I recently wired up an ethernet and telephone network in my house, so here are some notes about terminology for future reference (it’s annoying to try and find what you need at electrical stores when you don’t know what anything’s called!).
| Terminology | Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| Pattress box | Box on the wall that you plug your cables into. The cables will stick straight out. |  |
| Modular faceplate | Faceplate for the box on the wall |  |
| RJ45 wall outlet module | RJ45 / Cat5e / Ethernet jack for the faceplate |  |
| BT telephone module | BT jack for the faceplate |  |
| Keystone surface mount box | Narrow box on the wall that you plug your cables into. The cables follow the wall. |  |
| RJ45 keystone jack | RJ45 / Cat5e / Ethernet jack for the keystone box |  |
| RJ45 | Cat5e / Ethernet plug |  |
| 8P8C | An RJ45 / Cat5e plug | |
| BT631A | A BT telephone plug |  |
| RJ11 | The small plug that normally plugs into the base of your phone |  |
| Cat5e | An ethernet cable | |
| 1-gang, 2-gang, etc. | The number of jacks / sockets. 1-gang has 1 jack, 2-gang has 2, etc. | |
| PABX | Private Branch Exchange. A type of private telephone network used in companies | |
| PSTN | Public Switched Telephone Network. This is the network your home phones will use. | |
| T568B | One of two equivalent Cat5e wiring plans. Use this one for new installations |
Note that often manufacturers will specify Cat5e on the description of a product such as a RJ45 outlet module even though Cat5e is a cable standard.
