CAT 5 cables

Cabling-Design.com FREE cabling and networking Helpdesk

	Question by p solomou posted 24 Nov 2005
	CAT 5 cables
Our new house is configured as follows. BT telephone line is in our basement (house has 4 floors). From the BT line there are two CAT5 runs going to a central location in the house. From this central location there there is a star system of two cat5 runs going to each room. The idea is to use each of these CAT5 runs for telephone and internet. I have been talking to internet providers about getting broadband but before committing to a 12 month contract I would like to ensure that it would work in the house. I am being told that we should have installed RJ11 cable and not CAT5 to connect to and from a DSL modem and router. What sort of hardware would we need?
	Answer by Joseph Golan posted 26 Nov 2005
Dear p, First, there is no such thing as RJ-11 cable. RJ-11 is a USOC Jack specification for a single line of telephone service. Most DSL units use an RJ-11 (6 pin modular Jack) for the input signal, and others use an 8 pin version. Your Cat 5 cabling should have been terminated on 8 pin modular jacks to either a T568A or T568B wiring configuration. It ends up that the 1 line of an RJ-11 aligns with the first pair of either wiring configuration so using an RJ-11 to RJ-11 patch cord (which should come with the router) should be fine. Also some DSL Routers include 4 ports of Ethernet as an output and also a wireless option. In addition to the DSL Router, you will need additional Ethernet hubs/switches for the number of ports (stations) you wish to be active. I'm not sure what is available in the UK (I am in the USA) for home systems but here is a link to a residential system catalog www.levitonvoicedata.com/catalog/CatalogGroup.aspx?CatalogSection=H Sincerely, Joseph Golan, RCDD
Click here to see the expert's profile

Back to the current page of questions | Back to all the questions

Back to Cabling-Design.com HELPDESK | Ask your question