Posted: 7/8/2006 8:00:25 AM EDT
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I'm running a structured wiring setup in my new house and have a question about the CAT5e cable. Can I run both my data line and phone line off of one CAT5e cable? If so, what color pairs do I use for each? Thanks, Kris |
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Ethernet and POTS phone on same Cat5e Short answer, Yes but read further. |
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Even if you could do it, when you want to get real bandwidth you you will be banging your head against the wall. If I were you, I wouldn't focus on even putting in two or three cat 5e's plus coax or even low voltage and speaker wire, which really is the minimum you should place. You should focus on putting in conduit or other suitable path for your cabling so that when you need to change or upgrade your capabilities it is a simple matter to pull in anything you want. Once your walls are closed, you are committed. If you are trying to go cheap now it is not a question you will regret it later. |
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Yes you can, if its 4 pair or 8 conductor you've got it made. I'd use Blue/White for your dial tone, save Orange/White for a second number and use Green/White Brown/White for data. I'd also make the shortest run possible, and run into a Wireless router. Same with fones, use a cordless, with the 3 remote handsets to place them around the house. |
A big +1. I construct in-building radio systems for a living. The above statement is the truth. |
| I just did the same thing with cat6 cable. Multiple runs to each room in a star format with the network box in the center of the house. I used Pass Seymour Network stuff. I also did the same with RG6 quad shield solid copper core cable. Pay for it now so you wont be kicking yourself in the ass later for using cat5e and Dual shield RG58. I plan on being able to swap the cat6 lines to either phone use or network use by changing them out at the network center. Also where your home entertainment center is add a few more so you can have the DVD or VCR distribute thru the rest of the house via a video module. The networking cable can also be used for intercom or even a camera that gets it power provides video and even audio on the same line. As time passes I'm sure that there will be even more uses for the cat6 cable. I'd put in cat7 but last I heard they still haven't figured out a standard for it. CAT7 is supposed to be shielded twisted pair with all 8 wires having their own shield. It will increase the transmission rates alot by cutting down on interference but I imagine that it will be a real bitch to work on. 8 wire with 9 shields. = no fun |
Definitely get the builder to put in conduit. Cat5e or even Cat6 is affordable when you buy in bulk. I am considering doing the same when I get a townhome next year. Also, locate a communications closet centrally in the house and run all the conduit to there. If you may ever want to throw in fiber down the road, you can go ahead and buy multimode by the roll and just leave them in the wall boxes unterminated and terminate when you're ready and have the extra cash. You can never have too much bandwidth. |
| You CAN but you dont really want to. its problematic at best. you will limit bandwith etc as those above have said. run separate cables for phone and network you wont regret it. I personally dont like running network cables (cat 5, 5e,6) for vioce/analog services just becuase modems (not like there are too many of those anymore but..) and other devices had problems with interference when run over cat 5. I have heard a couple of reasons for this and am not sure if any of them are valid or not but I have seen it demonstrated. run separate cables if at all possible. |
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Lots of wisdom in the replies with a consensus of run EXTRA and if you really care run a conduit drop from someplace else ACCESSABLE like unfinished basement, crawl space or attic. Make conduit empty pipes between these accessable spots like from basement to attic. You will never get stuck on an upgrade. Ask me how I know.. Labor is much less than parts so run those cat6E's to all lan spots and what the hell, if you bought a cheap 1000 feet at "home depot" run a cat6E for the phones too. It's way cheaper than buying telephone wire also. I like a quality quad shield cable double run to each room with Good RG-6. RG-6 simply refers to the diameter of the cablecomponents and not the characteristics. Call Belden Cable for more information or Google. Buy the best wide electronic specrtum supershieded cable I could afford. At worst $100/thousand. Plenty for lots of doubleruns unless you have a palace |
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When we did my dads house we ran 3 cat 5's to each outlet. One for voice and two for data. We terminated them all on the patch panel though. You could easily use one cable for voice/data, but there is no point. Your computer will probably not need the bandwidth provided by all 4 pairs on a 100baseT netwoork, and even if it does your ISP probably won't be supplying that much. Do leave service loops on your runs in the event you have issues with a cable. If you really want to go all out, run the plastic smurf tube home run from each outlet to your patch panel. Cat6 is nice, but again you don't really need it for most normal applications. I use it at home because I can get 80' to 100' scraps from the cable crew. Our cable crews now run Cat6 for all voice and data installations on campus. Most of the computers though are still running at 10mbs connections. |
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The nice thing about Cat6 is if you ever want to map network drives from other computers in the house or have a Storage server or SAN, they will be as fast as a local hard drive (Provided you put a 1000Mb router in). Won't effect internet surfing though. Another thing to consider is if you will even want a regular POTS line for telephone, as many use cell/VOIP now days. I would put it in as seperate runs just in case, no need to use the expensive stuff. I don't use regular telephone lines in my new house as I have a tower about 500 yards away with my carrier. If I did want a dedicated house line, I would go with internet telephone as I already have cable internet. It is nice to know that there is CAT5 wired in it for voice just in case. |
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Bad idea. Run one Cat5e for data, and another Cat5e for phone lines. Generally we use blue cable for data and white for voice. You can put up to 4 standard analog pairs on a single Cat5e. Just for future expansion purposes, it pays to run a seperate Cat5e cable. I mean, you can always put a workgroup switch in place to run mulitple machines off of one data jack. You can't really do that well with phone lines (splitters work okay, I guess, though quality can be a concern) and you're SOL if you ever have a digital phone system, which is unlikely in a house. |
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As others have said, you can get away with it but as long as you're at it run enough to do both on separate sets of cables. Also, make sure you terminate it properly; more problems are caused by bad termination than bad cables. Make sure all components are rated appropriately. While you're at it, consider running fiber. Fiber's pretty cheap as long as you don't terminate it. Big +1 on the conduit. |
Have you priced it lately  It has more than doubled in price around here!
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It's still cheaper than doing it later when you realize, oh shit, time to pull more cable. |
Its even cheaper when you "liberate" a couple of 1,000 ft rolls from work. 
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Structured wiring is great, but where is it all going to terminate? A lot of homebuilders tout their houses have structured wiring, but the mere presence of Cat5e is as much structured wiring as much as an M16 bolt carrier in AR does a machine gun make. I *really* like Leviton's Structured Media Centers ( http://www.leviton-lin.com/ ). Home-run all of your cat5 & coax into this box and you will be quite happy. Want to turn a telephone jack into a network jack? 5 second operation. Want to change from cable internet to DSL? Really easy work. The goal is to centralise all your communications. To learn more, Leviton has a site called ezLearn at: http://www.leviton.com/ezlearn Consider buddying up with an electrical supply house like Rexel. You will save money and probably deal with people who are knowledgable, versus Lowe's/Home Depot. Wire Installation Tips: -Maintain >= 8" distance between your low voltage wiring and Romex when running in parallel. -Do NOT share stud space or holes with Romex -Don't kink the wires / bend them too tightly -Plumbing DWF hangers are cheap effective ways of elevating the wiring if necessary. -Do NOT daisy-chain!!!!!!!! Home-run EVERYTHING. -Use Carlon brand low voltage boxes - they have an open back which makes things quite easy -Run the wires straight down the center of the stud - all sheetrockers are on crank. Use Romex staples, taking care not to crimp the wires. -Punching down after the painting is done, punch down with untwisting the wires as little as possible. Those twists are there for a reason. Future-Thinkin' Ideas: -Run an extra Cat5 out to the telephone demarc and leave it dry for Fiber To The Premesis. When it comes around, simply connect and you will be set. -Run EMT conduit from top of stud wall to work box, at least on exterior walls where insulation may muddle future updates. -Satellite? Run 5 coax wires to a weatherproof box near the south side of the house underside the eave. Make a cutout for a double-gang box and mount an old work box and then place a weatherproof cover. This rigmarole allows for EASY Quad LNB satellite installation - without the installer getting creative running wires on the outside of the house. -Flatscreen wall-mount TVs? Consider this new product: http://www.leviton.com/reb/pdfs/REB_Product_Bulletin.pdf This box has provisions for all your AV connections. Run EMT conduit from this box to where you plan on having stereo equipment/cable box/etc. Run coax inside it and terminate later with RCA F connectors for composite audio/video. Also consider putting a surge protection receptacle in it: http://www.smarthome.com/865130.html Consider this receptacle anywhere you may have high dollar equipment. -Not strictly structured wiring, but consider a Delta Lightning Arrestor to mount inside the circuit breaker: http://www.deltala.com/index.htm . Cheap insurance worth every penny. Residential electrical contractors win bids often by being the cheapest, damn the quality. Recently copper price fluctuations have caused wire manufacturers to push Cat6 over Cat5e - if the price difference is negligible, go with Cat6. |