dial up question?

Question

My computer came with a 4 conductor cable for modem, it wasn't long enough so I bought a longer one. The longer one is only 2 conductors. Does this make a difference as far as speed goes? I used to use the 4 but I moved my desk and now need the longer one. It just seems slower than it used to be. Thanks

Answer 1

If your telephone cord is too long, throughput may decrease. A seven foot cord is a good length, if the line is excessively long, the computer and the phone jack may need to be closer together. Also, if the cord is old, try using a newer one. I would say no longer than a 12 feet extension cord. If you really wanted to "designate" no interferance with other telephone jacks that might have a problem you could always have someone come out and install a new telephone jack in the location of your computer and run a wire directly to your customer box outside your house which will eliminate any "random problems" another telephone jack may cause. Corrosion in wiring due to weathering will create a problem with your connection, but that will cause more disconnects due to the random breaks in feed over just losing speed.
Have you tried another access number, or a different time of the day?
When you say a 4 conductor cable and are dealing with dial-up I am assuming you are talking about the average telephone wire which includes the yellow, black, red and green wires? The reason there are 4 wires are due to that phone line can handle 2 seperate telephone numbers. The only 2 wires out of that line that are going to be used are the red and green in normal instances. The yellow and black wires are basically going to not be connected. If you go out to your customer box outside and to each telephone jack in your house you will see the same 4 wires, but only 2 of those lines are connected to the posts.

Answer 2

It doesn't matter. Phone cables can have up to six conductors for special purposes, but the you only need the middle two for your modem. Four conductor cables are mainly for two line phones.