How Can You Use Cat5e as a Phone and Internet Line?

[ryleighlawrence71]

I want to run ethernet in my house and there are already a few phone lines and Cat5e lines that are used for phone but I want to know if I could connect them together using a switch. So, if I run all my ethernet lines for internet and connect them to a switch that is connected to my router. Then could I also connect my existing phone lines to the switch and have a second input line that connects to the phone provider? So that wherever there is a Cat5e line I could plug into it and either get phone or internet service.

 

[Dugimodo]

No a normal land line will not work through a switch. It needs a direct connection from the line to the phone.

 

[asoroka]

No.

Unless you have an IP phone. I am assuming you have an old fashioned phone.

Your phone will connect via RJ11 socket (6 pin) not RJ45 (computers 8pin).

So yes you can rewire all your cat5 cables to be RJ45 compatible and use them to connect computers.

You can't have your phone on the computer network unless you can convert to voip (voice over IP).

 

[jsmithepa]

U can use CAT5 for phone but for the most part you gotta keep them separate.

So if you have 2 CAT5 in one outlet, u can certainly leave one for phone, the 2nd for ethernet.

In a pinch you can use 2 pairs of wires in a CAT cable for ethernet, will only works up to 100 mbit no more, and use the other 2 pairs for landline.

 

[Dugimodo]

Splitting the cable as suggested does work but you may need to manually set the network speed to 100Mb.
That's because a gigE device at each end can automatically detect the capability of gigabit speeds and select it then fail to work becuase of the missing wires.
At least that happened to me with that setup. I rewired it to use the whole cable and ditched my landline to fix it
A mobile phone is all the phone I need these days.

 

[ryleighlawrence71]

No.

Unless you have an IP phone. I am assuming you have an old fashioned phone.

Your phone will connect via RJ11 socket (6 pin) not RJ45 (computers 8pin).

So yes you can rewire all your cat5 cables to be RJ45 compatible and use them to connect computers.

You can't have your phone on the computer network unless you can convert to voip (voice over IP).

I do have an old fashioned phone not a voip phone, But all of those cat5 lines are connected to a punch down block. So, I was wondering if I could run a line from my switch to the punch down block and that would provide internet service through all of those lines and also bring back phone service to the switch. So then anywhere in the house where there is an rj-45 jack I could either get internet or phone service from it. Because a rj-11 plug physicaly fits into an rj-45 jack in fact all of the jacks in my house are rj-45 but right now they just are configured for phone only. So if I connected all of the pairs to the jacks then shouldnt I be able to get phone or internet from it? Sorry, I am new to this!

 

[jsmithepa]

Lets say all your jacks are converted to Ethernet, all 4 pairs of that cable used. You are free to use any run for landline, it just gonna use the middle 2 wires, and with care a RJ11 plug will go into a RJ45 jack.

 

[USAFRet]

And if there is an ethernet switch in the middle somewhere, this will not work.
Phone lines can't pass through a switch.

 

[ryleighlawrence71]

Lets say all your jacks are converted to Ethernet, all 4 pairs of that cable used. You are free to use any run for landline, it just gonna use the middle 2 wires, and with care a RJ11 plug will go into a RJ45 jack.

Well currently they all are Ethernet jacks. But if I run an Ethernet from my internet switch to the punch down block will I be able to plug into that and get internet? Vice versa

 

[jsmithepa]

Well currently they all are Ethernet jacks. But if I run an Ethernet from my internet switch to the punch down block will I be able to plug into that and get internet? Vice versa

You are practically saying the same thing USAFRet says above. Once the "closet" end of a cable goes into a switch, IS IT NOW ETERNET.