Planning my panel and wiring...

rpiatt:
I think those are all based on the T568A wiring method. Notice how the 10 Base T Ethernet actually uses pair 1 and 2 of the T568A scheme. I believe 100mbit also uses only 2 pair but not sure if it's pair and 2. GigE apparently uses all 4 pairs.

So essentially they're all the same, just not all pairs/pins get used for all.

Same pairs, but different locations on the plug, so I can't necessarily automatically switch a phone 'line' over to a data 'line', can I?

Although the more I think about it. As long as the cable that connect to the jack is wired properly, it doesn't matter how the wiring between the keystones is, right? Because the wires aren't crossed-over, assuming I have done it right. So I wire the keystone in the panel and the keystone in the wall plat for Cat6 GigE, and as long I am connecting a phone source in the panel and a phone on the other end, I am good. Equivalently, I disconnect the phone source and the phone, and then hook up a GigE patch cor in the panel, and connect a piece of equipment requiring a data connection and I am good to go. Am I off here?
 
wow..i never knew a JR45 jack would accept a RJ11 plug, i had to go test myself and sure enough...

Glad to see I wasn't the only one. :blink:

I guess I am puzzled in only that I wonder if when I move out will it be confusing for the next homeowner if all they see is RJ45 jacks? (I mean, my undergrad is in computer science with a specialization in networking, and I didn't know it, but then again, I haven't done networking every day in 10 years).

This will sure make my purchasing easier, if not a little more expensive. Blue Cat6 for data, grey Cat6 for phone. Easy enough to understand.

I'll have to think on this some more, as I was planning to use a 110 punch down in my panel for phone and some 12-port vertical patch panels for data. I think that still applies.

I am by no means an authority, but I am about to wire my house up, so I've been doing some reading. Several points:

The future homeowner can just plug his regular phone in an rj45 and it will work. Assuming you have wired things correctly.

Mavric: yes, line one would use the blue/wht pair. Line 2, if would needed, would be pin 3 and 6 (the next two moving outward from the middle). Orange or green depending on 568A or B. And yes, you would want to label the jacks remotely DATA or PHONE to avoid noobs plugging in the wrong device. FWIW, ethernet 100baset only uses 4 wires, so you could theoretically have two phones lines plus data on one cat5e or cat6 run. Gigabit needs all 8 wires. In practice, terminate the catx run in the central closet to a 100block or patch panel, then you can change it from data to phone or vice versa anytime - no changes at the remote jack location except the label.

Rpiatt: I was planning on cat5e instead of cat6, but Monoprice has patch panels for either one. They punch down 110 block style. I was going to terminate all my runs to one of these (see below), then I can change anything around later in my central closet, no biggie. These panels can be used for voice and data. Actually, I plan to use them for my Elk security keypads and other items on the databus. Now that I think about, also for cat5e runs to my video locations that will use baluns. Plug short 1 or 2 foot pre-made patch cables from the panel to the network switch, or from the panel to the balun, etc. You get the idea.

Someone more proficient than I will jump in to fill in the blanks.. .

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OK - so, continuing on my background a little - I'm run the IT dept. for a multinational company with branch offices throughout the US and Latin America - so I set the standards, and over the years I've done a lot of the wiring myself and hired lots of vendors to do the offices too...

About 7 years ago I started the less-common but incredibly versatile trend of running Cat5e only to every office... A cube gets 3, an office gets 3 each on two opposing walls. I was just tired of having to grab tools to move phone lines, extensions, etc - and I was lucky enough that all of our offices have expanded over the last 5 years so I've gotten to re-wire every one in this fashion. Generally I fly to the site to manage the install and hook up the basics, then head home (I should send one of my guys, but I don't have anyone with the networking and telecom knowledge I have). The great thing is, because things are labeled and I keep pictures, even if I leave and they decide to reconfigure where their digital phones are, fax lines, and PC's, I can generally walk an unschooled admin through any change. And, I've never had to add wires to a single office again. Using the Cat5, I can pump video, powered ethernet, analog lines, digital lines, powered polycom phones, and anything else you can imagine through the Cat5. When sending a phone through, just use an RJ11 and it'll do just fine. You can also use RJ45 patch cables for phones if you're patching around a wiring closet - it doesn't make a difference - they're just more expensive.

In the past before I had laid the wires, or in extreme circumstances, I've done some trickery where a digital desk phone, an analog phone line, and a 100BT ethernet connection have all run through a RJ45 jack using splitters at the patch panel and jack. They also sell some standard splitters that'll let you run two 100BT connections over a single Cat5. Even today I showed someone how to send 4 phone lines over a single Cat5 through a single jack, then made a patch cable that was an RJ45 on one and and 4 RJ11's on the other end (dense modem-boards where I don't want 8 phone lines into a 1U server) just to make things cleaner.

Amazingly, your background is what causes the confusion - most people don't know the difference between RJ45, RJ11, USOC, or anything else - it's a modular-looking plug, and they'll try to plug anything that looks like it'll fit in it... I've learned that from years of working with not-so-bright users. Honestly, stick with the RJ11 or RJ45 using T568A or T568B (I'll only use the latter, but it doesn't matter as long as you're consistent on both ends) - and you'll never have an issue. For phone lines, they even sell some cool splitters which break out the lines and give you different combinations of Line1 & Line2 in different places, and Lines 3 & 4 on the primary pairs, etc. (RJ11 is meant for 2 lines - line one on the inner pair, line 2 on the outer pair - 2-line phones expect that).

One thing that does make things easy is keeping standards - we only use Siemon jacks (not the common Leviton) because they have a slot on top that lets you slide different indicators in (and you can order all types and colors) - that combined with standard cabling colors to differentiate between each type and you should be fine.

Also, I've been lucky - never once in any office has plugging a phone into a switch or weird things like that caused a problem... just in the old days when analog modems into digital phone lines did I see issues where the modem got cooked.

I could probably go on and add more, but I'm being handed the baby... so let me know if anything needs more details or clarification.
 
oh yeah - one more fun one... one year for a christmas party I was asked for in-sync music throughout the first floor... Couldn't find a reasonably cheap solution for one-time use, so I made some custom patch cables - RJ45 on one end, stereo 1/8th-inch mini jacks and plugs (some male, some female) on the other - and a myriad of splitters. Took the PC in the conf room playing christmas music and split the music with a splitter to the local amp plus into the server room, where we split it off to 6 other locations where we used these custom patch cables to go back into the speakers on peoples' desks and on other sets of speakers throughout the floor.

End result, for $10 I had a multi-room audio system with a master volume control in one room, or each room could switch to their local source or override volume.

Just shows the flexibility of Cat5 if you understand what you have available to you.
 
Standard Jack Wiring
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How does it differ when you get to 100 Base T and GigE? Cool diagram to have all in one place...

With 10BASE-T, 100BASE-T or 1000BASE-T you would use either T568A and T568B. All four pairs of a CAT5, CAT5e or Cat6 cable are used.

So in my case I'm installing a 42 Leviton SMC can recessed in the wall and using a Leviton 24-Port Structured Media™ Panel 47603-24P http://www.broadbandutopia.com/lev24porstru.html

I will be using CAT6 cable and wiring to the T568A standard so that I can easily switch from voice to data with a simple change of a patch cord. Levtion has not packaged this panel in CAT6 yet but with CAT5e I am able to obtain 1000BASE-T speeds.

The following link provides a more colorful picture of the wiring standards and make for a good picture to have laying around while your working on your cabling project.

http://www.lashen.com/vendors/Leviton/Data...68standards.pdf

If I'm off-base someone please chime in as I'm in the learning stage here. :blink:
Cheers
 
Todd - As I said previously (I think), I plan to use this experience in my townhouse as an really in-depth learning experience for when we move to a single-family home in 3 years or so...

Good post... Great Info...
 
OK. I thin I have my drops planned out... I am attaching a pdf of the table that outlines it.

I have modified this darn list about 600 times in the last two weeks. I wanted to get it up in front of some other eyes so I can finalize and move on (otherwise I'll roll through it again and again and never execute).

I have some specific questions I'll post tomorrow, but does anyone have any general thoughts?

(You'll note I have not identified any tools or anything yet. Plus I think I am missing a lot of "little" things...)
 

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I live in a "track" home (85 homes, three models in the community) and my home has ONLY Cat5e and RJ-45 jacks run to all the rooms via a central wiring closet. The closet then has a Leviton patch panel where you can select if you want phone or data to go to the jacks.

This is great and very versatile as I can mix and match the jacks (had extra's run through the house) as needed.

I also wired up my friend's custom home using only RJ-45 jacks and Cat5e using the same methodology. You just will not know the difference pluging an RJ-11 phone line into an RJ-45 jack.
 
BSR, I am glad that you (and others) chimed in here with your experiences. I was not even thinking that I could plug an RJ11 phone connector into an RJ45 Cat6 jack. More expense, but better and more flexible design (and the overall cost differences are minimal).

Here's a question: Right njow, using this line of thinking, I plan to use green keystones to indicate where something is wired for phone, and white keystones for data. Am I being too granular? Should I just make them all white and be done with it, and just label the wall plates somehow?

The flexibility is good, but I know I am moving in three years, so I want something that is easily understandable (by the next homeowner), and I thought a different color keystone might do that... But I am open to the possibility that I am over thinking it (as I thinhk Todd indicated in his post above)...
 
I would give each jack a unique ID, and add it to your wiring documentation (you do document everything, and keep it updated, right? :blink:). I.e., you could use something like "LR-01-02-01" which could mean "Living room, wall 01, outlet 02, jack 01".
 
I think it's just personal preference and a lot depends on how simple the "patching" boards are in the wiring closet.

With the Leviton kit I got the patching is really easy and I like the versatility of having a jack become a phone or network depending on what I patch into it (therefore I would want all the jacks the same color).

When I did my friend's install we made sure to have a cat5e and coax on either side of his rooms (i.e. left/right as you enter the rooms) so he would not have to run a cable "across" the room no matter how they arranged the furniture.
 
Looks like I need to go back and adjust my drops and such in each room. I did the curent listing based on what I new I had to connect now, but didn't necessarily consider the "both sides of the room" idea, except in the MBR. Since this is a retrofit, it isn't feasible to do this in every room (living room and Kitchen in particular). But the upstairs rooms and the den for sure...

I am not even sure I need to do separate color wires any more (Blue = Data and Gray = Phone)...

And of course, I will have everything documented... :D

Good thing my wife told me I didn't have to have all this done by the time the baby gets here (~8 weeks) :blink:
 
OK. I adjusted my drops layout to have the two in each room as was suggested above. More work, but darn good idea. For me, with the exception of the single jack phone drop in the kitchen, everything will have 2 cat6 keystones (Data and Phone) and 2 f-type keystones (cable and OTA HD).

I have changed the listing to "DropsList" and have now created a true "MaterialsList" which shows quantities and where I am seeing good prices. If you guys have any thoughts on quality fo items or even better pricing, I'd love to hear it.

As always, thoughts are appreciated...
 

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I too was pondering cable colors and keystone colors and the like.

My house (under construction) is sort of 'tract' but the builder is really flexible and it's turned pretty much into a custom home.

I didn't want to incur the extra cost for specifying specific colors of wiring to the electrician and LV contractor, i also sort of forgot about it. So i already have a mix before i even move in. That said with the RJ11 plug into a RJ45 jack i really don't see the need for different cat5 colors. It seems extremely likley that at some point the function of the wire will change (phone to data to video over balun, etc) so having the color reflect the function would only be consistent untill the first change... :blink:

My plan is to use all white keystones and label them (small label so it's not ugly). Anything that has a keystone will get terminated into the patch panel in the wiring closet. Anything that doesnt have a keystone at the other end (alarm keypads, audio keypads, etc) will get plugged directly into the end device. For anything patched I'll use a naming convention similar to what Dan suggested. I also have the construction plans in PDF so i mark them up with all the sensor and outlet locations and their ID's..

I'm not nearly as organized as rPiatt with lists and such yet. My wife always jokes that at work i'm super efficeint and organized but any simple home project requires at least 5 trips to Home Depot....hahaha...

Rpiatt, in your cost estimate i didnt see the shipping cost. Don't forget about that or you'll have a nasty budget surprise.

Can somebody please absolute confirm that plugging a PC or laptop into a jack that connects (via distribution board) to the phone company will NOT blow up the Ethernet card?
 
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