OK, my friend currently has 2 phone lines installed in his house, one is the phone, the other adsl. he wants to stop paying two phone line rentals so has decided to drop one line. He is wondering if it is possible for him to 'tee off' the 2nd (adsl) line from the first (phone) after it is disconnected to save him running a cable all the way from the phone outlet. He is technically minded but has no 'official' training or trade. He was thinking of just sticking it in connectors in the ceiling space or something. Is this kosher? also, is there a limit to the amount of phones that can be placed on 1 line? he has 6 (plus potentially adsl) ....... don't ask why, I don't know...... Sorry this is long, thanks a bunch. Chris Buchli. The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

Yes and yes. After disconnecting the discontinued line it is possible to use it to route the signal from the remaining phone to the other phone jacks. The limit on the number of phones depends on the total load placed by the phones. Using old phones the limit is 3 to 5. If you look at new phones you will find a REN number. That is the load on the line. Add the REN numbers of all attached phones. If it doesn't exceed 4, you are probably safe. The REN number is mostly attributed to the ringer. Electronic phones may have numbers of about .2, so you might be able to connect 20 of them.

Thank you very much Wiz. Cheers, Chris Buchli. The first step to wisdom is being able to admit when you don't know.

Just to add that it is best you make sure you have no spare cables hanging onto the system when you've finished and the shorter the routes the better. REN = Ringing Equivalent Number, so yes, it is ringing that is the issue. If you go above a total of 4 (UK) ringing may not be reliable. Note that with hands free phones it is only the base REN that matters. You can have as many hands free phones as the base allows. Most UK phones have a REN of 1. DerekW