Trying to network Ethernet through Qpanel help!

[Irish1811]

i am trying to connect my router to my Qpanel so I can plug into the network in the rooms of my house. Can I plug into this? See photo.

 

[KenZ71]

Not sure what that is, maybe a phone patch panel?

You might be able to reterm all the ends to RJ45s then hookup a switch and see what happens.

 

[Irish1811]

The blue cables feed all the rooms in the house, it is the phone jacks but I do not use them. (no landline) Looking for a way to use them for Ethernet instead. All the jacks take a CAT5 (Ethernet) cable. Don't know if its possible or not?

 

[CaptainSTX]

What you want to do is possible and for not much money will give you a much more reliable home network than depending on WiFi except for casual uses such as updating e-mail on a phone.

What you will need to do:

1. Replace on the wall jacks with Cat5 female jacks. Cat5 data uses all four pairs (8 wires ). Telephone jacks use no more than three pairs. Terminate the jacks to the 568B pinning standard. The keystone jacks you buy will be color coded and come with a plastic punch down tool. All you will need is a pair of scissors to trim the wire ends.

2. After marking all the wires in your wiring center for the location they serve cut the wires loose from the telephone patch panel and remove the existing panel from your network and take it out of the cabinet.

3. My recommendation is that you install a small 8 Port gigabyte switch in your existing cabinet. The switch I used measures 6 1/4" x 4 " . With an 8 port switch you can activate up to 7 locations at one time. The remaining port is needed for the connection to your router. Your router and cable modem can be located anywhere in the house and will use one of your jacks/cables to connect back to the switch. Small unmanaged switches generate very little heat compared to a router so being in an enclosed cabinet won't be a problem. If for some reason you don't have AC power in your cabinet you can power the switch using a POE injector. Other responders may recommend using a data patch panel and that's good also but you will still need a switch.

4. The hardest part of the project will be correctly installing male RJ 45 plugs on the ends of the cables in your wiring cabinet. This task will be much easier if you spend the $65 for a platinum termination tool to use with the special platinum connectors. If you have never tried installing male connectors with a standard tool you won't appreciate how much simpler and faster you can successfully install connectors using platinum connectors.

5. After you have installed connectors on both ends of your cables test them. For approximately $10 you can get a tester that will indicate correct wiring for 568B connections and continuity on all pairs. Not testing will only lead to frustration when something isn't working at the speed you expected.

 

[Irish1811]

I think my wall jacks are already Cat5. If I really only want/need one location can I just cut the one wire lose and attach the male RJ45 plug and just plug that into my Modem/router?

 

[CaptainSTX]

I think my wall jacks are already Cat5. If I really only want/need one location can I just cut the one wire lose and attach the male RJ45 plug and just plug that into my Modem/router?

If the jacks were wired for telephone they won't be pinned correctly for data. When in doubt connect the tester to each end of the cable and see what it says. If it says pinned correctly for 568B then you are good to go.

As for just bring a cable out of the wall and then attaching a male plug and then using it. This will work for awhile but the cables run through your walls probably have solid wires. Over time if you move, connect and reconnect the cable the wires will become brittle and break. Patch cables are made using a stranded wire which is more flexible and is designed to bend.

 

[degrub]

If the jacks were wired for telephone they won't be pinned correctly for data. When in doubt connect the tester to each end of the cable and see what it says. If it says pinned correctly for 568B then you are good to go.

As for just bring a cable out of the wall and then attaching a male plug and then using it. This will work for awhile but the cables run through your walls probably have solid wires. Over time if you move, connect and reconnect the cable the wires will become brittle and break. Patch cables are made using a stranded wire which is more flexible and is designed to bend.

If you rip everything out and completely reterminate, you may have to deal with some loss of house value when you sell.
Just lift and terminate the cables you need and leave the rest alone. Leave enough wire to re-establish the phone punch down on both ends.

If you have unused RG6 cable, you might be able use that for home runs to remote portions of the house with MOCA 2 as well.

 

[CaptainSTX]

If you rip everything out and completely reterminate, you may have to deal with some loss of house value when you sell.
Just lift and terminate the cables you need and leave the rest alone. Leave enough wire to re-establish the phone punch down on both ends.

If you have unused RG6 cable, you might be able use that for home runs to remote portions of the house with MOCA 2 as well.

The number of people installing conventional land lines is shrinking. If a future buyer wants a land line in the future some or all of the data locations could be converted back to telephone.

IMHO having a house with a data network is of more value today than having every room wired with a conventional RJ-11 jack. If you need telephones in multiple locations use a cordless phone with multiple handsets. Cordless telephones are very reliable and work very well.

 

[degrub]

The number of people installing conventional land lines is shrinking. If a future buyer wants a land line in the future some or all of the data locations could be converted back to telephone.

IMHO having a house with a data network is of more value today than having every room wired with a conventional RJ-11 jack. If you need telephones in multiple locations use a cordless phone with multiple handsets. Cordless telephones are very reliable and work very well.

True enough - depends on the community and the buyer.

 

[Blade Runner]

i am trying to connect my router to my Qpanel so I can plug into the network in the rooms of my house. Can I plug into this? See photo.

I have similar structured wiring. My recommendation is contract local network installer. Installer will test all jacks (cable, Ethernet, phone), convert phone to data, fab patch cables, and, if necessary, install correct jacks. It was money well spent because wired trumps wireless.

 

[sfx2000]

Agree - most competent telco/network guys will sort this in short order...