sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Phone Wiring

Hello.
I'm running new phone wire in my house.
What's there now is solid four-wire cable with red, green, yellow and black wires.
It has a few splices in it, which is why I want to replace it with new wire.
What kind of wire should I run from the outside interface box to the inside jacks?
Should I use a solid wire like what's there now, or some cat5e or cat6?
Thanks in advance!

The existing wire in the house (known as jk or "Jake") is getting difficult to find as it has become obsolete by the continued reduction in residential land line service.

If you stumble upon 2-pair CAT3 cable, that can be used as a direct replacement. Otherwise, for basic dial tone, CAT5e would be the way to go. Note: many, if not all, companies that still offer 4-pair CAT3 cable are, in reality, selling rebadged CAT5e cable that did not spec properly to be sold as CAT5e.

CAT6 is overkill for POTS lines.

It's a supply and demand thing. There isn't much demand for old fashioned 4 conductor telephone wire. But there is a big supply of data cable these days. As Dex has said, just buy some cat 5e. It's solid conductor. For POTS service, the most economical is to get some off brand at a big box store.

Jim

Thanks for the replies!
This will be used for internet into my house.
We have DSL so it runs through the phone line.
I guess I'll just get some cat5e then.
I didn't know it was solid wire.

The stuff that goes in walls or pipes or on telecom backboards should be solid.

A patch cable should be stranded. The stranded patch cable will withstand the abuse or being moved around and plugged in and out of jacks.

Cat5 is great for phone and dsl. They should give you a modern NIU with a dsl splitter in it too. It will reduce noise and cross talk on your dsl to filter it starting there. They should also have 4 or 6 slots for additional phone connections. I always put each run available on its own port to make trouble shooting easier.

Also make sure that any cable that is exposed outside as it transitions into your NID is an outdoor rated cable. I see too many instances where electricians, DIY'ers, etc. run the same wire that was used inside, out thru the wall to the NID/demarc. If it is not outdoor rated, after a few years of UV light, temperature changes, rain/snow, that wire will crumble and fall apart.