Cat5 Ethernet in new home

[D6Veteran]

I moved into a townhome that has cat5 ports in every room. The cables all meet at a box in the laundry room and are snapped into a patch panel (see pic). All 4 pairs are used so they could carry both data and phone (my assumption).

However, when I plug a cable into any of the jacks (in the rooms) using either a switch or a computer, no connection is detected. I have my router connected to a port in one room, and then connected a computer to a port in another room, and the computer says there is no ethernet detected.

My goal is to have a router in one room, connected to the ethernet tap, so that computers/devices in other rooms can hard wire to the Internet. Do I need to replace the patch panel with a switch? How can I debug this problem further? Thanks!

 

[bruceb]

First is to look at the actual jack in the room you are trying. See if all 8 wires are punched down or not.

 

[ArisVer]

Get a tool like this one which can also test the wiring.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/RJ45-Cat6e-C...273?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item486752ddb9

 

[brshoemak]

Can you post a picture of the entire board that the CAT5 wires are punched down to and also a picture of the entire enclosure?

It's very possible that the board is for voice only. One of those punchdown blocks might be an input (where a phone line would come in) and the board would split it out to the various jacks in the house. Phone lines can be split like that, however Ethernet cannot and it requires each cable to enter a port of a switch

If it is in fact a phone setup you 'could' convert it to Ethernet, but it would require yanking the wires and terminating them into a patch panel, then connecting them to a switch with short patch cables. If you own the home and don't have a use for landline phones it's well worth it. That's what I did in my home and it's great.

I feel like you have this:

But you need this:

The downside is that if you want to keep everything nice and neat inside the panel, you need to go with the Leviton data module shown above which only has 6 ports.

 

[D6Veteran]

Very helpful. I've verified (in two rooms) that all four pairs are punched down on the ports .

Here are photos of the entire Leviton box.

If I replace the existing module with a data module, I understand that I will punch down the 6 cables (into the new data module), but what will the 6 ports be used for?

 

[brshoemak]

You'll need an ethernet switch, like this: Trendnet 8-port gigabit switch

...and a number of short ethernet patch cables like these: Ethernet patch cables

For the switch, Leviton actually makes an 8-port gigabit switch that can mount to the panel cleanly, but it costs $100 and is very flaky. Just get the switch I linked above, put some some velcro on the back of the switch and stick it on the back wall of the enclosure.

For the actual connections, after you punch down all the wires (in the correct order), you just need to use a patch cable to connect each port on the Leviton data module to a port on the switch.

Basically, for each run you will then have: PC --[cable]--> room wall jack --[cable in wall]--> data module jack --cable--> ethernet switch port. (the switch ties all the connections together)

 

[D6Veteran]

I already have a tiny Netgear ProSafe Gigabit switch, that has screws to mount.

OK one more question. I actually only need 4 rooms active, and my switch has 5 ports. If I punch down all 6 cables, but only connect 4-5 of them to the switch, will that cause any issues? If I need parity, then I can just not connect the extra cable to the patch panel.

 

[Zargon]

get a cat5e or cat6 rated patch panel, doesn't have to be Leviton.....t

 

[brshoemak]

D6Veteran: No you don't have to use all the ports on the switch.

@Zargon: It will need to be Leviton if he wants to properly mount it inside the structured wiring enclosure. Otherwise, he can just pick up an inexpensive patch panel and mount it on the wall right outside the enclosure. He just wouldn't be able to put the cover back on (if he has one).

 

[D6Veteran]

Ok thanks for all the help. I got the Leviton and a punch down tool and am installing it this afternoon.

 

[imagoon]

You have the traditional "electrician installed cat5 hackjob" IE they ran CAT5e cable and wired it up like a phone system where they are all tied together. However you have the data you need here and in the sticky to make it work correctly. Good Luck

 

[Zargon]

D6Veteran: No you don't have to use all the ports on the switch.

@Zargon: It will need to be Leviton if he wants to properly mount it inside the structured wiring enclosure. Otherwise, he can just pick up an inexpensive patch panel and mount it on the wall right outside the enclosure. He just wouldn't be able to put the cover back on (if he has one).

d'oh, right, good point!