Slave telephones sockets... HOW!??

[Timbo]

Hi Guys,

I posted on this thread: https://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/index.php?threads/232389/#post2027088

and am still looking for advice how to actually get a phone socket in each of the rooms I want.

here's the layout diagram I made:

I basically have a cupboard under the stairs that will host all the av / comms equipment and that's where virginmedia installed the master phone socket (the blue box on the diagram) - so from there I want to hard wire some more sockets around the house but I need a dummy's step by step guide on how to do it and what equipment / cables I will need (hopefully to do it with Cat5e as I have loads of that)

thanks for any help!

 

[Abu Baniaz]

You can use cat5 cable. there are three wires used, one to terminal 5, one to terminal 2 and one to terminal 3. Normally white and blue in terminal 5, blue and white in terminal 2 and orange and white in terminal 3 The IDC tool for networking is the same for connecting the wires unless you have the screw on terminals on the back of your extension sockets.

Extensions should be connected to the bottom half of the master socket. In case of fault finding, they will ask you to pull it out thereby leaving the only socket they are responsible for on the line.

Your diagram is one way of doing it and will work. Treat the junction box as a socket in terms of connecting wires. Obviously you will need to tack the cables to the skirting board by clips or staples if not hiding them under/behind walls/floor boards.

 

[Timbo]

Excellent - many thanks for your reply.

I have spent the last hour researching and reading and have come up with the following:

What i am going to do is instead of using telephone slave sockets, is use cat5e sockets at the phone locations and use a PABX convertor to allow the phones to use the cat5e structured cabling. I'll install another patch panel for telephone only connections. Just like Hejira recommends in this thread https://www.digitalworldz.co.uk/index.php?threads/232389/#post1726319

Thanks again.

 

[Abu Baniaz]

I don't see the point in having two patch panels and then using a pabx adapter on the other.

If you are going to use a separate panel for the phones, then there is no point in using the network ports on the other end and then converting them to phone sockets. Might as well as put phone sockets there.

I'd recommend one patch panel with minimum of two wires direct to each room. If you are definite that the socket will be phone only (for now), then use a phone terminal on the room end and forget the pabx adapter. You can always change them to network ports later as the infrastructure is there already. The patch leads to the cabinet can be run from the phone system.

 

[Timbo]

Let me try to explain my logic. Having 2 patch panels will allow me to choose which cat5e socket in what room is a telephone extension, giving me the flexibility to change it in the future.

Let's say:

Patch Panel 1 (min 3 ports) = Telephone patch panel (ports 1 to 3 are connected back to the master telephone box)
Patch Panel 2 (24 port) = Network cable to each room (some rooms having 4 or 5 ethernet runs)

This allows me to number the cat5e sockets as numbers 1 to 24 in the rooms and then use a patch lead from the front of the telephone patch to any of the ports on the front of the 24 port patch panel to enable a telephone extension.

I know it may seem like overkill but it'll save hassle in future and I think I need to have all 24 ports of the patch panel for the cat5e sockets in the rooms anyway.

To me, it makes sense to try and keep the telephone and network data seperate from the off.

 

[Abu Baniaz]

I like some of your logic. However, why pay for a network port and then convert it back to a telephone socket and have some dangling kit sticking out when you can just wire it as a telephone socket. When you need to have a network port, remove telephone one replace with network one.

It will work as you have it planned. But what a waste. Your patch 1, is basically a splitter for one telephone line. An alternative is maybe reserve ports 1-4 as incoming telephone and the rest as outputs to rooms.

 

[Timbo]

I think we are just different.

I have the vision of once I have installed the sockets in each room, that's it. I don't want to have to touch them again unless I really really have to (for repairs etc)

It's more complete to punchdown all 4 pairs of a cat5e cable rather than just the 2, 3 or 4 wires needed for a phone socket. Everytime you open a socket you run the risk of breaking any of the other ports that might be on the socket, purely down to movement of the cables. So, i think i'd like to get the structured cabling in place and never really have to open or touch the sockets again, just change what plugs into the front of them.


PS. you can get all different types of PABX adapters. There's even an inline one which allows you to use any length (within reason) of cat5 cable to extend the phone cable, so at the socket it just looks like a network connection, but is in fact a phone.

e.g