How many landline phones on one wire?

Question

i know there's not a lot of voltage, and i've had wires get brittle in the past after a year or two of use. is there a limit to the length of the wire and number of actual phones on the wire? do you need some kind of booster after a certain amount of feet? thanks.

Answer 1

Depends on what REN value the phones are (found on the back. normally 1). Can normally get 5 before things go pear shaped and if you want more then a phone system will sort. Length really isnt a issue as you will find far more distance of copper outside on the network but obviously use good quality cable without sharp corners or kinks. There are REN boosters available but if you needed one youd really just be hiding a fault somewhere.

Answer 2

whats question exactly, 1 line per 2 wires normally, gain turned up in exchange for long lines but this affects snr margin for adsl.

Answer 3

for voice service you really are not going to be able to run enough wire in your home to make a big difference in quality.

standard quad, or 2 pair wire can hold 2 dial tones, 4 pair is also very common and can hold 4 dial tones (cat 5 is 4 pair) one dial tone uses a pair of wires, one for tip and one for ring.

5 phones, or devices connected to a single telephone line is the normal maximum, depending on the quality of your inside and outside telephone wiring, and the distance from the central office you may be able to use more, or have problems with less. they do sell REN boosters, they should be installed close to the NID...

DSL should be "homerun" from the NID to the DSL phone jack not tapped off of other jacks, for the best quality, and signal level...