telephone wiring

[johnny37]

I needed to remove the cover plate from the master socket (there was water dribbling out of it, rain probably, dont ask me how it got there). After removing the plate (with phone and broadband cables still attached) the phone line and the internet did not work. Internet was still showing as connected on my network connections, Worried about paying �85 for an engineer I decided to try putting the plate back and both worked! I consulted the internet for an explanation but you need a degree to understand it! Can one of you phone experts explain to me if simple terms why it works with plate on but not off? Also in the master box there are a red wire and a white wire connected and a black wire and a green one that are not attached to anything. Is that correct? If so what are the two loose wires for?

Thanks

[johnny37]

Thanks for the replies. Just for my own information, does the phone, broadband, and any other services which come down the phone line,just have two wires connected(in my case red and white)? What are the loose (unconnected) wires for?

Thanks