You Can Easily Convert Your Old Telephone Wiring Into An Ethernet Jack - Here's How

If you struggle to get good wireless signals throughout your house, you've done everything you can to improve those Wi-Fi speeds, and even the most reliable mesh systems aren't working, going full wired LAN is a good choice. The biggest hurdle will likely come from limited access to the router and its outlets, but newer technologies being applied to older wiring connections are making this less of an issue.

For hardwired connections, you're restricted by proximity to the router or the length of any Ethernet cords you plug in. But there is one little trick you can take advantage of if you have telephone wiring and RJ11 jacks around your home. It's not as simple as plugging a random node in, of course. Yes, that essentially needs to be done, making way for RJ45 outlets for Ethernet compatibility, but you also need a device to convert the signal at both ends.

The device you'll need for this is a specialized modem, like the GIGA Copper G4201TM, that uses the G.hn standard (Gigabit Home Networking) to send network data over your existing phone wiring. In other words, it turns the existing wiring into a fast cable network. You connect the GIGA modem's Ethernet port to the router via a standard Ethernet cable, then plug the telephone line output into the RJ11 port. From there, any other outlets in the home you want to use would need to be set up similarly, except they'll be acting as a gateway or bridge. You would use other GIGA devices, like the G4202T to connect to the telephone outlet in another room and convert the incoming signal into a usable LAN for computers and other devices.

The reason this works is simple: The adapters translate Ethernet so it can travel over the copper pairs already in your walls, then translate it back at the other end. A resourceful tech enthusiast was able to achieve this for low-latency gaming with better bandwidth than what his powerline adapters provided. Alternatively, you can convert all the existing wiring, but that's a lot of work. The above method is more of a plug-and-play solution that uses what you already have installed in your walls, as long as your house's phone runs terminate cleanly and aren't daisy-chained from jack to jack.

It requires a little manual work, but you can convert RJ11 telephone ports into RJ45 Ethernet ports, provided the wires used were Cat 5e cables. While some newer houses have Cat 5e cables running between their phone jacks, earlier builds typically have older types of phone lines that aren't compatible with this mod. But if you live in an older house or simply one built without Ethernet cabling installed, you're not entirely out of luck — you can actually get wired internet without installing those cables yourself. 

To do this, you could use powerline adapters, for example, which convert and transmit the internet signal over your home's electrical wiring. Then you just plug adapters into power outlets. Similarly, MoCA adapters convert your coaxial cables into a network-friendly connection. These two options are also relevant, considering the GIGA Copper devices are European and may need to be imported.

If you're just looking to speed up your internet, in general, there are several things you can do before replacing your router. But ultimately, your choices are to rewire your house — presumably having it professionally done — running an Ethernet wire the old-fashioned way from room-to-room out in the open, using the GIGA Copper devices over old telephone connections, MoCA for coaxial conversions, or powerline adapters. It's going to come down to which makes the most sense for you and your home.