Registered jack

This article is about the registered jack (RJ) wiring standard. For other uses of modular connectors, see Modular connector.

Left to right, RJ connectors:

• an eight-contact 8P8C plug (used for RJ49, RJ61 and others, but often called "RJ45" because of its outward semblance to the
true RJ45)
• six-contact RJ25 plug
• four-contact RJ14 plug (often also used instead of two-pin RJ11)
• a four-contact handset plug (also popularly, though incorrectly, called "RJ22", "RJ10", or "RJ9")

RJ25 and RJ14 can be plugged into the same standard six-pin jack, pictured.

A registered jack (RJ) is a standardized physical network interface — both jack construction and wiring pattern — for connecting
telecommunications or data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. The standard designs
for these connectors and their wiring are named RJ11, RJ14, RJ21, RJ48, etc. Many of these interface standards are commonly used
in North America, though some interfaces are used world-wide.
The physical connectors that registered jacks use are mainly of the modular connector and 50-pin miniature ribbon connector types.
For example, RJ11 uses a 6 position 2 conductor (6P2C) modular plug and jack, while RJ21 uses a 50-pin miniature ribbon connector.

Contents
• 1 Naming confusion
• 2 Twisted pair
• 3 History and authority
• 4 International use
• 5 Registered jack types
o 5.1 Common types
o 5.2 List of official types
o 5.3 Unofficial plug names
• 6 RJ11, RJ14, RJ25 wiring details
o 6.1 Powered version of RJ11
o 6.2 Pinouts
• 7 Compatibility with structured cabling
• 8 Notes and references
• 9 See also

• 10 External links

Naming confusion
Strictly, "registered jack" refers to both the female physical connector (modular connector) and its wiring, but the term is often used
loosely to refer to modular connectors regardless of wiring, such as in Ethernet over twisted pair.

There is much confusion over these connection standards. The six-position plug and jack commonly used for telephone line
connections may be used for RJ11, RJ14 or even RJ25, all of which are actually names of interface standards that use this physical
connector. The RJ11 standard dictates a 2-wire connection, while RJ14 uses a 4-wire configuration, and RJ25 uses all six wires. The
RJ abbreviations, though, only pertain to the wiring of the jack (hence the name "registered jack"); it is commonplace but not strictly
correct to refer to an unwired plug connector by any of these names.

Plugs and jacks of this type are often called modular connectors, which originally distinguished them from older telephone connectors,
which were very bulky or wired directly to the wall and therefore not accommodating of modular systems. A common nomenclature
for modular connectors is e.g. "6P" to indicate a six-position modular plug or jack. Sometimes the nomenclature is expanded to
indicate the number of positions that contain conductors. For example, a six-position modular plug with conductors in the middle two
positions and the other four positions unused is called a 6P2C. RJ11 uses a 6P plug; furthermore, it often uses a 6P2C. (The connectors
could be supplied with more pins, but if more pins are actually wired, the interface is no longer an RJ11.)

Registered jacks were created by the FCC to be the standard interface between a telephone company and a customer. The wired
communications provider (telephone company) is responsible for delivery of services to a minimum point of entry (MPOE)
(physically a utility box) which connects the telephone/network wiring on the customer's property (CPE - Customer-premises
equipment) to the communication provider's network. The customer is responsible for jacks, wiring, and equipment on their side of the
MPOE. The intent is to establish a universal standard for wiring and interfaces, and to separate ownership of in-home (or in-office)
telephone wiring away from (North America's) Bell Systems and relinquish ownership of wiring in an entity's owned structure to that
entity.

The various interfaces created due to this regulation were numbered and integrated into the telecommunications' order system by
adopting them as Universal Service Order Codes (USOC). USOCs are commonly passed to the communications provider by large
businesses for a variety of services. Because there are many standardized interface options available to the customer, the customer
must specify the type of interface required, by RJ/USOC. And for a multi-line interface such as the RJ21, they must denote which
position(s) of the interface are to be used. If there are multiple RJ21 connectors, they are numbered sequentially and the customer
must advise the communications provider of which one to use.

Twisted pair
See also: Category 5 cable and TIA/EIA-568-B
While the plugs are generally used with a flat cable (a notable exception being Ethernet twisted-pair cabling used with the 8P8C
modular plug), the long cables feeding them in the building wiring and the phone network before them are normally twisted pair.
Wiring conventions were designed to take full advantage of the physical compatibility ensuring that using a smaller plug in a larger
socket would pick up complete pairs not a (relatively useless) two half pairs but here again there has been a problem. The original
concept was that the centre two pins would be one pair, the next two out the second pair, and so on until the outer pins of an eight-pin
connector would be the fourth twisted pair. Additionally, signal shielding was optimised by alternating the “live” (hot) and “earthy”
(ground) pins of each pair. This standard for the eight-pin connector is the USOC-defined pinout, but the outermost pair are then too
far apart to meet the electrical requirements of high-speed LAN protocols. Two variations known as T568A and T568B overcome this
by using adjacent pairs of the outer four pins for the third and fourth pairs. For T568A, the inner four pins are wired identically to
those in RJ14. In the T568B variant, different pairs are assigned to different pins, so a T568B jack is incompatible with the wiring
pattern of RJ14. In connecting cables, however, the performance differences between the pairs that are assigned to different pins are
minimal, and in general use T568A and T568B patch cables are interchangeable.

History and authority

For more details on this topic, see Interconnection.

Under the Bell System monopoly (following the Communications Act of 1934), the Bell System owned the phones and did not allow
interconnection of separate phones or other terminal equipment. Phones were generally hardwired, or at times used proprietary Bell
System connectors.

This began to change with the case Hush-A-Phone v. United States [1956] and the FCC's Carterfone [1968] decision, which required
Bell to allow some interconnection, which culminated in registered jacks.

Registered jacks were introduced by the Bell System in the 1970s under a 1976 FCC order ending the use of protective couplers. They
replaced earlier, bulkier connectors. The Bell System issued specifications for the modular connectors and their wiring as Universal
Service Ordering Codes (USOC), which were the only standard at the time.
When the US telephone industry was opened to more competition in the 1980s, the specifications were made a matter of US law,
ordered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and codified in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 CFR Part 68,
Subpart F.

In January 2001, the FCC turned over responsibility for standardizing connections to the telephone network to a new private industry
organization, the Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments (ACTA). The FCC removed Subpart F from the CFR and added
Subpart G, which delegates the task to the ACTA. The ACTA published a standard called TIA/EIA-IS-968 which contained the
information that was formerly in the CFR. The current version of that standard, called TIA-968-A, specifies the modular connectors at
length, but not the wiring. Instead, TIA-968-A incorporates a standard called T1.TR5-1999 by reference to specify the wiring. With
the publication of TIA-968-B, the connector descriptions have been moved to TIA-1096-A. Note that a registered jack name such as
RJ11 identifies both the physical connectors and the wiring (pinout) of it (see above).

International use
The modular jack was chosen as a candidate for ISDN systems. In order to be considered, the connector system had to be defined
under international standards. In turn this led to ISO 8877. Under the rules of the IEEE 802 standards project, international standards
are to be preferred over national standards so the modular connector was chosen for IEEE 802.3i-1990, the original 10BASE-T
twisted-pair wiring version of Ethernet.

Registered jack types

It has been suggested that RJ21, RJ48 and RJ61 be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Common types

The most familiar registered jack is probably the RJ11. This is a modular connector wired for one plain old telephone service line
(using two wires out of six available positions), and is found in most homes and offices in most countries of the world for single-line
telephones.[1] Essentially all one, two, and three line analog telephones made today (2009) are meant to plug into RJ11, RJ14, or RJ25
jacks, respectively.
RJ14 is similar, but for two lines, and RJ25 is for three lines. RJ61 is a similar registered jack for four lines. The telephone line cord
and its plug are more often a true RJ11 with only two conductors.

The true RJ45(S) is an extremely uncommon registered jack, but the name "RJ45" is also used quite commonly to refer to any 8P8C
modular connector.

List of official types

Many of the basic names have suffixes that indicate subtypes:

• C: flush-mount or surface mount

• W: wall-mount
• S: single-line
• M: multi-line
• X: complex jack

For example, RJ11 comes in two forms: RJ11W is a jack from which you can hang a wall telephone, while RJ11C is a jack designed
to have a cord plugged into it. (You can plug a cord into an RJ11W as well, but it usually doesn't look as nice as a cord plugged into
an RJ11C.)

• RJ2MB: 50-pin miniature ribbon connector, 2-12 telephone lines with make-busy
• RJ11C/RJ11W: 6P2C, for one telephone line (6P4C with power on second pair)
• RJ12C/RJ12W: 6P6C, for one telephone line ahead of the key system (key telephone system)
• RJ13C/RJ13W: 6P4C, for one telephone line behind the key system (key telephone system)
• RJ14C/RJ14W: 6P4C, for two telephone lines (6P6C with power on third pair)
• RJ15C: 3-pin weatherproof, for one telephone line
• RJ18C/RJ18W : 6P6C, for one telephone line with make-busy arrangement
• RJ21X: 50-pin miniature ribbon connector, for up to 25 lines
• RJ25C/RJ25W: 6P6C, for three telephone lines
• RJ26X: 50-pin miniature ribbon connector, for multiple data lines, universal
• RJ27X: 50-pin miniature ribbon connector, for multiple data lines, programmed
 • RJ31X: 8P8C (although usually only 4C are used), Often incorrectly stated as allowing alarm (fire and intrusion) equipment to
seize a phone line, the jack is actually used to disconnect the equipment from the phone line while allowing the phone circuit
to continue to the site phones.
• RJ38X: 8P8C, similar to RJ31X, with continuity circuit
• RJ41S: 8P8C keyed, for one data line, universal
• RJ45S: 8P2C + keyed, for one data line with programming resistor
• RJ48S: 8P8C, for four-wire data line (DDS)
• RJ48C: 8P8C, for four-wire data line (DSX-1)
• RJ48X: 8P8C with shorting bar, for four-wire data line (DS1)
• RJ49C: 8P8C, for ISDN BRI via NT1
• RJ61X: 8P8C, for four telephone lines
• RJ71C: 12 line series connection using 50 pin connector (with bridging adapter) ahead of customer equipment. Mostly used for
call sequencer equipment.

Unofficial plug names

These "RJ" names do not refer to official ACTA RJ types:

• "RJ9", "RJ10", "RJ22": 4P4C or 4P2C, for telephone handsets. Since telephone handsets do not connect directly to the public
network, they have no registered jack code whatsoever.
• "RJ45": 8P8C, informal designation for T568A/T568B, including Ethernet; not the same as the true RJ45/RJ45S
• "RJ50": 10P10C, for data

RJ11, RJ14, RJ25 wiring details

All of these registered jacks are described as containing a number of potential contact "positions" and the actual number of contacts
installed within these positions. RJ11, RJ14, and RJ25 all use the same six-position modular connector, thus are physically identical
except for the different number of contacts (two, four and six respectively).
Cables sold as RJ11 are nearly always 6P4C (six position, four conductor), with four wires running to a central junction box. Two of
its six possible contact positions connect tip and ring and the other two conductors are then unused. 6P2C and 6P6C can also be found
in stores.

The conductors other than the two central tip and ring conductors are in practice used for various things such as a ground for selective
ringers, low voltage power for a dial light, or for 'anti-tinkle' circuitry to prevent pulse dialing phones from ringing the bell on other
extensions. With tone dialing anti-tinkle measures are not required.

Powered version of RJ11

In the powered version, Pins 2 and 5 (black and yellow) may carry low voltage AC or DC power. While the phone line itself (tip and
ring) supplies enough power for most telephone terminals, old telephone terminals with incandescent lights in them (such as the
classic Western Electric Princess and Trimline telephones) need more power than the phone line can supply. Typically, the power on
Pins 2 and 5 comes from a transformer plugged into a wall near one jack, supplying power to all of the jacks in the house. Trimline
and Princess phone dial lights are rated at 6.3 volts and the transformer output is typically around 5 volts, providing a long service life
for the incandescent lamps.

Pinouts

RJ14 6P4C crimp-on style connector

Holding the connector in your hand tab side down with the cable opening toward you, the pins are numbered 1-6, left to right. The
multi-conductor cables attached to RJ11 connectors usually have colored sheaths.

RJ25 RJ14 RJ11 Twisted pair Old German Australian

position Pair T/R ± 25-pair colors
pin pin pin colors colors[a] colors[b] Colours
1 1 3 T + white/green white/green white pink orange
white/orang
2 2 1 2 T + white/orange black green red
e
3 3 2 1 1 R – blue blue/white red white blue
4 4 3 2 1 T + white/blue white/blue green brown white
orange/whit yello
5 5 4 2 R – orange yellow black
e w
6 6 3 R – green green/white blue gray green

^[a] While the old solid color code was well established for pairs 1 and 2, there are several conflicting conventions for pair 3. The
colors shown above were taken from a vendor of "silver satin" flat 8-conductor phone cable that claims to be standard. 6-pair solid
(old) bellwire cables previously used by the Bell System use white for pair 3 tip but some vendor's cable may substitute orange for
white. At least one other vendor of flat 8-conductor cable uses the sequence blue, orange, black, red, green, yellow, brown and
white/slate.

^[b] This color scheme originates in the (withdrawn) national standard DIN 47100. The scheme shown here is the correct color code
for interfacing with the RJ connector standards. However, with German domestic telephone equipment (and that in some neighbouring
countries), 6P4C plugs and sockets are typically only used to connect the telephone cable to the phone base unit, whereas the
mechanically different TAE plug is used at the other end of the cable. Older base units may accommodate the additional connectors of
TAE (E, W, a2, b2) and may feature non-RJ standard sockets that can be connected „straight“ to TAE plugs. Further, flat DIN 47100
cables typically place the wires in ascending order. When used directly with 6P4C plugs, the colors will be garbled.

Compatibility with structured cabling

With the rise of Ethernet local area networks operating over Cat5e and Cat6 unshielded twisted pair cable, structured cabling networks
adhering to TIA/EIA-568-B are widely used for both computer networking and analog telephony. The 8P8C ("RJ45") jack used by
TIA/EIA-568-B physically accepts the 6-position connector used by RJ11, RJ14 and RJ25, but only RJ11 and RJ14 have full electrical
compatibility. TIA/EIA-568-B "splits" the third pair of RJ25 across two separate cable pairs, rendering it unusable. This was necessary
to preserve the electrical properties of those pairs for Ethernet, which operates at much higher frequencies than analog telephony.

Both the third and fourth pairs of RJ61 are similarly split. Because of this incompatibility, and because they were never very common
to begin with, the TIA/EIA-568-B conventions are displacing RJ25 and RJ61 for telephones with more than two lines.