Usage: Telephone cables are primarily used for voice communication, while network cables (also known as Ethernet cables) are mainly used for data communication, including internet connections, local area network connections, etc.

Design: Telephone cables typically use RJ11 connectors, while network cables use RJ45 connectors. These two types of connectors differ in size and the number of pins, making them physically incompatible.

TELEPHONE CABLE

Number of Pairs: Telephone cables usually only have two pairs of wires (a total of four wires), while standard network cables (such as Cat5e or Cat6) have four pairs of wires (a total of eight wires).

Transmission Rate: Due to the more complex design of network cables, they can usually support higher data transmission rates. For example, Cat5e network cables can support a maximum rate of 1000Mbps, while Cat6 network cables can even support a maximum rate of 10Gbps. In contrast, the data transmission rate of telephone cables is usually much lower.

CAT5E

Interference Resistance: Network cables usually have better electromagnetic interference resistance. This is because their pairs of wires are twisted together in a specific way. This twisted pair design helps reduce electromagnetic interference, thereby improving the quality and reliability of data transmission.

About RJ11 and RJ45 connectors:

RJ45

RJ11 Connectors:

RJ11 is the most widely-used registered jack in telecommunications.

It uses a 6P2C or 6P4C configuration, which means it has 6 positions and 2 or 4 connectors.

RJ11 is used for wiring a single phone line.

The bandwidth supported by RJ11 connectors is about 24Mbps.

RJ11 connectors are compact and square-shaped.

RJ45 Connectors:

RJ45 is used in computer networking (Ethernet) and uses an 8P8C configuration, which means it has 8 positions and 8 connectors.

The bandwidth supported by RJ45 connectors can reach up to 10Gbps over Ethernet, provided the other equipment like network cables also support that speed.

RJ45 connectors are longer and more rectangular in shape compared to RJ11.

RJ45 connectors have better electromagnetic interference resistance because their pairs of wires are twisted together in a specific way.

Please note that you cannot plug an RJ45 cable connector into an RJ11 jack as they are physically incompatible due to differences in size and the number of pins.

RJ11