I have no idea what I am doing. CAT5 mess in the wall. Help

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › I have no idea what I am doing. CAT5 mess in the wall. Help

francewavidok

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#277209 1-Oct-2020 20:54

Please help geekzone. House was built in 2007. I’m pretty sure this is all daisy chained. I want to use Ethernet 1 room essentially but would be ideal if I could use it in all rooms that have a jack. Not the end of the world if not. What do I do.

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#2577488 1-Oct-2020 21:01

Electricians do some wonderful work.

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francewavidok

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#2577489 1-Oct-2020 21:04

Oh don’t they just. I only need Ethernet working in the kitchen where I plan to install an in-wall UniFi adapter. Could I just get 3 keystones and a patch cable which should “activate” the one in the kitchen? Or am I dreaming

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#2577498 1-Oct-2020 21:24

i actually had a question based on a very similar discovery in my roof space. have no idea what's going on but presumably adsl splitting?!

anyway the question-

if you patch 2 of such cables, will it give gigabit speeds or will the speed be reduced?

froob

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#2577507 1-Oct-2020 21:53

I feel like I was learning to defuse a bomb watching that...

Given you’ve got multiple cables coming in to that one point, it’s at least not completely daisy chained (although their may still be daisy chained sections elsewhere in the house). The solution to the wiring would be to cut off the cables and punch them each into their own socket, either onto a faceplate with the appropriate number of ports, or a patch panel if you need more than will fit (usually 6 max). You could then use them to carry phone or data, after checking the other end of the cable was similarly punched into a single jack point.

Without looking too hard, it’s looks as though all the wires are all wired together on that single jack point, which would make them work only for phones. Possibly the installer couldn’t get the other few wires onto the same jack, and so connected them using crimps instead. A bit of a mess, but still neater than some bird’s nests of phone wiring I’ve seen. Someone who works on this stuff regularly might have a better idea of what the installer was trying to achieve.

Edit: I watched the video again and still unsure what the installer was trying to achieve. The green wires presumably carry your DSL signal, and are wired together with crimps, so you could also get that signal at other jacks around the house. That’s then wired into the jack point you’ve plugged into (using a piece of cable as an extension).

The orange wires are also crimped together, possibly wired up to allow a second phone line around the house.

But, the fully wired up jack then looks to be connected to the brown wires from the other cables, and not the green and orange as I’d expect based on the other wiring.

The solution would still be as above. If you’ve also got phones as well as DSL, it might be good to wire in a DSL splitter to make a dedicated DSL jack as well.

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andrewNZ

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#2577513 1-Oct-2020 22:37

Can you access the roof space?
If you can, you can use the existing cables to pull new runs however you want them.

Otherwise, do as @froob says, cut it all off and start again.

If you have daisy chained sections that you want to have an ethernet connection at, get a cheap switch.

bfginger

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#2577514 1-Oct-2020 22:39

Reminds me of the phone wiring around here.

You can buy keystones with RJ45 plugs on both sides so you can use a pre-terminated CAT cable without all that fragile fiddly nonsense. Don't get anything less than CAT6A for new cable as CAT6 and CAT5 are out of date and won't handle future broadband speeds.

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nztim

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#2577515 1-Oct-2020 22:43

OMG that seeing that Hodge Podge I just want to come fix it!

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sbiddle

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#2577669 2-Oct-2020 07:16

Simple answer is you really need to pay somebody who understands data to come and sort this for you. What a cluster....

coffeebaron

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#2577713 2-Oct-2020 08:11

I have done a daisy chain network with cabling in that configuration. You need switches at various points and / or crimp through. If you have phone line or xDSL running through, then you can make a 100Mbps network. If fibre and no phone running through, then you can usually achieve 1Gbps. I deal with this stuff often for my customers, so if you are Waikato / BoP or Auckland and want someone to sort out, this feel free to get in touch. Depending on the house layout, it may also be possible to re-run cables and make it a proper network.

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nztim

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#2577854 2-Oct-2020 11:14

coffeebaron:

I have done a daisy chain network with cabling in that configuration. You need switches at various points and / or crimp through. If you have phone line or xDSL running through, then you can make a 100Mbps network. If fibre and no phone running through, then you can usually achieve 1Gbps. I deal with this stuff often for my customers, so if you are Waikato / BoP or Auckland and want someone to sort out, this feel free to get in touch. Depending on the house layout, it may also be possible to re-run cables and make it a proper network.

If he is installing a Unifi IW that has a 4 port switch which he can daisychain to the next port

it is all still very hodge podge though, everything should route back to central location

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antoniosk

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#2577961 2-Oct-2020 12:48

Geez

really looks like it has just been setup for phone use.

do you know where both ends of the cable are?

you may need to accept that remedy may be more expensive and headachy that starting fresh

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chevrolux

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#2577967 2-Oct-2020 12:57

Honestly, just call a pro. It's not actually that bad, just a bit of a mess. Would be less than half an hour for someone to sort who knows what they're doing.

nitro

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#2577976 2-Oct-2020 13:05

looks to me like it was wired for voice. if i were you, i'd just keep the dsl connection to your router and connect the three other cables to a patch panel or even just in-wall rj45 socket/plate. you'd have to find their termination points, but there's only 3 of them so can't be too bad.

francewavidok

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#2578013 2-Oct-2020 13:36

nztim:

coffeebaron:

I have done a daisy chain network with cabling in that configuration. You need switches at various points and / or crimp through. If you have phone line or xDSL running through, then you can make a 100Mbps network. If fibre and no phone running through, then you can usually achieve 1Gbps. I deal with this stuff often for my customers, so if you are Waikato / BoP or Auckland and want someone to sort out, this feel free to get in touch. Depending on the house layout, it may also be possible to re-run cables and make it a proper network.

If he is installing a Unifi IW that has a 4 port switch which he can daisychain to the next port

it is all still very hodge podge though, everything should route back to central location

Based in Auckland, feel free to send me a PM.

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andrewNZ

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#2578178 2-Oct-2020 16:02

Not sure its sensible posting your cellphone number on the internet.

Better to message @coffeebaron directly