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.
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?
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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