Removing a daisy chain

[sivory]

Four years ago order to create a phone line across the room of my 1978 house, the installer connected a telephone wire (cable?) to a somewhere in the original wall outlet and then ran the cable along the edge of the floor to a new exterior telephone "modem." To get rid of this setup, can I cut the cable at the original box and cap it the same way one does household wiring? If not, how do I get rid of it? As long as the extra cable is there, I cannot properly fasten the faceplate on the original telephone outlet.

[Jacksnap]

Look at the original jack for the added cable. You should see screws that hold the added cable to the back of the original jack. It is ok to remove those wires that were added to the original jack for the 2nd outlet, just don't distrub any of the wiring order and tighten the screws back down for the original wires. Then, if I understand you, remove what was added along the wall; etc. If the added cable was wire nutted together it is OK to clip the added wires and wire nut them off. NOTE: Be careful when touching the wires as they do carry appoximately 48 volts and can give you a mild electrical shock. Handle one wire at a time and avoid touching two wires together or handling two or more wires at once and also avoid 'grounding' any part of your body, in order to avoid this mild shock.
Post back if you have further questions.

[Mr T]

If you are just trying to get the faceplate back on, take a sharp knife and cut a small notchout where the wire comes out. It'l go back on then.

But you are upgrading, a 'star' config from your network box, or a central location is the way to go. (All Cat-5 cable too).