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Best Cabling & Termination System for House Wiring from a PBX?

Started by cloyd, February 29, 2016, 03:08:51 PM

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cloyd

Hi everyone,

I'm busy pulling cat5e cable through the attic to bedrooms and then to the upstairs laundry room where I am placing the Panasonic 616.  I'll have about 13 cables, most of these are for just one phone.  How do I terminate the cables for use with RJ11 plugs?

I think I have decided to skip a wall plate termination and take the cables from the stud space thru a cable port like the picture and then directly into the 616 and terminate the cables once.

Thank you,

Tina

-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- 1885

Owain

Assuming your PBX has RJ11 / RJ12 connectors which is typical for a Panasonic, you cannot terminate those neatly to Cat5 cables - the cable is too thick for the outer sheath to fit in the plug.

If you remove the outer sheath and terminate the required pair(s) into the RJ12 plug, you will lose strain relief at the plug. This is not reliable in the long term and I would recommend not connecting directly to your premises wiring. Instead use a short-ish length of cable (I used 2 x 20 pair) connected between the PBX plugs and either an IDC frame or a patch panel, and then connect on to the premises wiring. A fault in the PBX wiring can then be corrected without affecting the premises wiring.

I used 1 x 20 pair for keyphone extensions 1-8 and external lines to an IDC connection block and then on to phone sockets, and 1 x 20 pair for extensions 9-24 to a Cat5 patch panel for structured wiring. Extns 9-12 and 13-16 are connected to 1 patch panel socket each, but I also have a parallel connected socket with 4 extension lines on it in Cat5e pairs, so I can patch 4 extension lines to any location using just one Cat5e outlet.

Usually 2 pairs are required for keyphones (proprietary telephones) and depending on which Pana you have that is the first 8 extensions.

cloyd

Owain,

Thank you for your response.

Could you expound on your statement, "Instead use a short-ish length of cable (I used 2 x 20 pair) connected between the PBX plugs and either an IDC frame or a patch panel, and then connect on to the premises wiring."  Perhaps with images so I can get a better idea of what you are referring to.  I am not a phone technician and I am sure it shows.   ???

Thank you,

Tina
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- 1885

NorthernElectric

#3
Maybe BIX would work for you.  Here's a 12 port block and a punchdown tool.  I haven't used it personally but the phone system at work does.  You punch the wires down into the small slots with the punch down tool, I think they have R(ing) and T(ip) marks for each jack.  If you set this up next to your PBX then you can just use modular patch cords to connect it up.  If you're going to have distribution points at the end of the CAT5 runs, I think they make these block without the jacks and with 2 rows of connectors so you can connect regular station wire to service individual wall jacks.

I haven't used these personally, but our NorTel PBX at work has them, and the guy that looks after it thinks they're great.  Here's a couple of ebay searches:

BIX in Telecom Systems

BIX in Enterprise Networking, Servers
Cliff

podor

I'm still new to the phone game myself, so I hope this way is ok. I ran bulk cat5 (solid copper). At phone end, I bought a modular wall plate system from Home Depot from a company called CE Tech. The wall plate has 2, 4 or 6 openings that allow you to click a RJ45, RJ11, HDMI or other types of jacks securely in place. The wires terminate in the jacks with an included tool. I mounted mine in a box, which I hide behind the furniture for easy access. I terminated all 4 pair at each room, just in case I needed to expand. I did the same on the PBX side temporarily, and ran regular RJ11 cords to the PBX. Eventually, I'll use a type 66 connection block and custom make RJ11 extensions from the block to the PBX for each line.

It looks like you have a flexible cat5 cable. I'm pretty sure that won't terminate in the jacks I mentioned above. I looked for a simple plug in connector that would separate each pair into an individual RJ11 jack, but I didn't see anything. It has to be out there.

cloyd

Thank you Podor and Northern Electric!

Podor, That is what I should do at the phone end.  When you say, "The wires terminate in the jacks with an included tool," do you mean that the cable termination requires a punch down tool?  You have what looks like a Cat5 cable in one of the jacks.  I would be interested to see the back side of your wall plate.  Did you pigtail connections to the RJ11 jacks from the RJ45?

Northern Electric,
That is what I was thinking for the PBX end of things.  If I have a Panasonic 616 with 16 extensions, I assume that I would want the capacity in the punch down block to accommodate them all.  Would that be the 24 port block?

Thank you,

Tina
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- 1885

NorthernElectric

Quote from: cloyd on March 01, 2016, 11:14:59 AMNorthern Electric,
That is what I was thinking for the PBX end of things.  If I have a Panasonic 616 with 16 extensions, I assume that I would want the capacity in the punch down block to accommodate them all.  Would that be the 24 port block?

I have seen blocks with 8 and 12 RJ11 ports; do they make a 24?  Like I said I have not used this personally so I'm going by what I've seen in use at work and a bit of personal research because I'm thinking of redoing some of my phone wiring at home.  One thing you should be careful of; CAT5/5E/6 cable is used extensively for ethernet networks and you should make sure you are not looking at RJ45 patch panels designed for that purpose.  If you have found a BIX block with 24 RJ11 ports and the dimensions suit the physical layout of the space where you will be installing it then why not?  But you could also use 2 8 port blocks; they make little plastic racks to mount them in.
Cliff

mentalstampede

I wired my home using CAT5 cable as well, just like podor. That sort of wallplate system is standard for IT; they are usually refered to as keystone jacks. One nice feature is that they are allow for nearly endless customization; you simply terminate the cable to the appropriate module and snap it into into a plate with the appropriate number of receptacles and you're ready to go. Keystones are available for RJ11, RJ45, most types of coaxial connections, HDMI, and nearly anything else you can think of. The last ones I got I ordered from Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=rj11+keystone

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=keystone+plate

You will, however, probably need a punchdown tool to terminate the cable into the jacks, at least for the RJ11 or RJ45 keystones.
My name is Kenn, and I like telephones.

"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something." --Robert Heinlein

podor

All 4 jacks are RJ11. Each pair goes to 1 Jack in the center 2 pins. The key is to keep the polarity correct. They do need a punch down tool, but they came with a plastic tool that did well. Super easy. It basically wedges the wire in the v cut to cut through the insulation. It's not like a traditional punch down tool that cuts the wire also. I'll snap a picture of the inside when I get home.

AE_Collector

I posted these pictures in one of the other topics on this project. Obviously this is much larger than what is needed for Cloyd's project but this shows the BIX frames, BIX strips and BIX modular jacks. BIX jacks are available in 6 - 4 pair jacks (both RJ45 or USOC format), 8 - 3 pair jacks or 12 - 2 pair jacks. There isn't room for 24 jacks on a strip so there isn't a 24 - 1 pair jack configuration, you would need two 12 jack strips. The frames are available in 2 position (holds two termination strips or 1 jack strip), 4 position, 6 position, 10 position and 12 position that I know of. Mine in the picture are both 12 position frames with both termination strips (mostly) and data jack strips.

By far the most flexible way is to terminate on regular strips and then cross connect (jumper) as required. In this configuration you would bring out all the jacks on the Panasonic to termination strips and then cross connect with jumper wire. But more termination equipment (strips, jacks etc) is needed as compared to just crimping plugs onto the ends of the cat 5 cables and plugging directly into the PBX..

My jacks in the rooms are keystone plates as previousy mentioned by others. I chose to put 2 pairs in one jack and then I have one or two more single pair jacks in the plates (some of my set runs were only 3 pair not 4 pair) and then I had room for a 4 pair data run and/or a CATV jack in each plate as well. I did the "two pair" jack at each location as I originally had a NT Vantage PBX that needed two pairs per station. The single pair jacks at each location allowed for direct connection to CO lines and DSL modem etc.

On my left BIX frame the top 6 positions are security system in and security runs out. Then two empty positions with two sets of data strips on the bottom. It is actually three sets of data strips now and no empty spaces. Pictures are old.

The right frame is the PBX (NT CICS rather than Panasonic) at the top with all the stations and trunks terminated on the top two strips and then the set runs throughout the house are on the next 6 strips. The bottom 4 strips are all "bunching blocks". I used to have 3 CO lines and used the bunching blocks to jumper CO lines directly to the "1 pair" jacks in each room for call disokay boxes, answering machines, antique phones, testing etc.

Terry

Owain

Mine is not as neat as Terry's. It did look quite neat before I squished all the spare wiring into the space available and put the lids on.

podor

Here's the back of the wall plate.

podor

Here's the actual Jack and tool.

cloyd

Podor,

Based on what I am seeing in your photos, AT THE TELEPHONE END it looks like you are teasing out the Cat5 cable into four twisted pairs and then punching down each pair in it's V-groove (red/green or tip and ring) of a keystone RJ-11 connector.  Is that right?  I don't see anything providing strain relief for the cable, but perhaps, since it will be in the wall that is OK?

Did you get the RJ-11 connectors at home depot along with the wall plates?  Lowe's didn't have RJ-11 connectors, only RJ-45.  If you had to order them online, could I get the part number and source?

Thank you so much!

Tina
-- I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it. - Van Gogh -- 1885

podor

Everything came from my local Home Depot. It was all in stock. I even found a 10 pack of jacks, which was much cheaper. They have different colors too, which could be helpful identifying what line you are using. Each twisted pair goes to the respective tip/ring of each RJ11 so there is no need for a splitter/adapter. My setup is in an enclosed box. I tied the cable around one of the face plate screw bosses and gave plenty of slack, so there is no chance that anything would get pulled. No strain relief needed if mounted in a standard wall box.