Ooma Forums

I spoke to someone today who feels that the Quick Network / Future Smart Box MDC4-T8-RJ that I have in the basement of my house is where the problem is. This box controls my phones / data, cable, satellite TV and home theatre. I have no idea how to add an image to this page. If you do a search for the Quick Network / Future Smart Box by Honeywell you will see what my hook up is inside my house. The gentleman that I spoke to walked me through what I needed to do. He felt that I do not have to do anything with the outside wiring because the distribution is controlled in this box. If I could figure out the input verses the outputs for the phone lines I think I would be able to setup my phones.

Has anyone on this site had to work with a home that has a Smart Box?

murphy wrote:If there were multiple wires connected to each of the two terminals that supplied landline phone service, all of those wires that were connected to each terminal need to remain connected together and just disconnected from the landline terminals. Normal "home run" wiring has each phone jack in the house run back to a common point where they are all tied together.

kayembee, you don't have to reconfigure the patch panel to make your home phone network work; in fact, NIB is the easier of the 2 to work with. Since you took off more than 1 wire from each screw terminal at the NIB, you need to do what murphy is talking about; this is also what I've been trying to tell you.

When I connected the wires like you stated, that didn't work either. Whether the wires were connected to each other as you mentioned or not connected, neither seemed to work.

When you connect all the L1 wires together at the NIB, unless you chose the only non L1 jack to feedback your dialtone, at least one other jack should be getting the ooma dialtone. It is very rare to have more than L1 and L2 jacks in the house so at most, you'd have to connect all the L1s and L2s together at the NIB so all your L1 and L2 jacks are all connected together and getting the same dialtone from your ooma.

kayembee wrote:When I connected the wires like you stated, that didn't work either. Whether the wires were connected to each other as you mentioned or not connected, neither seemed to work.

I think the problem may be happening in the mystery "pretty sophisticated communication box in the basement." Is there a possibility you could remove the cover of said box and take some pictures so we know what we're dealing with? Most "pretty sophisticated communication boxes" are really pretty simple inside. Some just use jacks and modular jumpers to connect things - maybe we can still walk you through all of this - but doing it without seeing the "box" is almost futile.

I can do that if someone can tell me how I can add a picture to this forum. I was going to add a picture last night but pasting the picture didn't work and the "IMG" button requires an HTML address. Let me know and I will send a picture. It is pretty simple inside with just what you mentioned.

Thanks!

kayembee wrote:I can do that if someone can tell me how I can add a picture to this forum. I was going to add a picture last night but pasting the picture didn't work and the "IMG" button requires an HTML address. Let me know and I will send a picture. It is pretty simple inside with just what you mentioned.

Below the text entry box when you compose a post, you will see a tab called "Upload attachment". Click on that tab and select your picture file by clicking on the Browse button and then click on "Add the file". Files should be less than 250 KB and in a compatible format like .jpg. Click on Preview to see how your post will look before you submit it - the preview will appear above the text entry box.

You can also create a free account at photobucket.com and post the picture in higher resolution. After posting to photobucket.com you can use the forum's image tags to point to the photo.

A quick glance at the HoneyWell web site

The MDC4T8RJ provides distribution of voice, data and video signals throughout the home or office. With “plug and play” RJ45 outputs for voice and data distribution, making changes is easy. The built-in RJ31X port provides a quick and convenient way to connect to a security system.

I look but could not find a manual for this thing. It has an RJ31X port, which will make matter more complicate (for me at least)


the actual link to the site
http://www.security.honeywell.com/hsc/p ... 50079.html

OK here are the pictures of my Smart Box. I tried to take pictures that would give you a good idea of what I am dealing with. Yes, I looked for a manual also and came up with nothing. I hope this helps.