I have Ethernet in each of the rooms in my home (7 total). Each one goes from wall jack to the plastic connector shown. How do I connect this to my router/modem? I have researched patch panels and switches, but was unsure if I can just jump from this connector to my router/modem. Advice?
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It looks like this was wired up for distribute telephones to each room. That doesn't mean it can't be used for networking, but like someone said you'll need to rewire it. You can get a network punch down panel (one that has RJ-45 jacks on the other side of the punch down) and then at least an 8 port switch. Patch cords will go from the patch panel to seven ports on the switch and the 8th port will be for your cable modem. However, you'll probably want to run a wireless network so you'll need a port for a wireless switch, so you're going to need at least a 12 port switch.
That's if you need all the ports hot all the time.
So, I built a new house and wired every room. I found this most useful for hard-wiring my Smart Televisions instead of wireless, I also have an separate switch up in my office that goes back to my comm room. Since my house is rather large I also provided a hardwire backbone for my Velop nodes.
Point is, it's a worthwhile effort with multiple reasons for doing it even if you're not going to run a wire to a PC in each room.
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