Ethernet over phone wires?

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#409318 25-Nov-2010 09:21

As most phone sockets etc are unsuited to RF then attempting to use those sockets for ethernet with suitable adaptors is silly. If the cable is up to the job then you will need to replace the sockets anyway.

Exactly what cable do you have in the house, if its newer two pair cat3 phone cabling which was commonly used over the last 10 or so years then its quite possible that it will do 100Mb/s fast ethernet. If its the thinner 3pair stuff then lucky if you get anything above 3-5Mb/s, ie badly working 10Mb/s ethernet.

Most of the white two pair stuff is actually constructed of cat5e pairs, its just there are only two pairs, this stuff will happilly do FastEthernet.

Maybe a pic of the cable in question is needed.

Cyril

timmmay

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#409338 25-Nov-2010 09:53

Thanks Cyril. The phone wires are in the wall, which makes them a bit hard to take photos of. Everything in my house is old. I'm probably better off putting in another cable, even though it's more difficult and more expensive. Maybe I can work out how to do it myself, putting the panels in the wall, as paying an electrician would be pretty expensive.

cyril7

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#409353 25-Nov-2010 10:37

Hi, Just need to see what cable construction is by pulling a phone point off the wall and looking at the end of the cable.

Cyril

timmmay

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#409366 25-Nov-2010 11:04

Ok will do tonight :)

boby55

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#409379 25-Nov-2010 11:27

IMO, The best for you is most likely get a Electrician in, rewire with cat5e and at the same time run your phone down the same wire, Future proofing both

timmmay

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#409387 25-Nov-2010 11:45

Can you run regular phones and a gigabit network over the same cable at the same time? Or would you just run two cables?

coffeebaron

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#409391 25-Nov-2010 11:53

What area are you from? I do this kind of stuff, and cover Auckland West and Waikato areas etc.
Send me a PM if you you would like help.

Fraser

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timmmay

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#409436 25-Nov-2010 13:02

Thanks Fraser, but i'm in Wellington.

kyhwana2

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#409459 25-Nov-2010 13:52

timmmay: Can you run regular phones and a gigabit network over the same cable at the same time? Or would you just run two cables?

You need all four pairs in a cable to run gigabit, so you'd need two cables.

cyril7

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#409608 25-Nov-2010 19:37

timmmay I am also in Welly and do this kind of work, give me a PM if you want a quote to sort your cabling either by current cabling or pulling fresh cat5e or cat6 through.

Cheers
Cyril

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#409627 25-Nov-2010 20:40

Thanks Cyril. I have four core phone wire, probably done by someone who didn't really know what they were doing judging from how it's set up. I went under the house and it'd actually be pretty easy to install ethernet cables, i'll PM you about it.

Laurence

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#409645 25-Nov-2010 21:27

What i would do is go to your local pbtech (or wellington version of that), spend $30 on a good cable (if you don't have one already). Cut the end off one end and then run it so that it comes out the existing holes in the wall. Then find a local sparky to put a couple of face plates on the cable for you (should be fairly cheap). If you cut the end off then you should be able to use the existing phone cables to put up the new one.

timmmay

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#409651 25-Nov-2010 21:42

Good idea Laurence. Wouldn't I have to cut both ends off though? It sounds like Cyril could do something like that for me.

I'll probably run cable to two or three places, just to future proof things. I guess that means putting a switch into one place and making it a junction, or running multiple wires from my office router. It's probably neater to run one big wire and put a switch in the living area.

Laurence

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#409654 25-Nov-2010 21:50

Yes you will have to cut off both ends if you want face plates. And if you are getting someone in to do one then they should be able to do 5-6 in the same 30min or so. Running the cable is 80% of the work.

If you really want to do it right, pick a central point and run a couple of cables from each place you what a jack point to there. (that way you can run GBit and a phone to each place, or two GBits without a switch on the end).

You might find if you've got a sparky who is good they will loan you a drum of cable and just charge you for what you use. (we have done that before) or you can just buy a 300m (or 100m) for about 50c-60c a meter and cut it to fit. But that is starting to be a full home rewire.

timmmay

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#409664 25-Nov-2010 22:15

Yeah cables and drilling is the hard part, I may leave that to someone who's more experienced and is less likely to stuff it up.

I'll probably only put one port in the hallway (for voip phone) and one or two in the lounge. If I need more I can always run a switch, but i'd rather run less electronics rather than more. Plus in my office having a bunch of cables leading from my router into the wall would be quite ugly, just given how it's set up.

If i'd though it bit harder when I had Telstra Clear install the cable I could've had them wire the main internet connection to a junction box somewhere and run ethernet to the office. I didn't know then that i'd want a voip phone, wireless, a networked TV and PS3, etc, etc.

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