Re: POTS and Ethernet over CAT-5 Cable

["BrianEWilliams" <sorry_no_email@xxxxxxxxx>]

Alan C. Jones wrote:
> Hello Brian,
>      I have done this exact same thing with my house.  There are 6 double
> strands and 12 single of CAT-5 leading from my control closet to 18 RJ-45
> wallplate jacks (single or double, or course).  I can't remember where, but
> some ancient research I did led me to the discovery that an RJ-11 or RJ-14
> (i.e. a single or double line POTS) plug will click right into the standard
> RJ-45 jack and tap the non-Ethernet conductors.  I currently have only(?) 5
> computers on  the home network and may cut 1 or 2 laptops off for wireless.
> For the last 7 or 8 years, this has let me plug in a computer OR a phone at
> any jack and have no noticable interference to either.  It was quite handy
> when my son would have 5-6 friends bring over their systems for a weekend of
> high intensity gaming warfare. Same reason I kept 10 lbs of hot dogs anf a
> case of Mountain Dew in the garage fridge at all times. I really wish I had
> been smart enough (and wealthy enough) to run dual coax to each jack at the
> same time!  Isn't hindsight wonderful?
>
> Good luck!!!
> Alan
>

Hi Alan,

I ran single CAT-5 and single coax to each room in my house as it was
being built, each line terminating in a patch panel in the basement.
Then the cable TV comes in over its own coax network to each room.
I've had lots of fun with this setup, but I definitely made some
mistakes with the placement of the wall jacks that are obvious in
hindsight.

Now that I can run POTS over the CAT-5, I've stopped wishing I had run
dual CAT-5.  I think that with some tinkering around, I can run two
video streams on my single coax, but I'd have to dig up the old posts
that led me to this conclusion.  Just don't have the need now, but my
boys are young, so time will tell.

Enjoyed your post, and it makes me imagine the mayhem in 10 years.
They are so small and cute now that it's hard to believe they will be
full-sized before I know it.

Brian