The RJ11 (registered jack 11) cable is the basic connector that is used with 4-wire telephone wiring.

The wiring for the RJ11 comes in two different flavors: untwisted and the unshielded twisted pair, otherwise known as UTP. Although the RJ11 jack has about 6 different connector positions, only about 4 of them are used. Sometimes just two are used, even.

This type of cable is somewhat of a standard as most all of US wiring system consist of the RJ11 jacks for the telephone lines. This type of connector is also popular in a few other countries. Other jacks include a 2-line telephone jack (RJ14), a 3-line jack (RJ25), and also a 6-line jack(RJ61). These all utilize the 6 connector pins as well as the RJ11.

The different pinout each have a differently colored sheath. The RJ 11 is particular uses the 3rd and 4th positioned pins, which correspond to both pin 1 and 2. Pin 1 in RJ11 jacks is a blue wire with a white stripe, and pin 2 is a white wires with a blue stripe. The RJ 25 jacks utilize all 6 positions, which are as follows:

• Pin 1 - white/green
• Pin 2 - white/orange
• Pin 3 - blue/white
• Pin 4 - white/blue
• Pin 5 - orange/white
• Pin 6 - green/white

Each of the sheath colors are the same between the RJ11, RJ14, and RJ25 connectors. Some older colors in use consisted of orange, black, red, green, yellow, blue is corresponding order. German colors include pink, green, white, brown, yellow, gray, also listed from pin 1 to pin 6.

The extra “unused” wires in the RJ11 may be used for extra applications, such as powering an LCD light attached to a phone, for example. There are also a few other useful things that the wires may be used for. In most cases, the telephone line can supply enough power for the telephone. If it is resource heavy, then an external power supply may be needed.

The two pins used in the RJ11 (#3 and #4 in placement) represent the negative and positive terminals. Pin #3 is the positive terminal and pin #4 is the negative terminal.In order to find out which side to read from when looking at the cable, make sure to hold the connecter in your hand with the tabbed side pointing down with the opening of the cable towards you, and the pins from there are read from left to right.

These types of cables are quickly being replaced with Cat5(e) and Cat6 cables as they can carry the same type of data at a seemingly faster rate.

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