Is anyone able to recognise the equipment in this photo and tell me what it is?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Is anyone able to recognise the equipment in this photo and tell me what it is?

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mcarans

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#3232900 21-May-2024 10:08

cyril7: Hi can you photo the specifics of the black coax modem, it looks like a One NZ technicolor but we may be wrong and it's a simple P2P ethernet over coax extender as others have suggested.

Cyril

ANglEAUT:

The white box is definitely a FWA / RBI modem.

Disconnect the yellow cable & see if the other Ethernet ports throughout the house loose their internet connectivity?

Garage, office, Harry Potter type cupboard under the stairs of a HWC cabinet are likely places for the central Coax connection. If you are unlucky, it might even be in the roof.

Unfortunately I can't because the previous owners took the equipment with them. I haven't found that central location for coax or ethernet so far. Will there always be a central location (even if it's hidden eg. in the wall)? Is it possible for all sockets to be wired to one socket or are they always one to one (which is what I had thought should be the case)?

evnafets

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#3232906 21-May-2024 10:33

If talking ethernet, then they need to be "one to one" - otherwise known as "point to point". A 'star' configuration is the standard layout, with a switch/router in the 'centre; to be able to 'connect' multiple ethernet cables together on one network.
Which is why the white box has LAN1, LAN2, LAN3, LAN4 etc. It acts as a switch/router in your network.
That has been the standard home install for many years now.

The coax cable by contrast can have multiple connections on it - so one cable is shared by all the devices connected onto it. It needed a 'T Connector' at every join, and the ends needed to be 'terminated' in order for it to work. Its been > 20 years since I last played with those, but if the backbone of your network is just that coax cable and it has a coax --> ethernet adapter at each and every wall port, then I don't think you would need that central point?

Would need to see what the individual ethernet connection wall warts in each room look like.

Bung

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#3232908 21-May-2024 10:40

mcarans: Will there always be a central location (even if it's hidden eg. in the wall)? Is it possible for all sockets to be wired to one socket or are they always one to one (which is what I had thought should be the case)?

It would depend on what the coax was intended for. How was cable modem coax terminated? Is it possible some of it is tv aerial coax wired back to a multiplexer in the attic? Is there an asrial?

I have come across one house where i couldn't find the other end of any of the ethernet sockets. The neighbour said she'd ask her son as he was the electrician that installed it. Turned out the panel recess had been gibbed over but he knew where it was.

mcarans

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#3232915 21-May-2024 11:07

evnafets:

If talking ethernet, then they need to be "one to one" - otherwise known as "point to point". A 'star' configuration is the standard layout, with a switch/router in the 'centre; to be able to 'connect' multiple ethernet cables together on one network.
Which is why the white box has LAN1, LAN2, LAN3, LAN4 etc. It acts as a switch/router in your network.
That has been the standard home install for many years now.

The coax cable by contrast can have multiple connections on it - so one cable is shared by all the devices connected onto it. It needed a 'T Connector' at every join, and the ends needed to be 'terminated' in order for it to work. Its been > 20 years since I last played with those, but if the backbone of your network is just that coax cable and it has a coax --> ethernet adapter at each and every wall port, then I don't think you would need that central point?

Would need to see what the individual ethernet connection wall warts in each room look like.

Bung:

It would depend on what the coax was intended for. How was cable modem coax terminated? Is it possible some of it is tv aerial coax wired back to a multiplexer in the attic? Is there an asrial?

I have come across one house where i couldn't find the other end of any of the ethernet sockets. The neighbour said she'd ask her son as he was the electrician that installed it. Turned out the panel recess had been gibbed over but he knew where it was.

There are both ethernet sockets and coax sockets. The coax sockets are a mix of F type and TV aerial type. The house was built in the 2000s if that gives any clue as to the setup. I am beginning to think that the end of the ethernet cables are hidden in a wall. I've looked everywhere - under the stairs I found the end of the Beam vacuum cleaner system but no ethernet and the boxes on the garage wall are for other things. I checked the photos in the builders' report (there were photos of the roof space among other things) but haven't seen anything that looks like ethernet cables. Unfortunately none of the sockets are near the Chorus fibre box which was installed more recently while the previous owners were living here (but they didn't use it).

wellygary

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#3232919 21-May-2024 11:32

mcarans:

There are both ethernet sockets and coax sockets. The coax sockets are a mix of F type and TV aerial type. The house was built in the 2000s if that gives any clue as to the setup. I am beginning to think that the end of the ethernet cables are hidden in a wall. I've looked everywhere - under the stairs I found the end of the Beam vacuum cleaner system but no ethernet and the boxes on the garage wall are for other things. I checked the photos in the builders' report (there were photos of the roof space among other things) but haven't seen anything that looks like ethernet cables. Unfortunately none of the sockets are near the Chorus fibre box which was installed more recently while the previous owners were living here (but they didn't use it).

For the 2000s its quite likely that the F connector outlet is Sky TV/Satellite Freeview while the other was regular analogue aerial TV..

I would be surprised it someone ran a domestic daisychain coax setup in the 2000s, If it was 10base2 you would find these kicking round on the ends of all the outlet points.

djtOtago

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#3232924 21-May-2024 11:43

I wonder if all the "ethernet" sockets are daisy chained together. I.E They are setup for Telephone and not data.

Can you remove a couple of socket plates from the wall and see if there is more than one cable connected to the socket?

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

raytaylor

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#3233578 22-May-2024 17:28

Where are you located?

If in hawkes bay i have a cable tracer that I can use to follow cables in walls. I'd be happy to call round and trace them.

Ray Taylor

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mcarans

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#3233579 22-May-2024 17:30

raytaylor:

Where are you located?

If in hawkes bay i have a cable tracer that I can use to follow cables in walls. I'd be happy to call round and trace them.

That's very kind of you. However, I'm in Wellington.

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