Simple question: Cat5 wall jack

[vlow1210]

I know this may be a really dumb question, but how do I use this?

I just moved in and my house is wired with cat5 in the wall, and I just ordered internet and set this up yesterday.

What do I need so that I can keep the wireless modem downstairs and be wired upstairs?

Thanks for bearing with me and Merry Christmas everybody

 

[Harvey]

You need to know where the CAT5 goes. Whether you're renting or you just bought the house, someone has to know.

Are there more than two such jacks? I could be wrong, but AFIK, you can't have multiple connections on the same CAT5 without a router or switch of some kind to control the traffic.

You'll want to place your wireless router where your Internet reception enters the house. Most wireless routers also accept wired connections so you'll connect one of those inputs to the wall jack and receive it at the other end. Think of it as a long extension cable between the router and the machine in the room at the other end of the cable.

 

[vlow1210]

Yup they're all over the house, and in each room. There's one cat5 and one regular phone jack on the same outlet.

What do you mean by 'place your wireless router where your internet reception enters the house."?

I'll try that second part where I connect the modem to the wall

 

[Harvey]

Yup they're all over the house, and in each room. There's one cat5 and one regular phone jack on the same outlet.

What do you mean by 'place your wireless router where your internet reception enters the house."?

You need documentation telling you what's installed and where. Most home nets are starred from a central location where your ISP's signal (cable, DSL, etc.) comes into your house. Your router or switch then distributes and receives signals between each wired connection point and wirelessly to the web and, if your machines are set to talk to each other, between machines.

 

[ScottMac]

Vlow:

All those jacks (should) go back to a central location; that's where your service provider should put the service drop.

The way the current Ethernet works, you cannot just join all the ends together ... you need an active device to distribute the network traffic.
That device is usually a switch; either a stand-alone switch, or a switch integrated into a router or device that is supplied by the provider.

What kind of Internet service are you installing (DSL, Cable, FIOS, U-verse ...) and who will be your provider?

Do you have any networking equipment now (what vendor, model number if you have it)?

Please resist the temptation to try to make the jumper cables yourself, honest, it ain't worth it ... "Real network guys buy their jumpers"