2006 built house - 2x Cat5 to BT sockets in each

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cokemaster

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#293238 8-Jan-2022 11:11

Hi team,

I've purchased a 2006 built home which has cat5 cables going to their respective bedrooms (on each floor) but not to the common areas. Instead there are BT sockets wired with Cat5e cable.

Most of them have 2x cables. The problem that I am attempting to solve is:

I want to get upstairs linked with downstairs using ethernet rather than a Wifi 5ghz bridge
I want to get ethernet into the living room

There does not appear to be any patch panel anywhere. I am assuming that the 'phone' cat5 is done point to point.

Keen to get ideas on whether this is the case?

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#2845239 8-Jan-2022 11:42

A couple options...

1) Tone from the point you have your router, to each jackpoint finding the cables as you go. And then at each point you just use a joiner (or terminate with RJ45 plugs and use a coupler) until you get to where you want the link to finish.
Downside, this isn't very flexible of you want to add stuff in the future.

2) At each BT jack, terminate the individual cat5e cables on RJ45 modules, and put them on a faceplate (so you'd have 2 RJ45 outlets at that plug for example). And then all you do is use a patch lead to link to the two outlets together at the points you don't need anything. And at the point you want something working (like an AP), you just stick a small switch in place to carry on the "loop", but also provide network connectivity for additional devices.

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#2845241 8-Jan-2022 11:54

Hi yeah agree with Sam, tone it all out and work out where all the segments go, then devise a plan using a mix of couplers and small switches or APs to at least get a Gig loop around the house.

Over the years I have done a fair number of these types of conversions and they can end up quite successful

I take it your in Auckland?

Cyril

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#2845242 8-Jan-2022 11:56

This will be typical Sparkie B/S where it is wired daisychain as opposed to star

do you have under floor or ceiling access where you could use the old cables as draw wire and run it in a star pattern to a central hub?

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

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#2845268 8-Jan-2022 13:03

Ugh, electricians fresh off the boat from australia seem to keep doing this.

Where are you located? Someone might be able to loan you a tone tool.

I also agree with above

- Tone out the cables to find specifically where each cable goes.

- replace the faceplates for PDL682VH

- Insert PDL615MKCWH keystone clips into the facplate

- Insert A-RJ45-C6N RJ45 joiners into the keystone clips to make a dual outlet faceplate

Then you just put an RJ45 plug on the end of each cable and have point-to-point cables going between various places around the house. A 20cm patch cable plugged into the front of the outlet will allow you to forward the cable on to the next point in the chain, eventually arriving at the destination.

The benefit is breaking out the data at a faceplate location while also forwarding data on to the next location can easily be done by removing the patch cable and placing a gigabit switching hub between the two outlets.

A cheaper way to do a simple forward is to scotchlok (yellow UY type) the wires together behind the faceplate, or put RJ45 plugs on them and use a A-RJ45-C6N behind the existing faceplate. The faceplate becomes inactive and just covers the join.

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#2845270 8-Jan-2022 13:15

Thanks everyone.
Yes - based in New Lynn Auckland. I’ve got an elcheapo tone tool on the way from eBay so will be here in a few weeks. Suggestions have been great, planning to get hopefully three or four endpoints eg. Living room, upstairs “Comms closet”, downstairs “comms closet” and downsides mini living room.

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#2845299 8-Jan-2022 15:00

To save waiting for the toner to arrive, just grab a multimeter & set it to the ohms/resistance range, or some have a buzzer for continuity for checking diodes.

Anyway, you can remove all face plates & disconnect all cables where they're joined. Simply twist together whatever combo of coloured strands on each cable, and you can use the multimeter to find these shorted pairs at the other end to identify each cable run.

Sure, it's not as quick or easy as using a toner, but still gets the job done.

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#2888957 20-Mar-2022 13:40

An update - after a lot of time plus stops and starts, I've got a loop going upstairs.
The cable tester indicates all pairs are working (1-8) however I can only get 100mbps when attaching devices.

Given that this is a relatively long loop - would folks suggest that I put a switch somewhere along the line?
Its not a deal breaker has everything I wanted upstairs is linked via ethernet and there is just a wireless bridge connecting downstairs to upstairs (almost directly vertical, connecting around 300mbps).

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#2888958 20-Mar-2022 14:01

cokemaster:

An update - after a lot of time plus stops and starts, I've got a loop going upstairs.
The cable tester indicates all pairs are working (1-8) however I can only get 100mbps when attaching devices.

Given that this is a relatively long loop - would folks suggest that I put a switch somewhere along the line?
Its not a deal breaker has everything I wanted upstairs is linked via ethernet and there is just a wireless bridge connecting downstairs to upstairs (almost directly vertical, connecting around 300mbps).

most ethernet cabling is rated for 100m which is very long for a typical house. Ive got all sorts of cool routing at my place and the longest run is 70m because of the route taken, but it's also 6a and modern.

So dumb question, are your gadgets cable of generating 1gbps (yeah i know you've checked, but check again), and are able to easily put a switch somewhere in the middle?

________

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#2888961 20-Mar-2022 14:16

Confirmed devices are capable of gigabit. Tried multiple devices and all are syncing up at 100mbps.

One factor that might play into it is the number of joins in play, from the comms cupboard:
Comms cupboard -> downstairs bedroom -> downstairs living room (currently empty) -> ETP -> Kitchen -> upstairs bedroom -> upstairs comms room.
I've used those gel crimps for the joins.

I think probably best test point wound be the kitchen or maybe the downstairs living area.

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#2888963 20-Mar-2022 14:18

I'd check for any swapped conductors. You may have swapped the conductors in 1 pair or something which isn't always immediately obvious with a cheaper cable tester. Need to watch the sequence of LEDs at both ends to ensure they are in order.

The other thing that would through it out if all 8 conductors are connected OK is that there is a tap (T) off the cable somewhere.

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#2888964 20-Mar-2022 14:21

Oh, just saw the gel crimps, that could also be the issue as you end up with too much of the cable twist removed. This sort of thing is better as you keep the twist right up to the punch down. https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETDNX0077/Dynamix-Cat5e-Inline-Coupler-Punch-Down-Black-Colo

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#2888965 20-Mar-2022 14:30

cokemaster:

I've used those gel crimps for the joins.

Funny stuff.

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.

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#2888968 20-Mar-2022 14:38

Confirmed LED's are in the right order on both sides.
I think I'll order some of those inline couplers and see if that sorts it. Fairly sure there are no taps. Alarm definitely has a different cable that heads out to the ETP.

There may be one or two joins that I can avoid by using the existing cat5 (in the bedrooms to their respective 'comms cupboards') with switches.

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raytaylor

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#2889134 20-Mar-2022 17:59

Scotchloks - you can use 3 on a cable run and usually still meet the standard for cat5 100mbit.

I find though that gigabit can be harder to achieve over longer distances with lots of joins.

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#2889227 20-Mar-2022 18:19

Can you break into it at say halfway and temporarily connect a device? That might give you an idea of where the degradation may be occurring.

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