Built in home network - How should this be connected?

[gigahertz20]

Our new home has built in network ports throughout and I just need some help on how to connect it. I'm pretty sure I have this figured out, I just wanted to confirm.



So there are 10 network ports throughout the house and the 10 CAT5e cables terminate in the utility room, click for picture.

And the 10 wall network jacks look like these of course.



So I'm guessing the best way to set this all up is to plug my Qwest DSL modem into my D-Link DIR-655 Router WAN port, and then connect the router to one of the network wall jacks you saw in the picture. Then, use a switch (I have the Cisco SD216 16 port switch and plug all of the CAT5e cables into the switch. Now, all of the network wall jacks in the house should have internet access if somebody plugs their computer in....correct?

The one thing I'm not sure of is, does the cable connecting the router to the switch downstairs need to be a crossover cable? I think all of the cables that run throughout the house are all just regular CAT5e patch cables.

Also, the network diagram will resemble this with the modem and router upstairs in the home, the router will connect to a network wall jack, and the other end of the network wall jack cable will plug into the switch located downstairs in the utility room along with all of the other CAT5e cables.


Every thing sound correct?

 

[kevnich2]

Yep, you've got the right idea. You have a nice setup there with the structured cabling. Just connection all those cat5e cables to your 16 port switch and then connect one of the LAN ports of your router into either the 16 port switch or the jacks and anything else that you connect up to any of the jacks will have internet access. You should be in business with everything.

I wish my house was wired up like that when it was being built, you even have an electrical outlet in your cabling box, very nice. Everything should work excellent for you!

 

[gigahertz20]

Originally posted by: kevnich2
Yep, you've got the right idea. You have a nice setup there with the structured cabling. Just connection all those cat5e cables to your 16 port switch and then connect one of the LAN ports of your router into either the 16 port switch or the jacks and anything else that you connect up to any of the jacks will have internet access. You should be in business with everything.

I wish my house was wired up like that when it was being built, you even have an electrical outlet in your cabling box, very nice. Everything should work excellent for you!

Alright, thanks for the help, tomorrow I'm going over to connect everything so hopefully it all works.

The home turned out very nice, we'll be moving into it during the next 2 weeks. Just need to work on landscaping.

Some pictures:


http://img19.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=img0084800x600.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img...909/img0095800x600.jpg

 

[kevnich2]

Wow. Very nice house. What's the sq footage of that and what area of the country is it in? Get it for a good price? That's a house I could see myself hopefully having in maybe 20 or 30 years and retiring in. Looks too expensive for me right now.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Nice setup. I plan to do a structured cabling design in any house I buy.

You have the right idea. Modem goes to routers Wan port. Then one of the other router ports goes to the switch's uplink port. Then take 16 cables from the switch to the patch panel. I believe all of them should be straight through/patch cables. You need crossover cables when connecting like types of equipment together (pc>pc/switch>switch/router>router/etc). Otherwise it *should* be a patch/straight through cable. A simple test is just hook up one port on the patch panel to the switch (which is hooked up to the router, and the modem and all that) and see if you have network. If you don't then it should be a crossover, but if it was done right they should all use patch cables.

Since you have the router upstairs and all, make sure you connect the switch uplink port to the one the router is on the other end of.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus
Nice setup. I plan to do a structured cabling design in any house I buy.

You have the right idea. Modem goes to routers Wan port. Then one of the other router ports goes to the switch's uplink port. Then take 16 cables from the switch to the patch panel. I believe all of them should be straight through/patch cables. You need crossover cables when connecting like types of equipment together (pc>pc/switch>switch/router>router/etc). Otherwise it *should* be a patch/straight through cable. A simple test is just hook up one port on the patch panel to the switch (which is hooked up to the router, and the modem and all that) and see if you have network. If you don't then it should be a crossover, but if it was done right they should all use patch cables.

Since you have the router upstairs and all, make sure you connect the switch uplink port to the one the router is on the other end of.

Newer switches and equipment don't actually need crossover cables and most newer switches also don't have uplink ports for this purpose. The switch the OP has supports Auto MDI/MDI-X so it detects the cable type and will automatically make it a "crossover" connection. So no crossover cable is needed at all for the OP no matter if it's like equipment or not. As time goes by, cross over cables won't be in use. Nevertheless, I still keep a crossover adapter in my toolkit, just in case.

 

[Eug]

BTW, your setup is perfect for Gigabit if you care. You could get a couple of nice 8-port consumer Gigabit switches for about $100.

Nice setup. Why more houses aren't wired like this I don't know.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: Eug
BTW, your setup is perfect for Gigabit if you care. You could get a couple of nice 8-port consumer Gigabit switches for about $100.

Nice setup. Why more houses aren't wired like this I don't know.

Yeah I've yet to understand this. Setting this up during construction of a house is so simple and cheap, just run the 4 cat5e + 1 or 2 coax cables all at the same time, takes the same amount of time and just extra cabling. I'd definitely pay a little extra for it. Easier than having to hire someone to run cabling after the fact and it wouldn't be run as "neat" as this is.

OP - Netgear has a 16 port gigabit switch that is fanless that should work for this as well as dual 8-port gigabit switches as well

 

[freegeeks]

you should use a patch panel if you really want to do it like the pros. All cables connect to the back of your patch panel and then just use short patch cables to connect to your equipment

 

[gigahertz20]

Originally posted by: kevnich2
Wow. Very nice house. What's the sq footage of that and what area of the country is it in? Get it for a good price? That's a house I could see myself hopefully having in maybe 20 or 30 years and retiring in. Looks too expensive for me right now.

It's in Black Forest, Colorado and the home is about 4,800 square feet. We bought the 5 acre lot for $180,000 several years ago and the home came to around $460,000 after all the builder fees.

BTW, your setup is perfect for Gigabit if you care. You could get a couple of nice 8-port consumer Gigabit switches for about $100.

Nice setup. Why more houses aren't wired like this I don't know.

OP - Netgear has a 16 port gigabit switch that is fanless that should work for this as well as dual 8-port gigabit switches as well

I was thinking about buying a Gigabit switch, but I've had that Cisco 100Mbit switch for awhile and have never used it. Maybe in the future I might upgrade it, but for now, I probably won't need Gigabit speed on our simple network.

you should use a patch panel if you really want to do it like the pros. All cables connect to the back of your patch panel and then just use short patch cables to connect to your equipment

What are the benefits of a patch panel compared to the way I'm going to do it? It's something I could always look into if it's worth it.

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: gigahertz20

Originally posted by: kevnich2
Wow. Very nice house. What's the sq footage of that and what area of the country is it in? Get it for a good price? That's a house I could see myself hopefully having in maybe 20 or 30 years and retiring in. Looks too expensive for me right now.

It's in Black Forest, Colorado and the home is about 4,800 square feet. We bought the 5 acre lot for $180,000 several years ago and the home came to around $460,000 after all the builder fees.

BTW, your setup is perfect for Gigabit if you care. You could get a couple of nice 8-port consumer Gigabit switches for about $100.

Nice setup. Why more houses aren't wired like this I don't know.

OP - Netgear has a 16 port gigabit switch that is fanless that should work for this as well as dual 8-port gigabit switches as well

I was thinking about buying a Gigabit switch, but I've had that Cisco 100Mbit switch for awhile and have never used it. Maybe in the future I might upgrade it, but for now, I probably won't need Gigabit speed on our simple network.

you should use a patch panel if you really want to do it like the pros. All cables connect to the back of your patch panel and then just use short patch cables to connect to your equipment

What are the benefits of a patch panel compared to the way I'm going to do it? It's something I could always look into if it's worth it.

The advantage is that you don't have to CRIMP the in-wall cables by hand. Hand made crimps are never really solid and terminating into the keystone jacks on the patch panel makes for a cleaner connection.

I wonder if you have solid or stranded cable in the walls...

 

[kevnich2]

I would say it's definitely solid. The only way to really get stranded cables is to buy patch cables and sorry but builders don't use that for in the wall installations. The cables the OP has are already crimped so there's really no harm in plugging them directly into a switch, though I do agree that using a patch panel is better (punching cables down is better than crimping them) but unless the OP plans on plugging and unplugging those cables a lot, just plugging into a switch directly isn't going to make much difference. It is always something the OP can do later on if he so chooses. I must say again though, nice installation there. Builder did a nice job.

 

[gigahertz20]

Well, I went over today and installed everything. It all worked fine, I walked around the house with my laptop and a CAT5e cable to check all of the network wall jacks to make sure I could plug in and get an internet connection and everything worked. Again, thanks all for the help! 🙂

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: Crusty
Hand made crimps are never really solid

What?

 

[alevasseur14]

Are the blue cables in your picture phone lines or something? I'm a little confused.

And jealous. One of the things I hate about apartments is the constant 'get it working' network style I'm always forced to resort to. For some reason, my roommates never think technology is as important as I do...

Really nice setup though!

 

[Crusty]

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: Crusty
Hand made crimps are never really solid

What?

As in it's almost impossible for a human being to crimp a CAT5+ cable as well as a factory cable. Especially if you buy one of those $10 cabling kits that comes with one.

There's a lot that goes into terminating a cable properly, length of exposed copper, how many twists you remove while trying to get the cable into the jack, not getting the right pressure to properly sink the jack connectors into the copper wire.. etc etc.

You have to remember, that the most important things in the network are the physical data pathways... without those you can't even begin to start a network... so why bother risking your network with crappy hand crimped cables that only work at some random % of the rated speed?

 

[gigahertz20]

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Are the blue cables in your picture phone lines or something? I'm a little confused.

And jealous. One of the things I hate about apartments is the constant 'get it working' network style I'm always forced to resort to. For some reason, my roommates never think technology is as important as I do...

Really nice setup though!

Yes, the blue cables are the phone lines. If you look at the box where the phone cables are plugged into, it says "Telephone Distribution Module." 🙂

The cables below the Cat5e cables are the RG-6 satellite cables, since there is no cable service where this house is located, only satellite and I'm probably going to go with Dish.

 

[kevnich2]

Originally posted by: gigahertz20

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Are the blue cables in your picture phone lines or something? I'm a little confused.

And jealous. One of the things I hate about apartments is the constant 'get it working' network style I'm always forced to resort to. For some reason, my roommates never think technology is as important as I do...

Really nice setup though!

Yes, the blue cables are the phone lines. If you look at the box where the phone cables are plugged into, it says "Telephone Distribution Module." 🙂

The cables below the Cat5e cables are the RG-6 satellite cables, since there is no cable service where this house is located, only satellite and I'm probably going to go with Dish.

What are you using for internet service at that house?

 

[gigahertz20]

Originally posted by: kevnich2

Originally posted by: gigahertz20

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Are the blue cables in your picture phone lines or something? I'm a little confused.

And jealous. One of the things I hate about apartments is the constant 'get it working' network style I'm always forced to resort to. For some reason, my roommates never think technology is as important as I do...

Really nice setup though!

Yes, the blue cables are the phone lines. If you look at the box where the phone cables are plugged into, it says "Telephone Distribution Module." 🙂

The cables below the Cat5e cables are the RG-6 satellite cables, since there is no cable service where this house is located, only satellite and I'm probably going to go with Dish.

What are you using for internet service at that house?

1.5Mbps DSL from Qwest, pretty slow but this summer they are upgrading lines and will offer 7Mbps....thank god!

 

[alevasseur14]

Originally posted by: gigahertz20

Originally posted by: alevasseur14
Are the blue cables in your picture phone lines or something? I'm a little confused.

And jealous. One of the things I hate about apartments is the constant 'get it working' network style I'm always forced to resort to. For some reason, my roommates never think technology is as important as I do...

Really nice setup though!

Yes, the blue cables are the phone lines. If you look at the box where the phone cables are plugged into, it says "Telephone Distribution Module." 🙂

The cables below the Cat5e cables are the RG-6 satellite cables, since there is no cable service where this house is located, only satellite and I'm probably going to go with Dish.

I couldn't quite make it out. I was browsing the forums on my iPhone and it was a touch small! Hah!

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: Crusty

Originally posted by: Eug

Originally posted by: Crusty
Hand made crimps are never really solid

What?

There's a lot that goes into terminating a cable properly, length of exposed copper

As in none?

how many twists you remove while trying to get the cable into the jack

1/4 inch in the crimped cable.

not getting the right pressure to properly sink the jack connectors into the copper wire..

Press firmly. 😛

You have to remember, that the most important things in the network are the physical data pathways... without those you can't even begin to start a network... so why bother risking your network with crappy hand crimped cables that only work at some random % of the rated speed?

All of my crimps are at close to 900 Mbps, and I'm a relative n00b. My friends who set up data centres crimp some of their own patch cables, presumably because it's easier to get things the perfect length.

 

[spidey07]

Eug - please stop. You are spreading misinformation. Please stop. You have no tools by which to measure your crimped cables nor an understanding of networking. Just please stop it.

 

[kevnich2]

I haven't hand crimped a cable in several years, not because I don't know how but because I tend to agree with everyone else, punch down the ends of a cable to a female jack and then from there attach a patch cable. For one thing, I find personally patch cables are much cheaper than hand crimping my own cables, I know if I bend them a lot or move them, they won't stop working because they're stranded and not solid like bulk cable and the patch cables have been certified and made my machine. Also, they're cheaper but I think I mentioned that before. Two more things, it's quicker & less painful using patch cables as well. Just my own experience.

 

[Eug]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Eug - please stop. You are spreading misinformation. Please stop. You have no tools by which to measure your crimped cables nor an understanding of networking. Just please stop it.

Agreed. I was only half joking anyway though, hence the 😛.

Except for the last part. My networking friends do make some of their own patch cables for their data centre installs, but then again, as you suggest, they actually have the know how and equipment to test their connections. (They don't do much testing for home use though.)