Home Network Wiring Query (maybe a stupid question)

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HairyScot

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#18318 6-Jan-2008 14:09

We recently moved to NZ and the house we bought has working telephone and TV points in each room.
We currently have a network with 4 computers connecting to a Dlink DSL-G604T router. One computer uses ethernet cable, the others use wireless (2x Dlink DWL-G510 PCI, and one laptop using Intel PRO/Wireless 3495 ABG).

There are occasional problems with the wireless network (especially with the PCI wireless NICs) despite careful siting of both the router and the PCs using the PCI NICs, and the use of antennae. File transfer speed is a particular problem.

Given that the DSL connection uses telephone cables, could the existing wired telephone points be used for home networking?
Could the exisiting coax wiring be utilised for home networking?

If either of these is possible, what sort of additional hardware or software might be required?

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#103166 6-Jan-2008 14:56

Hi Jim and welcome to GZ. Do you know how the house phone wiring is done, is the cable cat5 or cat5e which is normally blue and has 4pairs in it. If so and if each phone point is wired as a seperate run back to a central point then you can replace easily upgrade the wiring to support ethernet.

Other options is that if all the cabling is drawn up to the roof space or you have ready access to under the floor space then you may be able to confiqure it as mentioned above.

Cyril

sbiddle

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#103167 6-Jan-2008 14:58

If the house has been wired up in the past couple of years then it could use cat5e cable for the phone and this could be wired back to a central location in a star configuration rather than in parallel. If this is the case then you could easily reuse this cable by replacing the jackpoints with RJ45 ones and running this back to a central switch or router.

Using cat5e cable and wiring back to a central location has been the Telecom recommendation for several years now however there are still plenty of people out there who still can't get away from using regular phone cable and wiring jackpoints in parallel!

You can also buy adapters to run ethernet over coax, I'm not sure who sells these in NZ and they aren't particularly cheap. Your other option could be to run your network over your existing power cables, there are quite a few brands of adapters that do work well.

Before you do anything have you tried changing the channel that your wireless is using? It could be suffering from interference from another nearby router. If you also have a 2.4GHz cordless phone, TV transmitter or baby monitor this could also be causing interference.

HairyScot

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Master Geek

#103169 6-Jan-2008 15:38

Thanks Steve and Stephen for the prompt responses.

As far as I know the cabling is blue. The phone jacks are flat and wide (if that means anything). (Called BT connection I think).
Not sure how the wiring is done. I guess I can contact the builder, unless there is some way to check that using phones or meters.
Reason I asked about coaxial is that those are easily accessible.

Please tell me more about the power cable option, where can I get more info on that?

Cheers

cyril7

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#103175 6-Jan-2008 16:22

Personally the power option whilst it sound good has just as many if not more issues than WiFi with reliability, and its not cheap.

If the house is quite new and wired with Cat5 then its probably pretty certain its star wired. So each wall plate should wire back to one common one. Typically sparkies just wire each back to the master jack then tie the blue pair of each one to the inbound line. If you can establish that this is how its wired then its a pretty cheap and easy task to terminate off with RJ45s and run etherent or phones circuits where you want. If you get into the roof space (assuming the wiring is run from above) then you will soon see where all the cabling is routed.

Where are you.

Cyril

HairyScot

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Master Geek

#103181 6-Jan-2008 16:46

Cyril.

I am in Glenfield, Auckland.
The house is fairly new, built in 2003 I think.
It has 3 levels. I think the cables run in the space between levels 2 and 3 and are taken up or down to the various points.
Level 1 is the garage.

HairyScot

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#103187 6-Jan-2008 18:57

Cyril.

If I use the exisiting telephone cable setup, will I need to have separate cables for telephone and ethernet, or can a single cable be used for both?

sbiddle

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#103188 6-Jan-2008 19:04

HairyScot: Cyril.

If I use the exisiting telephone cable setup, will I need to have separate cables for telephone and ethernet, or can a single cable be used for both?

You can easily run both over the cat5 cable. Ethernet only uses 4 wires and a phone 2 - phone/data splitters with 2 jacks on the end are readily available, you just need to put one at each end.

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HairyScot

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#103190 6-Jan-2008 19:11

sbiddle:
HairyScot: Cyril.

If I use the exisiting telephone cable setup, will I need to have separate cables for telephone and ethernet, or can a single cable be used for both?

You can easily run both over the cat5 cable. Ethernet only uses 4 wires and a phone 2 - phone/data splitters with 2 jacks on the end are readily available, you just need to put one at each end.

I assume these splitters are different from the DSL adapters I currently use?

So in essence I can put my router or switch at the point where the phone connections originate and I would be able to have ethernet and phone at all outlets?

HairyScot

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#103201 6-Jan-2008 20:44

HairyScot:
sbiddle:
HairyScot: Cyril.

If I use the exisiting telephone cable setup, will I need to have separate cables for telephone and ethernet, or can a single cable be used for both?

You can easily run both over the cat5 cable. Ethernet only uses 4 wires and a phone 2 - phone/data splitters with 2 jacks on the end are readily available, you just need to put one at each end.

I assume these splitters are different from the DSL adapters I currently use?

So in essence I can put my router or switch at the point where the phone connections originate and I would be able to have ethernet and phone at all outlets?

Apologies for my misuse of the term "DSL Adapter" what I was refering to was the ADSL Filters that I use for the phones and the router.

On some other threads I have found references to splitters and filters and am now thoroughly confused, especially since the house does have a monitored alarm. Since there is no evidence of a Telecom Splitter, I can only assume that the alarm is not hard wired.
How can I check that out? We never use the alarm.

cyril7

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#103234 7-Jan-2008 07:44

Jim in addition to the info I gave you on the PM, yes you can get both down the cable at once, electrical suppliers have suitable splitters, however they are pricy and bulky, Dick Smith has these rather tidy units.

Eitherway you place one at the patch panel and one at the wall plate and presto you have both phone and ethernet.

Cyril

HairyScot

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Master Geek

#106450 24-Jan-2008 07:27

I have now completed my home network using the builtin CAT5E cabling.
Was not really as difficult as I first imagined.
My thanks to all who contributed to this thread, and special thanks to CYRIL7 who provided a wealth of advice and assistance.
Cheers all.

marmel

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#108689 5-Feb-2008 14:00

I am about to run some cat5e around my house. Do I need any special tools to join the cat5e cable to the rj45 sockets?

sbiddle

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#108690 5-Feb-2008 14:06

marmel: I am about to run some cat5e around my house. Do I need any special tools to join the cat5e cable to the rj45 sockets?

Most RJ45 sockets require a punchdown tool as the connectors are the same as the back of regular phone sockets. There are some RJ45 sockets you can get that have pushdown covers that will hold the wire in place. I haven't ever used them so can't comment on them but can only assume they work OK.

cyril7

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#108700 5-Feb-2008 14:45

The last batch of Keystone jacks that I got from the US and supplied to Jim (hairyScot) came with a plastic cap that pushed the wires into place and did a very good job, thus not requiring a punch down tool although you could have used one if you wished.

However if you are installing a patch panel as well then you will need a tool, this is what you require, and worth the $20 buy now.

Cyril

HairyScot

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Master Geek

#108712 5-Feb-2008 15:34

I can confirm that the keystone jacks with the covers work very well.
To be safe, and on Cyril7's advice, I did one pair of wires at a time to ensure they were properly seated.

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