Now, I have a question: Why do people think that they need to run CAT5 cable for voice? That is the functional equivalent of running 8/3 Romex for a bathroom fan. Talk about overkill and wasted money. Voice (phone lines) arrive to the premises via "category nothing" cable that runs for miles and miles. Using CAT5 or better for the last 100 feet isn't going to do anything to improve the signal quality. It will certainly empty wallets a bit faster though.
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...
