CAT5e installed - help me understand
Discussion
Currently getting BT FTTP installed - guys are outside right now putting the duct work into the ground as it happens. Till now I've been using a 4g router with all wireless connections, which in fairness has worked fine. Router is in the loft due to poor signal in the main building; new router will be in living area like normal. My property is part of a large converted farm building, originally for commercial use but changed to residential a while ago. There are blanked off wall boxes in most rooms with CAT5e cables running to them; no idea where the other ends are but I can find that out easy enough.
To those in the know, is this something i'll be able to utilise going forward, if I wanted to have wired connections in some of the rooms? I'm not up to speed on whether CAT5e is contemporary, out-dated or redundant.
To those in the know, is this something i'll be able to utilise going forward, if I wanted to have wired connections in some of the rooms? I'm not up to speed on whether CAT5e is contemporary, out-dated or redundant.
If the cables are Cat5e as opposed to Cat5 then they will do Gigabit Ethernet which will suffice for at least the next few years / decades.
If you can find where they all terminate - hopefully in one cupboard somewhere you just need to hook them up to a 'switch' and connect the switch to your router and they will sort out the traffic.
If you can find where they all terminate - hopefully in one cupboard somewhere you just need to hook them up to a 'switch' and connect the switch to your router and they will sort out the traffic.
Thanks for confirming my suspicions! There is no cupboard where the cables terminate - I've searched everywhere. When installing my 4g router last year I recall there being coils and coils of what looked like network cable in the loft - I bet that's what it is. Probably tucked it out the way when they changed this from commercial to residential.
Mr Pointy said:
Try to get the FTTP termination point near to one of the wallboxes in the lounge then you can use the existing internal wiring to carry the signal up to the loft where the rest of your cables are. - or terminate the FTTP in the loft (probably too late for that though).
I’ll bear it in mind; they’re only doing the civils outside today; BT engineer coming next week to do the actual install and hook up in my place so I’ll mention it to him. This video shows the items they will install:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-6LKAPlEyk
The slim grey box the Plusnet router is sitting on is the network switch you would need & it's what your wallpoints would be plugged in to. You'll probably struggle to get him to put the fibre modem up in the loft unless you have power available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-6LKAPlEyk
The slim grey box the Plusnet router is sitting on is the network switch you would need & it's what your wallpoints would be plugged in to. You'll probably struggle to get him to put the fibre modem up in the loft unless you have power available.
Leithen said:
Terminating Cat5e isn’t hard - get the right tool and buy a patch panel. Lots of guides on the internet.
Just wanted to reiterate this, I was an absolute total novice on the subject. I watched a few youtube videos and now genuinely feel like a specialist on the subject. Another thing to consider is a POE switch, it'll make sense if you look into it as that will be able to run internet etc. to things. At the moment all a patch panel will do is effectively work as an extension lead.It's pretty fun to do yourself, you just need a few basic (but important) tools to strip and terminate the cables correctly. After watching a few YT vidoes I wired my entire house in audio cable, Cat 6 (wasn't much more than Cat 5e) and 8 core security cable for a complete alarm system.
Just a reality check before you go too overboard with Cat5e....
Most modern equipment these days is wireless only and although it's nice to have a couple of ethernet outlets by the TV and home office, the rest will typically be redundant. The most useful thing for Cat5e is to wire up some decent Wi-Fi access points. This will be money well spent given the high speed internet connection.
Most modern equipment these days is wireless only and although it's nice to have a couple of ethernet outlets by the TV and home office, the rest will typically be redundant. The most useful thing for Cat5e is to wire up some decent Wi-Fi access points. This will be money well spent given the high speed internet connection.
Bikerjon said:
Just a reality check before you go too overboard with Cat5e....
Most modern equipment these days is wireless only and although it's nice to have a couple of ethernet outlets by the TV and home office, the rest will typically be redundant. The most useful thing for Cat5e is to wire up some decent Wi-Fi access points. This will be money well spent given the high speed internet connection.
As an example I have 9 thermostats in my house, all wired, smart learning thermostats that I can control from my phone but they're wired via a control centre which is on Cat 5e.Most modern equipment these days is wireless only and although it's nice to have a couple of ethernet outlets by the TV and home office, the rest will typically be redundant. The most useful thing for Cat5e is to wire up some decent Wi-Fi access points. This will be money well spent given the high speed internet connection.
Office IP phones and of course wired internet connections to laptops/desktops also run on cat 6.
I've run spare Cat 6 into a few locations in the ceilings to run a wifi booster if ever needed.
Some home speakers can run on wifi or cat 6.
My entire CCTV setup is run off Cat 6.
Another useful thing is you can use Cat 6 over long distances for HDMI, could be useful for a projector etc.
There's lots of uses and I don't necessarily think it's becoming redundant.
bimsb6 said:
I doubt you will get the fibre connection put in the loft , is there a socket up for one ?
No plans to have it in the loft - that just happens to be where my current 4g router is and where all the CAT5e cable is. Ironically they are installing the Fibre cable via the loft space - long story but it’s the most convenient way to hook up 5 conjoined properties instead of going underground.
But my router etc will be on the ground floor (single floor property).
Get yourself on to youtube, plenty of good guides on how to build and configure a home network.
But beware, you'll end up going from a simple ISP provided box to having a 24 port managed switch, patch panel, wireless access points, IP PoE cameras security system, NVR, NAS and a nice shiny cabinet to put most of them in. You know it makes sense.
But beware, you'll end up going from a simple ISP provided box to having a 24 port managed switch, patch panel, wireless access points, IP PoE cameras security system, NVR, NAS and a nice shiny cabinet to put most of them in. You know it makes sense.
Edited by vetrof on Thursday 19th November 10:08
parabolica said:
No plans to have it in the loft - that just happens to be where my current 4g router is and where all the CAT5e cable is.
Ironically they are installing the Fibre cable via the loft space - long story but it’s the most convenient way to hook up 5 conjoined properties instead of going underground.
But my router etc will be on the ground floor (single floor property).
If the cat5 all terminates in the loft and there's power (guess there is if the current router is there...) then it makes sense to have the router in the loft. Otherwise you need to run the fibre down to the ground floor to then use the cat5 back up to the switch in your loft.Ironically they are installing the Fibre cable via the loft space - long story but it’s the most convenient way to hook up 5 conjoined properties instead of going underground.
But my router etc will be on the ground floor (single floor property).
If the router's in the loft you just need mesh hubs to get WiFi/ethernet everywhere you need it.
ETA and I bet once the fibre is in your loft they'll want to run the cable back outside, down the wall and back in if you want the router on the ground floor.
Edited by Bill on Thursday 19th November 09:53
Bumblebee7 said:
Just wanted to reiterate this, I was an absolute total novice on the subject. I watched a few youtube videos and now genuinely feel like a specialist on the subject. Another thing to consider is a POE switch, it'll make sense if you look into it as that will be able to run internet etc. to things. At the moment all a patch panel will do is effectively work as an extension lead.
It's pretty fun to do yourself, you just need a few basic (but important) tools to strip and terminate the cables correctly. After watching a few YT vidoes I wired my entire house in audio cable, Cat 6 (wasn't much more than Cat 5e) and 8 core security cable for a complete alarm system.
What he said. I did the same a few years ago when I needed POE for CCTV, bought 300m of cable, terminators, strippers, crimpers testers. I wired the CCTV, also wired other rooms, even the summer house in the garden and the garage all from Youtube videos.It's pretty fun to do yourself, you just need a few basic (but important) tools to strip and terminate the cables correctly. After watching a few YT vidoes I wired my entire house in audio cable, Cat 6 (wasn't much more than Cat 5e) and 8 core security cable for a complete alarm system.
I suspect you have some kind of cable run into the roof from an internal network point to get to your original router? so you should have a route available.to the loft
utilise 1 cable from new router into the loft. Put a multiport switch (POE? for future proof?) in the loft and connect up the existing cables. You will need power for the switch, but i assume thats already there for the old router. Cat5e cable tester is a must and plenty of spare connectors cos you will make mistakes.
Also consider getting a wifi mesh system if its a big property.
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