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Telephone / Data Wiring Question

Tempting
Grafter
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Registered: ‎27-01-2016

Telephone / Data Wiring Question

I've been asked to follow some instructions left with a an elderly relative by a BT engineer, this is NOT a Plusnet line but I'd appreciate some advice and as I am a Plusnet customer I know everyone here is extremely helpful and knowledgeable.

I am finding the instructions a little confusing. The engineer did not complete the work as he did not have any CAT5 cable apparently.

 

The idea is to improve the speed of my relative's  FTTC internet service (Currently only getting 4MB) The engineer has left a MK4 front plate with instructions to run CAT5 from the IDC on the rear of the frontplate (I understand this front plate has the equivalent of an inbuilt micro filter) to a new RJ45 outlet and plug the router directly into the new RJ45 outlet.

Unfortunately the instruction did not even say which reminals to krone the CAT5 into but running CAT5 to a new RJ45 outlet will not permit the modem / router to be plugged into the new outlet as the modem / router has an RJ11 (?) normal lead.

Does anyone know what the instructions actually mean?

 

 

29 REPLIES 29
Baldrick1
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

You are not the only one who is confused. You will never get a faster download speed by putting the router on the end of an extension cable. Maybe the opposite though!

Is the problem one of poor wireless speed? Again this is far from the ideal solution. 

Can you confirm whether the problem is low download speed to the router or poor wireless performance, if it is the latter we will be able to start again with some logical suggestions.

 

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Tempting
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

The issue is that of a poor sync speed between modem / router and exchange (or whatever is the other end) and therefore poor download speed. Wireless in the house is fine.

FTTC is giving sync of around 4MB and BT engineer says there is nothing wrong with the wiring between house and cabinet so this is his solution.

The PC is hard wired (CAT5 patch cable) to the modem / router which is located next to the PC. The modem / router is connected to a secondary telephone socket. I assumed that using CAT5 to the new face plate would be better than standard phone cable and also eliminate any problems with house phones (which there isn't as far as we know)

 All house phones have micro filters attached and all filters have been replaced in case one of them was faulty and causing issues.

 Is there any chance that this idea (what ever is actually means) would provide a cleaner signal to the modem / router by coming off the rear of the face plate?

I'm happy to wire this but actually don't know what is being suggested in terms of connection as it is clearly not just running the extension socket in CAT5 (rather than telephone cable)

 

dvorak
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

Moderators Note.
Moved to tech help as it's not related to PN services.
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ejs
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

It's not so much the quality of the cable that is the issue, it's the arrangement of the wiring.

Having the VDSL2 signals going down bits of extension wiring that don't have the modem at the end creates problems with reflected / distorted signals, the wiring problem is technically known as a "bridged tap". That scenario is what the B range of estimate speeds is (or should be) for.

Putting the modem on the end of a single extension socket is no worse than making the line however many metres the extra cable is longer. Yes strictly speaking it's going to be worse than connecting the modem at the master socket with the shortest possible cable, but the effect of making your line maybe 20 metres longer tends to have no significant difference.

So yes, fitting the filtered faceplate and having a single DSL extension socket should be an improvement on a multiple microfilter arrangement.

Tempting
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

Thanks for that @ejs Could you confirm what type of socket  the connections that come from the IDC from the rear of the face plate should feed into (RJ11 ?) and to which pins do I connect the two wires (from the rear of face plate) in the new RJ11 socket.

 

Any ideas why the BT engineer referred to a new RJ45 socket? Do you think he meant RJ11?

Mustrum
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

Have a look at the video's from My Mate Vince, they should help understand where you can use RJ45.

RobPN
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question


@Tempting wrote:

 

 

Any ideas why the BT engineer referred to a new RJ45 socket? Do you think he meant RJ11?


@Tempting

An RJ11 plug will connect to an RJ45 socket - try it and see for yourself!

Tempting
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

OK, so an RJ11 plug will technically fit into an RJ45 outlet, but which pins on the RJ45 outlet do I connect the pair from the IDC on the rear of the face plate to? As opposed to pins 2 & 5 where you're used to connecting wires on a telephone outlet I assume it is the centre 2 pins on the RJ45 i.e. pins 4 & 5 ?

I would have thought that it was not a good idea to connect a filtered DSL line to an  RJ45 socket as the difference in sockets aid easy identification, not so important in a domestic situation I guess.

PeeGee
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

just had a quick look at a "redundant" faceplate and the connection is:

faceplate - RJ45

A (grnd) to 5

B (-50v) to 4

Phil

Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
VileReynard
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

Actually, if you are inserting any wiring into the master socket (with a krone tool) you may get into legal difficulties.

You might need to pay BT to do the job.

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twocvbloke
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question


@VileReynard wrote:

Actually, if you are inserting any wiring into the master socket (with a krone tool) you may get into legal difficulties.


 

Wiring up to the faceplate is up to the customer, wiring up to the master socket from the outside is up to Openreach, hence the removable faceplate which is a demarcation point for supplier hardware to customer hardware... Smiley

ejs
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

The DSL extension socket will need to be wired to the terminals for that purpose on the MK4 faceplate, and the NTE5C and MK4 faceplate have cam lock connectors, no krone tool is used.

ReedRichards
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

In the early days of FTTC, an engineer would visit your house and replace the Master Socket with a filtered on that split-off the broadband signal at at point, so you were (more-or-less) obliged to have the router next to the Master Socket.  That works around any problems with your internal house phone wiring, which can act like a radio aerial under certain circumstances.  That is the best configuration to use, but you can try it out to see if you really do get a better sync speed provided you have a wireless or portable device you can connect to your router with (disconnect the internal phone wiring when your try).  If that works then you either need a WiFi adaptor for the computer (£20) or you run an Ethernet cable from the router to the computer.    

PeeGee
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Re: Telephone / Data Wiring Question

@VileReynard The current setup has two removable plates, one having A/B punch-down connectors.

Phil

Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.