How many wires (out of 8) are used in Cat 5 in a typical network?

[BillGates]

My dad just signed up for cable internet and wonders if I can help him network the house. There is Cat 5 cable run throughout the house with the thought of future expansion to this type of deal.... However, 4 of the wires of the 8 total are used for phone lines. Does anybody know exactly how many are used in a cat 5 cable to plug into a router/switch/cable modem?

Thanks!

 

[ScrapSilicon]

 

[Colt45]

4.. i think.

 

[Evadman]

ummm.... 8.

 

[Snuffaluffaguss]

Networking Forum would have better answere, but a cat 5 jack uses 4 wires (two pair) for data. its Pins 1,2,3,6, Pins 4,5,7,8 have no data sent on them but they are important because they eleminate cross talk. Youmight be able to get away with using the same cable for voice and data, but I don't think it will work very well or be up to spec.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Snuffaluffaguss
Networking Forum would have better answere, but a cat 5 jack uses 4 wires (two pair) for data. its Pins 1,2,3,6, Pins 4,5,7,8 have no data sent on them but they are important because they eleminate cross talk. Youmight be able to get away with using the same cable for voice and data, but I don't think it will work very well or be up to spec.

it most likely will degrade

 

[lowtech1]

4

 

[NutBucket]

He could prolly run base-10 with that setup. I think I know someone who has theirs setup like that.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: NutBucket
He could prolly run base-10 with that setup. I think I know someone who has theirs setup like that.

I could see base-10 on that. You may be able to hit 100 if the cable is shielded, but it will be close. I would stick with 10 unless you have some way to do error checking.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

8 are used. Twisted pairs... 4x2 = 8.

 

[d33pt]

there are 8 wires in a cat5 cable, but for 10baseT and 100baseTX, you only need pins 1,2,3,6 and the rest aren't needed so he can use the other 4 wires if he wants for phones if they get the pairs right. just make sure you use a pair for 1&2 and another pair for 3&6 and you'll be just fine. any other questons just PM.

 

[Jugernot]

Originally posted by: Evadman
ummm.... 8.

Ummmm..... No.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
8 are used. Twisted pairs... 4x2 = 8.

2x2=4. The other 4 are not needed but should not be used for telephones.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: d33pt
there are 8 wires in a cat5 cable, but for 10baseT and 100baseTX, you only need pins 1,2,3,6 and the rest aren't needed so he can use the other 4 wires if he wants for phones if they get the pairs right. just make sure you use a pair for 1&2 and another pair for 3&6 and you'll be just fine. any other questons just PM.

I was under the impression that you wouldn't use the other pairs for telephones.

 

[ScottMac]

Ethernet on UTP uses two pair (green and orange). It is a bad thing to mix phone & data in the same jacket, regardless of speed.

Chances are it's not Cat"anything:" chances are it's just plain ol' phone wire (DIW), which hold no category rating, and, as such, wouldn't be suitable for any networking (well, maybe Appletalk or that phonewire stuff that's been getting popular) ... with or without sharing pairs.

Pull some real cable..... do it right. If you don't wnat to, then pay the installer to do it: it'll save you many headaches later.

FWIW

Scott

 

[d33pt]

i think his situation is that there is already existing cat5 pulled, but 4 of the wires have already been taken up for phones...and he wants to use the other 4 for data. I say, try it first and see how it works...if you get packet loss then run new wire.. but since there's existing wire it doesn't hurt to just try it

 

[BillGates]

Originally posted by: d33pt
i think his situation is that there is already existing cat5 pulled, but 4 of the wires have already been taken up for phones...and he wants to use the other 4 for data. I say, try it first and see how it works...if you get packet loss then run new wire.. but since there's existing wire it doesn't hurt to just try it

He's right - there was Cat5 run throughout the house when we built it with the knowledge that home networking is something that would become more common (and desireable) in the future.

My uncle is an electrician and recommended it be done, and so it was. I guess it can't hurt to try wiring up one jack and see what happens. I also suggested wireless, but he isn't ready to drop that much cash yet - cable internet is already a nice jump for him...

 

[Mday]

when you get phone calls, your network will slow down or die. telephone lines use higher voltage, which will interfere with the network lines.

ethernet uses 4 wires. telephones use 2 for each line

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: d33pt
i think his situation is that there is already existing cat5 pulled, but 4 of the wires have already been taken up for phones...and he wants to use the other 4 for data. I say, try it first and see how it works...if you get packet loss then run new wire.. but since there's existing wire it doesn't hurt to just try it

He's right - there was Cat5 run throughout the house when we built it with the knowledge that home networking is something that would become more common (and desireable) in the future.

My uncle is an electrician and recommended it be done, and so it was. I guess it can't hurt to try wiring up one jack and see what happens. I also suggested wireless, but he isn't ready to drop that much cash yet - cable internet is already a nice jump for him...

go wireless 2.4ghz on the phones.. removing the phone system from the cat5 ...

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: d33pt
i think his situation is that there is already existing cat5 pulled, but 4 of the wires have already been taken up for phones...and he wants to use the other 4 for data. I say, try it first and see how it works...if you get packet loss then run new wire.. but since there's existing wire it doesn't hurt to just try it

He's right - there was Cat5 run throughout the house when we built it with the knowledge that home networking is something that would become more common (and desireable) in the future.

My uncle is an electrician and recommended it be done, and so it was. I guess it can't hurt to try wiring up one jack and see what happens. I also suggested wireless, but he isn't ready to drop that much cash yet - cable internet is already a nice jump for him...

go wireless 2.4ghz on the phones.. removing the phone system from the cat5 ...

Umm... phones would still be working on the four remaining wires regardless of cordless phone frequency...

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

1, 2, 3 and 6 are used in a typical cable.

If you have Gigabit UTP it uses all 8 though.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: Millennium

Originally posted by: ScrapSilicon

Originally posted by: BillGates

Originally posted by: d33pt
i think his situation is that there is already existing cat5 pulled, but 4 of the wires have already been taken up for phones...and he wants to use the other 4 for data. I say, try it first and see how it works...if you get packet loss then run new wire.. but since there's existing wire it doesn't hurt to just try it

He's right - there was Cat5 run throughout the house when we built it with the knowledge that home networking is something that would become more common (and desireable) in the future.

My uncle is an electrician and recommended it be done, and so it was. I guess it can't hurt to try wiring up one jack and see what happens. I also suggested wireless, but he isn't ready to drop that much cash yet - cable internet is already a nice jump for him...

go wireless 2.4ghz on the phones.. removing the phone system from the cat5 ...

Umm... phones would still be working on the four remaining wires regardless of cordless phone frequency...

Although you would have interference from the data lines. It would be better to run another spool of cat-5.

 

[gopunk]

hmm, my first guess was 5

 

[Scarpozzi]

If you're running 100Mbps, you'll need all 8, but you can run at 10Mbps using 4 of the 8 wires. As stated earlier, it's best not to mix data and phone on the same cable. You might get interference that way, plus it's just bad practice. There is voltage on phone wire and when the phone rings, it jumps up substantially (low current though). I suggest going to your local Home Depot and buying some CAT5 and running what you need to network your place. They can hook you up with everything you need.

 

[Jugernot]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
If you're running 100Mbps, you'll need all 8, but you can run at 10Mbps using 4 of the 8 wires. As stated earlier, it's best not to mix data and phone on the same cable. You might get interference that way, plus it's just bad practice. There is voltage on phone wire and when the phone rings, it jumps up substantially (low current though). I suggest going to your local Home Depot and buying some CAT5 and running what you need to network your place. They can hook you up with everything you need.

Wha..... NO. you only 4 for 100Mbit.... 1000Mbit requires all 8 wires.