Turn two phone cables into a cat5 connection?

[PudgyChicken]

Hello,
I have a terrible wireless connection (50 Kb/s out of 20Mb/s). I wanted to run a cat5 cable to connect directly to my router, but my landlord said no. I do, however, have two parallel phone lines that go from my room to near my router. As each phone line consists of 4 cables and a cat5 connection consists of 8, would it be possible to crimp the ends together and create a functional cat5 line?

Thanks!
PudgyChicken

 

[Guest]

Possibly but just make damned sure the phone lines are not connected to the phone network or anyone's phone !!!

 

[PudgyChicken]

Alrighty! I'll give it a try and post back if it works.

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't try crimping plugs -- just cut up an ethernet cable and connect the bare wires.

 

[Emerald]

the phone lines could be a CAT3 cable which is rated at 10Mb.

you only need one of them since CAT5e only uses two pairs/ four wires. one pair uses Pin 1+2 the other Pin 3+6.

on a phone connector one pair uses Pin 1+4 and the other Pin 2+3.

 

[gtvr]

I wouldn't try crimping plugs -- just cut up an ethernet cable and connect the bare wires.

lolwut?

What would you connect the wires too? your rj45 jack?

Emerald is right. However, you would also have to worry about are the wires split anywhere behind the walls, or do they pass through a junction box or anything. If so, you are probably very out of luck.

 

[Guest]

lolwut?

What would you connect the wires too? your rj45 jack?



I'm sorry -- do you have a point to make ?

 

[Emerald]

actually I would crimp RJ45 connecters and use CAT5 couplers

 

[Guest]

I was thinking simple block connectors (plastic mouldings with screwfit connections common in Europe and, presumably, elsewhere). Used them to create an ethernet crossover cable -- probably offensive to an engineer but it works.

 

[gtvr]

I'm sorry -- do you have a point to make ?

Yes, that you can't just use wires for ethernet, you have to crimp them into a connector, so your response of "I wouldn't try crimping plugs -- just cut up an ethernet cable and connect the bare wires" makes no sense. Although now that I reread it are you suggesting to use the ends from an RJ45 and splice it to phone wires? That probably won't work very well either. I would predict a lot of packet loss from something like that, leading to very low speeds or failed connections.

Just using phone wire for anything past 10Mb won't really work anyways - it's not twisted, you would get crosstalk and signal loss.

 

[Guest]

You are undoubtedly right -- but this guy is already kludging it up and a simple test with block connectors would be a reasonable first step before having to learn to crimp cables.

 

[JDFan]

How far is the distance and how often does the landlord visit ? If the wiring can be run around the corners of the room without the need for making holes in the walls etc. you could just run it along the baseboards and tape into place (wouldn't look the greatest but wouldn't cause any permanent damage) -- Or can the computer be relocated to get closer to the router or the router closer to the computer (or a combination of the 2) so you can get a better wireless signal ? (sometimes even just a few feet on one end or the other can make a significant difference)
What type of antennae are you using on both ends and what type of router are you using (802.11a, 802.11b or 802.11g, 802.11n )-- perhaps a better router or upgrading to 802.11n would help.

Also have you run any sniffer programs to see what other signals are in the vacinity and manually setting the channel to avoid the stronger ones ?