residential telephone wiring

[phonewire]

At our home, there are 5 telephone jacks connected to the NID, each with separate 4-wire cables.  There is one phone line/number.  All handsets have dial tone, and will transmit voice & data successfully.  However, none of the ringers on any of the handsets work properly. Three handsets have no ring at all.  On one of the handsets, which is part of a fax / telephone device and is connected to an answering machine, there is only a single, abbreviated ring which lasts less than a second; and the answering machine does not pick up after the fourth ring as it normally does.

Are there too many jacks connected to the 1-line NID too produce rings?

[JP]

You could try reversing the polarity of tip and ring which would be simply flipping the wires at the HID, but this is usually only typical of old phones but is worth a try. You could also have a problem with the wiring, try disconnecting all the wires and hooking up only one jack and one phone at a time. It may also be a good idea to test the phone you plan to use at a friends house to insure it is working properly before you begin.