Ethernet cable type and RJ11 phone sockets - how to tell and use?

portach king

Hello,

I am a newish homeowner who bought a house constructed around 2007. We have a VDSL internet connection (50 down/20 up), but I would like to have ethernet connection throughout the house. At the moment there are RJ11 phone sockets in almost every room, but when I looked behind them, I found what looks like 4 pairs of cables, with only two connected to the phone socket. Unfortunately the cable has no labelling on the sheath (I crawled behind the water tank to double-check this, and it's completely blank), so I have no idea if it is Cat 3/5/5e, etc. The cabling also seems to be fastened down. I tried giving a tug and there was no give.

I want to figure out two things. First, what kind of cable I have here. Second, how can I best use this to provide reliable wired internet throughout the house?

Ideally I'd like to install a switch, but I'm not sure how to begin that with the current layout.

I've attached some pictures of the socket that is in the attic. The modem/router is currently in the sitting room, two floors down.

Many thanks,

PK

ItHurtsWhenIP

RJ11 is only for telephony, not networking I'm afraid.

If these sockets were all wired back to some central location, it may be possibly to replace the face plates with an RJ45 socket and then use them for networking, by placing a network switch at the central location. I can't tell what CAT that cable is, but it should be 5 or 5e.

I suspect if there is no central location for all the wiring from the sockets, they are probably all daisy chained off each other, so that you could plug a telephone into any of them to make a call. I'm afraid that will be worthless to you from a network perspective.

The Cush

Also can't say what ethernet cable type you have but at least it's ethernet rather than basic telephone cable.

How many cables at each point, two would indicate a daisy chain configuration, not the best for networking. If there's a single cable at each point there's a good chance they all go back to a certain point, the best option for networking.

portach king

Hi,

Thank you both for your comments. They are really helpful in getting me to understand what is happening in my house.

There are 10 sockets in total in the house.

I opened three more sockets and I did not see any sign of daisy-chaining in any of them. I am sure that the one I posted yesterday (which is in the attic/loft) has only one cable going into it. I was able to go behind it and check. There are two more sockets on this floor, though I can't get behind them.

You can see the photos of the other three I opened below this post.

I still do not know where the central point is though, if there is one. I have looked at the attic walls, the hot press, hallway etc, but I did not find anything. The only place I have not checked is under the floor boards in the attic/crawl space (which will be easier to access when we take down the Christmas decorations this weekend!)

portach king

If it really is a case of finding that central point and replacing the phone switch for an ethernet switch, I would be very surprised and delighted, obviously.

smuggler.ie

CAT usually marked every one meter - double-check if you mind. Marking quite thin, but lengthy(20-30cm) - possible to miss, you might need to turn cable around.

Locating central point is essential - cables do have two ends 😉 .

"Cetral" could well be behind blank plate in some utill-room or perhaps even in the box outside(unlikely). And it unlikely be in "inaccessible" place like under floor, etc

Wonder if one run could be crimped and connected to router>>CAT>>computer - would NIC be sufficient to "recognize" the link speed?

portach king

Hi,

I checked again, and hey, it is 5e. The marking is very small and faint, but I found it. So that's one mystery solved!

Adding to the confusion, we also had a heat pump and solar panels installed last year, so there are dozens of cat5e cable going in all directions in the attic.

The previous owner installed wood panelling like the picture below in the sitting room, which is there in the VDSL connection is. Do you think there's a chance to cover the blank panel you mentioned as well? He was a bit dodgy with his DIY to be honest, and tidying it up has been on my list of to-do jobs.

munsterfan2

You could try get a loan of a cable tracer, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seesii-Generator-Inductive-Amplifier-Adjustable/dp/B09289QYYF/ref=asc_df_B09289QYYF/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=500831724152&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8950319774799127259&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007850&hvtargid=pla-1247059882703&psc=1&mcid=d3c3bbc6ad13324b9db879dac8c563d7 and see if you can find cable behind walls

blackbox

I'd expect it to be close to where the phone line comes into the house.

portach king

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121430445#Comment_121430445

That's what I thought too, but no sign of it. Just the phone/VDSL socket (connected to the modem) a coax socket and plugs for the leccy.

Unless it is behind the wooden panel that was screwed onto the wall by the previous owner.

portach king

By the way, I checked outside and it's not there either. There's a small panel under the meters (on the other side of the wall that the VDSL socket is on) but that's just for the line coming in.

ItHurtsWhenIP

@smuggler.ie "Cetral" could well be behind blank plate in some utill-room or perhaps even in the box outside(unlikely). And it unlikely be in "inaccessible" place like under floor, etc

@blackbox I'd expect it to be close to where the phone line comes into the house.

Since they're not daisy chained, then I'd agree with both the above. Wherever this is though, it's got 10 Cat 5e cables coming into it, so that is no small bundle of cables.

TheSunIsShining

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121431372#Comment_121431372

Attic is a possible location. Or under the stairs.

Alun

One of those cable tracers linked to above would be a good way of tracking them down. As mentioned above it's often somewhere in the attic.

portach king

I checked the attic back, forth and upside down. Unless it's under a mountain of insulation, I cannot see it. There's nothing under the stairs either.

I've made some videos for your entertainment.

Crawling behind the attic socket:

https://youtu.be/6-LbvhjzFwE

I seem to have found a point where at least six Cat5e cables are heading down from the attic. This is directly above the main bedroom and also the sitting room where the line comes in.

Back down in the living room, two floor down from where the above photo was taken...

https://youtu.be/oNuTNTOCIlw

smuggler.ie

One way to find out - remove the phone plate completely and see what you discover there. Two coax along x6 CAT perhaps would end up in TV box in the living next to DSL too...

portach king

I'll do this tomorrow and post an update.

I've just promised my wife that I'll leave it for now and watch some TV shows together 😄

zg3409

The hardest part to gain access is from.the room to say the attic area. If you can then cut and put in a hub or switch you should get good speeds even if cable is non ideal type. To install proper RJ45 sockets in each room you need a yellow RJ45 punch down tool. To put wires into RJ45 plug you need a different tool. I would recommend putting both ends into sockets and using off the shelf bought RJ45 cables to connect to hub and computers as DIY rj45 crimping plug is not easy and no good for regular flexing.

I doubt you need wired to every room. Possibly multiple WiFi points but unlikely every room needs wired.

VDSL is not great, try to get fibre to the home if you can from siro or eir, but wired should help with dropouts on video calls and streaming.

portach king

FTTH isn't yet available in my area (we are expecting it, but haven't been provided with a timeline) and SIRO have no plans to come here.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I followed @smuggler.ie and @blackbox's suggestion, popped off the phone plate and hey presto!

9 cat5e loose cables. So, the RJ11 jack's weren't even connected 🤦🏻

Anyway, I found them. The next step will be to cut a hole and install an access plate a foot or so above the line in so that I can pull the cables through and have some slack. They wouldn't move much when I pulled at one or two of them just now.

Shouldn't be too much of a hassle to set everything else up after that.