Telephone cable length?

[crux1977]

Hi.

Basically I'd like to know if there's a maximum length for normal telephone cable when running ADSL? In other words, what is the maximum allowable cable length from the Telkom box to your router before the signal degrades?

Also, are there different types of telephone cables (as in CAT5 or CAT6 for network cabling)

Thanks.

 

[ponder]

Another 20m is not going to make much of a difference to a cable that's already 1-3km+ long.

 

[Yotch]

Most telephone extension cables are not twisted pair like Cat5 or Cat6. You usually have a choice between solid or stranded wire - solid normally has better characteristics but stranded is better if the cable is going to be moved around. Take a look at www.cablelink.co.za to get an idea of what is available (-> Products -> Cable Materials) - a good place to purchase cables and connectors etc. If you are going to connect via a wall mount box you could use Cat5 or Cat6 cable instead but you may need to use proper telephone extension cable if you want to crimp on RJ11 connectors. Sybaritic has some very cheap telephone extension cables up to 30m in length (R21 for 10m etc) as well as female/female adapters etc. You could also try Zakspeed or Checkers for preassembled cables. As mentioned above the last 20m of cable won't really have much effect on the overall performance of the line provided that the joints all make good contact.

 

[upup]

telephone cable is solid copper 0,5mm. I telephone line can be up to 13km long. As for adsl I don't know the distance. the cable does not go straight to your house, so if you stay 1km from exch then the cable length can be 1,5km. Telephone cables were design for telephones and not data. The higher the speed the shorter the distance. So, is one cable is newer and a bit twisted, it can give better adsl and if the cable is old and not twisted, then no good for adsl. On a tdr [cable meter] you get like 40 types of telephone cable to work out correct readings.

 

[crux1977]

Good info. Thanks for the replies.

 

[RudderVator]

For ADSL your maximum cable length is about 5KM from your DSLAM but for 5KM you will probably only get a sync speed of 512kbps.

 

[BigAl-sa]

As mentioned above the last 20m of cable won't really have much effect on the overall performance of the line provided that the joints all make good contact.

My experience is that the biggest source of degradation at the house is the use of el cheapo "chocolate block" connectors, especially when they are outside. Corrosion in the wire and the metal in the connector causes a breakdown in the contact referred to by Yotch.