Does it make any sense to have telephone jacks in every room of the house?

[TallBill]

Lol phone jack. Maybe one only if dsl is the best Internet option in the area

 

[sandorski]

Cat 7, Cat 8... whatever it takes.

:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Haven't seen that movie in decades. Always one of my favourites though.

 

[Brainonska511]

in my office which is ~100 yards away from the wiring closet, i put a wifi router (set in wireless repeater mode), so the house also has wifi throughout.... works great (also doubles as a 4 port switch for my office

Your house is as big as a football field? Jeez.

 

[Kadarin]

Does it make any sense to have telephone jacks in every room of the house?

Maybe in 1972 it did, but not these days.

 

[Eug]

I guess not very many people here have fax machines. And no, standard fax machines generally do not work over VoIP.

 

[Humpy]

I guess not very many people here have fax machines. And no, standard fax machines generally do not work over VoIP.

I'd say that's a reasonable guess.

 

[notposting]

When wiring this house for connectivity is the most pressing thing I have to do (so...5, 8 years away?), I will undoubtedly include phone jacks out the ass, and terminate them on a 66 block again like I did at our townhouse. Whoever moved into that unit (apartment complex) scored big time. Dual Cat-5e and quad RG-6 to each bedroom, 4? coax to living room, few more Cat-5, replaced the wall phone locs with Cat-5, left the patch panel, the 66 block (pre-wired for 2 lines) and the splitter array (divided for cable/antenna or whatever) on the plywood backboard. Everything neat and labelled.

Of course, I'll probably just run some conduit here and then run as needed. Maybe fiber :sneaky:

Of course, that is/was my day job, so...

 

[SithSolo1]

At this point I could care less if my house had zero phone jacks but I will not move to another house that isn't wired for Ethernet.

 

[OutHouse]

At this point I could care less if my house had zero phone jacks but I will not move to another house that isn't wired for Ethernet.

yip, in 2015 every room should have Ethernet and coax connections.

 

[Eug]

I wired my basement with multiple CAT5e/6 lines for each room. Each line can be used for either phone/fax or Ethernet.

As far as I'm concerned, this should be the standard.

Edit:

However, even if the existing lines are only CAT3, that can still be used for 10 Mbps Ethernet reliably, which is better than nothing... And nothing is what you'll get if you drywall them over. And if you're lucky you might even be able to get 100 Mbps out of it for short runs.

 

[sa7an1]

this was my exact situation..

wired ethernet will never go obsolete however (for inherent latency/bandwidthadvantages)

ehhhh fiber will replace it eventually

 

[twinrider1]

Cat 7, Cat 8... whatever it takes.

lol. Scotch?

 

[nageov3t]

At this point I could care less if my house had zero phone jacks but I will not move to another house that isn't wired for Ethernet.

really?

I mean, it's an easy-enough DIY project... seems almost like rejecting a house because you don't like the color the rooms are painted.

 

[Eug]

really?

I mean, it's an easy-enough DIY project... seems almost like rejecting a house because you don't like the color the rooms are painted.

Indeed.

If the house doesn't have Ethernet everywhere you can get it installed, but you don't necessarily have to for every single room since some rooms can be covered with WiFi.

I had no issues DIYing Ethernet BTW, but I won't DIY electrical or plumbing except in very specific simple situations.

 

[Jerem]

We just did a room that had 2 jacks, one for the phone and the other for the satellite box. Covered them both but took pictures with the measurements to show their location if we need them later. We're going to keep one phone jack in case we ever want/need a landline again. Haven't had one in ten years and we don't miss it though. Could use it for wired internet but since the house doesn't get any wired internet providers it would be pointless. Besides, those jacks will never be where I want them and I hate wires running all across the rooms.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If they're there and all work I'd leave em. I would not go out of my way to install any but if they're there may as well keep them. You never know. Typically use cordless phones now days so only really need a few jacks in central locations, but never know if you want to plug a corded one somewhere.

 

[mmntech]

Replace with RJ-45.

That's exactly what I'd do. If you're knocking out drywall anyway, it's not too big a job.

 

[Red Squirrel]

really?

I mean, it's an easy-enough DIY project... seems almost like rejecting a house because you don't like the color the rooms are painted.

Yeah, I did not see a single house that had ethernet jacks when I was house hunting. The key is making sure the basement ceiling is not drywalled. If it's not it makes the job super easy. I would never drywall a basement ceiling, and with a multi story house I'd even ensure to have tons of access panels on main floor or use fancy drop ceiling tiles. Attics arn't fun to work in.

 

[shortylickens]

I would never rip out perfectly good wire, but if I were building a new house I would only want one phone jack. Maybe put a base station in the utility room, and have cordless handsets all over the house.

 

[zanejohnson]

Your house is as big as a football field? Jeez.

it's oddly shaped, but yes.

it's shaped like two parallellagrams almost in the shape of an L, so from the furthest end (where my office is), to the front living area, 100 yards might have been a slight exaggeration, it's more like 40 yards

this pic kind of gives an idea of how weird the house is layed out, this is looking from the front living room looking owards the back living room (through the double doors, where the ping pong table is)

if you go left there instead of through those doors, that's where the kitchen is, on the other side of the kitchen is where my office is, and another bedroom, and a bathroom

 

[Blanky]

People saying replace with RJ 45 it's not like the wire magically gets pulled.

My house has only a single phone jack and does just fine with it. Landline is dead and I have my home phones all with satellite docking stations so only the main unit is wired in anyway.

 

[edro]

I tore a few out when we repainted. If the box was low and inconspicuous, I left it.

 

[slayer202]

Keep the phone lines, find/buy telephones and hook them up in every room, do not subscribe to telephone service.. it will confuse people, and you can find phones VERY cheap at good will so this will only cost you like a nickel or 25 cents ...

randomly pick them up and whisper strange things for maximum fun

 

[steppinthrax]

I guess not very many people here have fax machines. And no, standard fax machines generally do not work over VoIP.

Anytime I've had the FAX machine dilemma, I've either used the office fax (when at work) or went to a FedEx (Kinkos). I've never faxed enough to warrant a real fax machine. Most places allow you to email it.

 

[nageov3t]

Indeed.

If the house doesn't have Ethernet everywhere you can get it installed, but you don't necessarily have to for every single room since some rooms can be covered with WiFi.

I had no issues DIYing Ethernet BTW, but I won't DIY electrical or plumbing except in very specific simple situations.

yeah... other than my home office and living room, I can't think of any places in the house where I'd need a wired network connection.

wifi is fine for the bedrooms and kitchen unless your house is weirdly constructed such that it kills wifi signals.