Wiring - new telephone socket upstairs - HELP!

[Urcky]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post and the following question may reflect that!

I moved into a Barratt house and discovered that they have only installed telephone sockets on the ground floor of a 3 floor house.

I need to get a telephone socket into Bedroom 4 (hopefully you can see the diagram below). The master telephone switch is at the very bottom left hand side of the house as you look at the diagram (it's in the kitchen).

I presume the best way to go about it is just to feed through the walls and into the upper floor that way? Please pardon the completely novice question, but although the walls are mostly hollow, won't there be the odd joist here and there that will prevent a free run upstairs?

I'm surely, having looked at the floors layout, it will be absolutely obvious to someone who knows how to to do this...unfortunately I'm not in the least bit experienced in this area and I could really do with some advice on it.

Thanks guys!

Untitled

• Urcky
• 10 Dec 2008
• 1

Untitled

• Urcky
• 10 Dec 2008
• 1

 

[Spark123]

Have you considered buying a set of DECT phones?

 

[Urcky]

Yes, sorry I should have said...

I've just bought a desktop PC which doesn't have wireless capability so I need to move the router from downstairs to the study (bedroom 4 in the diagram). Hence, I need a phone socket. Up to this point I've just used laptops.

 

[themaw]

Assuming you have a wireless capable router you can easily add a wireless USB dongle to most modern personal computers... Then your PC will have wireless capability and you won't need to run a phone line through the house.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Can't beat wires. Wireless is OK for when TINA, but..

Personally I don't like cables on the outside of the house, but it looks like the easiest route would be to go back out through the wall, then up and across, or across and up.

Alternatively, flat telephone cable is very easy to conceal and can meander around the house - you can add sockets elsewhere while you're at it.

 

[TonyWarrington]

Obviously you are looking for a neat job with all cabling hidden.

As I see it you have 3 choices

1. Chop out holes in the walls to feed cable. You will probably have to make many holes to "fiddle" your cable through many obstacles to the final destination Then do a lot of filling and decorating to complete

2. Call in BT to put extension in for you.
As far as I know they will not route cables into the wall. They will either route the cable from the kitchen to the outside wall and take it to the upstairs bedroom or route cable inside fastening to top of skirting board.

3. Go for a wireless PC option. Even if you have to purchase a new wireless router I suspect that this would still be the easiest/cheapest option.

 

[disinfo]

Alternatively, flat telephone cable is very easy to conceal and can meander around the house - you can add sockets elsewhere while you're at it.

I've always been suspicious of flat communication cables.

Whenever I get them with network appliances at work I just bin them.

Can't see how they'd be very resilient to inteference, cross talk etc...

May not matter on a POTS line so much but as DSL begins to get faster (and more unstable) it makes me wonder.

Maybe you know otherwise?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I've always been suspicious of flat communication cables.

Ever looked inside a PC?

May not matter on a POTS line so much but as DSL begins to get faster (and more unstable) it makes me wonder.

Maybe you know otherwise?

Not the foggiest, actually.

 

[disinfo]

Ever looked inside a PC?

All mine are round, and screened

You make a good point though, although internal PC cables are much shorter and less likely to come across mains "interference"

 

[GoingDigital]

Never use flat cable for a phone line that is being used for broadband.

The cable needs to be twisted pair to reject interference.

Perhaps if you are going to the trouble of installing cables you should run CAT 5 network cables that can then be used either for a phone extension or as a way of connecting a computer in another room to your router. Run a pair of them to each room so you can have both phone and network points in that room. Then just stick the router where all the cables terminate like the cupboard under the stairs or something.

 

[plugwash]

Flat telephone cable is generally not twisted pair and is far more prone to interference. It is also unlikely to be the right characteristic impedance causing a discontinuity.

Adding more unfiltered wiring will generally be bad for broadband speeds anyway. Much better to have the filter and router where the phone signal comes into the house and then run network and phone cables to serve the various computers.