I plan to run a new phone line, but it is maybe 150' (cross basement, basement to attic, cross attic, down, chain to next phone, etc). Hopefully I can figure out a reasonable way to re-route it, but if not, does anyone know what distances start to become a problem for each wiring type? Currently this line is part straight 4 conductor and part Cat3, sounds lousy, and has buried splices. I have Cat3 and Cat5e to replace some or all of this with. The goal is to get rid of the old non-twisted phone line, get rid of as many splices as possible and improve the sound quality. - I believe Cat5e cable should be the best at handing electronic noise, but is that even likely to be the source of the problem and will it attenuate the signal too much over a long connection? - Cat3 should be a significant improvement over the existing wiring while also being cheaper and easier to fish through walls. I don't need the possibility of network wiring, since I will also be running network wiring and won't try to re-wire for home runs everywhere. Will this handle distances better?

I had no phone service. Called phone company, the tech came out and and found a short in the overhead line where my line connects. He said I was good to go, and since the only pnone I had connected was to the service port just inside the house, and that worked ok, (it wouldnt work there before) I thought I was good to go. Ha..none of the other pnones worked. I checked what I call a service port and it had 50 DC volts coming in, but nothing going out of the two output lines going to the rest of the house. What is wrong here? The guy had already left when I found out I had no other pnones. The phone company is very quick to tell me that Im responsible for repairs and service for items inside the house.