atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Should CAT 5 data terminate on a shared 66 block with a phone system ?

Hello.

The builder of house has most walls wired with CAT 5 however no Ethernet Jack.

The few places that do have a CAT 5 Ethernet Jack terminates in the phone room on the same 66 punch block as the phone system. This was done by the builder or someone he contracted with.

Can you tell me if this is normal to have CAT 5 cable intended for data to terminate on a 66 punch down phone block shared with a phone system? Will this create impedance, Interference, Cross talk or other problems with the data transfer?

I was always under the impression that data should terminate at a 110 patch panel not a 66 punch down block shared with a phone system.

To make matters worse, there are some rooms that only have 1 CAT5 cable for both phone and data.

Please let me know if this is a serious problem or if you had any ideas on how the proper way to do in this type of situation?

Thanks for your help.

This has been discussed many times. Termination to a 66 block is fine and the builder got what he paid for! The fact that you're asking the question tells me you already know the answer. Voice and data in a single pipe is NOT an excepted practice but it will work.

no ethernet shouldn't punch down to a 66 block it ought to go to a patch panel .

how would you go from the 66 block to he switch ?

punched down patch cord ?

I would have to disagree that terminating a ethrnet cable to a 66 block is "fine "

evan a "shared cable ought to have the Ethernet portion terminating to patch panel with the voice pairs removed

Not that this is the way it should be done. You could take some CAT 5 put a mod end on it and go from your 66 block to your hub/router. Or if you insist on a patch panel take some CAT 5 from the 66 block to the patch panel. I think patch panels are way over priced and over rated for small jobs, just another connection to go bad. Most 66 blocks are CAT5 rated. Don't punch down a patch cord, 66 blocks are not designed for stranded wire.

If I read your question I think you are saying that it is the 66 block that is shared, not the CAT5 cables. If that is the case pull the data cables off, install a patch panel and re-terminate them on it.

No way should voice and data share the same block. No way should they share the same cable.

Since this is obviously a hack job I would open every jack to verify how the cable was terminated on it. Don't be surprised at what you may find.

-Hal

Contrary to others, a 66 block is more than capable of being used for data. Assuming they are using a Cat 5e 66 block. It is fully capable of supporting up to gigabit ethernet, which I'm sure is more than what someone in a house will be running. In general everyone prefers to use patch panels for the ease of use.
Sharing the same cable for both Voice and Data may not be the best idea however. On the same block will cause no problems.

No, I never said that 66 blocks didn't support CAT5e. It's just never a good idea to have voice and data on the same block because of confusion and possible miswiring it could cause. Ring voltage on an NIC will fry it.

Voice on a 66 block and data on a patch panel eliminates confusion and makes connection to the respective equipment what it should be.

-Hal

I use patch panels when needed, but I do think they are over used. A small business that once the network is up and running and never changes doesn't need a patch panel, it's over kill. Personally I'd just run from the jack to the hub and put a mod end at the hub, with a good slack loop so if ever needed it could be terminated in a patch panel. I'm talking 8-10 or less, with no activity expected after things are up. I have seen 24 and 48 port patch panels in offices that have 2 or 3 network cables, stupid and expensive. At least put in a small 12 port. This is the way I do it, not saying your wrong for using the patch panels, but I do think you're causing excess cost to your customers if they are not needed. I do agree that data and voice shouldn't share the same block and that goes for sharing the same panel and jack type also.

Personally I'd just run from the jack to the hub and put a mod end at the hub...

Exactly, I do that all the time too. Fine for smaller installations that don't change and saves the cost of the patch panel.

-Hal

I do know that using only 2 pairs(Orange and Green) for data and using 2 pairs for voice(blue and brown) can work(but not recommended this way)

However, this question was if they could both be terminated in a 66 block shared with a phone system.

I was concern there was issues interference caused by the phone system on the 66 block if perhaps the 66 block was design for voice.

There have been times when using a tone generator on a phone line that I could detect small amount of the tone on close by wires(other than the one I was toning).

I was thinking that the phone system's 66 block does not isolate the connect well enough however and it might be better to try to disconnect the wires I was either

1.Removing the lines from the 66 block than connect the 2 pairs to a RJ45 jack than connect a cable to the switch(bypassing the 66 block) or

2. I could use the 66 Block and connect a cable down to the switch.

If there are no issues with using the 66 block, maybe the second option would be ok?

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks