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[tombell]

I am putting in some new sockets etc in my house and have heard suggested that I use cat5e cable instead of the cheap BT style cable you get in extension kits. My question is, cat5e cable has 4 twisted pairs of wires, 8, whereas I only need 4 wires. Which of the 8 wires should I use, and what should I do with the unused wires.

My master socket is the type with the removeable bottom half with user sockets, which means the wire can come straight from there. I intend to take a wire from there, which will then go into a  junction box to send phone/adsl to the front of the house, and also to the back.

I apologise if this has already been answered, I had a look through the forum posts and there was a lot of stuff but I didn't find the answer I was looking for.


Apologies if this is in the wrong place.. I just spent 5 minutes trying to find an option to actually make a new post  


thanks to admin for moving this for me 

[BritBrat]

I am no expert on this so double check what I say before using the information.

Why do you need four wires?

You only need two wires for a BT phone line (2 and 5) and you can use any colour you like so long as you keep to the same throughout.
There is no need to use (3) Ring wire these days with modern phones but if you have a phone that does not ring ty using a microfilter with it as it contains the ring function.

Having said that I believe W/B (White/Blue) and B/W (Blue/White) are the comon ones used with Cat5 cable.
http://www.adslnation.com/support/extensions.php

I am sure the experts will be along after this post.

[HPsauce]

Whilst I agree with BritBrat I'd question the whole idea of using Cat5e unless you are going to do something much more ambitious.

If what you want is phone wiring (and many don't with modern cordless DECT handsets) then just use "proper" phone cable (CW1308?) and only connect 2 cores (usually the blue/white and white/blue ones) to 2 and 5.

If on the other hand you want "real" structured cabling then yes, use Cat5e but use the right RJ45 sockets, take it all back to a central patch panel in a service area, run multiple cable in parallel, etc. etc. This obviously gives flexibility for use with computer networks etc.

[waltergmw]

Hi TomBell,

BritBrat is absolutely correct but only implied each telephone wire must be a twisted pair so you just select the colour you like.
I believe the convention is that the No. 2 colour is usually the white one and the No. 5 wire the coloured one.

It's better if you can keep the modem as close as possible to the master socket.
If you're intending to use wireless then perhaps you could run a mains cable for the power supply close to the master socket.
You could also run Ethernet cables from the modem to the computer(s) or use home plugs as other methods.

If you must have the modem elsewhere I would try to run a single cable direct to the extension socket for it and a different cable direct to any other required sockets.
That solution would allow you to change the bottom front of the faceplate to one such as this:-

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php

so a filtered supply is routed directly to the modem socket.

EDIT:- So now you've got several opinions to choose from ! I have had to go to extremes on some of the horrible long lines I've helped with. If you are reasonably close to the exchange it's far less critical.

Kind regards,
Walter

[tombell]

At present, the master socket is near the front door. There is approximately 25 meters of standard cable ( cheapo extension kit ) running to the back of the house where the computer and wireless  n modem is plugged in, and another house phone.  Speed wasn't a major issue before, but after my 1yr old vandalised the molded end of the cheapo extension cable, I decided I might as well put in a better ( and more child safe ) option. The master socket is on a wall behind the main opening front door, meaning it is not appropriate to plug a modem there, from the same socket ( via a doubling part of the extension kit ) a lead runs to the other side of the hallway to support a hall phone.

My plan is to have a cable direct into the user port of the master socket, running up to the ceiling, and into a junction box, with one direction going approximately 2 mtrs to where the current phone is, and install the modem there, connecting wirelessly to my PC at the back of the house and hopefully a better signal due to much less cable, and the other direction going to the phone at the rear of the house. but still leaving me an option if the wireless signal is poor in my house, to plug the modem back in at the back of the house.

As far as the cable is concerned, I guess I could just pick a wire to choose, ( whether I decide to use 2 or 4 of them ) but really wanted to know if the 2 wires I choose for 2+5 should be one of the twisted pairs, or 1 each from 2 pairs, or if it makes any difference. Also, what to do with the unsused wires, should they just be cut off ?

[HPsauce]

standard cable ( cheapo extension kit )

But which is it......
Standard phone cable (CW1308) uses twisted pairs and is fine.
Cheapo extension kits usually use flat cable which it TERRIBLE for broadband.

That said, here's what I'd do:
1. Fit a filtered faceplate at the master socket, these have filtered and unfiltered connectors on the back.
2. Run 2 totally separate (CW1308) cables from that to where they are needed:
 a) Unfiltered to a filtered extension socket with RJ11 and phone outlets, for the router mainly.
 b) Filtered to a normal phone socket

See for example:
http://www.adslnation.com/products/xte2005.php
https://secure.adslnation.com/products/xtf.php
http://www.adslnation.com/phpapps/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=96

[BritBrat]

Hey HP,

Could I run a none filtered line from a XTE-2005 to a XTF pre-filtered socket?

Would that work or would it affect the ADSL side when a phone was connected to the XTF.

[tombell]

cheapo = flat, crap phone cable.

cat5 cable already purchased, so not going to go and buy 1308 cable as well, I appreciate your advice of what you'd do, but I'm not going to run two cables to the back of my house so I can have one filtered and one unfiltered, so as the master socket isn't going to be actually used I don't need to update the faceplate.

I really just need advice on which wires in the cat5 cable I should use, whether it makes a difference etc. and what should be done with the unused wires

[BritBrat]

HP was only trying to help,

Myself I always like more knowledge than I need then I can see the bigger picture and make the right choice for me.

Anyway if you are running Cat5 cable you dont need to run two cables you could run a phone and a ADSL line down the same single Cat5 cable using another pair.

If you used a XTE-2005 one pair could be filtered and the other not and just used for the router.

[tombell]

I know hp was trying to help, I don't have a need for a filtered line as I need phone and adsl to both front and back of the house ( as previously stated, at the front, but also at the back in case modem needs to be moved at a later date due to wireless interferrance )

I really just wanted answers to the questions I originally asked rather than extra useful information.

Which of the 8 wires should I use, as they are twisted in pairs, should I untwist the end of one of the pairs or use one wire each from different pairs.

[BritBrat]

I have already told you you can use any pair but normally people use the blue.

Just connect the blue wires to terminals 2 and 5 at the main BT NTE box run the cable to where you want the outlet and using the same colour you used in 2 in 2 at the other end and the same for 5.  Keep the twist as much as you can right up tight to the connection and as for the other six wires just leave them tidy and tied out of the way. i.e. dont cut them off short as you never know you may need to use a spare pair one day.

[tombell]

thank you

[HPsauce]

Could I run a none filtered line from a XTE-2005 to a XTF pre-filtered socket?

That's one of the reasons the unfiltered take-off is there, of course you can.

[HPsauce]

as they are twisted in pairs, should I untwist the end of one of the pairs or use one wire each from different pairs.

Always use a pair that are twisted together, NEVER the latter. The twisting cancels out external interference.

If in doubt cut off a short length and take it apart to verify the pairing.

Note that, whatever you do, you DON'T want a branching/forked setup (e.g. via a junction box) with ADSL signals on both branches.
That's why I recommended what I did, and I stick by it. The Cat5e solution using 2 pairs is equivalent but only 1 should have ADSL.