Always run Cat5 cable!

Here is why you should always run Cat5 cable....

Cat5 cable is that blue cable that you run from your computer to your router or modem.  That is its most popular use, but in fact it has many more uses then that. I work for a telecommunications company and Cat5 is all we run.  We use it for phone, internet and TV.  Our set top boxes (receiver) uses Cat5 instead of Coax.


Number 1 use: Phone
Cat5 has 4 pairs of wires, so 8 wires total.  When you hook up a phone you only need to use 1 pair, or 2 wires.  So that means you can have up to 4 phone lines using only 1 Cat5 cable.  There are probably not that many times when you would need to have 4 phone lines at the same spot, but we always do 2 lines for businesses.  Ex - When you have a phone and a fax line at the same spot. 


Number 2 use: Phone
When you make a data cable or Ethernet cable you will usually use all 4 Pairs. You actually don't need to! Only 4 wires are being used (2 pairs) so this leaves 2 pairs left over not being used.  You can actually use i Cat5 cable and make to cables out of it.  This is really handy when you have one cable ran to a spot and need two connections there. Or you need to have a data connection and a phone line. So you could actually have 1 data jack and 2 phone lines at the same spot using only 1 Cat5 cable.  Are you starting to see why this cable is so nice to use?  If I can give you any advice, please run at least 1 Cat5 cable to every jack when you are doing renovations. You may not need it today or tomorrow, but when you run wire, you need to wire for the future!