Update your telephone cable to handle high-speed data.
Cat-5 cable is the current standard for telephone and data lines. Older telephone cable is now obsolete. Older cable can become brittle and crack, which will result in a poor quality connection. Telephone cable routes from a telephone box outside the house, through several rooms in the house. The cable is continuous and it typically ends at the telephone jack furthest from the entrance box. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Open all the telephone jacks in the house, and remove the old wires from the jacks. Go into the attic and locate where the wire comes up through the joist nearest the jack that is closest to the outside telephone box.
2. Cut the cable in the attic one foot above where it goes through the joist. Strip 2 inches of the outer insulation from the old cable that is going toward the outside telephone box. Strip the Cat-5 cable the same way. Loop the individual wires on the Cat-5 cable back on themselves. Loop the old wires through the loops and tightly wrap the ends of the wires with electrical tape. Make sure none of the looped wire is visible.
3. Pull the old wire from the outside box, until one foot of new wire comes through. Cut off the old cable and discard.
4. Strip 2 inches off the wire going through the rafter. Measure an additional 18 feet of Cat-5 wire and loop it back on itself at the midpoint. Do not cut the Cat-5 cable. Wrap old wire around the Cat-5 wire at the center of the loop. Wrap black tape around the connection. Use the old wire to pull the Cat-5 wire down to the first telephone jack. You will now have two Cat-5 wires coming through the first telephone jack opening.
5. Follow the old wire in the attic until you find the next place the wire goes through the rafter to the next jack. This is called a wire drop. Cut the cable in the attic one foot above where it goes through the joist. Do not cut the Cat-5 cable in the attic.
6. Repeat Steps 4 and 5 for any additional wire drops until you have pulled new wire to each of the telephone jacks. Connect the Cat-5 wire to each of the telephone jacks. If the old wire colors were blue and orange, connect the new wires the same as the old wires. If the old wire had different colors, connect the white and white/blue wires to pair #1 and connect the orange and white/orange wires to pair #2.
7. Check all wire connections and assemble the telephone jacks back the way they were. Connect the new cable at the outdoor telephone box. Test all of the jacks with a working telephone.
Tags: Cat-5 cable, Cat-5 wire, telephone jacks, cable attic, goes through, telephone cable, telephone jack
