dummies question - how to connect modem in new rental property

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › dummies question - how to connect modem in new rental property

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#288825 26-Jul-2021 14:02

Sorry for such a lame question!

We've moved from a 70's house to a modern rental apartment. We have Spark fibre and the rental place has fibre installed. We brought our modem with us - but the only way we can get our modem to talk to the Chorus fibre box is by physically plugging it into the fibre box down in the garage. (See photos.) There must be a smarter way to do this? All the main rooms have wall jacks. Can the modem be plugged into a wall jack so it can talk to the fibre box in the garage? That would be progress for us.

Our Spark modem works fine as long as its physically connected to the fibre box. The previous tenants had fibre so there must be a way to do it. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers!

Pete :)

1 | 2

3732 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2749941 26-Jul-2021 14:07

Yes the router can be plugged in to a wall jack. Previous tenant left a blue patch lead (or two) in order to connect from patch panel to ONT.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

SpartanVXL

1271 posts

Uber Geek

#2749942 26-Jul-2021 14:08

I’m fairly certain those blue cables correspond to certain wall jacks in various rooms.

What you want to do is plug one of those blue cables intowhere you have your router plugged in now on the chorus box, and take your router to the room where the blue cables leads to and plug it in there the same way you have it now.

I can see numbers written in the top left, likely those ports are where the blue cables are plugged in on the right. That’ll make it easy for you to know which blue cable to use.

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#2749988 26-Jul-2021 15:28

Thanks for everyone's replies! This gives me some clues to work on. I'm very grateful.

I used the spare blue cable to connect into the Chorus fibre box where the modem cable goes. Then I relocated the modem to the matching room in the house that pertains to the blue cable.

Yes - I do get signs of life if I do that.

However... as far as I can see I get green modem lights flickering on, but the internet light on the modem is still not showing any green light. If I jog down to the Chorus fibre box I can only see two green lights on - Power and GPON.

And... If I return the modem to the garage and plug it directly into the Chorus box then I get four green lights on the fibre box - Power, GPON, LOS, LAN1 - and then everything works fine.

I'm probably one step away from fixing this.

Spyware

3732 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2750000 26-Jul-2021 15:46

Please take another close up photo of the patch panel outlet that the blue patch lead plugs into.

trig42

5802 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2750002 26-Jul-2021 15:49

If LAN1 on the chorus box, and the WAN light on the Router (modem) do not light up, there is your issue.

Power and GPON should always be on, as that is the fibre cable, which you aren't touching.

It sounds like you aren't connecting the blue cable downstairs into the right port on that black block on the top right (or that the port upstairs isn't right, try it in a few others).

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#2750015 26-Jul-2021 16:22

Cheers for that. I'll try some more connections and see how that goes!

Inphinity

2780 posts

Uber Geek

#2750019 26-Jul-2021 16:31

The patch ports in the electrical panel are just cable runs to wall ports in the house, so provided they're in good working order and are done properly, it should be no different than connecting the router directly to the ONT. You just need to end up with something like this. I've seen plenty of builds where the patch ports are badly labelled or not at all, so the biggest challenge sometimes is working out which one goes to which wall outlet...

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#2750021 26-Jul-2021 16:43

Thanks very much! Very helpful. :)

cyril7

9052 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2750022 26-Jul-2021 16:43

Hi,,,ummmm, I can see LAN1 of the ONT up and the WAN light of the router up (if memory serves me its the 2nd from the left) but no Internet (3rd from the left) does that not indicate its connected correctly but either not provisioned, some othe upstream issue.

Cyril

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#2750101 26-Jul-2021 17:54

Thanks Cyril.

Yes - that's exactly what I was wondering. I'm making an assumption that the previous tenant had no problems and everything ran smoothly. If the issue is potentially upstream then that might be above my knowledge zone. It's not the end of the world having the modem plugged directly into the ONT on the garage floor, but it would be better if I utilised the modern infrastructure in this apartment. I will phone Telecom/Spark and get their two cents as well. The main thing is that I'm online and operating, albeit in an agricultural IT fashion.

Pete

evnafets

536 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2750106 26-Jul-2021 18:21

Reading those numbers:

2 - Sky
3 - MBED WA?
4 - BED2
5 - MBED PH
6 - SKY2
7 - BED1
8 - SKY3

Its hard to see, but I think there are 8 numbers on the black square above the chorus box and you have cables plugged into #7 and #8?

I would have thought the setup here might be from Chorus ONT --> Spark Router WAN
Then from the Spark Router LAN1, LAN2, LAN3, LAN4 those jack points.

The Spark router stays in the garage, and sends the internet to each of the jack points in the house

May or may not be ideal depending on where you want the 'WIFI' point to be :-)

cyril7

9052 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Subscriber

#2750111 26-Jul-2021 18:33

Hi if the router is all good and works in the garage then scratch any thought of upstream provisioning issue, would be back to your local wiring or patching.

Cyril

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#2750114 26-Jul-2021 18:36

Cheers!

Good points. I'll consider that one as well. I'm happy for the Spark modem to stay in the garage, the only thing I'll need to watch is water on the ground when the car comes back in after it's raining.

Pete

Oblivian

7284 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2750124 26-Jul-2021 18:55

Plug the power adaptor in the upper board and stuff it at the top by the antenna splitter fixes that.

Goodness knows why they put the security box there and not in the roofspace or hidden in a cupboard away from a power switch any burglar can flick off!

PeterMil

14 posts

Geek

#2750126 26-Jul-2021 19:05

Cheers for that suggestion!

1 | 2