Boxing Through the Ages: Myths, Facts, and Legends

Remarkably, there are people out there who can't use a search engine. Every day, it seems, we get people asking "Will blue boxing still work? Why don't my red box tones work on COCOTs? The Anarchist Cookbook said..." Anyway, I'm sure there are all kinds of people out there who will find this useful.
First, of course, some the boxes that used to work: the birthplace of phreaking. These first two boxes made phreaking into an art.

Blue Box:
Everyone should know this one. You send a 2600 hz signal down your phone line, seize the trunk as an operator, and go to town. We all know that this doesn't work any more, except perhaps in extremely remote countries. The standard answer as to why it won't work is the nationwide Bell crossover to all digital switching systems. While this is true, many do not know exactly why this stopped the blue box in its tracks. It's really very simple; before Bell went all digital, control signals (seizetrunk, pink noise, etc) were in band with voice communications, that is, one could hear the signals sent by the operators to long distance switches. Of course, if you can hear the signals, you can send signals. When digital switching was implemented, carrier signals were placed out of band with voice signals. Put simply, there were no longer switches listening for the 2600 hz tones of an operator.

Black Box:
When a black box (1.8k ohm resistor) was placed in series with the phone line, long distance calls could be made for free to the boxed phone. This was because the resistor raised the voltage across the line, keeping the voltage across the line high even after the receiver was lifed. Since there was no decrease inline voltage, the phone company had no way of knowing that the phone was picked up. Of course, since no one answered the phone, no one was billed. As with the blue box, this died with out of band signaling and ESS. When switching was moved away from voice communications, there were no switches monitoring the voice line to see if any one picked up the phone.
Now, the transition box, the one that everyone makes (because it still works), yet disappoints many.

Red Box:
Well, these still work, at least in Ameritechland, but their usefulness is rapidly dying out. Red boxes don't work at all on COCOTs, and are quickly becoming obsolete on standard Bell phones. Red boxes work by sending one, two, or five bursts of 1700 hz + 2200 hz signals to simulate the collection of nickels (one), dimes (two), and quarters(five). Under the Bell system of ACTS (Automated Coin Toll System), these1700 + 2200 hz tones are used to tell the switch that money has been deposited (that's right, kiddies...this is IN-BAND signaling. Too bad they don't use it for long distance switching...). COCOTs, unfortunately,aren't serviced by ACTS, because they are, after all, Customer Owned Coin Operated Telephones. As such, there are no tones to indicate the depositof change into the slot. On many Bell phones these days, the microphones are being muted so that ACTS cannot receive external signals. This can sometimes be negated by dropping a nickel into the slot and boxing the other thirty cents. If that doesn't work, you can always call the operator and try to box to them...although this probably won't work, either. Luckily, there are still a lot of vulnerable phones out there.
Of course, we can't forget this old fallback. No finesse to this one, but it is what most of us cut our teeth on.

Beige Box:
Another favorite, this is nothing more than a lineman's handset. Aphone with alligator clips. As such, it allows access to lines without actually being near a phone jack. These come on all sorts of flavors,with all sorts of modifications, from mute switches to automatic disconnects to flashing ringers. The modern phreak will rely heavily on this device for free calls, as it still works under in band switching. This method is, however, not of sophisticated sort. It requires no skill to build or use, and you end up screwing over the person whose line you use, not the phone company. Of course, if one were to use the line of an Ameritech office building...

And finally, we have the box that will never worked, the urban legend propagated by idiots and pranksters.

Blotto Box:
Every now and then, someone will ask about this little gem. A blotto box supposedly sent 220 vAC into the phone line, thus causing every phone to ring, leaving the phone company at your mercy. If you build one AND don't die, it will just blow a fuse. That IS why they are there, you know. In an area where a blotto box would work, a single lightning strike could take out an entire phone system, and THAT isn't going to happen anytime soon.