Reccomendations for hardward for central punchdown

Depending on the tools you have available, you may want to go with a

110-type blocks for both voice and data, 110 for voice and modular patch panel for data or patch panel for both voice and data.

The considerations are: 110 block has all four pairs of the cable available for individual patching/cross-connecting. That is, if you want to split a cable between two devices that use up to four pairs combined, you can accommodate for that on a 110 block. This is not a standard-recommended setup, but can possibly be done. The drawback: you need to use a punch-down tool or rather expensive 110-to-RJ45 cords every time you change the connections. You may also need a crimping tool if you want to make your own RJ45-to-110

OTOH a patch panel does not require any tooling to change a cord from one port to another, and RJ45-RJ45 cords are dirt cheap these days (quality aside for the argument's sake). The drawback: you have to connect all pairs at once (as recommended by the standard, anyways). If your application uses only one pair (analog phone line is a classical example), then the other three will be wasted. The patch panels also tend to be (much) more expensive than 110 block for a similar amount of cables connected.

on a side note: you may want to bring this question to attention of folks in comp.dcom.cabling where this kind of cabling-related question would get more focused attention. We keep this newsgroup archived here:

110 block does not lend itself to repeated use. You generally want to punch down the wires ONCE and leave them that way. If you forsee need to change the wiring configuration then 110 may not be the right choice. 66 block is a bit more durable and offers more flexible bridging options. As in, bring the pairs to a set of binding posts and then use the three adjacent posts to feed to other connections (briding the middle with a clip). 66 block can be punched and repunched a lot more times than 110. Fixing a 66 block post is usually a simple matter of just pinching the clip back together with needlenose pliers. 110 doesn't usually let you get at the clip itself. This is important in that if you screw up a post on a 66 block you can fix it. On 110 you end up having to replace the whole assembly (and then run the risk of damaging the other wires!)

Also consider that connections can be 'wired through' a punch down post. This is a handy way to put analog POTS signals to more than one set of binding posts but it generally WILL NOT work for data connection (certainly NOT with ethernet). Remember, NONE of the punch-down style posts are desiged to allow more than one wire to be punched into the clip. Laying the line into clip and onward to other clips is a way to work around this.

Using patch panels is a way to allow for changing setups without running the risk of damaging the punch down posts or the connecting wires. When you've got wire coming out the wall you really don't want to EVER be moving it around manually lest it break or cause others in the bundle to break. The expense of replacing wires is almost ALWAYS far greater than some sort of punch down and/or patch panel arrangement.

I go with 66 block whenever possible. The cost of the punchdown tool and the time to use it properly is usually a lot less than the cost of patch panels for stuff like telephones.

Network connections are generally always RJ45 these days. There are *some* vendors than support running a connection directly from a 66 block to the network hardware. But these are generally backplane sort of setups and are often MUCH to expensive for residential use. I mean, you could put a Cisco Catalyst rack in your house but the money might be better spent elsewhere!

So what you could do is a hybrid sort of setup. Pull the CAT5 from the rooms to 66 blocks. Make sure the block is CAT5 or CAT6 rated. Then punch down wires from the data posts over to an RJ45 patch panel. Then plug an RJ45 cable from the patch panel to the networking hardware. This way you wire is securely and permanently attached to a durable and reusable fixture (the 66 block). It allows easy rearranging, looping, bridging or whatever needs might arise in the future without putting the in-wall wire and it's ends at risk. Running shared POTS lines is as simple as looping a single pair through the various binding posts and punching them down without cutting. And if you need to tie in more later you can bridge to the other side of the block and run more from there (if that side's not being used of course). But even then you can just loop some line out from there to another set of unused posts. Sometimes it's handy to just mount a 66 block that does nothing but act as a distribution point.

I generally find any cost savings that might have come from 110 block are lost pretty quickly when changes to the setup are needed. I go with 66 block from the start.

-Bill Kearney