Confusing wired home network
Discussion
My house has Ethernet coming in to most rooms, and following too many failed attempts to get my linksys mesh wifi working I want to use wired where I can.
The problem is that there are no labels or instructions, and as per the picture below I suspect that many are not yet connected to anything.
This picture is what I have in a cupboard. I suspect they the top box is an Ethernet switch, and the bottom one is the termination of twenty-something cables heading off through the walls to each room, does that seem right?
If so, does that mean that each room that I want to be connected will need the corresponding socket from the picture connected to one of the sockets in the Ethernet switch, and then I’ll need one line in from my router to the Ethernet switch too?
If so, given that there will be fifteen outputs from the switch, and over twenty cables going to rooms then I think I have a lot of trial and error ahead of me to work out which cable goes to which room.
The problem is that there are no labels or instructions, and as per the picture below I suspect that many are not yet connected to anything.
This picture is what I have in a cupboard. I suspect they the top box is an Ethernet switch, and the bottom one is the termination of twenty-something cables heading off through the walls to each room, does that seem right?
If so, does that mean that each room that I want to be connected will need the corresponding socket from the picture connected to one of the sockets in the Ethernet switch, and then I’ll need one line in from my router to the Ethernet switch too?
If so, given that there will be fifteen outputs from the switch, and over twenty cables going to rooms then I think I have a lot of trial and error ahead of me to work out which cable goes to which room.
Top is the switch
Bottom Is the termination/sockets for what I assume are your cables running to the various rooms.
If you want to know which cable goes to which socket, trial and error will get you there.
Or, look at the back of the lower panel, and plug every port that’s wired into the netgear on top.
That will put all network ports on the same LAN (which is what I assume you want)
If the switch has VLANs configured, all bets are off.
I presume there’s a connection from the net gear out to a router/modem somewhere?
Bottom Is the termination/sockets for what I assume are your cables running to the various rooms.
If you want to know which cable goes to which socket, trial and error will get you there.
Or, look at the back of the lower panel, and plug every port that’s wired into the netgear on top.
That will put all network ports on the same LAN (which is what I assume you want)
If the switch has VLANs configured, all bets are off.
I presume there’s a connection from the net gear out to a router/modem somewhere?
The switch has some yellow PoE (power over Ethernet) ports - do you have any CCTV cameras etc? They’d need to plug in there. How many ports on the patch panel below it actually have cables to them? You may need an extra switch if there are more than the switch has.
Get an Ethernet test like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/philex-network-cable-te... to identify which cable is switch on the patch panel. Label them!
Will be a fun hour or so!
Get an Ethernet test like this https://www.screwfix.com/p/philex-network-cable-te... to identify which cable is switch on the patch panel. Label them!
Will be a fun hour or so!
Neddy Sea Goon said:
Buy an Ethernet cable tester on ebay, plug the remote in to the socket in the room, then go through each socket on the patch panel in turn till you find it.
Reckon an hour tops
Thanks. I didn’t even know that that was a thing.Reckon an hour tops
Do you think I’m right that the top box is an Ethernet switch, so I need to connect each cable that I want to use to any socket in the switch?
Mr E said:
Top is the switch
Bottom Is the termination/sockets for what I assume are your cables running to the various rooms.
If you want to know which cable goes to which socket, trial and error will get you there.
Or, look at the back of the lower panel, and plug every port that’s wired into the netgear on top.
That will put all network ports on the same LAN (which is what I assume you want)
If the switch has VLANs configured, all bets are off.
I presume there’s a connection from the net gear out to a router/modem somewhere?
Correct. There are twenty two wired sockets at the bottom, so I can’t just attach each one.Bottom Is the termination/sockets for what I assume are your cables running to the various rooms.
If you want to know which cable goes to which socket, trial and error will get you there.
Or, look at the back of the lower panel, and plug every port that’s wired into the netgear on top.
That will put all network ports on the same LAN (which is what I assume you want)
If the switch has VLANs configured, all bets are off.
I presume there’s a connection from the net gear out to a router/modem somewhere?
Don’t even need a tester.
Patch every single switch point into the patch panel - you’ll have a few left over as you have more patch connections than switch ports.
Plug a computer or similar into a socket.
Look at the switch - the port that has lit up is your socket. Mark that on your patch panel and move the device to a new socket.
Repeat until done.
Patch every single switch point into the patch panel - you’ll have a few left over as you have more patch connections than switch ports.
Plug a computer or similar into a socket.
Look at the switch - the port that has lit up is your socket. Mark that on your patch panel and move the device to a new socket.
Repeat until done.
One of these - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emma-Finder-Generator-Tra...
Plug the tone sender into a cable and then go looking for the cable where the tone appears. Make up an adapter to plug into cable end, short out the tone and if it goes off, that's the other end. My advice is once both ends are found LABEL them.
Plug the tone sender into a cable and then go looking for the cable where the tone appears. Make up an adapter to plug into cable end, short out the tone and if it goes off, that's the other end. My advice is once both ends are found LABEL them.
Kent Border Kenny said:
I think so. It’ll also offer some redundancy if the first one fails.
What is it I need to look up to have one that fits into the same rack?
Racks are a standard size. If it has ears, it'll fit. What is it I need to look up to have one that fits into the same rack?
Look on ebay, loads of old switches available for very little money. A lot of the enterprise 48 port switches have fans - so if noise is an issue, you need to consider which model to go for.
The switch, the box at the top, is one of these I think based on the model number :
JGS516PE — 16 Port Gigabit Ethernet PoE Smart Managed Plus Switch with 8-Ports PoE
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/JGS516PE.a...
It is a free standing unit that comes with two L-shaped brackets that mount on the sides to make it a 1U size to fit a standard rack mount (you can see them on you photo compared to the site mentioned above)
Anything else you want to bolt in that rack will need to either be full rack width or have the same adapters (or get a rack shelf to sit one on)
Looking at the setup I'd guess port 11 goes to the router (or whatever else this was originally installed to work with) since it is the only one not connected to the patch panel below it.
All the other cables on the switch run from the Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) which makes we wonder if this was installed for something like CCTV or some other IP-based devices? Do you know where they go to?
JGS516PE — 16 Port Gigabit Ethernet PoE Smart Managed Plus Switch with 8-Ports PoE
https://www.netgear.com/support/product/JGS516PE.a...
It is a free standing unit that comes with two L-shaped brackets that mount on the sides to make it a 1U size to fit a standard rack mount (you can see them on you photo compared to the site mentioned above)
Anything else you want to bolt in that rack will need to either be full rack width or have the same adapters (or get a rack shelf to sit one on)
Looking at the setup I'd guess port 11 goes to the router (or whatever else this was originally installed to work with) since it is the only one not connected to the patch panel below it.
All the other cables on the switch run from the Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) which makes we wonder if this was installed for something like CCTV or some other IP-based devices? Do you know where they go to?
Edited by StephenP on Sunday 25th October 08:54
Op, you've inherited a nice little setup there, apart from the lack of labelling. Just follow the instructions posted by rxe above & 30 minutes of wandering around with a laptop will have it all identified. 16 ports is plenty to start with so unless you know you have more devices than that you don't necesarily need another switch.
You don't have to have every room port connected to a switch port - you just patch them up as needed. When you do run out that's the time to look for another switch.
You don't have to have every room port connected to a switch port - you just patch them up as needed. When you do run out that's the time to look for another switch.
A couple more things to think about:
Your broadband connection (Router) can be in any suitable location - it doesn't need to be in that cupboard. Just patch it into the switch in the same way you would with any other device.
If you want to connect multiple devices in one location, then consider installing a small unmanaged switch in that location. You can get a very compact 8 port gigabit switch for £20
Your broadband connection (Router) can be in any suitable location - it doesn't need to be in that cupboard. Just patch it into the switch in the same way you would with any other device.
If you want to connect multiple devices in one location, then consider installing a small unmanaged switch in that location. You can get a very compact 8 port gigabit switch for £20
omniflow said:
A couple more things to think about:
Your broadband connection (Router) can be in any suitable location - it doesn't need to be in that cupboard. Just patch it into the switch in the same way you would with any other device.
If you want to connect multiple devices in one location, then consider installing a small unmanaged switch in that location. You can get a very compact 8 port gigabit switch for £20
Thanks.Your broadband connection (Router) can be in any suitable location - it doesn't need to be in that cupboard. Just patch it into the switch in the same way you would with any other device.
If you want to connect multiple devices in one location, then consider installing a small unmanaged switch in that location. You can get a very compact 8 port gigabit switch for £20
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