TAE (''Telekommunikations-Anschluss-Einheit'' or telecommunications connection unit) is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

standard for

telephone plugs A telephone jack and a telephone plug are electrical connectors for connecting a telephone set or other telecommunications apparatus to the telephone wiring inside a building, establishing a connection to a telephone network. The plug is inserted ...

and sockets. The standard covers two TAE types: F ("Fernsprechgerät": for telephones) and N ("Nebengerät" or "Nichtfernsprechgerät": for other devices such as answering machines and modems). U coded sockets and plugs are universal connectors that are suitable for both device types. E-coded connectors that are used in

EAD-socket EAD (German: ''Ethernet-Anschlussdose'') is an obsolete connection standard for network plugs and sockets used in the early 1990s. Ethernet networking of this period (mid 1980s to mid 1990s) used "thin coax" or 10BASE2. All devices on a network s ...

s are not intended for telephony applications.

History

The TAE system was introduced in the late 1980s before the German government-owned institution

Deutsche Bundespost The (, ) was a German state-run postal service and telecommunications business founded in 1947. It was initially the second largest federal employer during its time. After staff reductions in the 1980s, the staff was reduced to roughly 543,20 ...

(DBP, German Federal Post) was divided into

Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...

(postal service),

Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...

(telecommunication services) and

Postbank Post Office Savings Bank, or very briefly PostBank (trading name of Post Office Bank Limited), was a bank owned by the New Zealand Government as the government's postal savings system. The bank was established in 1867. It became PostBank in ...

(financial services). Previously, the older type connectors had been used, or telephones had been hardwired to their () wall sockets, and only officially approved telephones (legally distributable only by the DBP) were allowed to be connected to the telephone system. Furthermore, telephones and other communication devices could only be leased from the DBP and not be sold or bought on the free market. The introduction of the TAE system was the practical enabling technology of the legal specification in Germany that communication terminal equipment should be in the responsibility of end users. Subsequently, many communication devices became available in the open market that could be plugged into standard TAE sockets. Adaptors allow for connecting devices with

registered jack A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized telecommunication network interface device, network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a computer service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. Registered inter ...

s that are more prevalent internationally. Today, TAE connectors are common in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and other central European countries like

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. Modern TAE sockets also contain circuits referred to as ''passiver Prüfabschluss'', meaning ''passive test termination''. This provides a discernible condition to the telephone exchange indicating that the line is continuous to the TAE-connected device.

TAE socket

A typical TAE installation is a multi-socket junction box with at least one N connector and one F connector socket in the box, but having usually two N and one F connector. Up to three N connectors are possible. Network service enters the box and connects to pins 1 and 2 on the right-most N connector. Service is daisy-chained from pins 5 and 6 on the N connector to pins 1 and 2 on the next N connector to the left. The F connector is attached to pins 5 and 6 on the last N connector at the end of the chain.

TAE plug

(Image shown with flat side of connector down and the metallic pins facing you. The cable pigtail exits at the bottom of the connector) When wiring a TAE plug, a mirror image of the illustration (pins 1 through 3 are on the left side) should be used, if wiring the connector with the flat side up.

Observations

As the TAE connector does not have gold contacts, the contacts may oxidize, which can cause sizzling and crackling noises in analog voice transmission. Looping the a2 and b2 wires out of the TAE is related to the routing the line through instruments in a house in order that no extension may overhear another.

History

TAE socket

TAE plug

Observations

Pin-out

See also