed this video.... The couple at the beginning remind me of a sort of sanitized Peg and Al from the Fox show Married with Children. LOL In any case this was when AT&T (Bell System) really was at their peak of quality, professionalism, and customer service. Bell Labs was also at their peak as well. I wish we could keep the technology gains and bring back the quality of the old Bell System!

[@calif1mc]

You know, I love the tech now, but I miss the simpler days then! Things have become so complicated now lol I was in Junior High School in 1984, the good ole days!

[@ATTTechChannel]

Don't discount the value to the customer of being able to install their own new phones, without having to schedule an appointment. This was a huge customer service issue at the time.

[@celebrityrog]

AT&T Tech Channel Flash forward to just a few years later in the 1990s and you paid $120 to get a single jack installed, and about just as much in tools to try to figure out how to do it yourself without special instructions.

[@NortelGeek]

These days we are doing things like installing our own central offices :) Asterisk, baby!

[@gordonarchibald4777]

AT&T still has customer service issues!

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

@@NortelGeek well. It’s not as easy as you think it is, there’s a lot of things you truly don’t know about the phone network or the system it’s self sooo If I was you I would keep my words in my head for a long time. Ok 🤗

[@NortelGeek]

@@MichaelWallace-oq3wd Hi Michael, I realize that there's a lot we don't know about the network, and that's on purpose. Do you know the recipe for Coca-Cola? I may have oversimplified things a bit, and for that I truly apologize, however, we can't all afford our own personal DMS-100 or 5ESS. In 2003, I received my first Nortel certification. In 2005, I was awarded a second. I worked for BellSouth for nearly 15 years and now provide consulting services for telecommunications companies. With that said, why the snarky attitude? Do you dislike Asterisk, or did someone hurt you, personally? Why should I "keep my words in my head" for a long time? Do you want to enlighten people, or just continue to act like any other self-important know-it-all on the Internet? I hope you have a really great day today.

[@pcross84]

Why does he look in the fridge and oven? She's not in there.... Oh wait, I get it!

[@blakehayman3328]

13:18 " Gary, it helps to plug it in " !!

[@bradleysmith681]

Hello, how do I call the 800 number??? I failed to clip the existing pairs short enough, so now there is a direct short and my phone won't work.....

[@hamfish225]

I had to laugh when they said you can call the number if you need help, like okay i've just chopped the wires off my old phone and the helpful person on the other end got cut off, now what do i do???

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

Uhhh you’re not used to the old modern stuff you can leave the comments and stop watching this video because first reason is you got no respect of anything when it comes to this kind of stuff huh buddy.

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

Also I have a cordless landline telephone in my house and it has no wires to it so basically you thought wrong my dude hah funny

[@goldengalsclazy]

He asks her if she needs help -no, she's just wandering throughout the mall and loves going to the phone dept. asking stupid questions. LOL

[@MrWolfTickets]

Another good instructional video for this era: "How to apply blush in moderation"

[@DanaTheInsane]

In the 80's I'm sure that went over like a lead balloon.

[@DashRipr0ck]

The wife just looked a tad too nervous when husband came home early. His demeanor when he found out what she was doing... well I thought he was going to rip his oxford shirt off and expose the "wifebeater" underneath. It had the feel of an after school special to it. *just saying*

[@Geonordis]

Ahahaaha

[@relathan1]

I was on the verge of saying the very same thing. Only I was 5 years too late.

[@jkvelasquez84]

One could only hope

[@jonathankleinow2073]

Tonight, on a very special episode of AT&T Archives...

[@hawnmelissa2000]

DashRipr0ck7 Seriously?

[@xznmusic]

Back when AT&T wasn't crap, before the full effect of the government breaking the company up into "Baby Bells" for stupid reasons was truly felt, before Bell Labs innovation died. Teaching people how to do it themselves IS NOT a customer service issue, this was a fantastic idea that should be revisited.

[@SallySallySallySally]

The Bell System was really the penultimate example of efficiency when Phone Center Stores were at their peak. Moving into a new house/apartment that had modular jacks? You could go into the Phone Center Store, pick out a phone, give the person details and walk out. Total time, maybe 15 minutes. By the time you got home, the order was worked and the pair was hot. You just plug in your new phone and, voila! Hello Central! Many businesses today could learn a thing or two from the Bell System.

[@cat-lw6kq]

by the time you got home the order was worked ? well not exactly someone had to issue a service order, connect a jumper in the CO, maybe do some outside work and they type your no. into the ESS switch to get dial tone.

[@removedot]

The main reason they gave for doing your own was because of how long it would take to get the phone company to show up

[@TheRealSuperJ]

Plot twist - Mrs. Modular uses the auto dialer to run a Microsoft DOS technical support scam out her suburban 80’s home.

[@imark7777777]

"If you have problems just call the 800 number". okay let's see, I just shorted my phone line out by not getting rid of excess wires and now my phones don't work. I will use my cell phone, no wait that will not work hmm…. i guess I could ask my neighbor, a mile away. an instructional video, what a perfect way to distribute it on KZbin so everybody can see it. no wait that was around either so how did they distribute this? oh to the sales staff. i love these old videos, they are always way ahead of their time. and most the time just gathering dust in an archive.

[@Janotes]

I remember the snap on caps for the RJ11s. Early touchtone WEs were polarity sensitive though. If you messed up tip and ring you couldn't break dialtone.

[@Operator--du4ek]

Hunny where is dinner ? TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️

[@Mrmudbone_gaming]

It’s only a trigger if you let it trigger you.

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

What’s cool is I still have a magic jack or a landline phone jack upstairs and down stairs you’ll be surprised what I’m about to say I still have landline service I never had a cell phone before I’ve used one many times but I haven’t had a cell phone of my own never before. I stayed with the landline phone because it’s better and more reliable.

[@stereomann83]

what year is this from? also 4 wire is for two line phones. a single line only needs two wires red & green. i don't know why they made it sound so hard to install wires on a phone jack.

[@musicom67]

3:24 - Except for products, signage (type styles), and design packaging, not much has changed in marketing products. This could be a mall of today with the same slot shelves, glass shelving and clothes display hangers. You'd think they'd come up with something more interestingly different...

[@NortelGeek]

All of the malls will be coming down someday thanks to Amazon and the new, forever socially-distanced American life.

[@yhnbgt365]

The image at 5:00 shows red and green on diagonal corners. That does not match the nomenclature embossed on the plastic base of the connection block.

[@dglcomputers1498]

We had "Inphone" in the UK when modern telephone jacks came in to use, arguably I think ours were/are a better design as they seem to be less prone to having the clip break off, though I understand they were introduced later and as such probably took on lessons learnt from the RJ11 connector.

[@ozziesheppard17]

This is a great idea... But at 5:20 Did that guy just say to "call the number on box"... That would be great, Unless you just took your old phone out and can't figure out how to install the new one.

[@onejohn2.26.]

They could use your cell phone LOL😅

[@benzodiy4053]

Real people talk about real problems; waiting for an installing all day is one we see today and is realistic

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

Why didn't she just loosen the screws and remove the wires instead of snipping them?

[@freddiemaxwell8959]

Because they didn't want anyone coming in direct contact with potentially live terminals. That's why they said to use insulated snips to clip the wires.

[@johnbroski1993]

@@freddiemaxwell8959 it's only a few volts.. lol. Ringing voltage is the fun part 🤤🤤

[@shostakovich1620]

So we have a flashback of watching a TV; feels like a scene within a scene within a scene :P

[@cleatrampler]

I could never find the installation kit for that 1a2 system.

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

You’re smart you know about that part, You seem like you go to the more learning details about the phone ☎️ you’re my kinda guy!

[@neonhomer]

Adding phones.... Except they forgot to mention the Ringer Equivalence Number..

[@common_c3nts]

They did not need to as the newer modular phones had a lower REN than the direct wired phones.

[@mharris5047]

@@common_c3nts In the US the REN still applies. IIRC Frontier's limit on a single phone line was a total REN of five. Most phones are between 0.8 and 1.2.

[@Emma__Smith]

This video is fucking hilarious.. truly a different time

[@papadop]

I'd like to see a YTP version of this.

[@jpolar394]

Customer service was based in the U.S.A. Not outsourced to country's where you can't understand what the people are saying. Thank you.

[@HappyDiscoDeath]

12:43 an incandescent light bulb machine! ya don't4 see many of those these days.

[@vandal21891]

Just think- in 1984 even in our wildest imaginations we could not conceive the notion that in less than 20 years time we would have no reason to add an extension to the workbench, bedroom, kitchen etc or need landlines at all because we would have a phone that we carried around on our person all the time like some Star Trek communicator. Damn- technology moves fast. I think I got rid of my landline for good sometime in the early 2000's.

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

I'm still a little confused. How do i install a nodular jack?

[@MichaelOKeefe2009]

Back when Telecoms care.

[@rlicon1970]

Why do I like these videos

[@maxravnaas1719]

Is their a dual outlet adapter for desk telephones as well? Say a trimlime or a 2500 desk set

[@scottmarshall8494]

Im still using my touch a matic 300 got it new in box like 20 yrs ago

[@dianasands6685]

There not mentioning the cost of the phone each month back in 1984

[@bobcole612]

And we surplused 5000 techs.

[@Fluxo2]

Back in the day of huge bushes!

[@MJK1965]

I remember doing that.

[@MichaelOKeefe2009]

This video screams 1980s!

[@Caifo]

Ma Bell teaching DIYs? Phone phreaks triggered! 😂

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

I saw your comment about you hating that the bell broke up I do think as well that it was a big mistake that MCI did that to the people that relied upon the bell system and it’s sad it went away so soon.

[@devingoins361]

Which I could visit a phone store like that nowadays!

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

Yeah cell phones sadly, You walk in it’s all trashy cell phones not trying to be rude or mean but cell phones will never be as good as hard wire landline phones will be. That’s exactly why I still have a old switch landline in my house because it works every single time. But the thing is more likely you’re cell phone will be turned off before the landline does. Sooo I prefer everybody that’s looking at this comment to think again and go old school and get those good reliable landline telephones ☎️

[@7667neko]

@@MichaelWallace-oq3wd Does using VoIP count? I have no landline at all.

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

@@7667neko VoIP is a internet based phone line, The Phone that i have is a POTS line, And i've it for 4 years now and i enjoyed it a lot. But one thing about a VoIP phone is when you lose power in your house you're internet goes out and your phone goes out with it as well, But having a additional POTS line which stands for Old Telephone Service, That's much better cause you're getting much faster connection and reliable voice connection!

[@AndrewSouthgate.]

AT&T version off soft core porn.....

[@robs5252]

Now I buy a house and have to rip out all of those phone boxes and exposed lines running along base boards.

[@MarkMphonoman]

Wires, wires and more wires, all over the house. LOL.

[@SouthernRailfan]

What's that songs at the beginning of this video.

[@ModMokkaMatti]

Just Shazam it, yo...

[@Nate-zy1qr]

WHAT BELL SYSTEM?

[@brianmaier7529]

I want to see more of Gary.

[@sheiladikshit5110]

unfortunately, Gary hung himself with a cheap, ugly, polyester necktie, after his wife left him for the at&t salesman.

[@hawnmelissa2000]

@@sheiladikshit5110 Wow That’s Harsh

[@jeffkardosjr.3825]

1:07 BOOM!

[@NumaticVacuum]

Her husband is pretty attractive.

[@celebrityrog]

NumaticVacuum Buahaha yeah I'd let him install something

[@FantomLightning]

Fancy seeing you here!

[@ashtoncarlson4631]

William Diaz ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@mutestingray]

I’d have his dinner ready when he comes home.

[@ajc5869]

Lowkey an absolute snack

[@daisypandora981]

He was mad that she didn't have his beer ready when he got home until he found out she saved them money by installing the jack herself. Good girl!

[@AureliusR]

Good girl?! The guys attitude when he comes in the door - first words out of his mouth are "where's dinner" - how about make it yourself?! If this is how married couples were in 1984 no wonder the divorce rate in the US was so high. Men apparently just wanted a doormat.

[@davidweeks6425]

Make me a sammich ​@@AureliusR

[@dianasands6685]

that was nice to bad AT&T doesn't offer this service any more all of the AT&T stores are closed

[@flyguille]

Why four wires? In argentina it works with just two at home. Remember to see 4 wires in some businness environment with multiples extensions (like in the bank).

[@stevebollinger3463]

Only the center two wires (red and green) do anything. The others (black and yellow) were typically connected to other jacks within the home but nothing else. They could be used for a second line.

[@donl1410]

@@stevebollinger3463 They were used to supply power from a plug in power supply to light a Princess Phone

[@djscrizzle]

You'd also see that spare spliced over whenever the first pair was damaged or simply didn't work.

[@StevieCooper]

Who knew women could do things!? I’m glad her husband forgave her. The nerve to not even ask!

[@MaximRecoil]

The connections are made by just snapping onto the screw terminals? That's crappy. Spade lugs that are tightly clamped into screw terminals is far superior. Also, you only need to connect tip and ring (the green and red wires). The yellow and black wires do nothing on a single phone line system and/or a single line phone (like that Trimline she bought).

[@Randystephenson]

yeah, but what if she decides to get a second line later, and gets a two line phone. . . she won't have to pull that jack and snap the yellow/black pair

[@Lauderdalesfinest954754]

This Was My Dad's Whole Career..! lol Where's The Tracer..?

[@NortelGeek]

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beeeeeeeeeeep ... Found it! 😜

[@djscrizzle]

Or better yet, the sender was up so loud it bled to every pair in the binder, then ya had three pairs you couldn't suss out, no matter what you tried!

[@chainsawsandgenerators9952]

🤔I wonder if he turned her up a bit off camera, not haveing dinner ready and destroying the phone jack next to his chair..

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

That doesn’t really make any sense not just to me but everybody? Nobody destroyed nothing by the way. Think again 🤗

[@ajc5869]

A STRONG, INDEPENDENT, WOMAN!

[@NortelGeek]

"Who ain't need no man!" Lawl.

[@mattalbrecht7471]

And then just as you are adding the new wires to the block, the phone rings and gives you a jolt you won't forget ask me how I know...

[@MichaelWallace-oq3wd]

You don’t really know 😉 I’m glad you do not know 🤗

[@pixoariz]

Imagine being married to Mr. Warmth. Poor woman.

[@HappyDiscoDeath]

LOL she got a whole tool box at the beginning when she just needs a screwdriver and some snips

[@caidhg]

Holy crap standards were low back then

[@djbrucebanner9882]

I like it

[@kc0eks]

amusing video

[@common_c3nts]

I got a sense that this guy was about the beat the shit out of his wife for not having dinner ready and messing with the phone. Also, why not just put the new wires around the screw terminals?? Would have only been 5 more minutes and not require those screw snaps.

[@alexanderzafiropoulos1046]

we know who wears the pants in the marriage.

[@TheTurpin1234]

The algorithm strikes again.

[@benmartinez1267]

They seem to be RC Gorman fans

[@georgewuzheer]

Women installing phones. What will they think of next?

[@deporitazz]

I have the home phone they had in the video

[@flipperbear9]

Wow, even an woman can do it!

[@RetroVintageItems27]

Its interesting that Bell offered running wires for new jacks by regular people, I would think they would set a standerd making Bell employes do wiring.

[@cjmillsnun]

This was 1984. AT&T weren't Bell any more.

[@ModMokkaMatti]

@@cjmillsnun 😢

[@mharris5047]

@@cjmillsnun I am sure the RBOC serving your area or GTE would have came out and installed phone lines and converted jacks into the modular ones anyone over 40 knows about for a fee. Today Frontier (the successor to most of the old GTE area) would charge about $180 plus materials to install a couple of jacks for you.

[@MarkRopel]

"But, wait, I can't break Dial Tone"

[@pcross84]

Juice it or flash 2600hz down the line. That'll break it. ;)

[@NoObligationToday]

Reverse the ring and tip.

[@interwebtubes]

Is that dinner on the stove burning??; Or is the house on fire??, And our little dog fluffy is also missing??

[@gorillaau]

Electric Dreams :-)

[@Nate-zy1qr]

Pass me that 2500

[@Chicagoguy1984]

Man was that brunette hot

[@MarkMphonoman]

Boy, those were some long fingernails. LOL

[@johnbroski1993]

Why would dinner be ready if hes home early? 🤔

[@jkvelasquez84]

Because chauvinism

[@tiov3001]

Ah, the old days... when you could stand near complete strangers. Anyone else get anxious watching people stand close?

[@RugbyFootballer]

Why did she cut the wires she should have unscrewed the wires in the phone jack removed the wire connected to telephone from its spade lugs

[@oakley2001]

"So easy, even a girl can do it"

[@Lamplighter42]

~wires~

[@wjcraig78]

I was smarter then this guy when I was 12. I added jacks and rewired others at my family’s house and relatives in 1990 when I was 12

[@chargermopar]

I was about 13 when I added a phone jack for dad, the bathroom and my bedroom. I had already run two phones to make an intercom from my treehouse to the Florida room. The battery was a lantern battery and the ringer was wired to a hand cranked generator.

[@Mortimer_Duke]

State of the art for the day. Oh the cringe today. I’m surprised someone wasn’t #MeToo-ed.

[@steves009]

lol funny

[@hvrock13]

Wow this didn’t age well lol

[@davidweeks6425]

Yes it did

[@Thomas-yr9ln]

My last post got deleted. Discrimination no doubt. But here we go again. It's as simple minded as you can get You don't need to ask.

[@lukasrohrmoser3213]

Damn this was sexist😂

[@timliao3188]

I don't know, she could have broke one of those fake fingernails

[@jkvelasquez84]

Husband is a DILF

[@michaeljavert4635]

All plastic garbage. Go back to cloth wires, ceramic jacks, ceramic terminal blocks with 6 wires instead of 4 and lugs on wires. It's not complicated. You're not likely to get bit, and if someone does happen to ring you while you're touching a terminal, it's not lethal. Get rid of the plastic, and instead of bake-lite, use a stainless steel. And always, ceramic insulators. And keep an iron plate on the base of all the phones. I like things to stay put when I set them down, even if there is some strain on the coiled wire. But those should be cloth too. We need to go back to the old ways when Western Electric made phones that were leased, except make them available for purchase, with the said improvements. And go back to the POTS. Not this VOIP crap that doesn't work if the Internet is down, or there is a power failure. That's NO GOOD !

[@theunseenalien]

Wow, this is sexist.

[@davidweeks6425]

Nope

[@jeanious2009]

Holy shit talk about categorizing all the men as "tough macho men", am ashamed and humiliated and feel violated as a man. Where are the feminism to speak out back then?

[@sheiladikshit5110]

the roles are reversed. the wife's wearing the pants, the husband's a sissy, but the at&t salesman satisfies them both.

[@KoshyGeorge]

What sexist ad.