Newbie wants to add digital phone line

[cat00x]

I have 2 digital phone lines coming into the house as well as cable modem. My husband and I have been sharing an office in the front of the house and we are now going to split up the office, move him to the room in the back of the house and move me to the room in the garage behind the house. I already have one of the phone lines out there (the one we use for the fax), and want to move the other line out there, and would rather not pay to have Comcast come out to do it. I looked at the wiring where the guy connected the first phone.

I've been reading these threads and have a few questions. Is a cat5 cable what I have? Does that mean I could hook the second line up to the same cable that is currently going out to the back house? Since this ends at a box with a phone connection I ***ume that means I'll either have to get a different kind of box or a second box and connect the wires to it? Is there anything I need to know in regard to hooking up a second line? What's with the different colors? Does it make a difference which ones are used for what?

Since the wires are already going out there is it possible to hook up a cable modem to the same line or am I really pushing it <g>?

Another thought: what about wireless phones? Is there a way to have a wireless phone and base out back that receives a signal from inside the house? That would solve the whole phone wiring problem. We've been thinking that we would go wireless for the cable to the computer, so maybe it's possible to do the same thing with the phone?

Thank you so much for your help. I feel like an idiot. <g>

[chirkware]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by saying you have "2 digital phone lines coming into the house". Are you saying that you have no traditional phone line, but instead are using some kind of VoIP phone service that comes in over your cable modem?


Whatever the case, I think I can offer something that may help...assuming you are using plain telephones. You asked about cordless phones where the base could be at the house and the handset @ the detached garage. EnGenius makes such a phone. I know of a facility that has about 14 buildings, with the EnGenius base in the middle building. The handset works from *anywhere* on their campus (their security guy uses it). Expect to pay a couple hundred $$ for one...you might check out ebay.

[cat00x]

Hi Chirkware, thanks for your reply.

My understanding is that instead of traditional phone lines I now have digital phone lines (installed by AT&T, and now maintained by Comcast). The actual lines are just like regular phone lines, and the connections are to our regular phone jacks, so I guess it's just the mode of transport into the house.

I'll check out the phones, but was hoping not to spend too much money on this thing. Maybe it would be worth it in the long run.

thanks for your help!
C.

[KaosX]

What you'll want to use is Category 3 cable (it's cheaper than cat5 and youll actually never need the cat5 for voice transmissions anyway). You can do one of a few things. You can either splice off of a existing jack and run the line from there. or alternatively and preferably run a new cable from the NID (box on the side of the house, sometimes inside the house) to where you needit to go. The nice thing about using cat3/5 cable is that there are 4 pairs of cable, if you have a 2wire system (which most are) you can simply use another set of the pairs for another line somewhere.

[chirkware]

OK...I gather then that your phone lines come into a box (called a NID) on the outside of your house and then are distributed from there.

I'll try to answer some of your original questions now...


SNIP...move me to the room in the garage behind the house. I already have one of the phone lines out there (the one we use for the fax), and want to move the other line out there, and would rather not pay to have Comcast come out to do it. I looked at the wiring where the guy connected the first phone.

I've been reading these threads and have a few questions. Is a cat5 cable what I have?


What did you find when you looked at this wiring? Did the cable have four wires in it, eight wires, or what? How did it connect?

Whether it is Cat5 is not too important for phones. Cat3 works fine, as does the older four-wire telephone cable.


Does that mean I could hook the second line up to the same cable that is currently going out to the back house?


If you want to swap what line goes out there, no problem. If you want BOTH lines out there, that is duable if there are at least 4 wires in the cable that goes from the house to the garage, and the cable is not physically damaged.



Since this ends at a box with a phone connection I ***ume that means I'll either have to get a different kind of box or a second box and connect the wires to it?


Is this "box" a surface mount jack similar to this? (http://doityourself.com/store/6876544.htm)

If so, you can either add a second box beside the first, replace it with a box that has two RJ11 jacks, or simply plug in a splitter that gives you line A and line B (you can only do this if the current jack has line B connected to the outer pins). I'd recommend a box with two RJ11's to keep things clean, neat, and simple.



Is there anything I need to know in regard to hooking up a second line? What's with the different colors? Does it make a difference which ones are used for what?


If your cable has four wires, then they are probably Red-Green for line one, and Black-Yellow for line two.

If there are eight wires, then they are probably blue-white/blue for line one, and brown-white/brown for line two.

Any pair of wires will technically work, but I strongly urge you to use the standard wire pairings to avoid future confusion. Of course, go with whatever is currently in use throughout the house.



Since the wires are already going out there is it possible to hook up a cable modem to the same line or am I really pushing it <g>?



Cable modems do not connect to phone lines, so I'm not sure I understand your question. Besides, you do not want a second cable modem, as you would have to pay extra for it. For multiple computers, you want a cable modem connected to a router/firewall, and your computers "connected" to the router/firewall. I use quotes around connected because this connection may be wireless. Your best bet to get internet capability to the detached building is to go wireless. How far apart are the buildings?