Wiring question - Might as well try to do it right

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 17

Our Vonage account is working well for us and we've decided to run with it and cut the umbilicus with our local phone company.

Now I have a new challenge. The computer desk, cable modem, and router are not conveniently located for our new Vonage lifestyle. We like the phone where it's always been: On the wall between the kitchen and the living room. Unfortunately, there is no phone jack anywhere around the computer desk area, so plugging into the existing wiring requires some drilling and attic work. So, if I'm gonna get dusty anyway, might as well do it up right and build a wiring system for VoIP.

(Before you make an obvious observation, we're not into cordless phones. We have one, but we mostly ignore it, and only use it if we're in the yard and want to hear the phone ring, or if we have a guest who finds our corded phone lifestyle a little too quaint.)

Here's my plan: I'm going to rewire the place so that I can leave the computer and cable connection where they are, connect Vonage to one existing jack location, and create a new Vonage jack location in the master bedroom. (The two remaining original jack locations I'll leave alone. You never know, might need them with their original wiring some time in the future.)

Here's my question for forum members: Should I consider upgrading the wire to a Category 3 or 5 "twisted pairs" type of line? It'd be cheaper to use old fashioned, flat telephone wire that's currently in the house. Are there particular VoIP quality/safety concerns involved in the choice of wire? Also, should I have an eye on future potentials of my home cable connection when I consider a present wiring project?

Two months ago I would have looked puzzled if you talked to me about VoIP. Now I'm integrating it into the way we communicate from home. What might I be looking at two years from now, and will my choice of wiring now make a difference?

I'd appreciate any ideas, observations and/or strategic warnings from forum members.

Best,
Scott.

Posts: 47 · Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:48 am Post subject:

If you are going to do all that work (and congratulations on doing it the RIGHT way!), I would suggest using CAT6 wire. The cost difference is negligible, and the benefits are substantial in terms of reduced crosstalk and other sources of interference.

I wired my entire house with CAT6 and the improvement is very apparent as compared to the old stuff....which was CAT 3. I have a friend with CAT5, and he swears that my CAT 6 is better..

Posts: 1 · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:28 pm Post subject:

>I wired my entire house with CAT6 and the improvement is very apparent as compared to the old stuff....which was CAT 3. I have a friend with CAT5, and he swears that my CAT 6 is better.

I really find it hard to believe that wiring using CAT 6 is better. I was a tech for the local phone company and did CAT 3 to CAT 5 wiring all the time. In a home environment CAT 3 is fine. Using 5 is very much overkill and nobody would be able to tell any difference. Check the frequency table and distance for each cable if your curious. If spending more money and using the latest makes you feel better then go for it. I have seen VoIP work using the old "jk" wiring in older homes just fine.

Just my opinion....

Posts: 47 · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 6:30 pm Post subject:

To some extent, I think you are probably right, at least for VoIP - it probably makes no difference. I was just trying to do some "future-proofing" and since I got the CAT6 for free, I thought I might as well use it.

That said - on the Gigabit LAN that I have, speeds are slightly higher as compared to CAT5 and definitely better than the CAT3 I used to have (I have some *long* wire runs), and God knows what I am going to be needing to transmit in 5 years.

I don't want to ever have to re-do that wiring if I can avoid it.

Posts: 482 · Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:00 pm Post subject:

I agree with everything except in 5 years it's possible you may be getting faster speeds without wires. And also Cat6 really only provides a minimal improvement for data and won't make any difference for phone, as you are aware. Cat6 is identical to Cat5 except that each pair of wires is seperated from the rest by a channel that runs down the core of the cable, which as you said eliminates some crosstalk. It's actually more useful if you think you may send LAN and phone down the same cable, because the crosstalk with two unmatched sources would be more problematic than a simple data connection. But definitely go with your plan.

Posts: 17 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 17

Thanks for the ideas. You've given me some things to think about. I called my techie friend and offered your ideas to him, pros and cons. He laughed at me throwing around terms like "CAT 5," and "crosstalk issues." He said, "Like, you're EVER going let IP television into your house. You should just use plain old phone wire, it's fine for you."

Nevermind that I don't know what IP television is; I bristle at the revelation that among my friends I'm seen as a sort of Information Age Amish person. Yes, my gardens will always be more relevant to me than my phone system, but that doesn't mean I automatically turn my back on technology.

Again, thanks for the ideas. I'm off now to google "IP television."

Posts: 110 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Mar 06, 2004 Posts: 110

With all the discussion of CAT5 vs. CAT6, I think you are missing a more important point -- you should certainly use CAT5 vs. CAT3 simply because the wiring could be used for standard ethernet connections in the future. It will not provide any better performance for your phone connection (VOIP or not), but, for minimal additional cost, will provide additional flexibility in the future.

I thought that very few if any installers would actually use CAT3 anymore for this reason (little cost savings).

Posts: 47 · Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:25 am Post subject:

It's also really hard to find CAT3 these days....