Thread: How can we modify existing wiring system(in our control), reduce no.of joints

Hi

We all know that Internet quality and no. of joints in phone wore bear an inverse proportion ratio..

I am starting a thread so we can come together, share ideas and experience about making our internet wiring specifically between our ADSL router and the point where wire supplied by our telephone company MTNL/BSNL/Other ends (in our house or maybe just outside) as best as possible.

Specifically how can we reduce no. of joints between 2 wires as much as possible and improve wiring material (type of wire), and ways we can make the hand twisted wires (followed by line-men) as maximum in contact to avoid data packet loss. (Handtwisting is never followed in the West and is considered worst method). I found some instruments on websites used to make contacts but they are not found in INdia yet.

I have gone thru many websites to apply Western system to our and just copy it but there are amy differences.
1. FIrstly, their main line is of 4 wires(ours is 2 only), Using cat5 in theor home is worth the money as 4 out of 8 wires get used.(we have to sacrifice other 6 out of 8)
2. They have a secial box called NID where main line ends.
(we have mostly bare wires or may be a junctional modular box)
3. They use special devices to make wire contacts. (we just hand twist wires)

I have read many user experiences saying that after minimizing wiring joints and strengthening the contacts, their snr margin improved, attenuaton fell and speed improved. Even use of proper modular connectio adapters to extend wires reduces performance significantly. As righltly said "single no breaks in wire is best" but that is not practially possible. I have been experimenting with quality of connection by trying to reduce wire joints and using as continuous line as possible.


To make the discussion easier for everyone reading this, i would like to prepare a format of wiring for a typical indian ADSL wiring so we can discuss on that blueprint. Lets start by naming each contact as Juntion 1,2....

1. Junction 1 - I think the first joint we are aware of is an MTNL/BSNL metal cupboard like thing anear a road and near our home. I think this cupboard has proper slots to make joints. We cant modify that

2. Junction 2 - I followed a black pipe from there and saw it entering my building. I think we all have same thing. the pipe ends in the staircase somewhere near our home. And there is a confusing scene of lot of wires hand Tiwsted there.

3. Junction 3 - Frm there a copper wire pair starts and enters our homes and ends in DP box (Modular Junction BOx).

4. Junction 4 - If we dont have a DP box there, they have handtwisted another extention wire until the DP box. The matel ring where main wires are screwed is not copper (rather steel or aluminium) and there is significant loss of uniform medium. (Critical for ADSL?)


5. Junction 5 - Contact at modular connection between RJ 11 slot and RJ 11 jact at exit of First DP box.

6. Junction 6. COntact at modular connection - between entry of Main phone wire and ADSL filter input RJ 11 slot.

7. Junction 7 - COntact at modular connection (RJ11) between ADSL filter Output for ROuter and phone wire RJ 11 jack

8. Junctin 8 - Contact at modular connection (Rj11)between ADSL phone wire and ADSL Router RJ 11 slot.

So our ADSL Router has to go through minimum 8 joints before it reaches the exchange!! We can atleast try to reduce joints in our control.. and use best possible techniques to join them rather than Handtwisting and cut short some unrequired Rj11 modular connections.. so. any ideas?

(RJ11 even if they sound good; contrary to popular belief is not good for internet connections)


I feel these conenctions do take a toll. Let us discuss any ways we can modify and improve thngs under out control.

Let me start by what i did..

I cut the length of regular phone between first DP box to as short as possible (just 3 inches and got it crimped with RJ11 at both ends by hardware shopwala. my snr margin has improved by by 5)

some user long back said cat5 in place of regular phone wire improved but i dod not follow how he managed to reduce contacts?

Let post our ideas and suggestion and experiences below:

thanks

The BSNL junction box for our house even has an ancient punch block in it --- but the engineers just twisted the wires.

When we made the change to Airtel, we got the engineers to take their cable to that same box, as we have a multiple-pair wire that was run from our rj11 wall box ( 2 rj11 boxes: one for the bsnl pair, and one for the airtel pair) back to there (I hope there are no joins in it!!!) and we still kept the BSNL landline. Of course, the airtel/house cables are ... twisted.


the exposed twisted ends corrode quite quickly. It seems to be necessary to bare and re-twist the wires once or twice a year, as the SNR is seen to drop. Taping doesn't seem to make much difference.

IDEA... put heat-shrink sleeves over the twisted cable ends and, err ...heat shrink. This should seal them from air and prevent oxidation/corrosion. A twist may not be as good as a punchdown block, but this might at least stop it from deteriorating.


I had this idea a few months back ... but I don't know where to buy the sleeve material (though, for Chennai, I'm guessing Parry's or Richie St somewhere).


Cat-5(-plus) cable is twisted in a specific way to resist interference to the ethernet network signal it is designed to carry. I don't know how price compares, but I guess there is no advantage when carrying phone signals. Maybe better to buy purpose-made phone cable, ensuring that it is copper and good quality. It can be multi-pair.

Hi Nick,
I agree to your opinion about cat 5 .. jsut for 10-15 metres i dont think it is much of use.. plus the very notion that i will wasting 3 pairs of of 4 even if i use it does not sound right. (becaue practically u can only use 2 wires out of 8 to connect to 2 Main BSNL phone wires.)


well i agree to your opinion about heat shrink.. Chennai as well as Mumbai are very humid places so deterioiration is unavoidable. But heat shrink may hide the wire from inspection if you suspect.

I was looking for some items ... an idea about connectors used in cars and bikes, i found whle surfing. let me paste a link below

smartclima.com/Wire-connector-003.htm



and

secondly,
i found a a device called NET5 interface used by British and Americans. It is awesome. Our first RJ11 Junction box which takes 3 joints until it reaches adsl filter. NET5 rather is a big socket built in adsl filter. so right at the start adsl line is separated without any joints.. awesome!.. SUch item is not available as of my search,.. let me knw if you aor anyone finds it ..


thats why it is said we are 5 years behind them...

There is just no comparison between a BSNL engineer with pliers and screwdriver, on his bike, and a British Telecom engineer with a van full of high-tech equipment. Still, you'll find plenty of complaints about BT . I understand that it is now possible to get fibre to your home, or, at least to the local street distribution box, in UK. They were doing ADSL if not five, then at least three years before India, so yes, five years behind is about right. If anything, the wonder is that it works at all over some of BSNL's ancient cabling. They have now recabled our street to a brand-new exchange, but when we changed to Airtel, BSNL had told us, "some of the cable route to your house runs under the canal. At this time there is nothing more we can do to improve it".

I would have thought that some upmarket company like Crabtree or L&T would make combined phone/DSL-data outlets, but, like you, I did have a look, and could not see one --- at least not in their domestic lineup. It's a good idea, if only for neatness, but, in terms of improving the signal, I think it is the outside cabling and the twisted joins (and maybe cheap, impure cable) that is the main culprit.

Cheap and substandard filter/splitters themselves seem to be a common cause of signal problems. We can be sure that the ones provided by the telecoms companies themselves (like their modems etc) will certainly be cheap!