Just my two cents on this issue, no flames please Cat5 works great for telco lines. Because it has more twists than telco wiring it should provide more resistance to crosstalk. Cat5 is 24 gauge wire, telco is 22 gauge. Both should be able to handle a 90volt ring, considering the small amperage involved so I don't think the wire gauge here will make or break the quality of phone call. The big difference between the two kinds of wires is the signal speed that you can run on the wire. Cat5e can handle 350Mhz signals while voice applications require no more than 400 kilohertz. BIG difference here. Most telco guys recommend telco wiring for voice because it is WAY cheaper than cat5. When you're deploying it by the mile like the telcos do, the cost differential gets real big real fast. If you're doing this for home use I'd recommend what I did in my house: 48 port patch panel cat5e 4 cat5e jacks in each room run all four pairs 568a (standard data wiring configuration) using solid wire The benefits will allow you to run just about any kind of data in your home on the same wiring without repunching down anything. I use mine for ISDN, token ring, ethernet and telephone. If I had T1s I could use that too. When voice over ip equipment because a bit cheaper, I'll probably put one in my house and get rid of my analog lines all together. Mike Neuliep mike@illiana.net