Home Telephone network

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runner9
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Home Telephone network

Post by runner9 »

I starting by thinking about moving the jack for our home telephone lower to counter level where the phone has always sat (it doesn't wall mount which is where the jack is).

That got me looking more and the phone wires in the house just meet in the basement in mid air with electrical tape and wire nuts. So, then I researched some kind of junction box and maybe replacing a few with Cat5 or Cat 6.

Then I started wondering if this is all overkill.

We have internet through a cable provider. Their coaxial enters the house, goes along the basement and up through the floor to the modem which is next to the computer.

Our home phone is through a voip provider. The phone jack behind the computer is the hub and provides for all the other jacks. The box outside is disconnected. We have a home phone that we use occasionally but want to keep. That's the jack I want to move.

Otherwise there are 2 additional phones and at least 3 further jacks that are unused. We also have a jack for the satellite TV box which has to call out sometimes, or something like that.

So, am I crazy? If not what should I be using for wiring and some kind of hub/box. Ideally I'd upgrade just the ones I can get easy access to and tie in the other ones that are existing. On one hand this seems silly for a home phone we rarely use. On the other hand this mess of wires seems ridiculous.
jebmke
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Re: Home Telephone network

Post by jebmke »

Have you considered cordless? You only need one base station connected to a jack.
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bob60014
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Re: Home Telephone network

Post by bob60014 »

Cordless, set the base station at the computer and the remote headsets wherever you like. For less than $50 and 5 minutes work, you're done.
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oldcomputerguy
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Re: Home Telephone network

Post by oldcomputerguy »

Garden-variety home phones (ones which plug into an RJ-11 jack in the wall) run on what Ma Bell calls "POTS" (which some say stands for "plain old telephone service"). POTS is an old-fashioned analog audio service, with a frequency response cutting off around 3300 Hz, so it doesn't require the latest-and-greatest wiring in order to work. Cat 5 and Cat 6, while acceptable, are way overkill for POTS; in fact, you really only need two conductors. Typically POTS wiring comes in a four-conductor cable with red, green, yellow, and black conductors, of which only the red and green are normally active. In some cases, the yellow and black are used for a second line.

http://www.jkaudio.com/article_10.htm
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inbox788
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Re: Home Telephone network

Post by inbox788 »

Don't fix what's not broken. If the wiring is bothering you, is it hidden or exposed? You don't have to move something that's fixed if you can simply get a splitter and and extension cord.

KISS principle.

I don't understand the problem(s) you are are trying to fix.
runner9 wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 4:09 pmI starting by thinking about moving the jack for our home telephone lower to counter level where the phone has always sat (it doesn't wall mount which is where the jack is).

...We have a home phone that we use occasionally but want to keep. That's the jack I want to move.
Why not just use an extension cord? If you must, it's a little work, but you can just add a jack where you want.
Otherwise there are 2 additional phones and at least 3 further jacks that are unused.
Unplug phones, store in closet. Ignore jacks. If you must, yank out the jacks, patch the holes and repaint the room.
We also have a jack for the satellite TV box which has to call out sometimes, or something like that.
The satellite TV box appears to be happy. Leave it alone.
Broken Man 1999
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Re: Home Telephone network

Post by Broken Man 1999 »

Easy fix. Many of the cordless base stations are mountable on the wall. Put the base station on the wall, and scatter cordless extensions wherever there is power, as you need to have their bases plugged in to charge the batteries.

I actually have two base stations, as I was able to fix one after I had bought another base station and cordless handsets. So now I have phones in just about every room.

Broken Man 1999
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Watty
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Re: Home Telephone network

Post by Watty »

If you start messing with the wires one thing to watch out for is that the house may have had more than one phone with seperate lines and wiring.

Before I bought my house it had a second phone, probably for a business or a teenager, so there were all sorts of phone wires that were added that are no longer connected to anything.
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