# install fax line



## bote110 (Oct 7, 2012)

I need to install a fax line an I read that a Cat5e can also be use beside a phone line, now there are some items I would like to get :
1. signal ends so I don't have to buy 5 or 10 in a package male and female ends?
2. some thing {not sure what there call} so I can connect like 6 lines from my modem in and out to it so I can connect any other rooms I made add later.


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## carmusic (Oct 11, 2011)

you really want a fax line? i throw my second line for fax long ago and now use internet faxes like onlinefaxes. way cheaper than a second line and just use emails


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## intelpcguy (May 10, 2015)

you are correct
Cat5E can be used as a fax line, you only need a RJ11 keystone / port plate , you punch down the blue, blue white pair, all other wires get folded back, you then extend the line from your current location by splicing with IDC connectors to your existing phone line, there might be a red and green wire if you have 2 or 3 pair for the fax line, green is "tip", red is "ringer", connect red to blue, and green to blue/white. A Cat5E cable has 4 pairs of wires, so you will only have 4 lines max on one cable, you can splice the other 3 lines through the drop ( your new fax line location ) or add more RJ11 keystones and punch each one as a separate phone line.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Fax? What is a Fax?


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## bote110 (Oct 7, 2012)

carmusic said:


> you really want a fax line? i throw my second line for fax long ago and now use internet faxes like onlinefaxes. way cheaper than a second line and just use emails


My printer/fax is in my computer room where there is no phone line installed ,I got tired of running a '100 foot extension line from it to the phone line in the kitchen , so I would like to run a line to the basement where the phone line inters the house. We fax documents weekly .


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## bote110 (Oct 7, 2012)

intelpcguy said:


> you are correct
> Cat5E can be used as a fax line, you only need a RJ11 keystone / port plate , you punch down the blue, blue white pair, all other wires get folded back, you then extend the line from your current location by splicing with IDC connectors to your existing phone line, there might be a red and green wire if you have 2 or 3 pair for the fax line, green is "tip", red is "ringer", connect red to blue, and green to blue/white. A Cat5E cable has 4 pairs of wires, so you will only have 4 lines max on one cable, you can splice the other 3 lines through the drop ( your new fax line location ) or add more RJ11 keystones and punch each one as a separate phone line.


Is using a Cat5e cable any faster or better than just a phone line? I know the phone line is only $10. per '100.


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## bote110 (Oct 7, 2012)

ddawg16 said:


> Fax? What is a Fax?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fax

Still use today with a all in 1 printer/copier/fax machine for Doc.,Lawyers ect:


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## intelpcguy (May 10, 2015)

[Is using a Cat5e cable any faster or better than just a phone line?]
No, there is no speed advantage. a 56k modem / fax will be the same speed wise over POTS , even if you got 2 wire cat3 or 4 pair Cat5E pre wired. 

The only reason you wan to use it is if later you wanted to get a network topology running, in that you have a patch panel somewhere, and have all your "drops" starting from there, in star fashion. Then you ca run phone ( analog ), network, VOIP, digital phone, IP Cameras ,etc depending on what hardware and what it's patched into. My house has redundant Cat5E drops everywhere. I can patch in for anything I want, be it video, hdmi, networking and so I. The hardware may change, but the backbone pretty much stays the same once run.


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## bote110 (Oct 7, 2012)

I have a cat5e cable running to my modem to the basement from my computer room for my computer an going to need to run a phone line to the basement for my computer room for the fax. I think I might need to get some sort of cat5e an phone line patch panel to add more lines later.


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