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Patch Panel recommendations

The_B_Man

Hi,

I have my house wired for CAT6a, with 8 ports total (6 downstairs, 2 upstairs). They all feed back to under the stairs, where I was going to put an unmanaged cat6a patch panel, and connect to my Netgear R7800.

However, it seems that the cat6a specific patch panels that I've seen online are a tad pricey. Since I'm not flush with cash at the moment, I was considering getting a cat5e patch panel for the time being. I could probably get away with it for a few years anyway, as I'll hardly need the full 10Gbs.

At least, that's my current thinking. Should I just splash out on the CAT6a patch panel and be done with it, or should I go for the cheaper CAT5e patch panel? If so, can anyone recommend me one? Or are they all the same?

Thanks.

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smuggler.ie

Do you have/run any equipment that support 10Gbps? Plans in near future? Server with 10Gb NIC might be?
You not mixing patch panel and unmanaged switch - you will definitely need one there? Your router support only four outlets(1Gbps).

Patch panel is dumb device, means of terminating you cable runs nicely, in one panel, allowing ease of marking(recognizing where is what) and management. Cat5 vs Cat6 patch panel difference is for cable thickness at most.
Prices, depending on quality and configuration/mounting, start from ~€10+ (8-12 port) up to ... on eBay

Switch is allowing your network to "talk". For standard home setup i see no need for anything much higher than Netgear GS108 8-port Gigabit or similar.
Price here could vary if you lucky - i got two of them on adverts for €10 and €15 on different instances some years ago.
~€40+ online

tsue921i8wljb3

I think you said before that it was U/UTP 6a that you used. You probably could get away with a Cat6 panel. As Smuggler said 5e cable tends to be smaller diameter than 6 or 6a so using a 5e panel is probably not a great idea.

Here's an 8 port 6a panel on Amazon for £18.99.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/deleyCON-CAT-24-port-network-panel/dp/B01LYNOVJD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=RE1SQ6LGCU54&keywords=cat6a%2Bpatch%2Bpanel&qid=1556574609&s=gateway&sprefix=cat6a%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-3&th=1

The_B_Man

smuggler.ie wrote: »

Do you have/run any equipment that support 10Gbps? Plans in near future? Server with 10Gb NIC might be?
You not mixing patch panel and unmanaged switch - you will definitely need one there? Your router support only four outlets(1Gbps).

No I've basically my TV for Netflix, and a few other bits, like a raspberry pi. I might stick in a NAS. Everything I chose was purely for future proofing.

Ye, maybe my lingo is off. I don't want to plug anything in, and I want to be able to wire up my cables without putting heads on. To me, that's a patch panel with keystone jacks (or is it punch down?). I was actually practising putting the heads on some cuts of cable and it was too much hassle. Firstly, I couldn't get them working, according to the cable tester, but also my crimping tool doesn't suit the heads as it has an extra bit of plastic that squashes down the neck. Whereas I wired up the jacks in the wall using a punchdown tool and they were fine.

But in fairness, if I wire them in directly, there'll be no movement so less chance of wear and tear on the cables in the wall. They're in a bit of wavin pipe, tightly packed so just don't want to be messing with them or risking anything. It just seems cleaner, if a bit overkill. I can then use my router as my switch for the time being. I'll probably be only using 3 of the 8 for the considerable future.

navi wrote: »

Here's an 8 port 6a panel on Amazon for £18.99.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/deleyCON-CAT-24-port-network-panel/dp/B01LYNOVJD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=RE1SQ6LGCU54&keywords=cat6a%2Bpatch%2Bpanel&qid=1556574609&s=gateway&sprefix=cat6a%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-3&th=1

Ye that looks decent enough. Could be an option. There's only 6 reviews but they're all positive.

rugrat69

You can buy Cat6a jacks for as little as 3e each now. If you need a little soho cab this will cost under 100e and you can house your switch/router in it. The soho cabs are only 10 inches wide so nice and neat.

Johnboy1951

Annalee Dry Paddle wrote: »

I think you said before that it was U/UTP 6a that you used. You probably could get away with a Cat6 panel. As Smuggler said 5e cable tends to be smaller diameter than 6 or 6a so using a 5e panel is probably not a great idea.

Here's an 8 port 6a panel on Amazon for £18.99.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/deleyCON-CAT-24-port-network-panel/dp/B01LYNOVJD/ref=sr_1_3?crid=RE1SQ6LGCU54&keywords=cat6a%2Bpatch%2Bpanel&qid=1556574609&s=gateway&sprefix=cat6a%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-3&th=1

Is this the same thing?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BGVAM40/ref=psdc_430573031_t3_B00JS65GRE

tsue921i8wljb3

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Is this the same thing? £10 rather than £19

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BGVAM40/ref=psdc_430573031_t3_B00JS65GRE

Will these take Cat5e wires in the punch-down connectors?
It says 'up to' Cat7 ..... but would like to be sure because I could do with a couple of these.

Any opinions?

Thanks.

It seems to be similar though the 6a version has a red board rather than green, whatever difference that makes. I haven't used either though so can't speak for their quality or their suitability for 5e cable.

Johnboy1951

I took the plunge and ordered two 12 port devices ..... €38.50 delivered for the pair.

Hopefully they are as good as I think they are

They should help me tidy up the wiring in the media press .... something I had not figured out until I saw this closed box.
It will mean a lot of rewiring, but needs must.

Thanks for posting the link

smuggler.ie

Give us feedback once lay hands on them.

Johnboy1951

They arrived today. I got 2 x 12 port units.

First thing that impressed me was the weight of each.
They are of strong metal construction and yes these ones have the 'non red' PCB, whatever that might mean. The PCs in mine are yellow. (I think the PCB colour changes with the number of ports).

Initial impressions are very good and unless something catastrophic arises in use I would have no hesitation in purchasing these devices again at the price I did ..... ~£8 cheaper than the same product (apparently) from the same vendor in another advert.

£15.99
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07317VKB8/ref=psdc_430573031_t3_B00JS65GRE?th=1

£23.59
https://www.amazon.co.uk/deleyCON-CAT-12port-network-panel/dp/B01LX11MIX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=RE1SQ6LGCU54&keywords=cat6a%2Bpatch%2Bpanel&qid=1556574609&s=gateway&sprefix=cat6a%2Caps%2C229&sr=8-3&th=1

HTH.

EDIT: I expect it will be some time before I get to wiring these up ..... have to re-plan the media press and get a 'competent' electrician involved too

The_B_Man

Did you ever get a chance to hook yours up?
I've got the 12 port one (with the red PCB).

Mine is hooked up and going grand. I found it straightforward enough to wire it up. It looks tidy enough as well. I've only the WAN and a Tinker Board S connected via Ethernet currently, so no need for cable management yet!

The one thing I didn't realise was that my wifi router only had 4 ethernet ports (+1 WAN) so of the 8 cables I have, I can only use 4 unless I buy some more hardware, which is probably grand for another 5-10 years anyway!

During setup, I did realise some interesting things about how I had wired up my ports in the wall! Two of them, I'd put the female port in upside down, and another failed on the cable tester on wire 4 so I'll have to get in behind the telly at the 4 port panel and redo the 1st port again. It's very tight on space. Very awkward!

But in terms of the patch panel, it's been a success so far, even if I'm currently only using 1 port!
That reminds me actually. I need to get some better CAT6A heads for me cut offs so I can make patch cables. The heads I got are too hard to stick on. Also, my crimping tool has a bit of plastic that it shouldn't, so it presses down on the base of the head (neck?) which it isn't supposed to. Or else I can just buy a 10 pack of cables from amazon!

Johnboy1951

I have a lot of work to complete before I finalise everything, including some serious renovations etc etc. which are dependent on the availability of tradesmen ..... nothing guaranteed today

I have some more wiring to do .... both LAN and electrical ..... as well as floors, ceilings and walls so it is a large renovation being done in parts. Hopefully by year end it will finally be complete. It got seriously delayed due to circumstances (had hoped to complete last year).

I have the patch panels connected to different switches for separate functions ..... security cameras; tv and media distribution; general internet use, file server (NAS) and so on.
These are then connected to the main router.

My main concern presently is getting a concrete floor grinding and polishing company to quote and give a date for work to commence. Until that very disruptive work is complete I am not progressing the other stuff ..... it is working but not fixed and tidy.