Do I need to run a new phone outlet?

[Chuck]

Okay, I'm an extreme rookie when it comes to home wiring and that sort of thing, looking for help on this one...

Home built 2003. 3 bedroom/2 bath, with 3 existing phone outlets (kitchen, master bedroom, spare bedroom).

I have DirecTV, which requires you to plug in a phone line to order PPV movies and sports packages (like NFL Sunday Ticket or College Football Gameplan).

For a while, we had the DirecTV line running via a long phone cord into the jack in the kitchen, where it was plugged into a splitter with the kitchen phone. However, we noticed that our 56K modem (connected as the only line in the spare bedroom) would only connect at 20K or less whenever the DirecTV line was plugged in in the kitchen. So I've disconnected the DirecTV line until I can get it all straightened out, and 56K modem is back at full speed.

I'm debating building a phone jack into the wall behind my TV next to the electrical outlets so that the DirecTV line will have a dedicated outlet. Any thoughts on whether this would help improve the connection speed on my modem? And will running the phone line close to electrical and cable connections cause any problems with the DirecTV line connecting when it has to?

Hope this all makes sense. I'll try to answer any follow-up questions if you have any...

Thanks!

[mdshunk]

Running a new, dedicated "home run" phone line to the driect tv box may help. Generally, new phone lines are installed nowadays with "home runs" directly from the phone box on the outside of the house to the jack in the wall. In the past, phone lines were "daisy chained", one right after the other. This caused troubles for modems and such. It may be more beneficial to run a new, dedicated phone line for the modem (or the modem AND the direct tv box). Don't rule out the possibility that the direct tv box is messed up, putting a strange burden on the phone line. You can "test" this theory by taking the box to a phone jack and plugging it in with a regular cord and try out the modem. BUT... running new phone lines is dirt cheap if you do it yourself, so you might want to just give running a new line a try anyhow.

[Chuck]

Okay, thanks for the help. Here's some more questions for you...

Last night I pulled the cover off of the TV/phone box in my garage and the telephone box outside the garage to get an idea of what I was facing. I didn't take pictures, but I'll see if I can describe it for you:

Outside the garage:

Two black coax cables coming down from the satellite (I have two receivers, so this makes sense)
Two blue Cat-5 cables coming from the phone box
These five cables go through a small opening in the brick (sealed back with caulk or some other sealant) into the TV/phone box in the garage.

Inside the garage:

Three black coax cables coming down through the wall from the ceiling into the TV/phone box. Two are connected to the two cables from the satellite outside, the other has no termination, just an end of the cable. I guess this means I have another cable connection inside somewhere, I just haven't looked for it in a while.

Of the two blue Cat-5 cables coming in from the outside phone box, one is coiled in the TV/phone box and the other runs up the wall...I guess this might be the home security system, on a dedicated line all the way to the outside phone box? There are a total of 4 blue Cat-5 cables coming down from the wall, including the 1 that runs directly out to the box. The other three from the wall appear to be connected to the other one from outside - I'm assuming these are the kitchen/master bed/spare bed phone connections. Everything is wound together and bound using electrical tape, and fits neatly inside the TV/phone box.

Here's what kind of threw me for a loop...in the diagrams I've seen on the web or read in books on basic home wiring, I was expecting some sort of color-coded screw terminal set inside the TV/phone box to connect the wires. However, when I got to looking at the existing setup, it looks like the wires are connected using some sort of shrink tubing or tiny wire nuts, rather than using a screw terminal. There is a screw terminal block inside the TV/phone box, but the only thing connected to it is a single bare copper wire, which I think leads to the grounding outside the house.

Does this setup sound fairly normal? The home was built by a reputable builder, in one of those "cookie cutter home" neighborhoods, so I would expect that whoever did it knew what they were doing. What did they use for the wire connections, and should I use that or can I use the terminal block inside the box?

Haven't had the chance to go wandering around in the attic yet to follow the wires...I don't have a ladder tall enough to get me up there, I can only get to about chest-high in the attic.

Again, thanks for the input. I feel like this is something I should be able to accomplish, just need to make sure I'm doing the right stuff. I've never been too good at handiwork, but I'm trying to learn now that I've got my own house.

Thanks!

[Chuck]

Oh, one other thing...Last night at Lowes, I saw a wallplate that had both a coax jack and a phone jack. If I can feed the telephone line down through the existing path with the satellite cable, that'll be just fine by me. Do I need to be concerned with interference from the satellite cable if I run the phone line that close to it? The satellite cable appears to be shielded.

Thanks.

[Chuck]

Dangit, one other question...

Last night at Lowes, I saw a couple of different types of Cat-5 cable. Don't remember exactly what the names were, but one said that it was for use in flooring, and would require conduit if overhead. The other said no conduit required. Of course, this one was more expensive. These wires will be running overhead through the attic to their respective walls. Do I need to be concerned with the conduit thing, or is that just for commercial buildings?

Thanks.

[mdshunk]

The two types of Cat 5 that you saw were likely "RISER" and "PLENUM". The plenum cable is for running inside of environmental air spaces (like commercial drop ceilings that are used for the return air path of the AC). Around the house, the cheaper riser cable is what you need.

You don't have to worry about interfearance between cat5 and coax. I believe that this is technically impossible. You should try to keep at least 6" or so between parallel runs of cat5 or cable and the regular electric wires. They may cross at 90 degree angles, but should not run parallel less than 6" apart, or the power lines can induce some interfearance on the cat5.

As far as running the cables and hooking them up... run them the whole way outside. I havn't heard of the splicing arrangement you're describing. I always bypass anything that's hooked up inside (possible trouble making stuff), and run new lines the whole way outside to the grey box on the outside of the house. This might get a little tricky for you, since you apparently have a security system with a "line seizure module", that will hang up everyone's phone in the house if it needs to dial out. No big deal... take some digital pics of what you got out there and very knowledgeable folk can walk you thought it.