TELCO wire (old) VS CAT5 or 6?

[mrbubl]

Does CAT 3 or > a "better" signal than standard 4 wire TELCO cable? If one was to rewire from the NIB-NIC with CAT wire will their electrons travel better? read faster connection and the like?

[buffalobill]

i don't know, but twisted pairs can eliminate crosstalk in multiple phone lines buildings.

[<aemeijers]

&#39;TELCO&#39; hasn&#39;t installed any 4-wire interior wiring in decades. The faux old-style cable available in the stores is mostly junk. Buy the real stuff- it doesn&#39;t cost much more.

For simple POTS voice service, assuming the outside plant in your neighborhood is any good, damn near anything will work. If NIB-NIC means you want to go from the demarc to the computer, a direct line using cat5e will likely give you a cleaner signal, since the twisting cuts down on the noise and cross-talk. If you are doing the whole house, definitely use cat5e or higher, just so you never have to do it again. A direct line from demarc to computer can make DSL a lot less fussy, if the rest of the inside wiring is crap.

This place needs a rewire pretty bad, but since I can only get 40k dialup at the demarc, it ain&#39;t real high on my priority list.

aem sends...

[mrbubl]

I am 17K&#39; away from the CO,and can only get 768K DL and had 1.5 before with another provider. House has OLD 4 wire and I can easily run CAT5-6 for the ADSL new from the demarc to the server. Don&#39;t really care about voice on this line as it is a data line primarily. The OLD 4 wire was run by the TELCO way back when 60&#39;s-70&#39;s as a voice line but would like to increase my DL speed.

CO did a line check and said there was an error on the line but then called back and said test was a false + but tried to uncap the line to

1.5 but kept loosing sync. There opinion was everything on there side was good so that caused me to think I could run a new CAT5-6 line to the server and things on my side would be "better".

[bill allemann]

why not just run some cat5 and find out?

[Jim Redelfs]

Yes.

You will likely not notice an improvement in xDSL performance as the technology runs just fine over even the oldest "standard" phone wire, including the old, 3-conductor "JK" cable (red/green/yellow).

Your best bet to improve DSL performance is to install a whole-house filter at the SNID/demarc/protector then run a dedicated, UNFILTERED pair directly to the DSL modem. This eliminates the need for all those little "dongle" filters hanging around the house and generally improves DSL stability. When attempting a repair on a flaky DSL service, this is the FIRST thing I do.

[w_tom]

1960 style wiring (and things on those phone line you don&#39;t know about) might seriously degrade that ADSL signal. Current requirements (recommendation) even from the FCC is for Cat3 wire or better.

First, an ADSL modem (better types) provides information about signal strength. A number to find and record before starting to debug.

Second, disconnect the entire house at that demarc. Connectc ADSL modem directly to demarc so that your wiring is not used. Then again, read what those signal strength numbers are. You can &#39;try this and try that&#39;. But getting those numbers and doing that simple experiment will provide far more useful information - and result in more useful replies.

[Steven Stone]

| | 1960 style wiring (and things on those phone line you don&#39;t know |about) might seriously degrade that ADSL signal. Current requirements |(recommendation) even from the FCC is for Cat3 wire or better.

In my area the local telcos used heavier gauge wire in the 1950&#39;s thru early 1970&#39;s for home telco wiring than used today. Some of the real old stuff from before the 1950&#39;s in my grandparents homes was twisted pair.

My telco guru suggests you use CAT5 from the demarc box to your DSL modem

[Mark Lloyd]

That 3-pair stuff I described earlier (green&greenstripe, blue&bluestripe, orange&orangestripe) in the 1969 house was twisted, although not as twisted as CAT5.