sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Home Cabling Question

At this point I doubt that the sync light is going out.

Are you static or dynamic?
which option brings back Internet
1. You reboot the modem or
2. You reboot the router


There is a term I know you have heard at least once if you have called support on this. "sync no surf"

95% of the time this is the case, for example if the CO has upgraded the dsam or changed software versions (happens often). The other cause for no surf if you are dynamic your modems ability to forward the changed information, this happens every time the isp forces an ip change (when your lease time runs out) I have also seen this when the isp does not have enough addresses to accommodate the demand. They force a disconnect usually late at night in order to free up ip's.

This brings another question. Are you pppoe or ?

To prove Ed's point a bit further just look at the cable that feeds the DSL modem. Is it an average 2 conductor stranded cat3 at best cable just like all the other line cables used to connect generic telephones? The ones that come in the box with a new modem are.

Something I have been thinking about....I agree cat3 is more then ample for phone lines and it is what I normally use...but now with the introdution of fiber to the home...FIOS in verizon land...do you see any benefits to using cat5e for voice?

I don't, not for voice. Ed's pipe explanation in reverse. The fiber is just to get more stuff to your house. Like Hal said you still have the flat silver satin cat nothing cords to the phones. I see no benefit to CAT 5 for voice. Bell Labs developed cable with an adequate twist to eliminate x-talk as far as the cable goes and as Ed said, CAT 3 is better than plant cable when it comes to x-talk. Jerry hope were not going off on a tangent on ya. Hop in here and let us know, it's your thread.

You're getting many responses about wire. Presuming all wiring is fine, access your modem programming. There should be a diagnostic tab and a history log. The less expensive speedstream models have a higher failure rate than you might think! Visit broadbandreports.com when everything is working and search for your modem.
Let us know what you find out.

FIOS in verizon land...do you see any benefits to using cat5e for voice?

No difference at all. Each optical terminal (1 fiber from the street) gives you 4 pots lines for voice, 1 ethernet port for internet and an "F" connector for video (cable TV). It's said that shortly there will be an 8 POTS line version available. .

Obviously the run from the ethernet port to your router needs to be CAT5 but the POTS lines are still POTS lines. The connections are like any DEMARC, gel filled IDC and RJ-11 test. You use RG/6 to feed your CATV distribution as always too. I understand that they will be using Motorola set top boxes.

So there is really nothing different, just everything is supplied from one little box instead of separate services.

-Hal

if phones move towards an ip base in the future, i don't see why cat5 wiring would be a bad thing.

I really think we need to keep this on topic to address Jerry's problem. I know he asked about CAT 5, but that's been answered. If we need a debate as to the values of placing CAT 5 everywhere let's start a new thread.

ev607797; I had done a little looking around and am not 100% sure what you want updated in my profile, but I will look more into it in a few minutes. I am sure it is written in a guideline somewhere that I have overlooked.

I understand yours pipe analogy, but don't understand why you would be against Cat5 for IW. What I was trying to say is that it is a better quality cable that allows for more expansion. For the price difference of the cable combined with the labour rate to install, the cost different is quite insignificant.

Now, would I reccomend re-running all of the cable throughout the house just to have Cat5 instead of Cat3? Well, that depends. In any new construction, I would definitly reccomend against Cat3. If there are renovations going on inside the house that will make it more difficult to upgrade the cable in the future - definitly! I'm not trying to insinuate that your telephone is going to sound better if your on a higher grade of cable, just the cable runs will be more useful. As I am sure everyone here knows it is much easier to use cable already in the wall then to spend the time tryign to fish finished spaces.

In my house I have two Cat5 runs to each room. One is on voice and the other is for data. They all go back to the dmarc, with the data ends being terminated to a panel and are powered by a modem and router.

I have actually seen instances where the attenuation from the dmarc to the modem is higher than the line from the CO to the dmarc because there is a bad pair in a two pair wire. Of course the other pair is already used up by a telephone line. Too bad there isn't Cat5 run there.

I love to see Cat5 home runs to the dmarc. With everything moving towards IP based systems, it makes installing much neater and cleaner. It makes it easy to have a modem/router at the dmarc to distribute data throughout a house. Just my opinion is all... didn't mean to offend anyone with it.

I disagree with the statement that Cat5 doesn't have any advantages when it comes to voice lines. The electrical advantages (twists reducing cross-talk) alone are one advantage. On top of that, home runs of Cat5 to the dmarc are very convienient to change into data lines. Its also nice to be able to run a modem and telephone on the same cable without worrying about ringing voltage bothering your connection. Also nice to have extra pairs to swap to just incase. For the price of cat5, I don't understand why anyone still uses cat3 or two pair.

Sorry, what you say just indicates your inexperience. POTS lines were in existance and providing telephone service to most of the world ages before whoever created CAT5 was even a gleem in their mother's eye. If you are experiencing crosstalk problems it's because the wiring you are using is not twisted pair, not because it's not of any "category rating". When standards were developed it was determined that CAT3 was more than sufficient, due to it's twists per foot to become the standard for voice wiring. Again, there is absolutely no advantage gained by using anything higher.

It also seems you do not know that "category rated" wire and cable is available from one pair to multiples of 25 pair.

If you are new to this world and datacentric you won't understand that things are done differently in the telecom business. The major reason we use CAT3 wiring, aside from cost is the ease of termination. It's very difficult and time consuming to untwist the pairs on CAT5 and above for termination, particularly on 66 blocks but even 110 and jacks require untwisting. Over time this can lead to carpal tunnel and other repetitive motion disorders. So using CAT5 for voice, in all but the smallest installations is not only unnecessary but a real disadvantage.

-Hal