How to Hook Up a Telephone Answering Machine With Cox Cable Modem Installed

By Maya Austen

Telephone extensions can be wired to existing telephones using a daisy chain connection.
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Every Cox cable modem comes equipped with a telephone jack. Generally a telephone cable is used to connect the modem's phone jack to the line jack located on the base of a landline telephone. But if you want to use an answering machine with your Cox digital phone service, your digital phone signal must pass through the answering machine before being passed on to the telephone. Therefore, the setup process is a little different.

Step 1

Verify that the coaxial cable, connected to the cable wall outlet put in by the Cox installer, is connected to the modem's RF "Cable" terminal. Make sure that the Ethernet cable connecting the modem's Ethernet port to the computer's Ethernet port is secure (if applicable). And confirm that the modem is connected to a power source.

Step 2

Plug one end of a telephone cable into the Cox cable modem's "Tel ½" phone jack. Plug the other end of this cable into the answering machine's "Line" phone jack.

Step 3

Insert one end of another telephone cable into the answering machine's "Tel" phone jack. Insert the other end of this cable into the telephone line jack located on the base of the telephone.

Step 4

Connect the answering machine to a power source.

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