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deadlyllama

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#179237 1-Sep-2015 11:39
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I'm now sharing a very 80s office in sunny downtown Whanganui.  Previously it housed a bank.

On our floor there are two sets of network ports.  One lot has blue cabling, is clearly relatively new, and cabled to a patch panel on another floor (sigh).

The other lot has grey cabling and a patch panel that looks like this: 

The jackpoints they connect to look like this.  Most don't have the extra phone cables coming out, thankfully.  Behind the little doors are RJ45 jacks: 

It comes with little plugs that fit into the punchdown blocks and take 2 pairs to an RJ45 plug.  These will pass 100Mbps.  I've tried punching down all four pairs of some Cat5e onto a port on the patchpanel, and plugging the cable into a gigabit switch, but I don't get anything.  This could be due to my poor cabling skills, though.

I'd love to see if the existing cabling could be persuaded to pass GigE, at least over a short distance, as the fibre install was requested to put the ONT near some of these jacks, not near the patch panel or any of the newer cabling.  We don't want to change the install request as it's taken long enough as it is already, and the design has been signed off by the building owner.

What is this style of patch panel called?  Can I get more plugs that go into it, that take all 4 pairs to an RJ45 plug?  Is there any hope of this cabling passing GigE or should I just give up now?



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Sideface
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DR
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  #1377652 1-Sep-2015 11:44
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This looks like something out of the Science Museum.

Probably quicker and cheaper just to rip it out and start again.

EDIT:





Sideface




slingynz
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  #1377658 1-Sep-2015 11:56
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Is there any reason you can't put in a new patch panel and repatch the blue cables?

deadlyllama

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  #1377686 1-Sep-2015 12:17
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The BT jacks by the panel have labels indicating they were used for DDS.

The blue cables go to jacks on the other side of the floor. I will pull the covers off the capping going down the wall by the old patch panel to see if it's the newer cabling. The newer cabling doesn't go anywhere near where the ONT will go. I could detach the old cables from the patch panel, crimp an RJ45 plug on and see if that works any better.

Cost wise an 11ac bridge or two will be cheaper than getting a sparky in to replace the cabling. Or I could borrow a long ladder and investigate the suspended ceiling.



raytaylor
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  #1377720 1-Sep-2015 12:41
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I used to be in an old post office / postbank building. It had structured thinnet lol




Ray Taylor

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old3eyes
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  #1377724 1-Sep-2015 12:47
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The patch panel is an AT&T Systemax 110 panel.    Still used by Spark.. 




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kornflake
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  #1378515 2-Sep-2015 20:10
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Are you sure the cable to bt (rj45) jacks is cat5 looks too thin I.e its cat 3 maybe....

 
 
 

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kornflake
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  #1378517 2-Sep-2015 20:13
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The grey cable on chrome blocks is more than likely an old amp champ lead use to feed lines in and out of a pabx

shrub
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  #1378550 2-Sep-2015 21:11
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Rip it all out and pull new cat6 through.

deadlyllama

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  #1378551 2-Sep-2015 21:14
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kornflake: Are you sure the cable to bt (rj45) jacks is cat5 looks too thin I.e its cat 3 maybe....


The 110 block "plug" to RJ45 is thin, no idea what category rating it is, but it only has two pairs, so it's going to be thin due to that.

It looks like Dynamix sell or sold 110 block plug -> RJ45 patch cables will all four pairs, Cat5e rated.  I will try to get one of those and see how well it does.

deadlyllama

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  #1378553 2-Sep-2015 21:17
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shrub: Rip it all out and pull new cat6 through.


We're not the leaseholder, and even if we were, I doubt we'd want to spend the money.  To complicate matters the side of the floor where the fibre will come in has a sloping roof, so running new cable through the suspended ceiling would only get us so far.

Ragnor
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  #1379764 4-Sep-2015 13:47
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Normally in a commercial leases there is a a negotiated tenant improvement allowance for refitting between tenants for the new tenants specific usage.

Hopefully it's a very cheap lease if you didn't get any allowance for this.

BTR

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  #1379826 4-Sep-2015 15:27
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deadlyllama: Cost wise an 11ac bridge or two will be cheaper than getting a sparky in to replace the cabling.



Never get a sparky to do data cabling. Get a proper communications installer. I've found most sparkys treat Cat6 cable like TPS and don't give it the extra care it need.

raytaylor
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  #1379922 4-Sep-2015 17:57
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BTR:  I've found most sparkys treat Cat6 cable like TPS and don't give it the extra care it need.


And here I am crawling through attics armed with my staple tacker




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shrub
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  #1379935 4-Sep-2015 18:35
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Its really not a hard or bad job to pull through all the old wiring and terminate yourself. Just get a Box of cable, some faceplates and a patch panel and DIY it. You will probably do a better than most sparkys do the first time you do it.

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