Making use of old copper wiring in-house

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Making use of old copper wiring in-house - a silly idea?

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#1480498 28-Jan-2016 10:07

You've got it.

Could use this to mount the RJ45 socket http://www.jaycar.co.nz/Sight-%26-Sound---Home/Home-Theatre-Hardware/Other-Home-Theatre-Hardware/Keystone-Wall-Plate-Single-White/p/YN8050

And a punch down tool http://www.jaycar.co.nz/Tools-%26-Soldering/Hand-Tools/Crimpers/Cat-5-Punch-Down-Tool-Stripper---Low-Cost/p/TH1738

Looks like there are 6 cores in your cable. You only need four. Identify which ones are pairs (they will be twisted together in the cable). Red and white will be one pair. Punch one pair onto terminals 1&2 on the RJ45 socket and the other pair into terminals 3&6. Repeat at the other end. Done

Lizard1977

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#1480527 28-Jan-2016 10:42

Looking at another photo I took, I think I can make out six colours - white, red, black, blue, orange, and green. I'll have a look when I get home to see how obvious the pairings are. Does it matter which pair goes into which set of terminals (provided it's the same at both ends)?

nickb800

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#1480535 28-Jan-2016 10:52

I think standard pairing is red/white blue/green black/orange but someone else here will know.

Doesn't matter which pair - e.g. 1&2 could be red/white, blue/green or black/orange - as long as the same at each end

richms

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#1480538 28-Jan-2016 10:57

Im not certain if that old cable is actually paired or not

Richard rich.ms

Lizard1977

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#1480569 28-Jan-2016 11:37

If it isn't paired, does that pose a problem? Also, is there any risk to the router and AP if the pairs/wires are wrong, or will it just not work?

MikeAqua

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#1480570 28-Jan-2016 11:38

Apologies for tagging on. But if this work with two pair cable. will it work for Cat-5 cable? The phone system in my house is all wired up with Cat-5. Only one line is actually used for a physical connection to a phone. The wiring (6 years old ) is daisy chained does that matter.

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Bung

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#1480571 28-Jan-2016 11:38

The pairing if any had a very lazy twist. The 0.5mm 2 pair cable introduced late 80s used Cat5 pairs from the Data cable.

richms

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#1480586 28-Jan-2016 12:11

Worst case with mis paired cables is that theybwll show link but not pass data at all. I used 4 meters of 4 separate pieces of hookup wire once between 2 jacks and it worked for 100 meg. No idea of error rates etc but data flowed.

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#1481187 29-Jan-2016 12:50

Had a quick look last night and there's no obvious pairing to the wires, so I'll just make sure they're wired up the same at each end. To confirm, it's pins 1 and 3 and 2 and 6 that need to be wired up?

Also, do I need to do anything about the third jack in the house (in our bedroom)? I don't need a wired connection there, but will it be okay to leave it unmodified?

chevrolux

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#1481247 29-Jan-2016 14:34

That is an old six-way cable. The pairs are white/red, orange/black, blue/green.

You might be able to get a stable 100Mb using orange/black & green/blue but there is bugger all twist in these old six-ways so if it is running close to any heavy power cables are just simply a bit worse for years after being there for 30 years so would be very much trial and error.

VDSL Bridge is a good option but you will spend around $400 on the kit. For this you simply need a single good pair for the VDSL bearer and you will get a stable 100Mb connection (depending on the profile employed by the bridge units).

If you can get under the floor in the ceiling then ultimately a proper cat 6 cable is the best option. We got in to a new place just before Chirstmas and over the New Year break I got stuck in to cabling. No underfloor for me so just chose carefully where I wanted wiring and cut a square of GIB out at each dwang to get the cables dow from the roof. Glue GIB back in, plaster, paint, good as new.

In Palmy too btw but barely ever at home anymore so could come and offer guidance but the work would be up to you.

Lizard1977

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#1481250 29-Jan-2016 14:44

Thanks for that. Cat6 would be my preferred option too, and it may still come to that. However, if I can make this option work then it would be a good short-term stopgap. I don't really need uber-fast speeds, just stable and consistent reception.

I've been reluctant to run cable as not all of the house is accessible underfloor, and it seems like it might end up being quite expensive. The roof option might be worth a look- if re-purposing the old copper system doesn't work, then it's probably the best option.

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Lizard1977

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#1481378 29-Jan-2016 17:35

Bad news. The jack in the lounge (which took an age to get off the wall because the guy who installed it didn't leave any slack in the cable) has a different cable to the kitchen, and only has four wires. It looks like they are black yellow white and brown, which doesn't match the other room at all. Any ideas or is the whole idea screwed?

elpenguino

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#1481381 29-Jan-2016 17:42

If you have more than 2 wires at each end you can perform a series of loop resistance checks to identify which wire at one end is linked to what colour at the other end. You can do this from room to room to identify the looping arrangement also.

Good luck !!

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nickb800

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#1481402 29-Jan-2016 18:06

What's the color of the outer layer on that four core cable? It isn't black is it?

Lizard1977

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#1481435 29-Jan-2016 19:15

Yep, black

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