Rewiring Your Home Phone System?

the_2nd_coming asks: "Back when I moved into my house, the phone system was in need of immediate upgrade. The house was built in 1964, and it still had the original spaghetti phone lines running through the walls. The phone jacks were in odd places, and to top it all off, the line would melt after I would dial up to my ISP. I took immediate and drastic action. I pulled all the phone wires out of the walls, patched over the holes where the jacks use to be, and started drilling. I bought 2000 feet of Cat5 (I was going to be putting in a home network in the future). A day later, I was cursing and bitching because the old phone system used a 3 screw junction box to connect the house to the phone company, making it very difficult to have multiple jacks.What is the best way to rewire my phone system so that adding an extra 2 or 3 jacks would not be such a chore?"

"I eventually got all the wires hooked up, but very poorly due to the shoddy junction box. Since then I have added a phone jack, and will be adding 2 more in preparation for DirecTV service. My problem is that I did not set up the system to be expandable: just adding one jack was a hack job, and with 2 more on the way I have decided it is time to rewire this system with expandability in mind. I have looked around at Home Depot and Radio Shack, but all their solutions seem sub-par."

Comments

Ask the phone co.

[balamw]

Note that those thee terminals belong to the phone co!

In my last house (built 1955) I had similar problems. The wiring was crumbling, and I was getting a lot of noise and cross-talk between my two lines and solved most of my problems just by calling my phone co. and having them come out and install a modern demarcation point with capacity for 8 lines and modular jacks on my side of the demarc for debugging. I replaced all the wiring with Cat5, just in case, and this helped enormously.

Note that my current house (built 2001) isn't much better. Yes it has a modern demarc, but the builder skimped on the internal wiring and it's still wired the old fashioned way with only one pair of wires going to each phone line daisy-chained to other outlets. The house was "prewired" with Cat5 and RG6 but was not designed for flexibility as some of the outlets are in the wrong place for me, or don't have all the right connections. (e.g. I wanted a second RG6 and phone line for my DirecTV Tivo, but have so far been unable to find a way to route the wires there.

My next house will have conduit in the walls

Balam

Re:Ask the phone co.

[Zathrus]

but have so far been unable to find a way to route the wires there.

Well, unless the contractor stapled the RG6 to studs you can just use the existing cable as a lead line to pull more through. You'll end up with some spare RG6 that way, but it's doable.

Odds are they did staple it though, at least if they put it in before drywalling. In that case you're pretty well screwed.

My next house will have conduit in the walls

Yeah, but unless you either supervise it or get one of the very rare builders with a clue it'll still be done wrong.

66 block

[lindsayt]

You'll probably want to use a 66 block. Just attach the top set to the junction box, and punch as many lines as you have space for (often 24, so up to 23 lines). You can also use various jack schemes to produce a "patch panel", or you can use an actual patch panel, but it's simplest and cleanest to use a 66 block (or a 110 block, depending on your needs, but probably a 66 block), especially if you plan on making the connections semi-permanent and don't expect to change them frequently.

Re:66 block

[Zathrus]

Mod up the parent.

My house was built in 1982. For whatever reason the original builder/buyer overlooked a couple of small things -- like phone jacks and cable (cable is somewhat understandable, but phone jacks?!?!). Every single phone jack was wired to a surface mount receptacle. The one in the kitchen was punched up through the pantry and through both sides of a wall to get to the kitchen.

I got a 110 block from my brother-in-law (if you're not so lucky, RadioShack, CompUSA, and Best Buy carry them. Best price will probably be from eBay though -- used ones work just fine), put it in a central location, ran the cable from the demarc to it (it wasn't long enough, but 3M has some cheap patch buttons for doing this kind of thing; work fine), and every place I put in phone jacks was run to the network closet (cable and cat5 are run there too). It's made adding more jacks easy, and I've gone from 3 poorly wired phone jacks to over a half dozen well wired ones (and I still need to add a couple, but drilling the holes is non-trivial for these locations).

Do yourself a favor -- everywhere you want to put in a phone jack run the cable for the phone, 1 or 2 coax (RG-6 Quad Shield only!), and 2 cat5 (for network) at the same time. The difficult bit is always running the cable. Get it all done at once - it's just as easy to pull 5 cables as it is to pull one. I used Leviton wallplates and connectors... they're a bit expensive, but work well. If you need to drill through wood, do yourself a favor and get an auger bit -- spade bits take forever, and if you're drilling through joists the cleanliness of the hole doesn't matter much (note -- US electrical code does not require low voltage cables to run through the joists; you can staple them to the bottom of the joist).

I do have my limits though. That wire is still punched up into the pantry and through two walls into the kitchen. It works.

Re:66 block

[Hardwyred]

I agree with the spirit of the post, but I would suggest a 110 block if you are going to go this route. 66 will leave you heartburn later on if you try to pump highspeed data through. What I did, and it is working great, is cat 5 everywhere. Phone into a 110 block and then the 110 block connecting into a patch panel. A second patch panel handles all the cat5 in the house, so if a port needs to be data, it goes into my switch. If a port needs to be voice, then it goes into the other patch panel.

Re:66 block

[angle_slam]

Yes, there is such a thing as a coax patch panel.

Here is a guide to wiring a house using structured wiring.

Re-wiring....

[ComputerSlicer23]

I'm not sure I understand the extent of your problem. I've rewire my home (built more recently then 1964). In the end, I just went to the local graybar, and pickeup a bunch of punch down blocks. I setup punch down block "A" that had 3 lines duplicated 8 times (wiring the second column to the first column in the row directly below it for 2-8). I then used metal clips to connect 2-3 columns on bunch down block "A". So now I could take wires from the 4th column on block "A", over to the first column on block "B".

On block "B", in the forth row, I punched down every jack in the house. I labelled every pair, and had a map of where they were in the house.

You then run patch cables from column 4 block "A", to column 1 block "B", and use the metal clips to complete the circut. Thus any time I wanted to change out wires, all it took was a small run of wire from block A to block B. The original wires from the phone company or to the jack, never had to be touched to manipulate the system. You want to get the wires from the phone company, and the wires from the jack so you, never ever touch them. It makes trouble shooting lots easier, and you'll never run out of cable.

I might have introduced some line noise due to the way I duplicated the lines on block A, but I don't use dialup, so that was never an issue.

Now, if you want to get really fancy, wire each cat 5 cable into a patch panel. Thus you can put phone, or ethernet to any jack in your home. Now you can skip block "B" (the patch panel acts like the punch down block). Now, use row 4 of punchdown block A, and take phone jacks straight to the patch panel. You'll have eight copies of each line to distribute around the house as you see fit. When you want to move a line, just change the port it's plugged into on the patch panel. Unless you do phone, and network, this is really overkill. Just running the punchdown blocks will work great.

I figure that if the phone company uses punch down blocks, they are good enough for me. The tools are kinda expensive ($50-80 for a punch down tool, and the heads you'll need to do it). The punchdown blocks themselves are dirt cheap, like $8 bucks a piece. The patch panels are pretty expensive.

Kirby

Connecting blocks and wiring tips

[linuxwrangler]

Most default 66 and 110 blocks are made for cross-connecting, not for distributing one line to many places. You need a phone connecting block like this. Home Depot used to sell something similar.

If you don't want to spend the $$ on a "real" 110 punchdown tool you can get a cheap (~$3) plastic one and cut the wires with diagonal cutters.

If you have a crawl-space you can use a trick an electrician friend showed me. Cut the bottom part off of a bunch of coathangers so you have a long straight piece of stiff wire. Find the studs on either side of the spot where you want to mount the jack then chuck a piece of the coathanger wire into a drill and drill right in the corner of your baseboard or just above the baseboard - whichever works well for you. When you go to the crawlspace you can find the wires sticking down and check to see if there are any obstructions to drilling then use the wire as a locator to drill up into the wall space. It's easy and you are far less likely to drill through a hardwood floor than if you tried measuring the locations.

Get a new box

[jek]

If all you have is an old-style connection on your house, call up your telco's repair line and request that they replace it with a new network access box. The new box will have a wonderland of easy-to-wire connection options for your extension needs.

I've done this a half dozen times (rentals, and now my own house) and they've always prompty replaced the equipment at no cost. Plus the linemen are usually quite friendly and if you show some interest and/or knowledge in phone wiring, they're usually delighted to give you free advice about setting up a your home runs and planning out your extensions. They might even slip you some equipment for the inside wiring.

Structured Wiring How-To

[pauljlucas]

This is a great resource for many kinds of in-home wiring.

Wiring

[KilobyteKnight]

As someone who has done a bunch of wiring for phones, alarm systems, and networks I can answer this question.

For phones CAT5 is fine, but CAT3 is cheaper and just as good. Run all the wires directly from the Telephone company's network interface box to the outlet. Don't splice into them if it can be avoided.

CAT5 has 8 wires (4 pairs). The Blue pair is usually line 1, the orange pair line 2.

The phone company will install a new network interface box if you order more phone lines (at least BellSouth will). The new boxes have nice little gadgets on them that require no tools to crimp a wire pair into place. Just slip in the wire pairs and close it with your thumb.

The only difficult part is getting the wire down the walls. Inside walls are usually not insulated and therefore easier to work with. Drill a hole in the top-plate above the area you want to install the jack. Feed the wire down the wall. Have someone downstairs listening to make sure the wire made it all the way down the wall before cutting a hole for the jack. Sometimes there are 2x4 braces which block the wire from going all the way down.

You could do like the phone company generally does and use thin 4 conductor wire and staple it along the base boards, but it looks shoddy and CAT5 would look horrible.

You could probably also go to a mom-and-pop alarm installation company and ask one of the installers what he'd charge you to run the wire as a side job. You could probably get it done for $150.

First mistake

[n9hmg]

You already ripped out the old cables. Did you do that just because you like using the phrase "fish tape"? Even if they were routed the old standard way - daisy-chained from jack to jack, if they could be pulled out, they were still useful.
Really, the daisy chain is the telephonically-correct way to wire. If you do a star topology, like they did in my house, it's a big impedence mismatch. Of course, the fact that it's ok to have multiple unknown ringer equivalencies on the line means there's some leeway.

Anyway, run the CatV or whatever from where you have signal to where you want it. Terminate it where you want it, and connect the other end to the signal source. Then, plug in the equipment you want on the phone system (at the aforementioned terminations). Note: There are several types of wall terminations. The only one's I've seen are screw terminal and insulation-piercing quick-installs. For POTS, the screws are better. If you're putting RJ45s all around, so each jack might be phone or ethernet, the quick-installs are actually a bit better for a while (the drier you climate, the longer that is). Note: You can use one CatV to carry ethernet AND up to two POTS signals. The blue and Brown pairs are dead in standard wiring, so you might as well split them out and make them available for other purposes. I wouldn't recommend it for 1000bT (in some implementations, all 4 pairs are used anyway), but for a home 10 or 100 network, it's just good economic sense. Radio Shack carries a dual-jack outlet - RJ45 & RJ-11 (though an RJ-11 plug will work just fine in an RJ-45 jack). Of course, if you're doing the whole house, you're probably buying from a real supplier(it took me 2 trips a week apart to get two of those wall-plates).

Re:First mistake

[Cutriss]

Radio Shack carries a dual-jack outlet - RJ45 & RJ-11 (though an RJ-11 plug will work just fine in an RJ-45 jack).

Yeah, if you want that jack to never work as an RJ-45 jack again. The plastic ends on an RJ-11 plug will damage the outermost pair of contacts on an RJ-45 jack by bending them so that they won't make contact on an RJ-45 plug anymore.

Not to mention that it's just more user-intuitive and safer to have things wired properly to begin with. The last thing you want to do is accidentally plug your Ethernet cable into a phone jack, and take a high line voltage to your network card.

Wiring and crap

[FIRESTORM_v1]

THe best way is to make a central 'phone closet'. Run a 6pr cable from the demarc to this closet This will give you a maximum of 6 incoming lines before you have to run more. Punch that down to one 66 block. Run new cables from each jack to the phone closet and puch them down to another block. Use splice wire to go between the two blocks using the non-cutting side of the punch tool to create loops.

Wiring Code:

for 66 blocks

(primary in bold)

Pr 1:White Blue | Blue White

Pr 2:White Orange | Orange white

Pr 3:White Green | Green White

Pr 4:White Brown | Brown White

Pr 5:White Slate | Slate White

Pr 6:Red Blue | Blue Red

for 'biscuit' jacks and wall plates

Wire from Cable | Wire on Jack
White/Blue | Green
Blue/White | Red
White/Orange | Black
Orange/White | Yellow
White/Green | White
Green/White | Blue

When it comes to wiring the jacks, only the green/red wires are really necessary. These wires carry the dialtone that everything uses. The Black/Yellow wires are for a seccond line, or data as in the case of a phone system. You will fid black/yellow hooked up more commonly on houses with two lines. This is how they make two line phones that have only one cord. Just as a suggestion, wire them all up as if you were putting two phone lines everywhere. This will make it easier if you decide to go to a phone system with extensions, etc. (Psst.. if you do go to a phone system, get an Avaya/Lucent/whatever their name is Phone system called the Partner system. It's one of a rare few that you can connect a home type telephone/cordless/modem up to and use without additional hardware. You can get them for good prices on Ebay.)

Hope this helps

The sneaky way...

[chrisd]

Call the phone company, order enough lines so that you have three in your house, most states have a limit on how much the phone company can charge you to install lines, so you'll hit the limit fast, but when they get to your house, you'll need a new demarc to handle the incoming lines, so....poof they'll rewire you to the nearest pole and you'll have modern wiring from there to a modern demarc in your house, and everyone will be happy and you'll only pay 120$ or whatever your state limit is. Then cancel the extra lines. You'll get a clean starting point that way and from a lightning perspective you'll likely be safer.

If you don't want to do the wiring yourself, just ask the phone guys for a reccomendation of a guy to do it off hours...they'll say "Oh, we can't reccomend someone...", then you say, I was hoping one of your retired buddies could come ou t and make a few bucks...and so forth. Or one of them will pull you aside to tell you to either screw off or to set up a time on the weekend to come out.

For the house, run cat5 to a few places, wireless the rest and save a bit of time, money and elbox grease. It sounds like you did the right thing by ripping out the old wiring, we had the same problems on some old lines in our place (built in 1936) and a modern demarc will allow you to hook up a ton of lines, you can go the 110 route if you like, but it seems sort of a hassle.

Chris

Good Resource

[mainfr4me]

Good place to find some stuff like that is blackbox.com. They have a lot of pretty decent diagrams and layouts and such, and even some stuff on how to do the proper wiring.

When I've done this type of thing, CAT5 is the way to go, and make sure to use the same color code (placement of the wires when putting together the jacks and blocks), otherwise you could have some fun on your hands. The most common today that I have seen is the standard 568-B. You'll notice it most easily when you are wiring jacks and they have the color code on the sides most of the time, and they will say in fine print which one is which.

Also, for running new cable to locations, what I have found also sometimes (not always) works is when removing the old cable, tie to the end the new cable and a pull string (usually a nylon type string) so that if ever in the future, you can pull more or new cable much easier.