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I'm trying to convert my phone line into ethernet cables, but I'm trying to figure out how to do it.

I read that you need cat 5+ cables to use for decent speeds. But when I look in the closet box, I see a strange cable that has 6 wires inside.

  1. orange with white stripes
  2. white with orange stripes
  3. blue with white stripes
  4. white with blue stripes
  5. green with white stripes
  6. white with green stripes

And I couldn't figure out what kind of cable this it. Reading the text on it, I don't see any catX names. Instead I see stuff like FT4.

Does anyone know what kind of cable this is and if it can be converted to ethernet, and if so what kind of speeds are expected from it?

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

Giacomo1968
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omega
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    Possible dupe https://superuser.com/questions/1218576/convert-rj11-to-ethernet-cable tho I find some of the answers concerning... – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 00:22
  • It’s RJ11 cable and the results of using that for Ethernet will stink at best. – Giacomo1968 Sep 28 '22 at 00:26
  • @Giacomo1968 Im looking at pics of RJ-11 and I see it has 4 wires inside which is confusing. https://i.pinimg.com/736x/e6/7e/61/e67e6189cd1667cb578de9e9d744a2b4.jpg – omega Sep 28 '22 at 00:31
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    Does this answer your question? [Convert RJ11 to ethernet cable?](https://superuser.com/questions/1218576/convert-rj11-to-ethernet-cable) – John Sep 28 '22 at 00:37
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    RJ11 isn't a cable, its a plug :D – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 00:40
  • So then what is the exact name/model for this kind of cable??? – omega Sep 28 '22 at 00:41
  • @omega Fair enough. Here are all the cats there are! https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ijIVi5DDq8I/maxresdefault.jpg – Giacomo1968 Sep 28 '22 at 00:42
  • mine doesn't even look like any of them which is so confusing. – omega Sep 28 '22 at 00:43
  • Here are my answers: “Does anyone know what kind of cable this is…” No solid idea. “…and if it can be converted to ethernet…” see the first answer; no idea. “…and if so what kind of speeds are expected from it?” Unknown. The reality is you should not trust what you cannot identify. Simply as that. – Giacomo1968 Sep 28 '22 at 00:49
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    @Giacomo1968 the cat 2 is labelled cat 5e in your photo :D – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 00:50
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    "What sort of cable is it?" "Phone cable, possibly cursed" "What sort of speeds are expected?" "Slow, possibly cursed" – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 00:52
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    “I couldn't figure out what kind of cable this it.” - It’s not Ethernet given its 2 wires short of being useful – Ramhound Sep 28 '22 at 01:23
  • Belden [a reputable cable manufacturer] & routerswitch.com both think this is cat 3 [untwisted, unshielded]. Belden says it comes in anything from 2 pair to 400 pair. https://blog.router-switch.com/2016/01/cisco-ccna-part-types-of-ethernet-cabling/ and https://www.belden.com/products/cable/ethernet-cable/category-3-cable#sort=%40catalogitemwebdisplaypriority%20ascending&numberOfResults=25 Knowing what it is doesn't make it any more useful - do as @JourneymanGeek says & use it to pull some Cat5e through. – Tetsujin Sep 28 '22 at 06:42
  • Though it doesn’t exactly answer your question, try VDSL. Ethernet with this cable will be no fun. VDSL on the other hand could get you high bandwidth over long crappy cables. It’s outstanding technology. “Master” modems exist. – Daniel B Sep 28 '22 at 07:46
  • @DanielB would the master modems be 'cheaper' than pulling new cable and using standard ethernet? That's a consideration here I'd feel – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 08:27

3 Answers3

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The best use of this sort of cable would be to pull proper cat 5 or better. If you asked me what sort of cable it is? "Phone cable, possibly cursed". If you asked me what sort of speeds? "Slow, possibly cursed".

In theory you might be able to use this sort of cable with an ethernet punch block or keystone if its solid cable - but practically, there may be a lot of issues using this

A quick google suggests "FT4" refers to flame resistance which while is good for code compliance, tells us nothing about what sort of cable this is.

Practically - even modern voice grade cabling uses cat5 and up these days (Its more common and economies of scale mean just not connecting half the cables is cheaper), so this is likely old and using cat 1 or 2 - since cat 3(which is also voice grade) and up is a formal standard. The 'stripes' are nothing like standard ethernet either which is concerning.

Even with something that looked like to spec ethernet cables if you quinted over short ranges - 2 pairs tends to be flakey and behave in a slightly unpredictable fashion

Basically, to quote Ian Malcom - "Just because you could, doesn't mean you should"

Journeyman Geek
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  • Ok thanks. Do you happen to know the exact name for this cable? Like what cat is it or anything more? – omega Sep 28 '22 at 00:28
  • If its unlabelled - it might not actually have a proper specification. The 'back end' of the modern phone system hasn't actually changed that much in... forever. RJ12 connectors will take 6 wires - which is what this is meant for I suspect but... the colours for phone cables are standard and different from this. – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 00:39
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That's Machine stranded wire if you ordered wire from say Grainger generic 6 strand wire that's the way it comes normally has a silver and blue aluminum foil which is the shielding unless you specifically say unshielded when you order and I don't think that wire transfers any faster or slower than any other generic wire.

That wire is used in 75% of any production Maintenance Department that at least Plastic injection molding. We used it for Machine wiring and if you needed a cat 5e it worked just as well.

Giacomo1968
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Wes Williams
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    Being just 6-core it will be useless as a Cat5 replacement. 100Base-T at best. Un-twisted pairs for extra interference too. – Tetsujin Sep 28 '22 at 07:47
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Appears to be Cat3

6 Pair Cat3 Cable - PVC - Per FT

enter image description here

Giacomo1968
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user192649
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  • It would be helpful to explain why specifically its cat 3 - are the 6 pairs unique to it? Is there other markings that indicate what it is? – Journeyman Geek Sep 28 '22 at 21:22