Home ethernet wiring

cthulu

Hi,

I've searched around for answers to this but without much luck so far. If this is the wrong location for this question, please redirect me elsewhere.

What's the best way to hook up existing bare (non RJ45 terminated) network cables in such a way as to allow me to get everything set up on an internal LAN?

Around the house, it appears that the rj45 faceplates are connected to cabling that is pulled through to a utility room covered by blank faceplates. So I have a bundle of tv and ethernet cables in the utility room sitting waiting for some loving attention.

Is there some type of distribution panel or connection panel I can buy that might fit into a small electrical box (twin electrical socked size) and then terminate the cables there, allowing them all to be connected together? What I'd like to achieve is that if I plug my broadband router into one jack and my other devices in elsewhere, I can have them networked together, giving me access throughout the LAN and to the outside world. What else do I need to be concerned with?

(I happen to have an ethernet switch that was about to be thrown out (even though it was brand new) from my office so I could potentially connect that up but it's bulky and won't go into the tight location in my utility room. I'd rather use is in another room to connect a media server in a well-aerated location with easy access. Would that work once the cables are connected appropriately?)

Firewalkwithme

All of your devices will need to meet up at some central point, either a switch or a router. First of all, how many cables are there in the utility room and of them how many will you use? That will determine how many ports you need. Your switch probably has enough but it's unlikely your router does.

So lets say you do put the switch (or an smaller switch if you buy one) in the utility room and patch all your cables into it, then you could plug your router into whatever port it is next to and the connection will be available for use. You might need to configure some of your devices to use the router as the default gateway but hopefully not.

I'm unsure as to why you want the switch just to connect to your media server, does it need more than one port? If not then just plug it into one of the wall ports that leads to the utility room.

Edit: From re-reading your post, it almost sounds like you are asking if it's possible to connect each cable to the other and then connect that to a single port. If that's what you're asking, it won't work. You will need each of them to be kept separate so that they can be patched individually into the switch.

cthulu

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

All of your devices will need to meet up at some central point, either a switch or a router. First of all, how many cables are there in the utility room and of them how many will you use? That will determine how many ports you need. Your switch probably has enough but it's unlikely your router does.

So lets say you do put the switch (or an smaller switch if you buy one) in the utility room and patch all your cables into it, then you could plug your router into whatever port it is next to and the connection will be available for use. You might need to configure some of your devices to use the router as the default gateway but hopefully not.

I'm unsure as to why you want the switch just to connect to your media server, does it need more than one port? If not then just plug it into one of the wall ports that leads to the utility room.

Edit: From re-reading your post, it almost sounds like you are asking if it's possible to connect each cable to the other and then connect that to a single port. If that's what you're asking, it won't work. You will need each of them to be kept separate so that they can be patched individually into the switch.

Thanks for the response.

I've got 7 cables from different rooms (where either now or in the future I'd like to utilize the ethernet points). I know I'll need to connect them into something in order to ensure I can network them. I was just trying to determine what's the minimum that might be needed to install in the utility room (some kind of small residential patch panel?) into which they would connect because it is very limited on space and I'm not sure I can get the (24 port) switch to fit in there (without removing white appliances or having divorce proceedings started!). It seems though, that you are saying a switch is required so I'll just have to bit the bullet and put RJ45 connectors on the leads and plug one in.

(I want the existing switch elsewhere because I have a number of media servers and other such toys I tinker with in the spare room and I'd like to have them plugged into that rather than connected in other rooms with available ethernet points. It's overkill but I may as well use it since I have it.

MarkR

Could you fit in something like this?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-LINK-TL-SG108E-8-Port-Gigabit-Switch/dp/B00K4DS5KU/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1452693295&sr=1-4&keywords=8+port+lan+hub

cthulu

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

All of your devices will need to meet up at some central point, either a switch or a router. First of all, how many cables are there in the utility room and of them how many will you use? That will determine how many ports you need. Your switch probably has enough but it's unlikely your router does.

So lets say you do put the switch (or an smaller switch if you buy one) in the utility room and patch all your cables into it, then you could plug your router into whatever port it is next to and the connection will be available for use. You might need to configure some of your devices to use the router as the default gateway but hopefully not.

I'm unsure as to why you want the switch just to connect to your media server, does it need more than one port? If not then just plug it into one of the wall ports that leads to the utility room.

Edit: From re-reading your post, it almost sounds like you are asking if it's possible to connect each cable to the other and then connect that to a single port. If that's what you're asking, it won't work. You will need each of them to be kept separate so that they can be patched individually into the switch.

Thanks for the response.

I've got 7 cables from different rooms (where either now or in the future I'd like to utilize the ethernet points) and they're currently without RJ45 connectors. I know I'll need to connect them into something in order to ensure I can network them. I was just trying to determine what's the minimum that might be needed to install in the utility room (some kind of small residential patch panel?) into which they would connect because it is very limited on space and I'm not sure I can get the (24 port) switch to fit in there (without removing white appliances or having divorce proceedings started!). It seems though, that you are saying a switch is required so I'll just have to bite the bullet and put RJ45 connectors on the leads and plug one in.

(I want the existing switch elsewhere because I have a number of media servers and other such toys I tinker with in the spare room and I'd like to have them plugged into that rather than connected in other rooms with available ethernet points. It's overkill but I may as well use it since I have it.

MarkR

So the items connect to the socket. Socket to internal wiring. Internal wiring ends in a cabinet, and has rj45 connectors on them. If your switch is in another room, and you want your devices to connect to that switch, you will need another switch in the cabinet.

cthulu

Sorry. Did not mean to re-post that message, had meant to edit it.

MarkR, since it seems a switch is the only option, I'll figure out how to get a small switch like that in there. At least it's way smaller than what I already have.

cthulu

MarkR wrote: »

So the items connect to the socket. Socket to internal wiring. Internal wiring ends in a cabinet, and has rj45 connectors on them. If your switch is in another room, and you want your devices to connect to that switch, you will need another switch in the cabinet.

The wiring actually ends in a blank wall socket, without rj45 connectors. So I'll just need to add connectors and plug into a small switch. Thanks.

KCross

cthulu wrote: »

(I want the existing switch elsewhere because I have a number of media servers and other such toys I tinker with in the spare room and I'd like to have them plugged into that rather than connected in other rooms with available ethernet points. It's overkill but I may as well use it since I have it.

No reason why you cant have multiple switches in your network.

Put a switch in your utility which connects all the rooms together and then in the other room where you have your "toys" you can connect another switch there to the port on the wall and connect multiple devices then to that switch.

Tinder Surprise

I would confirm all 7 cables from each of the rooms are sound and in good working order before proceeding with any termination/configuration.

a simple cable tester could confirm this.

from what I read; all cables are ran back to a central location in the utility room, and into a double gang electrical backbox, with blank faceplates attached, correct?
If so, then you can simply replace the blank face plates with something like this by attaching an RJ45 head to each end of the cables....



or punch the cables into a RJ45 face plate and then use a patch cable up into a switch/router....


either way all 7 cables will need to go into a switch and the utility room seems the best place.


as long as one of the 7 cables comes from the location where your isp modem/router is then once that cable is plugged into the same switch as the 6 then all devices will get a WAN connection.

yes you can use more than one switch, but it doesn't move away from the fact that all 7 cables need to go into a switch in their current location........ unless you can pull them out of their current location and into a more convenient space.


this site is a great resource for the beginner with some very good advice and guides

hope this helps.

MarkR

Pictures paint a thousand words. :-)

cthulu

Thanks for all the assistance, as MarkR say, a picture paints a thousand words - Thanks Tinder.