Telephone plug
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A telephone plug is a type of male connector used to connect a telephone to the telephone wiring in a home or business, and in turn to a local telephone network. It is inserted into its female counterpart, a telephone "jack", commonly fixed 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 connector, but how it is wired (the "pinout"). Modular connectors are specified for the Registered Jack 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 cables, often improperly referred to as "RJ connectors".
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[edit] History
Historically the telephone was often owned by the supplier and permanently wired in to the telephone line they supplied but as phone markets became more deregulated there was a need for a simple plug-in interface that consumers could use. Many countries initially used their own connectors. For example Bell System companies in the 1960s used a round plug about 40mm in diameter with four prongs about 15mm apart. National connectors remain in service but few are used for new installations.
[edit] List of connections
On a conventional wired telephone, there are 4 connections, each of which may be hardwired, but more often uses a plug and socket:
- telephone line to phone cable
- The wall jack. This connection is the most standardized, and often regulated as the boundary between an individual's telephone and the phone network.
- phone cable to phone base
- This and further connections is generally not regulated, but instead has de facto standards. It is often 6P4C, which is often RJ11, but may be proprietary or hardwired.
- phone base to handset cable
- handset cable to handset
- The last two (the handset cable) has a de facto standard of a 4P4C connector with straight through cable.
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 cable, and
- the defining characteristic of mobile telephones is that they do not have a phone cable.
[edit] Wiring
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.
[edit] Compatibility
Different telephone connections are generally compatible with the use of an adapter: the physical connector and its wiring is the primary incompatibility.
See: gallery of telephone adapters.
[edit] List of plugs
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This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
[edit] Modular connectors
- 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)
[edit] Other connectors
- 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.
[edit] International standards
- RJ11, by far the most common
- BS 6312, British
- F-010, French
- TAE connector, German
[edit] National standards
- 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.
[edit] Legacy
- 600 series connector, Australia
- Protea, South Africa
- SS 455 15 50, Sweden and Iceland
- Telebrás plug, Brazil
- Tripolar plug, Italy
[edit] List of countries and territories, with the plugs they use
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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. Special telephone sets use a variety of special plugs, for example micro ribbon for key telephone systems and the wide array of registered jacks.
| Place | Plug or Plugs |
|---|---|
| Albania | RJ11 |
| Algeria | F-010 |
| Argentina | RJ11 |
| Australia | 610 or RJ11 |
| Austria | TDO |
| Barbados | RJ11 |
| Belarus | RJ11 or Polish national 5-pin (WT-4) in older installations |
| Belgium | Tetrapolar or RJ11 |
| Bolivia | RJ11 |
| Bosnia | RJ11, or older 3-pin plug used in countries of former Yugoslavia |
| Botswana | BS 6312 |
| Brazil | Telebrás plug or RJ11 |
| Bulgaria | RJ11 or Russian/Polish 5-pin plug in old installations |
| Canada | RJ11 |
| Cayman Islands | RJ11 |
| Chile | RJ11 |
| China Mainland | RJ11 |
| Colombia | RJ11 Also in use the national standard [1] |
| Costa Rica | RJ11 |
| Croatia | RJ11, or older 3-pin plug used in countries of former Yugoslavia |
| Cyprus | BS 6312 (431A and 631A) With RJ11 used for ADSL |
| Czech Republic | RJ11, or older 4-pin national plug |
| Denmark | RJ11 in newer installations, but mainly the national 3-prong standard. [2] |
| Dominican Republic | RJ11 |
| Ecuador | RJ11 |
| Estonia | RJ11 or Polish national 5-pin (WT-4) in older installations |
| Faroe Islands | RJ11 |
| Finland | RJ11, 3-prong national standard in older installations [3] |
| France | F-010 |
| Germany | TAE, or 8P8C (RJ-45) for ISDN |
| Gibraltar | BS 6312 |
| Greece | RJ11 although other types can also be found |
| Hong Kong | RJ11 in newer installations, or BS 6312 |
| Hungary | RJ11 |
| Iceland | RJ11, or SS 455 15 50 in older installations |
| India | RJ11 |
| Indonesia | RJ11 |
| Iran | RJ11, older installations may be CEI 23-16/VII or CEE 7/16. |
| Ireland | RJ11, 8P8C (RJ-45) for ISDN, Digital PBX and office systems (4 way post office jack on pre mid-1980's installations) |
| Israel | BS 6312 or RJ11 |
| Italy | Tripolar plug or RJ11 |
| Japan | RJ11 |
| Latvia | RJ11 or Polish national 5-pin (WT-4) in older installations |
| Lithuania | RJ11 or Polish national 5-pin (WT-4) in older installations |
| Liechtenstein | Reichle-connector (4-pin Swiss telephone plugs in old installations) |
| Luxembourg | RJ11 (sometimes older 4-pin luxembourgish telephone plug can be found) |
| Macedonia | RJ11, or older 3-pin plug used in countries of former Yugoslavia |
| Malaysia | RJ11 |
| Malta | BS 6312, or RJ11 in some newer installations |
| Mexico | RJ11 |
| Montenegro | RJ11, or older 3-pin plug used in countries of former Yugoslavia |
| Morocco | F-010 or RJ11 |
| Netherlands | RJ11 and the Dutch telephone plug |
| New Zealand | BS 6312 |
| Norway | 8P8C (RJ-45) in newer installations (same plug for POTS, ISDN and LAN), 3-prong national standard in older installations [4]6-prong national standard for local battery telephones. (Not used since approx 1980) |
| Pakistan | RJ11 |
| Panama | RJ11 |
| Peru | RJ11 |
| Philippines | RJ11 |
| Poland | RJ11 or Polish national 5-pin (WT-4) coupled with RJ11 socket in older installations |
| Portugal | RJ11 (also known as R.I.T.A.) |
| Romania | RJ11, 3-pin triangular plug or 5-pin circular plug |
| Russia | RJ11, or Polish national 5-pin (WT-4) in older installations |
| Serbia | RJ11, or older 3-pin plug used in countries of former Yugoslavia |
| Singapore | RJ11 |
| Slovenia | RJ11, or older 3-pin plug used in countries of former Yugoslavia |
| Slovakia | RJ11, or older 4-pin national plug |
| South Africa | RJ11 or Protea, 8P8C (RJ-45) used for ISDN |
| South Korea | standard 4-pin plug, or RJ11 for special use |
| Spain | RJ11 |
| Sri Lanka | RJ11 |
| Sweden | SS 455 15 50 or RJ11 |
| Switzerland | Reichle-connector or older 4-pin plugs |
| Taiwan | RJ11 |
| Thailand | RJ11 |
| Turkey | RJ11 |
| United Arab Emirates | BS 6312 |
| United Kingdom | BS 6312 (431A and 631A) With RJ11 used for ADSL British Telephone Sockets |
| United States | RJ11 and other Registered jacks, 4-pin Bell System plugs in older installations |
| Venezuela | RJ11 |
| Zimbabwe | BS 6312 or RJ11 |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Telephone adaptor |
- Telephone plug list — at Steve Kropla's World Wide Phone Guide
- How to install telephone wiring