Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

Running all the phone lines through CAT5e cables

Jul 20, 2014 12:28AM PDT

Hi everyone. I am a newbie when it comes to setting up phones and cables, so I will appreciate your input on what I should do to setup 2 landlines at my house with CAT5e cables to support 2-line phones in multiple rooms.

We have Cat5e running everywhere throughout the office with multiple cables to every room. They were all punched down into RJ45 keystone jacks in the rooms on one end; and they were terminated at a central location as RJ45 plugs (with RJ45 crimp connector).

Recently I have Verizon come to install FIOS and 2 landlines phones. The installer put a box in the central location and ran two Cat5e cables from the box. One of these Cat5e was for FIOS and got plugged into the modem/router. That part is easy for me to understand. However, the second Cat5e cable from the box had 2 pairs punched down on a RJ45 keystone jack. The installer told me that was for the two landlines.

Now I am a bit confused about what to do to get dial tones. I have put our cabling into the following diagram. Hopefully that will help clarify things.

http://i60.tinypic.com/2q096ro.jpg

My questions for everyone are:
(1) What do you think about my plan about modifying RJ11 cables into having one end as RJ45 plug?
(2) What should I do to connect all the cables to get dial tones for all locations? I am thinking about using a switch, but I really have no idea what to do at this point.

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
You could get an adapter like these...
Jul 20, 2014 1:29PM PDT
- Collapse -
Answer
Two phones mean 4 wires
Jul 26, 2014 10:48AM PDT

It would seem easy enough to use two pairs from Cat5 as well as the proper connectors. Just leave the unused wire in the wall.