Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] home rewiring: the next to final chapter?

[Mikhail Kovalenko <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Jonathan King wrote:
> 
[...]
> Getting to the cat5, I presume I can take the two cables and make
> one into a standard phone line for now, and the other into an
> ethernet port.  Then, whenever I need to, I can move the phone over
> and use the whole second wire for whatever.  Or, is there any reason
> to put everything in the one cable to start and save the second
> "virgin" one for a rainy day?

Now, my telco friend recommends separating the Ethernet and phone
services into different cables. At this point it is really your call.

[...]
> Then, once that
> end is connected up, what would be a reasonable and cost effective
> way to split out the inside phone lines?  Originally, I'd thought
> "patch panel", but it looks like that requires yet another different
> set of tools (punch-down?) and is error-prone.  If that's the
> answer, I can put something together I think.  For the ethernet
> stuff, Misha Kovalenko convinced me it's just as easy to put in a
> double-gang box with a bunch of RJ-45 jacks wired up in it, and
> then just use patch cables to hook up to my switch/hub.  I guess
> there wouldn't be such a thing as a cheap and reliable telephone
> hub, would there?  (Yes, I'm naive...why do you ask?)

>From looking at Ethernet patch panels and comparing them to what a
double- or a triple-gang faceplate filled with RJ-45 snap-ins looks
like, there's very little difference. For phone stuff, if you want to
keep it neat, you'll still want to go with a (inexpensive) panel.
 
> Oh yeah: a simple question.  How long a "tail" should I leave coming
> out of the boxes before the drywall dudes come in?  I've got very
> very very long tails now, since I didn't want to screw up in the
> other direction, but I don't want stuff to get in the way...

Those boxes aren't very big, I wouldn't leave more than a 1-1.5 feet.
You can feed the extra cable back into the wall. The most trouble here
comes from those fat TV cables because they don't bend well and don't
fit in the boxes :)

-- 
MK
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