Home Network Wiring Query (maybe a stupid question)

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marmel

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#108904 6-Feb-2008 14:43

OK so I have a few more questions, thanks for the help so far.

If I want to run the telecom line directly into a patch box and then run my cat5e cable to various points from there what sort of box would I need. At this stage I am thinking of having 4 RJ45 sockets around the house all connected directly to a patch box.

What wires from the telecom cable coming in to the house do I connect into the box?

I read in the wXc forum that the cat5e cable need to be of a certain length for the correct impedence??? I assume from this I can't just run it like phone cable and connect it up?

I should mention that I will be using ndsl with vfx, should be live early next week.

Cheers.

grant_k

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#108905 6-Feb-2008 14:49

marmel: If I want to run the telecom line directly into a patch box and then run my cat5e cable to various points from there what sort of box would I need. At this stage I am thinking of having 4 RJ45 sockets around the house all connected directly to a patch box.

Sbiddle posted an excellent blog about this a few days ago. No doubt he could recommend a suitable box for you.

marmel: What wires from the telecom cable coming in to the house do I connect into the box?

You need a multimeter to answer this question. Choose the 2 wires with 48VDC (approximately) between them. IME they are frequently Black and Yellow.

marmel: I read in the wXc forum that the cat5e cable need to be of a certain length for the correct impedence??? I assume from this I can't just run it like phone cable and connect it up?

Yeah, I saw Niel's comment about that and can't figure for the life of me what he is driving at. I have run a lot of Cat5/5e cable over the years, and never came up against this issue.

Certainly for phone cable, the length is not critical at all. In my experience with 10/100Base-T Ethernet it doesn't matter either. But maybe for 1Gig Ethernet it does? Bizarre! No doubt Niel will have some further explanation for his comment when he sees this.

marmel

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#108919 6-Feb-2008 16:06

I'm just wondering if I need a patch panel.

Can I get a RJ plug to fit on the end of the telecom wire coming in to the house and plug that straight into my adsl router. From there I assume I could get RJ-45 plugs to fit to the end of the cat5e cables and plug them straight into the router?

This would achieve what I want with adsl/vfx distributed to any of the RJ-45 sockets and I could run an extra one into the rof and put a wireless router up there?

So can you get plugs to fit to the end of cat5e cable and the telecom cable to do this?

grant_k

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#108928 6-Feb-2008 16:32

marmel: Can I get a RJ plug to fit on the end of the telecom wire coming in to the house and plug that straight into my adsl router.

Technically, you could do that by terminating an RJ11 plug onto the Telecom line and plugging that straight into your router.

However, it isn't a good idea because Telecom insist that you have a standard BT socket terminating your line for test purposes.

So, I would suggest buying just one of the 2-wire BT wall-mounting sockets and put that inside the cupboard or wherever you are going to have your DSL router. For one thing, it's a whole lot easier to terminate a Telecom line into a BT socket, than poking the wires into an RJ11 plug and fiddling with a crimping tool.

Once you have your BT socket screwed on the wall, then just buy a standard Dial-up Modem cable from wherever and plug your DSL router in using that.

marmel: From there I assume I could get RJ-45 plugs to fit to the end of the cat5e cables and plug them straight into the router?

Certainly, there's no reason you cannot do that. Not quite as tidy as a patch panel, but it would do the job.

marmel

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#108933 6-Feb-2008 16:41

OK I'm not sure I fully understand what the patch panel will do.

I am under the impression that even if I use a patch panel I will still need a router to form a network. Will the patch panel operate as a network as well?

What I really need is a box that will feed adsl/vfx to my wall sockets and will all be interconnected as I am setting up a home server. I don't mind using a patch panel or router, whatever is going to be the easiest for me.

My old man is a sparky but he is a bit old school having been in the industry for 45 years so whilst he will be lending a hand he hasn't done any work with networks before.

This is what I want to achieve:

Telecom line into house - adsl/vfx/network to about 6 wall RJ-45 sockets.

If I can just use the router and a telecom socket in my closet surely this would be tidier than having a patch panel?

grant_k

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#108934 6-Feb-2008 16:47

marmel: I am under the impression that even if I use a patch panel I will still need a router to form a network. Will the patch panel operate as a network as well?

No, a Patch Panel does not replace a Router. It just provides a tidy means to terminate cables, rather than having loose ends dangling down out of the roof, or poking out of a hole in the wall.

Also, if you move things around later, you can easily buy longer or shorter patch cables, rather than re-terminating everything (female-to-female RJ45 adaptors don't look pretty).

marmel: If I can just use the router and a telecom socket in my closet surely this would be tidier than having a patch panel?

Easier Yes, Tidier No for the reasons outlined above.

I hope that all makes sense.

marmel

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#108935 6-Feb-2008 16:53

OK now I think I get it.

Makes the cablng nice and tidy. I would then use nice short patch cables to go from the router to the patch panel?

Thanks for your help by the way, hope I'm not wasting your Waitangi Day.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

grant_k

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#108936 6-Feb-2008 17:00

marmel: I would then use nice short patch cables to go from the router to the patch panel?

Yes, that's the idea. These are available in various lengths and colours so you can make all Ethernet patch cables one colour and all Phone patch cables a different colour if you want to. Patch Cables are always Male-to-Male so everything works out nicely if you have a Patch Panel (which is just a bunch of sockets with the incoming cables terminated behind the panel).

marmel: Thanks for your help by the way, hope I'm not wasting your Waitangi Day.

Nah, I had to spend part of the day catching up with some accounts anyway, so I have been very disciplined and finished that now, while keeping an eye on GZ in between times

cyril7

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#109008 7-Feb-2008 08:38

Hi, just wade in on this one.

If you are only needing 4-6 lines around your house then a patch panel is a bit pricy for that number, just get a PDL 4 or 6 way face and 4-6 keystone mechs (with adpator plates).

More than 6lines for a patch panel, then one of these works out good value, most wholesalers carry them so you may get a better price on your dads account if his wholesaler stocks them.

For the most simplist of home networks I recommend one of the above patch panels, bring all your cat5e/6 lines from around the home back to this a terminate. Forget having any normal BT phone sockets in the house, just use RJ45, if fully wired then they can be used for both phone or Ethernet or with a pair of these both.

Also get yourself a 2Wire BT phone socket and a master or central filter (MM3200B). Mount the BT socket next to the patch panel, and terminate your inbound line on the BT socket. A 2Wire BT socket has two IDC headers each with 3positions, and each IDC is one wire of the phone line (ie A and B legs) so wire to the BT socket the central filter, and wire the output of the filter to the central blue pair of 2or3 of the last unused jacks on the patch panel. Wire the blue pair in daisy chain without cutting the wire, you may need a couple of Scotch Gel crimps to connect the output of the filter to a length of blue pair (extracted from a length of Cat5) to meander through the 2-3 last sockets of the patch panel.

Thats all, you now plug your DSL modem into the BT socket (which is also a test socket) ideally use a short a BT-RJ11 cable as possible as flat line cords are not good for DSL signals so keep them short. Using standard patch cords you can path the filtered phone circuit to whatever line you want, or ethernet from a switch port on your DSL router to whatever line, or with the above mentioned adaptors both.

You can purchase RJ45-RJ11 line cords to connect your phones to the RJ45 wall plates, you can also get RJ45-BT adaptors.

Cyril

HairyScot

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#109048 7-Feb-2008 11:46

Hi,

I used a 4 port PDL when I set up my home network.
Luckily my house was already wired with CAT5E going to all rooms so all I had to do was add RJ45 jacks to the cables for the 4 rooms where we have PCs.
I then put a master filter onto the incoming cable where it was connected to the alarm and then ran the DSL connection directly to my router.
(OK! The fun part was finding which cable went to which room.

)

Have attached pic of the setup in the "distribution cupboard"

cyril7

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#109053 7-Feb-2008 11:52

Nice brackets Jim, were they extruded from spare bits of alloy extracted from your Elise :) (I assume the one in your Avitar is yours)

Cyril

HairyScot

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#109058 7-Feb-2008 11:58

The car is a Smart Roadster that we owned in South Africa.
Great fun to drive.

The brackets were inherited from an old telephone engineer. They got bent when he hung himself.

cyril7

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#109061 7-Feb-2008 12:02

The car is a Smart Roadster that we owned in South Africa.

Doh, not quite the same, but plenty of fun I am sure.

Cyril

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