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mojo1
join:2006-12-05
Jefferson, GA
 ·Windstream
| So, I need to add a new phone jack...
Yeah, it's true. But, before I tackle this project, I wanted to ask for some input. House is 1 year old but they only put 3 phone jacks in during construction, all in the wrong place.
From reading in this forum, I need to have a home run for the modem. That should be no problem, but the jack for the modem is at the furthest point in the house from the NID.
I have no idea how the house is wired at this point so I may end up making this a big project and rewiring the whole thing. That being said, I wanted to get opinions on the best way to do this.
My DSL connection is solid and ATTEN and SNR are great. I'm not necessarily looking to improve the DSL connection, but I don't want to jeopardize it either.
So, let it fly and let me know how I should accomplish this.
Also, does anyone know if Windstream does this kind of work? Seems I've seen a couple posts about having them add a new jack. Might be worth my time to let the local guys do it?
Thanks, in advance, for any advice. | |
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Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Kimberling City, MO
·CenturyTel Inc.
| Yes, WS will do it, for a fee. I don't remember exactly what it is since it's been almost two yrs since I've worked for them, but my current employer (centurytel) charges $85/hr billed in 15 minute increments after the first hour.
This is a project you could easily accomplish yourself mojo. How is your house laid out....attic, crawl space, brick, vinyl siding? If you have a decent size attic, you can come out of the nid, and run straight up the side of the house and drill a small hole and run the wire into the attic, then you can either wall fish where you want to drop the wire down, or you can drill down into a closet, to hide the wire, then come back out into the room right at the baseboard level, and staple the wire to where you want it.
If you have a crawl space, you could do the same thing, just underneath the house and come up through the floor.
Lastly, you could always fasten the wire to the outside of the house, and drill a hole through an outside wall where you're wanting the phone jack. If you have siding, there are siding clips that slide underneath a seam and almost totally conceal the wire running along the house.
Just a few ideas.  | |
mojo1
join:2006-12-05
Jefferson, GA
·Windstream
| Thanks Icon!
I'm not too worried about the physical aspects of it. I just wanted to make sure if I have to rewire the whole house what is the best route to take?
I've seen some houses where the entire circuit is 1 big loop where the conductors are only exposed at each jack and then continue, unbroken, to the next jack terminating at the last stop in the loop.
I've also seen where each individual jack runs off of the main wire, like a spider web, with a junction block somewhere in the house. I am not sure which method is best to preserve the integrity of my connection, which is great right now.
The house only has access in the attic and the roofline is very low. It won't be easy to get up there so I only want to have to do this once.
I'm assuming the home-run for the modem would branch off as close as possible to the NID. Also, I'm assuming that I need to buy quality cabling to help as much as possible.
Since we don't use the landline much here, I may end up running cat 5 cable to network jacks in each room and get away from wireless for the network. My wife works from home and her employer does not allow wireless connections for security fears. The network cable is laying across the floor when she works now. So, that would be a vote for wiring the network. Not sure yet. But, I still need 1 more phone jack for a fax which is what started me thinking about this whole project.
Thanks again for all yor help!  | |
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Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Kimberling City, MO
·CenturyTel Inc.
| said by mojo1  :I've seen some houses where the entire circuit is 1 big loop where the conductors are only exposed at each jack and then continue, unbroken, to the next jack terminating at the last stop in the loop. I've also seen where each individual jack runs off of the main wire, like a spider web, with a junction block somewhere in the house. I am not sure which method is best to preserve the integrity of my connection, which is great right now. I'd advise against wiring like your first example, also called a "daisy chain". This is the cheapest, as it requires less wire, but it also makes troubleshooting much more difficult, and it's harder to isolate your DSL.
The second method is what I'd recommend. Run one line to a splice point, then take off to each jack with a dedicated line. As for the quality aspect, you definitely want at least Category 3 unshielded twisted pair. But if you're already going to be running some network cabling, you may as well run it for your phone jacks as well. | |
shadowfax
Premium
join:2007-01-06
Lexington, KY
·Windstream
| reply to mojo1
In Ky we charge 65$/hr, the "daisy chain" is a cheap way by the builders, to wire up a house quickly, they put coax in every room but never phone. "home runs" are the best way to go, each outlet has a direct feed to a central location, NID or a closet etc. Whatever you do, dont splice anything, unless its in a spot where it can be easily accessed in the future for trouble shooting purposes. The home networking idea is a good idea, Cat 5 will carry 100mbs ethernet for 300 ft, cat 3 will carry it 100 ft. Dont forget the jacks, and Ethernet outlets. If you dont know the color code for ethernet, let me know. | |
mojo1
join:2006-12-05
Jefferson, GA
·Windstream
| Believe it or not, there is coax in only 2 rooms... Need to fix that too.
Anyway, so I will have 1 wire coming off the NID to some type of junction block where all of the other outlets will come from, I think. Does it matter how close to the NID I split everything? I would assume the closer, the better.
Also, where should I buy the stuff? I know places like Radio Shack and Home Depot carry the cheapest of the cheap. I'm thinking an electrical supply store like Grainger? | |
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Time Keeper
Premium,VIP,MVM
join:2004-01-07
Kimberling City, MO
·CenturyTel Inc.
| It doesn't matter how close you split off from the NID really. What I would do is probably put your voice on the blue/white blue pair, and put your DSL on the orange/orange white pair, with a splitter in the NID. Or if you want to have the micro filters you can hook everything on the bl/wht blue pair.
If you're going to get cat5e cable, it really won't matter where you get it from. Just make sure you get solid copper and not stranded copper cabling. If there is going to be any of it run outdoors tacked on the outside of the house, make sure and get outdoor rated (CMX) cable. It has a tougher outside sheath, and is much more resistant to UV rays, which over time will break down a non-outdoor cable jacket.
One other detail that will be helpful if you ever have to do any troubleshooting, is to label each run at the junction point, so you know which phone jack is associated with that cable. That will be gold if you ever have to run trouble out of your network.  | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| reply to mojo1
Star Topology is what you want in regard to the wiring. Yes, Daisy Chained wiring is bad. You don't mention a Splitter/Filter and with installling a "Home Run" you need the Splitter also. They are both needed. You would not use individual filters inside.
Regards,
Doctor Olds
--
What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
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