Need help with using Cat5e cable for phone line

[fishboi]

Hi all,

I just moved into a new place. The builder ran Cat5e cable into every room and terminated the Cat5e cables into RJ11 phone connector wall plates. Why he thought every room needed a phone line is beyond me, but that's another story..... Anyway, he left the Cat5e cables in the basement bare and unterminated (just tied together in a bundle).

I've rewired a few of the rooms with RJ45 Cat5e wall plates for internet/data over Cat5e. I've connected the cables that run from these wall plates to a switch in the basement where my modem/wireless is located (I crimped the cables with RJ45 connectors). I've also connected my Vonage VoIP device to my switch.

But what I need to now figure out is how to terminate one of those Cat5e cables into a RJ11 phone connector in the basement so that I can plug the Cat5e cable into my Vonage device. I'm leaving one of the wall plates in the house as a RJ11 phone connector. One Cat5e cable will run into the basement from this wall plate, but I need to terminate this cable into a RJ11 connector so that I can plug it into my Vonage device's telephone output jack. This cable will essentially act as a telephone cable.

Problem is I dont know anything about terminating phone lines (the RJ11 connectors or the wall plates). From what I can gather, the setup requires 4 wires, but when I opened up the existing RJ11 wall plate, it appears the builder has used only 2 wires of the Cat5e cable on each wall plate. I attached a pic to make it clearer. It appears he connected the blue wire from the Cat5e cable into the red connector on the wall plate, and the blue/white wire from the Cat5e cable into the green connector on the wall plate (see pic).

Did the builder do this correctly? If so, what do I need to do now? Do I just terminate the blue wire & blue/white wires (see pic) in the basement into a RJ11 connector and figure out which two wire slots in the RJ11 connector I use. Or did the builder wire the wall plates incorrectly and I need to rewire the plate from scratch using 4 wires. I'm confused.

Anyway, TY all for your help! Really appreciate it.



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[fishboi]

After all this, I think I may have figured it out. This website was extremely useful: http://www.wire-your-phones.com/

So to confirm, normally the red wall plate wire should be connected to the yellow cable wire (in my case, the blue Cat5e wire), which should be connected to the far most right wiring slot on the RJ11 connector (if you're looking down at it with the clip underneath). Is this correct?

In turn, the green wall plate wire should be connected to the black cable wire (in my case, the blue/white Cat5e wire), which should be connected to the far most left wiring slot on the RJ11 connector (if you're looking down at it with the clip underneath). Is this correct?

TY again guys. Please help.



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[Hawkeye22]

A typical 4 wire RJ-11 uses red and green wires for line 1 and yellow and black wires for line 2. Since your cat5e doesn't have these, you can just gran an unassigned pair of wires. The two inside terminators on the RJ-11 end are for line 1 and the outer two pins are line 2.

NOTE: If you plan on using gigabit ethernet then this will not work as gigabit ethernet requires all 4 pairs of wire. 10/100 only requires 2 pair of wires while the unused pairs help alleviate crosstalk on the wires. Pins 1, 2, 3, and 6 are used for 10/100 while the others are unused.

 

[fishboi]

A typical 4 wire RJ-11 uses red and green wires for line 1 and yellow and black wires for line 2. Since your cat5e doesn't have these, you can just gran an unassigned pair of wires. The two inside terminators on the RJ-11 end are for line 1 and the outer two pins are line 2.

NOTE: If you plan on using gigabit ethernet then this will not work as gigabit ethernet requires all 4 pairs of wire. 10/100 only requires 2 pair of wires while the unused pairs help alleviate crosstalk on the wires. Pins 1, 2, 3, and 6 are used for 10/100 while the others are unused.

Ok thanks Hawk. But then which line do I use, Line 1 or Line 2? Have a look at the wall plate the builder installed. He is using the red and green pins on the wall plate. Does that mean I need to use the inner most pin slots on the RJ11 connector? If so, do I just match the green wire on the wall plate to the green pin on the RJ11 connector?

TY TY.

 

[Emerald]

use the inner most pins

 

[fishboi]

Ok thanks! Sorry for the hash drawing, but this is essentially what I'm going to do tonight. Please let me know if I've screwed up.

TY GUYS!



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[Emerald]

yep

 

[fishboi]

Sweet thanks!

 

[Hawkeye22]

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Emerald is dead on. You don't have to worry about accidently reversing the wires as tip and ring don't matter much on today's phones.

If you only have one phone line (one physical phone number) they should have used red & green, which is what shows in your picture.