Networking and Patch Panel questions....

Reggie_Rebel

Buy the cables don't try to make them yourself

Space_Cowby

poundland have belkin patch cables.

Goonerak

Terminations
Connecting to the faceplates or patch panel, you will need a punch down tool. There are two types of IDC termination - LSA and 110 (actually there is a 3rd type,KATT, but you'd be hard pressed to find it). Make sure you get the correct tool to terminate them with.

Patch panels tend to be more useful in larger facilities (offices and the like). As you've only got 10 cables I would terminate the ends in the loft with RJ45 plugs. Terminating RJ45 plugs is not easy, buy 20 plugs and practice on some spare cable. 10 practice termination should be enough.

The router will have 1 or more RJ45 sockets that you can connect these plugs to. If it only has 1 socket then you can only have 1 faceplate connected to the internet at any one time. If it has 4 then you can plug in 4 of your plugs and have 4 active faceplates.

You could buy a 12 port hub and plug all of your 10 plugs into it. Then install a patch lead from the router to the hub and you have a network where all of your faceplates are active and you can plug a PC, printer, VoIP phone or any network device into any of them and they can all talk to each other and/or access the internet.

chaddythebear

Thanks Goonerak, when you say a hub do you mean a switched hub as in one of these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/8-Port-10-100-Fast-Ethernet-Network-LAN-Switch-hub-RJ45_W0QQitemZ310069925588QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item310069925588&_trkparms=72%3A1301%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Have all the cat5e cables run to places like behind the tv (for wii) and next to sofa's, at breakfast bar etc as its a laptop we use and its a big old brick house so i can't use the wireless as it doesn't seem to work in other rooms!

Great help from everyone, makes doing these things yourself a lot easier.

The one thing i will have to practice will be crimping the ends, does anyone have a link to show me the best way?

fwor

As others have said, you may already be committed to the "switch in the loft" plan but...

I wouldn't put any active electronic gear in the loft of an old house if I could help it. Unless you are very lucky it will be damp in winter and always dirty - not usually the best thing for electronic gear.

And, when you get a power brown-out or nearby lightning strike and the switch locks up, you won't want to go up to the loft to check and reboot it.

IMO the best solution is to route the cables from each room socket up to the loft and back down to a convenient cupboard where you can install a small patch panel and locate the switch and router.

That way, all the long internal house wiring is terminated on punch-down blocks (faceplate for room outlet, patch panel at switch end) and the last couple of metres from outlet to device or switch are just standard RJ45 leads that you buy pre-made.

This is generally how it's done in small office installations, but it suits home use just as well.

chaddythebear

Thanks for that, its not really a loft, its been coverted to two bedrooms so would be located safely in a cupboard out the way

totalsolutions

try wiki

Tools crimpers

chunter

Nice idea. If I was to build a house from scratch there'd be a cupboard somewhere where the adsl router and the server and/or sound system was based and all was pumped around the house.

Now to use Cat 5e or optical?
Would it make any difference? Because your broadband's a measly 8mbytes, (even 20mb) and most of your entertainment is going to coming down that line.
Unless you're pushing huge files (video) around the house you're never going to need the optical.

amcluesent

If you're planning ahead, spend a bit more on a gigabit switch with Power Over Ethernet (PoE), then you can use VOIP phones and the like.

And if you're crimping your own Cat5, get a cable tester - it's so easy to make an mistake.

sho_me_da_money

Nice topic and convo.

Making Cat5 cables is sometimes tricky but on the whole pretty easy to do.

"How to make a Cat5 cable" in Google and hit the first link for the colour codes.

Personally would buy a roll of the thing if you are doing a project like this.