An ethernet wall socket terminates a network cable properly into a fixed outlet, so the cable in the wall stays put and only a short patch lead is on show — and the socket has to match the cable, Cat5e to Cat5e or Cat6 to Cat6.
Wi-fi is fine until it is not. A hard-wired point behind a TV, a desk or an access point is the fix that keeps working when the house fills up with devices.
Here is what to buy and how it terminates.
1. RJ45 is not RJ11 — check before you buy
An ethernet outlet takes an RJ45 connector: eight conductors, a wider plug. A telephone outlet takes RJ11 or a BT-style master socket: fewer conductors, narrower plug.
On a white plate at arm's length they look near enough identical, and they are routinely stocked next to each other. An RJ11 plug will physically enter an RJ45 socket, which is exactly how people end up convinced the socket is faulty.
If the job is networking, the word you want on the box is RJ45, and the word you want next to it is Cat5e or Cat6.
Trade Tip: count the gold contacts through the front of the socket before it leaves the counter. Eight means ethernet. Fewer means telephone. It takes three seconds and it has saved more return trips than any other check on this list.
2. Cat5e or Cat6 — the socket must match the cable
Cat5e handles gigabit comfortably over normal domestic runs. Cat6 has tighter tolerances and more headroom, and it is what most new installs use because the price difference on a house-sized job is small.
The rule that matters: the socket, the cable and the patch lead should all be the same category. A Cat6 cable terminated into a Cat5e outlet performs as Cat5e. You have not broken anything, but you have paid for headroom you are not getting.
For the cable itself, Cat5 vs Cat6 settled covers the real speed limits over real distances and why copper-clad aluminium is a false economy on PoE runs.
Knightsbridge NETCAT6BK — UTP CAT6 RJ45 Outlet Module, Black, 25 x 50mm, ABS Construction, IDC Terminals, IP20. A Cat6 module in the standard 25 x 50mm Euro format with IDC terminals. Drops into a modular plate — including the floor plates — so power and data can share one position.
3. Complete outlet or module?
A complete outlet is plate and port in one, in a matching finish. Simplest when you want one network point on a wall and nothing else.
A module is the port on its own, sized to drop into a modular faceplate. Right when you want two data points on one plate, or data and power together, or when you are fitting out a floor box or a desk.
Knightsbridge SFRJ45MW — RJ45 Network Outlet, 35mm Depth, UTP CAT5e, Screwless Design, Matt White Finish. A complete Cat5e outlet on a screwless matt white plate. Note the 35mm depth — that is the number to check against your back box before you start.
Knightsbridge CL45BC — RJ45 Network Outlet, Single Shuttered UTP CAT5e, Brushed Chrome, BS 5733 Certified. Brushed chrome with a shuttered port, which keeps dust out of an outlet that spends most of its life unused — worth it behind a TV that gets moved twice a decade.
4. IDC terminals — how it actually terminates
Ethernet outlets use IDC terminals: you lay each conductor into a slot and punch it down, and the slot cuts through the insulation to make the connection. No stripping each core, no screws.
Three things decide whether it works first time:
- Keep the twists. Untwist only as much as you need to reach the terminal — a few millimetres. Long untwisted tails are the commonest cause of a link that negotiates at a lower speed than it should.
- Pick a standard and stay in it. T568A or T568B, it genuinely does not matter which, as long as both ends of every cable in the building match.
- Use a punch-down tool. A screwdriver appears to work. It seats the conductor inconsistently and it is why one point in eight is intermittent a year later.
Trade Tip: leave a service loop — 200–300mm of spare cable coiled in the wall behind the box. The first re-termination costs you nothing if there is slack, and costs you a new cable run if there is not. Every installer who has skipped this has regretted it exactly once.
Knightsbridge NETCAT5WH — UTP CAT5E RJ45 Outlet Module, 25 x 50mm, White, ABS, IDC Terminals, 20A. The white Cat5e module, same 25 x 50mm Euro format. The one to buy by the handful when you are wiring a whole house rather than a single point.
5. Where the sockets go
Behind the TV, at the desk, and wherever an access point will be mounted — those three cover most homes. Add one in the loft or the cupboard where the router lives, because that is where everything terminates.
Skirting height for desks and TVs; ceiling or high-level for access points. And run two cables to every position you are opening a wall for: the second one costs the price of the cable and saves the entire job the day you need it.
Summary: choosing an ethernet wall socket
| Decision | Answer |
|---|---|
| Connector | RJ45 — eight contacts. RJ11/BT is telephone, not ethernet |
| Category | Match the cable. Cat6 for new installs, Cat5e where it is already in |
| Format | Complete outlet for a single point; module for mixed plates and floor boxes |
| Termination | IDC, punched down, twists kept, one wiring standard throughout |
| Back box | Check the depth — 35mm on the complete outlets here |
Expert Help in the West Midlands
Our Birmingham counter on Villa Road has been supplying data and electrical together since 1975, which means we will ask what the cable is before selling you the socket. Bring an offcut if you have one and we will match it.
See ethernet and network sockets and the wider data and communication range.
Ethernet wall socket FAQs
Can I fit an ethernet wall socket myself?
Yes. Network cabling is extra-low-voltage data, not mains, so it is not notifiable electrical work. Keep data cable separated from mains cable where they run alongside each other, and use a punch-down tool rather than improvising.
Should I use Cat5e or Cat6?
Cat6 for anything new — the cost difference over a house is small and the headroom is real. Cat5e is perfectly good for gigabit and is the sensible match if you are adding a socket to cable that is already Cat5e.
Will an ethernet socket work with my phone line?
No. An RJ45 ethernet outlet and an RJ11 or BT telephone outlet are different products, even though the plates look alike. A phone plug will physically fit an ethernet socket and will not work properly.