0

(There are already a lot of existing questions here about converting telephone wire to use it for Ethernet. That is not my question. I already know that the CAT5 in the wall here is a straight run back to the electrical closet and I can just re-terminate the ends.)

I have new VOIP phones that I would like to wall-mount. Our jacks, along with the vast majority of wall-mount phone jacks I see in stores, look like this one:

phone jack

The problem is that the jack itself is (a) built-in 6P4C and (b) sticking out from the surface.

The first of those isn't really a problem, because I can put in an Ethernet biscuit jack right below the phone and plug into that.

The bigger problem is the fact that the existing jack is not flush. The phone I have overlaps the jack by a fraction of an inch when I try to mount it. If the jack were flush with the surface, the phone would fit (and if it were an RJ45 there would be just enough room for the cable).

I looked into recessed-jack wall plates, but all of the ones I have found are not recessed enough to make a difference. Here is one example which explicitly shows that the jack still sticks out despite being recessed.

claims to be recessed but isn't

Other than cutting the jack out of the wall plate and just having an empty hole there (or spending money on a keystone wall plate but not putting a keystone in it), are there any better ways to handle this?

4
  • "I already know that the CAT5 in the wall here is a straight run back to the electrical closet" - Old phone lines are not Cat5, Are you saying you have replaced the telephone line in the wall with Cat5 line ? or you are just using the old phone line and putting RJ45 ends on. You could make a custom wall plate with wood that will have your connection plate recessed to the specs you need.
    – Alaska Man
    Commented Aug 26, 2020 at 16:43
  • 1
    @AlaskaMan, on a new enough house it often is -- phone signals work fine over Cat 5, and if they might be installing Ethernet as well, it's one less type of wire they have to stock on the truck.
    – Nate S.
    Commented Aug 26, 2020 at 16:51
  • @NateS. - The question is about an existing phone jack but said it was Cat5, that is why i posted a comment for clarification. The age of the house was not mentioned.
    – Alaska Man
    Commented Aug 26, 2020 at 17:27
  • @AlaskaMan Nate S. is correct. All of the phone jacks in this building (built in 2006) are wired using CAT5 home runs. It makes upgrades super easy. About 50% of the burglar alarm wire is CAT5 too.
    – Moshe Katz
    Commented Aug 26, 2020 at 19:31

1 Answer 1

3

How about using a keystone mount phone mount?

Keystone jack phone mount

Source

This, along with a RJ-45 keystone jack should be exactly what you need. Or, if you'd prefer to use the Ethernet biscuit jack (maybe the cable won't clear even if the jack is flush), blank keystone jack covers are also available.

1
  • That's what I've been looking for. None of my regular networking distributors sell anything like that I could find, nor do Amazon, Home Depot, etc.
    – Moshe Katz
    Commented Aug 26, 2020 at 16:39

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.