Phone socket to Ethernet (1 Viewer)

[ShiftZZ]

We have just moved into a new house and the previous owner has installed a load of phone sockets, as we wont be using them how easy/hard is it to possible to convert a phone socket to Ethernet?

TIA Shiftzz

Remember I am not a highly skilled technical person (gender neutral)

 

[Robert Clark]

My understanding is that modern phone cable is Ethernet cable otherwise broadband wouldn’t work

 

[Gerby]

Standard phone cable and ethernet cable are different so I believe you would need to change the wiring between the boxes and then change the boxes as the connections are also different so to sum it up if you change everything it should work OK.

slightly more seriously, If you are able to use the old wiring to pull new stuff through don't forget to future proof it as much as you can by using the highest CAT cable you can, it may seem overkill now but its amazing how quick tech speeds overtake your system

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[RandallC]

Have a look at the wiring, if not 8 cores of vthin 4 off twisted pairs then it’s not cat5 Ethernet cable.

consider something like TP-link power line Ethernet plugs. 600mbs for circa £20-24.

 

[TheBig1]

Insufficient pairs in telecom cable to convert to ethernet and not screened. Plus it will be run in series from the master socket to first secondary socket and onwards. So No

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Phone extension cable is usually only six strands and those are not necessarily twisted into pairs. In practice often only two of those cables is required.

Ethernet cable will comprise four pairs of twisted cable and depending on the standard those cables may be wrapped in a foil sheeting, theoretically to limit interference.It may depend on the standard of speed you are hoping from the wiring whether in fact all four pairs are actually used but you should expect to wire pairs to give versatility on the socket.

For maximum efficiency you should always be plugging your modem into the BT type master socket rather than through any extension. Using extensions to connect the modem is often a source of poor broadband speeds.

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[thebriars]

Do you need either? We have just moved house too, and now everything is set up, no phone socket, no TV sockets, everything is wireless, even to my mancave in the garden where I have a phone, TV and can get Sky and the internet. You could also use the wi-fi range extenders which plug into the mains if needed. Skill level, nil.

 

[dunnah01]

Only two pairs of wires (4 total) of the eight available are usually used in ethernet cable so it should be possible to cobble a standard six wire phone cable into an ethernet cable. It may well be better than WiFi even without any cable shielding so we'll worth an experiment. Crimp RJ45 connectors are pennies of fleebay so may be worth a trial run before spending money on ethernet wall plates etc.

 

[Phil 748]

Hi the simple answer is No, phones are now are wired in parallel and the current system you only needs 3 wires, CAT5/6 cables which you need are wired in star formation from a central point a hub or Switch and are 4 pairs twisted and screened.

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[TerryL]

My PC is at the other end of the house to the main BT socket so ethernet cable is not really on. I could of course just use the wifi function but instead I'm using the TP-link power adaptors - the latest are very fast and I don't lose any speed. One unit close to the BT socket and router and others (you can have more than one) close to the computer. I've also got one connected to the smart TV which instantly found the network and works perfectly.

You do, however, need to have all devices on the same ring main.

Just an afterthought for the techies on here. I used to run the computer modem (pre-router days) off a telephone extension socket in a bedroom. Despite being told it shouldn't work I had no problems, but of course data speeds are much higher now. Be interested in opinions though.

 

[ShiftZZ]

Just opened one of the boxes.

Make sense?

 

[Kannon Fodda]

That shows typical six strand (three pair) telephony wiring. In practice only two, perhaps three, of those strands will be in use. As they are not for pairs of twisted cable they aren't suited to ethernet network use.

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[TheBig1]

Just opened one of the boxes.
View attachment 400166

Make sense?

the only wires used in that socket are 2, 3, 4
Blue/white White/blue signal
orange/white ring

 

[dunnah01]

You need four of them for ethernet, you can decide in a bespoke colour arrangement. The cables may be a bit of a squeeze into an RJ45 plug but nothing ventured and all that

 

[ShiftZZ]

It was just a thought, thanks everyone..
There are no end of sockets, we will have wifi and pass-through, there is an Ethernet socket upstairs, will see if that works when we get connected..

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[pappajohn]

I reckon the previous owner needed a proper hobby Dave.
He's obviously wired all six just because there's six wires and six terminals.
Our incoming/master socket has two wires and everything else is WiFi extenders on the ring main. I can get WiFi in the garden (to an extent) off the lounge extender and in the garage off the kitchen extender.

 

[Phil 748]

Hi the correct wiring is 2-5 for the line and 3 is for the ringer

 

[Off da Grid]

10/100 ethernet uses 4 cores Gb ethernet uses all 8 cores of shielded cable.
You could possibly reuse the back boxes but you’d need ethernet faceplates.
It’s fairly easy to wire the sockets and plugs yourself.
I got a kit from amazon.
Just make sure you wire them correctly because you can run power over ethernet and if incorrectly wired this could fry your kit

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[Robert Clark]

10/100 ethernet uses 4 cores Gb ethernet uses all 8 cores of shielded cable.
You could possibly reuse the back boxes but you’d need ethernet faceplates.
It’s fairly easy to wire the sockets and plugs yourself.
I got a kit from amazon.
Just make sure you wire them correctly because you can run power over ethernet and if incorrectly wired this could fry your kit

When I bought my Ethernet sockets from Amazon they came with a diagram stating which colour wire went to which connector

 

[Langtoftlad]

Unless for a specialist need, what's wrong with wifi?
A lot more straightforward.

 

[thebriars]

I reckon the previous owner needed a proper hobby Dave.
He's obviously wired all six just because there's six wires and six terminals.

Nah! he was just OCD.

Our incoming/master socket has two wires and everything else is WiFi extenders on the ring main. I can get WiFi in the garden (to an extent) off the lounge extender and in the garage off the kitchen extender.

If you are going for Sky, each of the Sky Q mini boxes also acts as a wi-fi extender for their system. Plus they will fit a wi-fi booster FOC if needed.

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[Phil 748]

My understanding is that modern phone cable is Ethernet cable otherwise broadband wouldn’t work

Hi the network side of copper Broadband modem is xDSL which uses the standard BT copper, the customer ports on the router is where the ethernet starts and needs to be CAT5 cable or now is CAT6, standard internal phone cable is not designed to run data over it, I remember in the early days of broadband having to install filters on the master sockets to it to work properly.

 

[peterc10]

Dave. Best thing is to get a decent wireless mesh system with 3 or 4 nodes depending upon the size of your house and what it is built out of. The larger it is and the thicker and denser the walls and floors are the more you need. But the beauty of it is if you do have a dead spot you can just add another node. All work wirelessly. Before Christmas I fitted a Linksys Velop Tri band system in our house with three nodes. We can now get full internet speed everywhere in the house and we can walk around without it ever cutting out. Costs about £275 for the three nodes.

 

[AndyPK]

Dave. Best thing is to get a decent wireless mesh system with 3 or 4 nodes depending upon the size of your house and what it is built out of. The larger it is and the thicker and denser the walls and floors are the more you need. But the beauty of it is if you do have a dead spot you can just add another node. All work wirelessly. Before Christmas I fitted a Linksys Velop Tri band system in our house with three nodes. We can now get full internet speed everywhere in the house and we can walk around without it ever cutting out. Costs about £275 for the three nodes.

Yes, mesh is the way to go - I use TP-Link Deco M4 and M5 nodes, which gives me great coverage all through the house and into the garden for the Ring cameras.

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[rod_vw]

If the cable has four pairs and is marked as Catagory 5E or Catagory 6 then it's OK for Ethernet use but all cables must go back to a common point and be terminated individually on sockets or a patch panel or exceptionally on RJ45 plugs. Sockets in a chain won't work for Ethernet.
For hard wired Ethernet you need the terminations to be RJ45 type sockets not telephone type and use the termination marked as 'B' on both ends see the 'B' version here https://www.showmecables.com/blog/post/rj45-pinout

You can then feed any socket locations from the RJ45 outlets on your router, hub or switch connected with patch cords.

If you need to use the wiring when changed to RJ45 type sockets for telephone there are adaptors available like these https://cpc.farnell.com/pro-signal/bt-400/rj-45-to-bt6l-secondary/dp/CS11891?st=rj45 telephone

I've spent the last sixteen years doing just this type cabling in commercial premises.