I'm having a new home built, and the issue of wiring came up.
I envisioned any room where I might possibly want a TV or computer or phone, and ordered an appropriate outlet. I am planning coax for TV, and Cat 5 for phone/computer. I understand that phone uses the 2 middle pins, and Ethernet uses 4 of the 6 remaining pins, so they can share an outlet.
My questions are:
- How do I split the wires at a wall outlet if I want to use a phone and computer at the same point?
- How should I terminate things in the utility closet? I suppose I'll want a patch panel of some sorts that will split out the telephone pair and present a field of 8P8C (commonly but mistakenly called R-45) jacks I can wire to a router. Is such a thing made? If so, what should I ask for? Can you recommend a specific product?
- Assuming i have all the analog phone pairs separated from the data pairs, what is the best way to connect them to my incoming telephone line? Is there some sort of punch-down block for this purpose?
- If I ask the electrician to just leave the wires dangle unterminated in the utility closet, can you recommend a good line of tools and supplies to terminate them myself?
- Do you have any advice on points I haven't thought to ask about?
Many thanks for your help.