Needing some help

Running the cables is easy compared to wiring the jacks when it isn't you day job.

Here's something that will simplify your voice wiring at the home run locations. Especially if you're inexperienced.

But ranting about costs of skilled labor isn't very productive to getting answers here. I do my own wiring. I'm not a "pro". I even do some very small office work. But I don't disparage the pros. And I call them in when I want 100 pair terminations on a wall re-arranged.

I'll find my diagram for a job I did for a customer with the same set up as you have. I'll post the link later this evening.

I appreciate the replies. I'm not putting down any pros for what they do. i actually do fiber work for a living and I understand what you are saying. I just feel that with a little research and some advice from those who have done this, i would be able to take care of this without the added cost. it would make me feel good to know i can do it anyways, and maybe help others inthe future.

anyways, like i said before, i have all the cables run and i have installed the jacks as well. i am just trying to get some input on my configuration. the link you sent was great. the $40 block looks simple to install and the use of use is exactly what im looking for.

my coax configuration seems to be fine, as well as my data network :)

i am just a little confused on my phone network. do i terminate the cat

3 cable coming from the voip router to the block? to go from cat 3 to cat 5e is just a mind boggler to me. this part is just confusing the heck out me!!

thanks again.

It appears the confusion is a simple mixing different terminologies. But that all right, its easy to explain.

CAT3 and CAT5 simply describe the bandwidth capacity of the cables, jacks, plugs, and blocks. 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps respectively. You can terminate either on a four pin jack or eight pin jack (even though you won't find a four pin plugs CAT5 rated, there's nothing to prevent it from handling 100 Mbps, but a non-CAT5 jack might not have the necessary internal wiring for a CAT5 rating, i.e. an RJ11 biscuit block).

Jacks and plugs are described by pinout and by usage. A four-conductor jack/plug when used for a telephone line (usage) would be called an RJ11 or RJ14 and rated for CAT3, and an eight-conductor jack/plug when used in teleco usage would be an RJ45, but we don't call it an RJ45 as the pinout s not T586A/B compatible, nevertheless it can be rated CAT3 or CAT5.

So on to your VoIP router. It has an JR11/14 jack that is defined with the center pins for line one and possibly the two outside pins for line two. Its what you are referring to as a CAT3 jack.

Best way is to make your own patch cord with a four pin jack on one end using solid conductor cable. The jack MUST be made for solid conductors. Most jacks you find have two in-line pins and are only good for stranded (silver satin) cable, but Home Depot has them with the three pins where the center is offset for solid cable. Simply punch down the other end on the white/blue pair of the CAT5 cable going into the rooms.

If you can't find the proper jacks, you can strip back a silver satin cord and splice some solid conductor pairs, its not a critical connection.

Now..if your VoIP router supports two phone lines on the same jack (it would be called an RJ14 then), you want to splice the outside pair to the "next to inside" pairs on your house patch panel (orange pair if you used the T568A scheme or green pair for the T568B).