Convert Phone Network Jacks to Ethernet?

[scout2028]

My house was built at the end of 2009 and has standard telephone jacks in every room. We gave up land lines years ago so the phone wires in the house are not being used.

My wife's computer has had difficulty with decent WIFI speeds. We have a Lantana with a Linksys EA7500 in the front guest bedroom and her computer is located in the laundry room separated by 2 exterior walls and 2 interior walls. I've placed a range extender in the dining room but it helps only a little and not even that all the time.

Recently I ran a 25 ft. ethernet cable from the single port on the range extender through the dining room through the kitchen up the wall over the door and then down to her ethernet port. Now getting ~100 Mbps on her system. And that's WiFi to the range extender and ethernet cable to the computer. That's great but the ethernet cable running through everything is not a long term solution.

Based on a previous thread

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/computer-questions-92/looking-replace-phone-jacks-ethernet-connections-253329/?highlight=network+cable+ethernet

I suspect that the cabling already exists for me to have a direct ethernet connection from my router (it has a open port), directly to her system. Adjacent to her computer is a telephone jack and adjacent to the router there is what used to be a telephone jack that CenturyLink converted to 2 RJ45 jacks when we had their service. (Went back to Comcast after CenturyLink for 2+ years.)

The previous thread noted above referred to a low-voltage panel but I do not have one in the garage but I do have a 'Network Service' box on the outside of the house. (Can't get to it now because of overgrown shrubs but have someone coming to trim later this week - at least he said he was.) I think this box was used for standard telephone wiring.

Is that the low-voltage panel?

Is it as simple as rewiring the laundry room receptacle from telephone to RJ45 and plugging an ethernet cable from router to wall and then another from laundry room wall to wife's computer?

Do I need to do anything inside the exterior box?

Thanks,

[Dana1963]

Most practical would be to run CAT5 cable from existing location to desired location inside wall thru attic to new location preferably thru in interior wall. Either complete yourself or hire electrician maybe $100 or less. Electricians sometimes charge premium for attic work.

[scout2028]

As a matter of fact I was making a list of electricians to call to do exactly as you suggest when I came across the thread I noted. That will be my fallback plan. However, if it's as simple as changing the receptacle on two jacks, I can probably handle that myself.
Thanks,

[Dana1963]

Configuration of CAT5 wiring is displayed on jack connection it is either A or B but must be the same at both terminations. Cable from modem to jack and to computer either net can be 568a or 568b.
The maximum length of a CAT5 cable before degradation is 100 meters or around 320 +-feet

[villagetinker]

We had a similar problem. My solution was to move the modem to the center of the house, and all of our connectivity problems were solved. We use laptops, so I was trying very hard to avoid cables. We have a piece of furniture very close to the center of the house. I was able to reroute the Comcast cable from a bedroom through an interior wall to the new location and then move the modem to that location. Send me a PM if you want all the details.

[positiveinlife]

I had the same problem. this is what i did:

Changed the phone wall connectors to cat 6.
Back fed a ethernet connection from my modem to the new jack in that room.
Changed the phone connectors in the low voltage panel to cat 6.
Placed a network switch in the panel .
identified the one line that was back fed to the panel buy connecting a lap top to all and find the live one.
connect it to the input of the network switch.
connect all remaining to the switch and you are good to go.

[scout2028]

VillageTinker:
Many thanks for the suggestion but . . .
for now the router is needed where it is and I really (!!) don't want it to go elsewhere. The Range extender handles everything else very well including TV, iPads, laptops and sitting on the lanai. It's just this one computer behind too many walls that has the problem. If I have to, I'll have an electrician run a cat5 cable from the guest room to the laundry room.

Thanks again.

[elevatorman]

Put a range extender in the laundry room.

[tsmith167]

You should look into a mesh router. I have an eero that covers 3500 sq ft through several walls with no problem. No wires to run. Simple solution.

[danglanzsr]

I also have a Lantana. I used a TP-Link power line ethernet connection to install an AC3000 wireless modem in the living room area. It works great everywhere and can be done in a half hour.

[biker1]

Yes, you are correct. Since you aren't using CenturyLink anymore, the cat5 cable in the room where your router is located is not being used anymore. You need to find out where the cat5 cables (from each room) terminate. That will typically be a low-voltage panel in the garage but it sounds like it is elsewhere in your home. If you can find where they terminate then you should be able to splice the cat5 cables from the two rooms together. The trick is figuring out which cat5s to splice together. You need to match up the 8 color coded wires (4 pairs). There are compression connectors (insert two wires and crush the connector down) that are handy for this. It sounds like you still have an RJ-11 connector in one room. Replace that with an RJ-45 - 4 pairs, use the "A" connection stencil. At this point you should be able to run a cat5 cable from your router to the RJ-45 connector in the one room and a cat5 cable from the RJ-45 in the other room to your computer.

However, the best solution was from tsmith167 in post #9. Buy a mesh router. It should provide more uniform WiFi performance than a range extender and you also wind up with a single namespace for WiFi.

My house was built at the end of 2009 and has standard telephone jacks in every room. We gave up land lines years ago so the phone wires in the house are not being used.

My wife's computer has had difficulty with decent WIFI speeds. We have a Lantana with a Linksys EA7500 in the front guest bedroom and her computer is located in the laundry room separated by 2 exterior walls and 2 interior walls. I've placed a range extender in the dining room but it helps only a little and not even that all the time.

Recently I ran a 25 ft. ethernet cable from the single port on the range extender through the dining room through the kitchen up the wall over the door and then down to her ethernet port. Now getting ~100 Mbps on her system. And that's WiFi to the range extender and ethernet cable to the computer. That's great but the ethernet cable running through everything is not a long term solution.

Based on a previous thread

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/computer-questions-92/looking-replace-phone-jacks-ethernet-connections-253329/?highlight=network+cable+ethernet

I suspect that the cabling already exists for me to have a direct ethernet connection from my router (it has a open port), directly to her system. Adjacent to her computer is a telephone jack and adjacent to the router there is what used to be a telephone jack that CenturyLink converted to 2 RJ45 jacks when we had their service. (Went back to Comcast after CenturyLink for 2+ years.)

The previous thread noted above referred to a low-voltage panel but I do not have one in the garage but I do have a 'Network Service' box on the outside of the house. (Can't get to it now because of overgrown shrubs but have someone coming to trim later this week - at least he said he was.) I think this box was used for standard telephone wiring.

Is that the low-voltage panel?

Is it as simple as rewiring the laundry room receptacle from telephone to RJ45 and plugging an ethernet cable from router to wall and then another from laundry room wall to wife's computer?

Do I need to do anything inside the exterior box?

Thanks,

[Engine12]

Any idea what speeds you’re getting with the mesh ?

[Malsua]

Is it as simple as rewiring the laundry room receptacle from telephone to RJ45 and plugging an ethernet cable from router to wall and then another from laundry room wall to wife's computer?


Thanks,

That's not going to work. There are two reasons. The first being that phone wire is not ethernet cable. Ethernet cable is "Twisted pairs", and the reason they are twisted is because of electrical interference. Cat 3, cat 5, cat 5e, cat6 etc is essentially defined by the number of twists per inch. Phone cable usually has zero.

The second reason is that phone wires are joined all throughout the structure. The wires at any plug will have continuity at all plugs. Even if they used twisted pair drops throughout the structure(and they may have), there are a bunch of open ends which will act like antennae. That is no good. If it were to work, I suspect it would drop to the lowest possible speed the NIC can negotiate too.

The easiest solution in your case is powerline ethernet adapters. You can find these at Best Buy or online. You plugs these into an outlet, plug the ethernet cable from the computer to one and the router to a different one. They auto negotiate and provide a hybrid solution.

They use the electricity of your house to transmit the signal from one to the other. They work, I've installed them in a number of places over the years where WIFI signal was weak.

There are some considerations. First, they must be plugged into the wall. Plugging them into a surge strip will yield mixed results. It may or may not work, or if it works, it may be slow. Some surge strips clip noise out of the electric and this will affect the communication. It probably won't work at all if plugged into a UPS. They should be plugged straight into a wall outlet for best results. As long as the outlets are on the same electrical panel, there should be no issue at all.

One final note, the cost is related to the available bandwidth they provide. The cheapest ones will probably be plenty for most people. The more expensive ones also have a plug, so you aren't losing the wall outlet.

One at best buy is: "NETGEAR - Powerline 2000 + Extra Outlet" That's a pretty good one. I apparently can't embed a link, but go to best buy and search for that. There are others, see what they have.

[garrykolb]

I second the suggestion for a mesh router. I have a Juniper, same layout as a Lantana. I have a three node eero mesh router with the main in the living room, another in the laundry room and a third in the front bedroom. Each has two Ethernet ports. I have a slammed WiFi signal everywhere in the house as well as all around the house outside. No wiring needed.

[WesMan]

Look into Power Line Network.

[biker1]

If his house was built in 2009 then he almost certainly has cat5e or cat5 cable in the walls.The termination of the cat5 from the RJ-11 jacks is almost certainly in a phone block somewhere in his house. He should just remove the needed cat5 from the phone block and splice to the other cable as I indicated in my post.

That's not going to work. There are two reasons. The first being that phone wire is not ethernet cable. Ethernet cable is "Twisted pairs", and the reason they are twisted is because of electrical interference. Cat 3, cat 5, cat 5e, cat6 etc is essentially defined by the number of twists per inch. Phone cable usually has zero.

The second reason is that phone wires are joined all throughout the structure. The wires at any plug will have continuity at all plugs. Even if they used twisted pair drops throughout the structure(and they may have), there are a bunch of open ends which will act like antennae. That is no good. If it were to work, I suspect it would drop to the lowest possible speed the NIC can negotiate too.

The easiest solution in your case is powerline ethernet adapters. You can find these at Best Buy or online. You plugs these into an outlet, plug the ethernet cable from the computer to one and the router to a different one. They auto negotiate and provide a hybrid solution.

They use the electricity of your house to transmit the signal from one to the other. They work, I've installed them in a number of places over the years where WIFI signal was weak.

There are some considerations. First, they must be plugged into the wall. Plugging them into a surge strip will yield mixed results. It may or may not work, or if it works, it may be slow. Some surge strips clip noise out of the electric and this will affect the communication. It probably won't work at all if plugged into a UPS. They should be plugged straight into a wall outlet for best results. As long as the outlets are on the same electrical panel, there should be no issue at all.

One final note, the cost is related to the available bandwidth they provide. The cheapest ones will probably be plenty for most people. The more expensive ones also have a plug, so you aren't losing the wall outlet.

One at best buy is: "NETGEAR - Powerline 2000 + Extra Outlet" That's a pretty good one. I apparently can't embed a link, but go to best buy and search for that. There are others, see what they have.

[biker1]

Based on what the OP posted, he has cat5e or cat5 cable in his walls.

That's not going to work. There are two reasons. The first being that phone wire is not ethernet cable. Ethernet cable is "Twisted pairs", and the reason they are twisted is because of electrical interference. Cat 3, cat 5, cat 5e, cat6 etc is essentially defined by the number of twists per inch. Phone cable usually has zero.

The second reason is that phone wires are joined all throughout the structure. The wires at any plug will have continuity at all plugs. Even if they used twisted pair drops throughout the structure(and they may have), there are a bunch of open ends which will act like antennae. That is no good. If it were to work, I suspect it would drop to the lowest possible speed the NIC can negotiate too.

The easiest solution in your case is powerline ethernet adapters. You can find these at Best Buy or online. You plugs these into an outlet, plug the ethernet cable from the computer to one and the router to a different one. They auto negotiate and provide a hybrid solution.

They use the electricity of your house to transmit the signal from one to the other. They work, I've installed them in a number of places over the years where WIFI signal was weak.

There are some considerations. First, they must be plugged into the wall. Plugging them into a surge strip will yield mixed results. It may or may not work, or if it works, it may be slow. Some surge strips clip noise out of the electric and this will affect the communication. It probably won't work at all if plugged into a UPS. They should be plugged straight into a wall outlet for best results. As long as the outlets are on the same electrical panel, there should be no issue at all.

One final note, the cost is related to the available bandwidth they provide. The cheapest ones will probably be plenty for most people. The more expensive ones also have a plug, so you aren't losing the wall outlet.

One at best buy is: "NETGEAR - Powerline 2000 + Extra Outlet" That's a pretty good one. I apparently can't embed a link, but go to best buy and search for that. There are others, see what they have.

[grumpy@turton.us]

Any idea what speeds you’re getting with the mesh ?

I also have an Eero mesh. I have 200 mb Xfinity service and on WiFi throughout my Zinnia I get 200 mb plus.

[Engine12]

How well does the mesh work with 1gig fiber optic ?

[M2inOR]

I'm going to third the suggestion for a mesh network. I have the TP-Link Deco system. Much better than a WiFi extender.

I have used the Deco for several years in my large Oregon home. First thing I installed in my Iris when I got to my Marsh Bend home. I have several Decos installed in the house for good WiFi; not only for the computers and tablets, but also our cell phones. We use WiFi calling on our Samsung and Apple phones. We installed a Deco near tv, in the kitchen near the lanai, and in the garage. This gives great performance. In addition, we have ethernet switches at the tv and office that plugs into the Deco for hardwired connections at those locations in the house.

Even though our home was prewired for cat6 cable, the Deco mesh network solution was easier than just putting a switch in the low voltage box in the garage.

An added benefit of the Deco system was that it also offered phishing protection. It stopped access to suspected malware websites.

I have several streaming devices: Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire. Ring doorbell, and Ecobee thermostat. In addition to the cable dvr, we also have a TiVo and TiVo Extender. Someday the outside webcam, security cams, and weather station will be installed.

I've been in the tech field for decades, so all this is second nature for me. I only have 100Mbps internet from Spectrum and it's working great for my needs. I just wish cable internet had faster upload speeds as I use the cloud for all backups.

I have one other gadget that might be useful for others - Panasonic cordless phones. This system has a Link-to-Cell feature that connects to 2 cell phones. This way, we can leave both our cell phones at the charging station and use cordless handsets in kitchen, office, and bedroom when calls come in. We don't have a landline. Yes, they work well, so we don't have to run to our cell phones when we are in another room.

I've also used power line networking. Works great in smaller home, not as well in larger homes.

Here is a link explaining mesh network technology.

Wireless mesh networks explained | PCWorld (https://www.pcworld.com/article/3212444/mesh-network-explained.html)

I hope this helps.

[Villages Kahuna]

We also had a Lantana with exactly the same problem. After years of trying all kinds of things to get decent wi-fi speed in that front bedroom, I finally did what I should have done years ago. I went to Lowes and bought a roll of Ethernet (CAT 5) cable and two sets of wall plates and connection inserts. I hired a TV installer who had worked for us before to run the cable from where the Comcast cable entered the house, in the laundry room just inside the entry door from the garage, up through the attic and down to the wall in the front side of the dining area. It was an easy project given the structural design of the attic. It took him no more than 1/2 hour. He only charged me $25 for the project. I then had the wall jack necessary in the laundry room to plug in the Ethernet cable into the xFinity modem-router right next to the necessary electrical outlet, both next to each other in the laundry room.

But I went one step further and plugged a “mesh point” wi-fi extender system to the new centrally-located Ethernet outlet in the dining area.There are several kinds of mesh point systems available on Amazon or at Best Buy. Several are mentioned in replies to your original posting. The one I bought had a small base unit plugged in to the new Ethernet outlet in the dining area and two extenders, which I plugged into electrical outlets in the front bedroom and another just inside the sliding door to the lanai. There are several name branded mesh point systems like xFinity, eero, Google Netgear and Amazon and the one I bought online, an Amplify HD system. They all cost between $200-300 at the time, but are cheaper now.

After plugging your xFinity modem-router coming in from outside, you’ll need to set the xFinity modem-router to “bridge” the router part of the device. (Call xFinity or check online instructions to do this easy step, or order a service call). Then plug the outside line into the modem-router and into one end of your new Ethernet line. Then plug in the mesh point base in the dining area and you’re good to go. After installation I was getting well over 150 Mbps wi-fi through the house and even out on the lanai.

It was the best thing I ever did to eliminate the wi-fi frustrations you’re experiencing.

[sullinr]

I converted all the jacks to cat5 in my house with no problem. I used a 10/100 switch from the router to where the lines meet in the attic. That is where you need to cut the lines and add a rj45 ends to each line. Let me know if you need help.

[positiveinlife]

Converting my cat5e phone lines provided me with speeds above 100mbs . The cost of hardware was under $50. I see that a mesh router can cost $200-$300. and you may need more than one. Ethernet will not drop out or have interference problems.Yes mesh is easier but does not out perform.

[Rickanvic]

Any idea what speeds you’re getting with the mesh ?
My house in North Georgia is 3 stories. I decided to drop cable and go to streaming. My father-in-law lives in my lower level apartment with a laptop and three TVs. On our main floor we have 3 TVs and two computers. On our top floor we have two TVs and guest use laptops. I also have 5 cameras outside and a Ring doorbell. Needless to say my routers (I had 2) couldn't handle everything. My son told me to put in a deco mesh system. I ordered it from Amazon TP Link 3 pack. I think I paid about $179 for it. It was very easy to hook up I put one on each floor. I just ran the speedtest. I got 100.94 on the furthest away computer. I have Spectrum and pay for 100. I got 136.44 on the computer sitting on the desk next to the deco. I have one TV playing on the main floor while testing.

[Heyitsrick]

I'd recommend - as others have - a Mesh system. Just be careful of what you buy, if going that route. Some can be exorbitantly expensive with all kinds of home automation features, etc. You're really interested in extending wifi coverage, so for now, there's no reason for overkill on that score.

(One quick aside - others here have recommended "Powerline" systems. I've used them and they work well for me, but Powerline is a "your mileage may vary" proposition. Powerline ethernet works by connecting a base Powerline box into a wall outlet where your router is, and then connecting the base unit to your router. Then, you take another Powerline unit to another room and plug it into the wall, and connect its ethernet (or wifi, if it has wifi) to your far end device. What's "your mileage may vary"? Powerline systems require the base unit and remote unit(s) be on the same electrical grid or block in your home. If the rooms you're using are on separate electrical grids (probably not the right word), Powerline might work very slowly or not at all.)

If you get a Mesh system, you need to get one that has three units included. DON'T just buy a single "hub"- that's not going to help you at all. You need to get a three-unit system so you can place the hub where the internet connectivity comes into your house, and then put the other two units in other locations in the house (bedroom? lanai?).

Mesh is really a plug-and-play system, in essence. You normally use an included smartphone app to set these up. Plug in the hub, follow the instructions on the app (network name/password, etc.), then once that's done, move to the other areas and plug in those units. The phone app should detect these right away and configure them.

What's a "reasonable" Mesh system in terms of price? The TP-Link "Deco" Mesh system is $170 from Amazon now. (Note: There's also a "Deco PLUS" system that's more advanced - and more expensive - but I'd go with the baseline system right now just so you can try it out and see if MESH is going to work for you.) Some high-end Mesh systems can cost $300-$400 plus. So, to try Mesh to see if it's going to help you, I'd go with a highly-rated, reasonably-priced system.

TP-Link "Deco" Mesh System (https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco-Replacement-Anitivirus-M5/dp/B06WVCB862)

If you want a primer on how Mesh works in your house, take a look at this video. You'll see it's really a case of connecting the base Mesh unit (aka "node" or "access point") where your internet service provider has brought internet into your home, configure it quickly with the smartphone app, then connect the other units in the "dead spot" areas of your home and let the smartphone app configure them, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNC5d-ZH0kM

[Malsua]

If his house was built in 2009 then he almost certainly has cat5e or cat5 cable in the walls.The termination of the cat5 from the RJ-11 jacks is almost certainly in a phone block somewhere in his house. He should just remove the needed cat5 from the phone block and splice to the other cable as I indicated in my post.

Sure if you know how to punch down cables and have some idea where they originate from. I use a tone generator, think he's got one? If he knew how to do that he'd have done it already.

Granted he only needs to get the white/green-Blue and white/blue-green pairs correct. Wanna take odds on if he can manage it? Unless you know what you are looking at, the color codes on punchdown jacks don't make a lot of sense. Which one is the White/Orange? The sticker shows it in 2 places. A or B? The same for every color. It's really easy to get wrong.

Mesh is easy, sorta, if you get the right system. A power line adapter is the easiest. Plug it in two places, connect cables, done.

I'd start with replacing his Linksys router, the issue might not be "bad wifi signal" but crappy router. A VERY common problem these days.

[biker1]

It is not rocket science. Anybody can do this. Punching down is beyond easy. The stencils on the jacks I use are quite clear. I already told him to use the "A" stencil. The biggest issue is figuring out which cat5s to splice together, as I already indicated. Since he asked how to do this, I responded with how to do it. Just because he hasn't done it already doesn't mean he can't do it. If you reread my first post you will also see that I said the easiest thing to do would be to install a mesh network.

Sure if you know how to punch down cables and have some idea where they originate from. I use a tone generator, think he's got one? If he knew how to do that he'd have done it already.

Granted he only needs to get the white/green-Blue and white/blue-green pairs correct. Wanna take odds on if he can manage it? Unless you know what you are looking at, the color codes on punchdown jacks don't make a lot of sense. Which one is the White/Orange? The sticker shows it in 2 places. A or B? The same for every color. It's really easy to get wrong.

Mesh is easy, sorta, if you get the right system. A power line adapter is the easiest. Plug it in two places, connect cables, done.

I'd start with replacing his Linksys router, the issue might not be "bad wifi signal" but crappy router. A VERY common problem these days.

[champion6]

As has already been suggested, use a TP-Link Powerline Ethernet Adapter for your wife's computer. This is one model that is available:
Robot Check (https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-AV600-Powerline-Ethernet-Adapter/dp/B00AWRUICG/)
There are other models. I have used this in my house with success.

[islandtiempo]

You don't need to go through this difficulty. Purchase a mesh network. Google Deco from Tplink. We had all kinds of connection problems, until we installed it. We have fabulous Wi-Fi even outside. Deco is easy to set up.

[ron32162]

99% of the time its the cheep cable modem routers all of the cable company's use and their go to saying for an excuse is the signal cant penetrate the walls or something like . The truth is the modems are controlled by the internet company and are dialed back to a slower speed so they can put more people online in that area and blame it on your walls or distance from the router. Go to best buy buy a router mine is a nighthawk router for 189.00 and is comparable with xfinity,spectrum and cox. after hooking up its easy call your cable provider and they will connect your router to the service via phone. now I get the speeds 200 mgb im paying for and my firestick works without buffering I still have the same walls comcast was telling me was the problem. They do tell you everything to keep you from doing this like we cannot work on equipment we dont rent you no problem get a warranty like 15.00 with your modem for 3 years just take it back and bestbuy will give you another one. The Cable company wanted to increase my bill instead of taking off the 15.00 it will go up 20.00 a month because the contract included the modem they rented you and your no longer will be in that special I just said cancel the extra hbo that I never watch and that took care of that im still at the same price without hbo but internet is at 200mgb's and im getting NO buffering on the firestick and amazon prime takes the place of hbo

[Alicia]

Try Lenhart Electric - they are very good

[IvorT]

WiFi extenders are a waste of time. WiFi is relatively slow, so if you make another WiFi network dependent on the first, it amplifies the problem. Your cheapest and quickest solution would be to buy a pair of power line adapters. Key that into Amazon. Buy something that says it can do about 500mbits, but don't expect anywhere near that! But it will be infinitely better than what you have, and you'll be installing it is about two days. Basically it enables the Ethernet connection to be carried over the power line. It is perfectly safe. Been around for years.

Long term, you can modify your phone outlets to be Ethernet. But you have to download the wiring diagrams from the Internet. Don't get confused by all this type A or B stuff. That relates to the old phone outlets and whether a single outlet can have a phone with two lines (remember those.). For this to work, your low-voltage box has to have a little connection panel, when all of the wires are connected to wires of the same colour, that then go off into the attic space and down the walls.

Try powerline adopters first. You won't regret it. If you want to borrowed a couple, leave a post.

[biker1]

No, you don't need any wiring diagrams. The "A B stuff" refers to the wiring order for the RJ-45 jack. Use the "A" stencil included with the jack. You can convert the RJ-11 jacks (using cat5e) to RJ-45 jacks trivially. By the way, WiFi (contemporary versions) is plenty fast for consumer applications.

WiFi extenders are a waste of time. WiFi is relatively slow, so if you make another WiFi network dependent on the first, it amplifies the problem. Your cheapest and quickest solution would be to buy a pair of power line adapters. Key that into Amazon. Buy something that says it can do about 500mbits, but don't expect anywhere near that! But it will be infinitely better than what you have, and you'll be installing it is about two days. Basically it enables the Ethernet connection to be carried over the power line. It is perfectly safe. Been around for years.

Long term, you can modify your phone outlets to be Ethernet. But you have to download the wiring diagrams from the Internet. Don't get confused by all this type A or B stuff. That relates to the old phone outlets and whether a single outlet can have a phone with two lines (remember those.). For this to work, your low-voltage box has to have a little connection panel, when all of the wires are connected to wires of the same colour, that then go off into the attic space and down the walls.

Try powerline adopters first. You won't regret it. If you want to borrowed a couple, leave a post.

[chrissy2231]

OOMA is a voice over IP. It costs $75 to buy box on Amazon. Then it's $5.61 per month for taxes and 911. This is a landline with crystal clear clarity.
My cell phone is for emergency only. I'm on 10 cents a minute plan & pay $10 per year.
I don't like seeing people who need to answer their phone when out. Isn't the point of going out to get away from the house & phone. An emergency is different & they are far and few between. Don't get me started on F*%#__(!~__$<?K@+=ing call waiting.

[dpmers]

My house was built at the end of 2009 and has standard telephone jacks in every room. We gave up land lines years ago so the phone wires in the house are not being used.

My wife's computer has had difficulty with decent WIFI speeds. We have a Lantana with a Linksys EA7500 in the front guest bedroom and her computer is located in the laundry room separated by 2 exterior walls and 2 interior walls. I've placed a range extender in the dining room but it helps only a little and not even that all the time.

Recently I ran a 25 ft. ethernet cable from the single port on the range extender through the dining room through the kitchen up the wall over the door and then down to her ethernet port. Now getting ~100 Mbps on her system. And that's WiFi to the range extender and ethernet cable to the computer. That's great but the ethernet cable running through everything is not a long term solution.

Based on a previous thread

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/computer-questions-92/looking-replace-phone-jacks-ethernet-connections-253329/?highlight=network+cable+ethernet

I suspect that the cabling already exists for me to have a direct ethernet connection from my router (it has a open port), directly to her system. Adjacent to her computer is a telephone jack and adjacent to the router there is what used to be a telephone jack that CenturyLink converted to 2 RJ45 jacks when we had their service. (Went back to Comcast after CenturyLink for 2+ years.)

The previous thread noted above referred to a low-voltage panel but I do not have one in the garage but I do have a 'Network Service' box on the outside of the house. (Can't get to it now because of overgrown shrubs but have someone coming to trim later this week - at least he said he was.) I think this box was used for standard telephone wiring.

Is that the low-voltage panel?

Is it as simple as rewiring the laundry room receptacle from telephone to RJ45 and plugging an ethernet cable from router to wall and then another from laundry room wall to wife's computer?

Do I need to do anything inside the exterior box?

Thanks,

I had problems with 2 expensive netgear routers kept needing to be reset, so I bought s google wifi 3 node router, in my Lantana, have centurylink 1g optical service right into my middle bedroom(our office). Pay $65/mo for life, no taxes and after 2 years no issues whatsoever. I manage the router from my phone, worst downlink speed during peak busy time is better than 500 m/b.

[M2inOR]

Data point for fiber connection for internet.

Son is in Augusta, GA and recently installed the newer mesh network from TP-Link. He got a 3 hub system that is also WiFi 6 compatible.

It's available at Costco:

TP-Link Deco X60 WiFi 6 AX3000 Whole-Home Mesh Wi-Fi System, 3-Pack
Item # *1401347*

The older Deco is also available. Online or at the warehouse stores. Also available at Amazon.

He's getting 850Mbps over WiFi, for the one computer he upgraded to WiFi 6, and over 400Mbps with his older devices with WiFi that can't be upgraded. Up and Down, so great for streaming and cloud backup.

He has AT&T U-verse for TV and Internet. It is 1Gbps service.

So yes, WiFi CAN deliver exception internet performance

[FLSun]

Swap low voltage card in garage for Internet switch card. Change house phone jacks to internet jacks. We did this years ago

[scout2028]

Many thanks for the all of the suggestions. There is a lot of great information in this thread.

If I didn't like my current router, I'd consider the mesh solution (I've been watching that technology for awhile now) but the existing router is handling everything else quite well and see no reason to spend the money and disrupt the existing network - Alexa, smart plugs, iPads, cell phones and an occasional untethered laptop.

I had a friend send me pics of his newer low-voltage panel. That's a great idea and much better than what we have here in Pennecamp. But my low-voltage things are done differently - the irrigation controller is in the house, but there is an external Comcast box and an external 'phone' box. If I had the low-voltage panel inside I'd be tempted to convert the telephone wiring.

A special thanks to the responders who provided input on the telephone wiring conversion.

So my plan now is what I was going to do and was suggested early on - hire an electrician to run cable through the attic and install two jacks. That will allow me to connect the wife's computer to the exiting gigabit ethernet network. (The Gig-E isn't really necessary but comes in handy sometimes.)

Thanks again to all who responded.

[petsetc]

Just a quick question for the powerline adapter advocates. Are the new powerline adapters better at communicating than older ones - not a speed question, a reliability and quality on connection question. I am using TP-Link AV500 and they seem to drop the connection and then recover in a few minutes-all by themselves. Thank you.

[WelchNH]

I agree with the use of Netgear for power line adapters. I've used a Netgear 1200 for years here in The Villages: speed at the remote point is identical to the speed at the router. A Netgear pair is arounfd $100 total. Also agree the "phone wire" is not technically equal to "LAN wire"

[jump4]

Many thanks for the all of the suggestions. There is a lot of great information in this thread.

If I didn't like my current router, I'd consider the mesh solution (I've been watching that technology for awhile now) but the existing router is handling everything else quite well and see no reason to spend the money and disrupt the existing network - Alexa, smart plugs, iPads, cell phones and an occasional untethered laptop.

I had a friend send me pics of his newer low-voltage panel. That's a great idea and much better than what we have here in Pennecamp. But my low-voltage things are done differently - the irrigation controller is in the house, but there is an external Comcast box and an external 'phone' box. If I had the low-voltage panel inside I'd be tempted to convert the telephone wiring.

A special thanks to the responders who provided input on the telephone wiring conversion.

So my plan now is what I was going to do and was suggested early on - hire an electrician to run cable through the attic and install two jacks. That will allow me to connect the wife's computer to the exiting gigabit ethernet network. (The Gig-E isn't really necessary but comes in handy sometimes.)

Thanks again to all who responded.
Getting a new MESH router doesn't have to "disrupt the existing network". If you program the new mesh router with the same WiFi password you currently use, all your devices will automatically connect to the new router.

I've been using Google WiFi routers for past several years. I found they had much better WiFi range that the previous non-MESH router. You may only need 1 or 2 of the MESH routers to provide full WiFi coverage of your house.