Inspired by this post, I was wondering if it's possible to re-purpose existing coax and phone cables for data, in any way, . I have each in every room.
If your phone cable is only 2 or 4 wires, not much you can do. Newer houses may have cat5 run as phone wires with twisted pairs.
With coax you can use MoCA adapters to get Ethernet into a room.
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Coax yes you can.
Older copper phone lines with RJ11 connectors, don’t think they have the bandwidth for anything that’s useful?
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You could use it to pull-through more useful cabling....
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For your coax drops, here’s an example of a MoCA adapter set.
This is one way to extend wired Ethernet throughout the house without dedicated cabling.
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If your POTS phone lines are active, they're at 48V. Back in the day, there were emergency lighting devices sold that plugged into RJ11 phone jacks. When utility power went down, we used phone jacks to get lighting in various rooms.
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Good point, make sure you don't have any life-critical services relying on the phone-line before replacing it 
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The article below was helpful. The next question, to ask myself, is 'do I really need it?' WiFi has been fine.
https://www.howtogeek.com/834950/you-can-convert-your-existing-coax-lines-to-an-ethernet-network/
Wi-Fi can like service a certain number of devices or bandwidth of data, but I expect there will be limits Wi-Fi will reach, for various reasons... So a wire setup will likely serve you better in both the short-term and into the long-term as your needs change.
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Actually, back in late 90s, Since I only had one phone line, I repurposed the second pair of the POTS 4 wire cable (Typical 4 wire cat 3 cables support 2 phone lines) for a OneWire Network.
Having phone jacks in every room was a convenient way to have sensors in every room. I installed Dallas DS1820 temp sensors in each jack. This was an incredibly economical way to get temps across the entire house. They are still running and reporting temps today, on a homegrown system.
It's on the list to setup a hubduino and pull the onewire network into hubitat.
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It may have been dropped in recent models, but my Ooma voip console can use the hardwired phone system. I kept the Uniden cordless phones in place. Works great. I have the luxury of not having to carry a phone.
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Oh, how I wish.
I was going to use a cable from an abandoned security system to fish new thermostat cable, but found that the old cable was stapled every 4 inches. Not sure where they thought it would go, but I spend the afternoon prying staples and getting hand cramps.
I have been using coax (MoCA) for quite a few years. Works wonderfully - I have fiber and when doing a speed test from a device connected to the adapter, I get almost full 1GB upload and download.
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Awesome!
I just moved into a house that has two sets of coax. The original and then some that DirecTV ran. I was fortunate to find a coax run from basement where ISP enters house to first floor living room and 2nd floor bedroom where I rely on Moca adapters to get to the upper floors. They work great and I have considered trying to use the coax to pull thru Cat6. However, I assume that the coax is stapled to house framing along its route and my worse nightmare would be the coax and Cat6 separating halfway thru the pull then I would have nothing.
That is precisely what I plan to use the existing coax for
For coax - either setup a MoCa network or, if going for super cheap - Deca.
https://www.amazon.com/PACK-Broadband-Ethernet-Generation-Supplies/dp/B01AYMGPIO
Phone lines - there is a nighlight/USB charger if you still have an active phone line (and the phone line can likely be active by a Voip box of some sort) - Amazon.com
Or create your own DSL network - Amazon.com
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You’d be surprised. My house was built in 1989 and had RG-56 coax and I used it to pull quad shield RG6 back in 2005 when coax was needed for Time Warner. It had cheap staples holding it to 2X4s and the new wire pulled easily. Replacing old POTs wire with Cat5e was a bit different story but using fish poles or chain/magnet made it easy. I ran 2 Cat5e wires to all former phone jack locations so every room had Ethernet. I had a buddy at the time who owned an AV company and he taught me the skills needed for me to do all that myself. Probably pulled a half of mile of cable.
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I am not sure how it compares today but moca when i was using it was hands down way better then wifi. It wasn't about the rated speed, but what the tech could reliably provide. I had it when MOCA 2.0 just launched at around 1Gbps and AC wifi was all the rage. It blew AC wifi out of the water back then. MOCA similar to ethernet can get darn near its fully rated speeds with good coax. Wifi always is marketed at its theoretical max but never delivers close to it.
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The phone cable is useless. You could use it for alarm contacts or relays or maybe IR blasters, but not for real data transfer.
The coax, if RG6, could easily be used to distribute HD (1080p, not 4K) using SDI converters...
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