Cat5 wiring shared for network & phone?

Hi, I paid an electrician to wire cat 5 to 5 rooms in my new house. He was told that they were for My computers & they would all go to 1 room with a hub. He wired it, but didn't run phone lines to some rooms. He isn't coming back (it's a long story). Can I use 1 cat 5 cable for the computer network & a phone line? ie: Are any pairs on a cat 5 cable not used? Thanks,

Reply to
guitarbot
Loading thread data ...

You can, but I wouldn't recommend it. If he's "not coming back", you should take some time to check his work before they put the drywall up. CAT 5 requires special handling to maintain peak performance. It might be worth your while to get a data/communication or an alarm company out to run your phone lines and ensure the CAT 5 runs meet spec. In the latter instance they'll pre-wire your house for an alarm system too.

Frank Olson

formatting link

Reply to
Frank Olson

Yes and no. In standard 10Mbps the blue pair is unused, and can be used for phone. In 100Mbps probably not, in GigE no.

For HA a double run of cat 5 (or better) so lan and phone have their own. And a double co-ax (in and out).

-- If I had something to say, this is where I'd say it.

Reply to
John Hines

Yes, you can use one cable for phone and LAN. It's not considered optimal but it will function.

Reply to
Robert L Bass

Plug in an RJ45 splitter. Plug the computer into one jack and the phone into the other. Use the White/Blue pair for phone and the White/Orange & White/Green for Ethernet. It'll all work just fine.

Reply to
BruceR

*cough* 90 volts *cough*

Just sayin.

Regards,

Neil

Reply to
Neil J. Hubbard

Neil, The 90 volt ring voltage won't hurt a thing. The phone will work fine AND the data will work fine. I've done this many times where recabling wasn't practical and I've never had a problem. The practice is even permitted in the Ethernet spec. Keep in mind that the 90 volt ring current is very low. I've had ring voltage on my hands many times and it's uncomfortable but tolerable.

Reply to
BruceR

Yes you can use the same cable to supply data and voice.

The best you can get out of the data is 100meg as 1000 meg uses all 4 pairs.

You will use the centre pair as the voice and the 2nd and 3rd pair for data.

4th pair will remian unused.

How is it wired at the point and the other end.

If he has terminated the end in the room on one outlet then you will either have to turn it into a double point or invest in some cat 5 splitters.

At the remote end or Patch Panel or wiring closet you will require to do the same as the room end. You will have to split it into the device you intend to use it for.

At the Head end a better solution if it has not been terminated would be 110 or krone highband. If it is on a patch panel then it is going to be messy.

My suggestion is ask him to rectify the wiring as per your requirements, if it is not met them make a complaint to the Communications body.

Using Data and Voice on the same cable is not of real concern as the attenuation and NEXT and FEXT will not really come into it as the maximum speed you will be running is 100meg, also in a home the max distance would probably be around 40m unless you live in a mansion.

A cat 5 splitter is around about $10 baring in mind for every cable you will require 2 if it is done as a patch panel

A good product to work with where the re-cabling is not an issue is the AMP ACO outlet, it offers flexibilty and changes to the outlet via plug in adapters.

Hope that helps :)

Reply to
infin8

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.