Help Center

Questions about Wiring

Webster-Calhoun Cooperative Telephone Association has a 100 percent fiber-optic network and requires certain wiring standards for the homeowner to receive cable TV, Internet, and phone services. Follow these tips for the best experience with your wired devices. Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Contact our office.

​Home run Cat5e (or greater) wiring from the jack to the utility room. No daisy chain wiring. No splitters in the walls or jacks.

• Digital cable TV and Internet jacks need 4 pairs in the Cat5e wire.  Run a separate Cat5e wire for phone, video, and data from those locations where service is needed.
• Run a Cat5e wire anywhere a TV might be in the future, for example, above fireplaces, higher up on living room walls, garage, covered patio/deck, etc.
• Coax may go away in the future. Using Cat5e will future-proof the home.
• Wherever Coax cable is run, a Cat5e cable should be in the box too.  For Coax, use RG6, not RG-59.
• You might need a rigid conduit (PVC or EMT) from where we bury fiber outside the home to the utility room. This needs to be done before you sheetrock. Webster-Calhoun does this for you, but we need your help to get it done in a timely manner.  Please contact us as soon as the home is enclosed.
• You need an outlet in the utility room to plug in switches and power supplies. Preferably a quad (x4) outlet.
• You need a (2’ x 3’ minimum) board/plywood in the utility room to mount Webster-Calhoun’s equipment (power pack, switch, wireless router, block.
• Leave enough slack Cat5e wire in the utility room for wire termination. Preferably 36”
• Do not use bare staples or clamps that compress the Cat5e wire.  Approved fasteners are the Arrow T-59 Staple and or Telecrafter/Steren and or equivalent S4BK/270-963BK FlexClip.
• All Cat5e network terminations completed to the T1A-568B Standard