Need help connecting ethernet wires together

vlow1210

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2010
6
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Hey folks, I just bought a house recently and it appears that the in-wall ethernet jacks don't work and I found out why: the ethernet cables are not connected to anything (see pics below).

What is the best/proper way to have ethernet cables connected? I would need to put the modem/router in this box (pic #2) in order to supply an internet connection to all of the rooms right?

Also I was told that this box is not "finished." It is supposed to have a power supply so that I can install the modem in the garage. Would it be difficult for a newbie like myself to do this on my own? Here are some pictures I took, any help is much appreciated, thanks!

Picture #1: Telephone box outside of the house. These wires lead into the garage. Blue lines are telephone. Note yellow CAT5e cable not connected to anything here (highlighted in red).

IMG_0583.jpg


Picture #2: Panel inside the garage. Lead wires from outside of the house (cable/telephone/ethernet) come from the left side of the box and connect to the wires that go into the house on the right side. Highlighted in purple is the telephone line from outside the house (pic 1). This is connected to the telephone lines that go to all the rooms inside the house (highlighted in yellow.. does this look like a half-assed job?). Red is the CAT5e from outside of the house that's connected to nothing. Blue is a power source I think.. and lastly, highlighted green are all the CAT5e that go into each room. This is what I need help on. Do I need to terminate each of these wires with an RJ45/8P8C connector and plug them into a router? If so then I must install the modem/router in this box correct?

IMG_0585-1.jpg
 
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vlow1210

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2010
6
0
0
Ah man.. so you're saying crimping should be avoided and I am better off going wireless?
______

Crimping your own RJ45 should be avoided.

The new APs we were using had a hard limit of 63 wireless clients per radio. We hit that very hard during the first few hours of the main part of the conference because half the APs weren't working. This was caused by us doing our own RJ45 crimping, which I really wanted to avoid.
 

imagoon

Diamond Member
Feb 19, 2003
5,199
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You punch that mess down to a Ethernet patch panel. Then use short patch cords to attach to the switch.
 

bntran02

Member
Jun 7, 2011
87
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I always prefer wired over wireless ethernet. But if all you are doing is surfing the web with occasional video streams then wireless is sufficient
 

RadiclDreamer

Diamond Member
Aug 8, 2004
8,622
40
91
Could you elaborate a little bit? This sounds like what I want to do :) Thanks.

You dont want to put ends on it, solid core cable is meant to be punched, and not crimped. What you want it called a patch panel. It looks like this

http://www.excel-networking.com/cat...s/unloaded-keystone-jack-modular-patch-panel/

What you do is get a punch down tool and insert the wires from the rear and use the tool to secure them into place. Once this process is complete you will use short stranded copper cables (patch cables) to go to your switch.
 

seepy83

Platinum Member
Nov 12, 2003
2,132
3
71
OP - you can search youtube for videos of how to punch a patch panel. It's really not difficult...anyone that's even a little bit handy can do it on their own.

Make sure that each cable is centered on the block that you're punching it to. That way the pairs coming out of the jacketing end up in a nice even spread, and each cable to the back of the panel is evenly spaced for a neat and clean installation. This picture is a good example of what I mean: http://www.johnson-comm.com/images/Back%20of%20Patch%20Panel.jpg

Read through the thread that imagoon linked in the first reply, and ask questions if you have any.
 

Fallen Kell

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
6,163
514
126
I sure hope there are labels on those wires, otherwise you will be going around with a cable tester to figure it all out and that will take an hour or more if you are solo...

Also, I highly recommend you pick up a few cable tv terminators and place them on the empty connections on that splitter. Something like this:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103064
 
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vlow1210

Junior Member
Dec 25, 2010
6
0
0
Guys, this was the exact information I was looking for. I think that patch panel will fit because the box is 14" x 14".

The wires are actually labeled so no testing necessary.

Will definitely look into a cable tv terminator.

Thanks for the help!