A telephone plug is a type of connector used to connect a telephone set to the telephone wiring inside a building, establishing a connection to a telephone network. It is inserted into its counterpart, a telephone jack, commonly affixed to a wall or baseboard. The standard for telephone plugs varies from country to country, though the RJ11 modular connector has become by far the most common.
A connection standard, such as RJ11, specifies not only the physical aspects of an electrical connector, but also the pinout, i.e. the assignment or function of each contact.[1] Modular connectors are specified for the Registered Jack (RJ) series of connectors, as well as for Ethernet and other connectors, such as 4P4C (4 position, 4 contacts) modular connectors, the de facto standard on handset cords,[2] often improperly[3][4] referred to as RJ connectors.
History[edit]
Historically the telephone was typically owned by the telephone company and permanently wired to the telephone line they supplied, but as phone markets were deregulated a need arose for a simple plug-in interface that consumers could install. Many countries initially used different specifications for connectors. For example, after 1965 Bell System companies used the 505A plug, a round connector about 40mm in diameter with four prongs about 15mm apart. National connectors remain in service but few are used for new installations.
Connections[edit]
The installation of a conventional wired telephone set has four connection points, each of which may be hardwired, but more often use a plug and socket:
- telephone line to phone cord: The wall jack. This connection is the most standardized, and often regulated as the boundary between an individual's telephone and the telephone network. In many residences, though, the boundary between utility-owned and household-owned cabling is a network interface on an outside wall; all wall jacks in the home are part of the household's internal wiring.
- telephone cord to telephone set base: This connection is generally not regulated, but instead follows de facto standards. It is often a 6P4C connector, which is often RJ11, but may be proprietary or hardwired.
- telephone set base to handset cord: By de facto standard, this is usually a 4P4C connector.
- handset cord to handset: The handset end of the straight-through handset cord also uses a 4P4C connector.
Some of these may be absent: Wired telephones may not have a separate base and handset. The defining characteristic of wireless telephones is that they do not have a handset cord, and the defining characteristic of mobile telephones is that they do not have a phone cord.
Wiring[edit]
A standard specifies both a physical connector and how it is wired. Sometimes the same connector is used by different countries but wired in different ways.
For example, telephone cables in the UK typically have a BS 6312 (UK standard) plug at the wall end and a 6P4C or 6P2C modular connector at the telephone end: this latter may be wired as per the RJ11 standard (with pins 3 and 4), or it may be wired with pins 2 and 5, as a straight through cable from the BT plug (which uses pins 2 and 5 for the line, unlike RJ11, which uses pins 3 and 4). Thus cables are not in general compatible between different phones, as the phone base may have a socket with pins 2 and 5 (requiring a straight through cable), or have an RJ11 socket (requiring a crossover cable).
When modular connectors are used, the latch release of the connector should be on the ridge side of flat phone wire in order to maintain polarity.
Though four wires are typically used in U.S. phone cabling, only two are necessary for telecommunication. In the event that a second line is needed, the other two are used.
Compatibility[edit]
Different telephone connections are generally compatible with the use of an adapter: the physical connector and its wiring is the primary incompatibility.
List of plugs[edit]
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
See also: List of registered jacks
Modular connectors[edit]
Main article: Modular connector
- 4P4C and 4P2C for handset cables (often erroneously referred to as RJ9, RJ10, and RJ22)
- 6P2C for RJ11 single telephone line
- 6P4C for RJ14 two telephone lines
- 6P6C for RJ25 three telephone lines
- 8P8C for RJ61X four telephone lines, RJ48S and RJ48C for four-wire data lines, RJ31X single telephone line with equipment disconnect, RJ38X (similar to RJ31X but with continuity circuit)
Other connectors[edit]
- 50-pin miniature ribbon connector for RJ21X, used for up to 25 lines for multiline phones such as the ITT 2564, key telephone systems such as the 1A2 Key System, and PBX systems.
International standards[edit]
- RJ11, by far the most common
- BS 6312, British
- F-010, French
- TAE connector, German
National standards[edit]
- TDO-connector, Austria
- WT-4, Polish National Standard
- WT-4
- RJ11
- Cable holes
Traditionally, the 5th plastic pin disconnects 1 μF capacitor that shorts telephone line while plug is not inserted into socket. In modern makes it does nothing electrical, and capacitor compartment was reused for additional RJ11 socket.
Legacy[edit]
- 600 series connector, Australia
- Protea, South Africa
- SS 455 15 50, Sweden and Iceland
- Telebrás plug, Brazil
- Tripolar plug, Italy
- BTicino 2021 (with or without line interruption), Italy (rare)
List of countries and territories, with the plugs they use[edit]
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
This list covers only single line telephone plugs commonly used in homes and other small installations; there are 44 different variations of plugs, including an Israeli version of BS6312 with different internal wiring of the pins, plus hard wiring to a junction box with no adapter. Special telephone sets use a variety of special plugs, for example micro ribbon for key telephone systems and the wide array of registered jacks.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Used in older installations
- ^ Used for ADSL
- ^ a b c d e f g Used in newer installations
- ^ Currently the dominant plug
- ^ a b c d e f Often, although incorrectly referred to as "RJ45"
- ^ a b Used for ISDN
- ^ Although other types can also be found
- ^ Used for ISDN, Digital PBX, and office systems
- ^ Same plug used for POTS, ISDN and LAN
- ^ For local battery telephones, not used since approximately 1980
- ^ Also known as R.I.T.A.
- ^ Rarely used today
- ^ Same as the Polish WT-4
- ^ For special use
- ^ Used for ADSL modem lines in British telephone sockets
No comments:
Post a Comment