In article ,
"TWayne" wrote:

Since the late 70s, all interior wiring belongs to the consumer.

Which was a real blessing!

Actually, the ownership of inside station wiring was transferred to the
property owner shortly after Divestitu January 1, 1984.

....and it was NOT a blessing for at least 7-8 years.

Shortly after it became legal for non-telco personnel to install inside
wiring, every electrical contractor forced their employees to install
wire that was made improperly (no twist).

It was a mess: Non-standard (crosstalk) wire installed by those that
were MAD because they felt forced to add it to their existing job - and
they felt it was NOT their job. They were not privy to the politics of
Divestiture.

It used to be done by their own technicians "back when" but no more.

The confidence with which you write belies your expertise; rather, your
LACK of it.

Inside (deregulated) wiring is still done today, EVERY day, by telco
employees - not just contractors.

You can even do your own digital wiring

Just what *IS* "digital" wiring?

you almost can't go wrong with digital except that there are so
many different kinds. For those, excepting some DSL lo speed
stuff, you really have to have CAT5 or the new CAT6 depending,
or the lines just won't work well.

I respectfully disagree.

Particularly with DSL, data-rated cable (Cat 5e, etc) is NOT required.

Think about it: The DSL signal is delivered to the end user over as
much as 3-4 MILES of non-data-rated cable that was made before DSL was
even thought of. It makes no sense to attach Cat 5e wire when its fed
with (probably) "Cat 2-1/2" cable.

Data-rated, twisted pair cable is required for high-speed networks - not
the POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) system. And DSL - ALL "flavors"
of it - are delivered over the POTS network.

I ran new CAT 5 for all my wiring as soon as I discovered we were
goint to get DSL

Nice wire but unnecessary for DSL (phone line-to-the-modem).

so I don't know how bad it gets with the old wiring.

Not bad as long as the pair is good. In fact, DSL will operate, albeit
more slowly, on a faulted pair on just ONE conductor (the other being
OPEN.)

Pretty bad I imagine, esp if it's old enough to not be
twisted pair cable.

Nope. You can deliver a reliable DSL signal to the modem using well
insulated bailing wire. Of course, I would avoid running that hack near
any motors, ballasts or other working pairs.

I haven't seen it, but I understand you can even get CAT5 or 6 cable
with a sheath for grounding

That is otherwise known as shielded cable. It, too, is overkill on the
POTS side of things - DSL included.
--

JR