ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Phone & CATV

The ISP guy I was talking about insisted that the DSL modem could only be at the first jack even with correctly installed filters.

Over here, the service provider normally sends a few in-line filters with the "free" modem package, with the usual instructions to use them on all telephone equipment. If I find problems it's often caused by somebody who either just missed one or more phones, or who didn't realize that things like dial-up modems and satellite receiver phone lines also have to go through the filter.

I usually try to persuade people to go with a single filter at the demarcation point to keep things simpler. These are our standard master jacks, which also serve as the demarc between TelCo and customer wiring:

http://www.austin-taylor.co.uk/pages/nte5.htm

We can get DSL filters which are designed to replace that lower removable panel and come with filtered and unfiltered terminals on the rear for extension wiring, like these:

http://www.adslnation.com/products/xtespec.php

Note that the unfiltered DSL connection is RJ11 configuration, the filtered voice jack is the standard BT431 phone connector.

As our standard voice extensions use white/blue for the line, plus one side of the white/orange pair for the bell feed, I usually run the unfiltered line on white/green then use a two-module extension jack assembly where DSL may be required.

Running cat 5 for that last 100 feet makes sense in future possibilities. It is pretty hard to upgrade premis wiring after the drywall is on. Sure if all you ever carry is simple voice then cat 5 is way over the top. If your telco starts adding TV or Video or Internet as Telus is doing here then installing cat 5 can have a payoff for the customer. Our Telco specs cat 3 as a minimum and that beats Z station wire. The cost of cat 5 over cat 3 is around 3 to 7 cents a meter. On a house that is not that much more.

True - you do not need Cat-5 for voice - However, you talk to you customer one day, and they say, "My desk is going to be over here, with my modem, and I have a network printer over there, and my personal assistants desk will be down stairs..." Then the next day - or more correctly the day they move in - it ALL CHANGES. Then you have a bunch of cat-3 in the wall that you can't "re-purpose" nessesarily - where with cat-5 you could. And not to mention several supply houses here have stopped carrying Cat-3 altogether.... It's now a special trip for me to get it.

I have also started running RG6 to every jack just due to people wanting cable modems, and SATV. Hey - they pay for it, and are well aware of the cost before I start...

In Canada here is what the 4 ILEC's recommend for residential wiring taken from their web pages. Working west to east.

BC and Alberta Telus cat 5 to each jack

Saskatchawan SaskTel cat 5 to each jack

Manitoba MTS Allstream cat 3 and cat 5 (cat 5 for digital tv if required later at that location)

Everything east of Manitoba Bell Canada 3 pair cable cat not specified