Help with Home Network (possibly poorly wired)

[denning]

Wired our house when we moved about 9 years ago with cat5e cable. Older house with lathe and plaster walls and stone. It's home run wired to central closet but it seems that we can only get 10/100 over the connection. No run should be more than 20M. Everything looks to be wired T568B but since I did it myself could be flawed.

Can't find the old spindle for the wiring - but jacket wiring says ACOM category 5e enhanced eagle 24awg.

I have placed my new main computer, cable modem (gigabit speed), in my main office to get the full speed and run from the modem back to the home-run area a switch to serve rest of house at lower speed.
Assumed that 10/100 was because it was cat5 cable and just cursed myself for not planning earlier and ordering Cat6 (not available locally at the time). Bit of research suggests that cables should be capable of running 100/1000.

Been mainly using AC wifi from cable modem (Hitron Coda) to serve house (chromecast ultra, laptops etc) as of late but lose AC signal pretty fast.

Tested cat 5e cable from main computer area to homerun area with cheap NS-468 cable tester. Seems that all 1-8 ports flash green in sequence. had same issue whether keystone or RJ45 plug at main computer end. Tried long monoprice cat 6 cable from cable modem to switch which does in fact connect to cable modem/router at 1,000).

The real issue is that signal basically dies in one bedroom and the den for which we need stronger signal would love advice on the following:

1. anyway to get existing wiring up to 100/1000 speeds. reopening walls is not an option or fishing new cable. Putting on new end points/keystones or wallplates is option.

2. do I run access point extender off hard wire even though it is 10/100 speed?

3. do i use power system have TP-link AV500 available to get to office

4. Do i just give up on wired network and go with mesh system - can get a pretty good deal on amplify HD setup

Thank you so much for your help in advance.

 

[CaptainSTX]

With Cat5e cable you should be able to get a link rate of 1000 Mbps. I have ten Cat5e drops in my home and they all test out for 1000Mbps. You may not get that speed when you test using actual file transfers over your LAN but that is a set of different set of issues and what ever speed you do get will probably be faster than WiFi and much more reliable

If all the cables are home runs with no intermeadiate splices or loop throughs then really the only thing that can be the problem is the quality of the terminations. Re do the fittings on one cable at both ends using Cat 5e plugs and jacks and test again.

It is possible that over nine years the pins at either or both ends have corroded, got bent and make poor connections, etc. Watch some You Tube videos and be very precise in your workmanship. OK is not good enough. If you want to make the project easier consider purchasing a Platinum tool and clam shell plugs.

Don't give up on the Ethernet. It is the gold standard of connectivity. If you can't get it to work hire someone to come in and get you LAN up and running. You won't regret it.

 

[System Error Message]

cat5e can do gigabit up to 100 meters if you did not split the wires. A single ethernet cable can carry 2 clients by splitting the 8 pairs into 2x 4 pairs. Its like with rj11 where you have 4 pair and 2 pair cables with 4 pairs being able to have 2 lines. When you split the lines you get less bandwidth if all the pairs are used.

also you got the ratings wrong, when they say 10/100/1000 it means the link rate, right now its running at 100 for you not 10/100. It gets confusing because people would interpret it as upload/download. Your problem could be that some pc/switch/router is refusing to use gigabit rates probably due to errors. Some switches and routers can show you the link error rates. There could be an issue with cabling or with the end to end clients.

 

[CaptainSTX]

I don't think split pairs is the problem. The OP said that he tested the runs with a simple cable tester and the the results were OK as he got a green on all pairs.

 

[denning]

also you got the ratings wrong, when they say 10/100/1000 it means the link rate, right now its running at 100 for you not 10/100. It gets confusing because people would interpret it as upload/download. Your problem could be that some pc/switch/router is refusing to use gigabit rates probably due to errors. Some switches and routers can show you the link error rates. There could be an issue with cabling or with the end to end clients.

thanks guys - sorry for being confusing I am pretty much a newbie. Tried to figure this out when I moved in years ago and still don't know what i don't know.

Yes the issue is that router and the switch (and also the secondary router) all light up the 'link rate' as a 100M not 1000m (gigabit) connection. Considering that my actual broadband connection is greater than 100M and my desire to use 4k video off an extender point, I would love to figure how to get my wiring up to the 1000m connection it should be capable of.

While I have no doubt I didn't do an amazing job with the install, it is consistently working as 100M.

Could the issue be my connectors? I got a couple of boxes of Greenlee 45745 connections - I don't see any reference to Cat 5e on the packaging http://www.ebay.com/itm/250717952847?rmvSB=true

Would a patch panel make sense?

 

[CaptainSTX]

As I said previously you need to replace the connectors on both ends of every cable with connectors that say they are Cat5e.

Female jacks are much easier to attach and get done correctly than male plugs and no tools are required as a plastic punch down tool comes with many female jacks.

You don't need a patch panel but if you install one you can avoid having to attach any male plugs. You would attach one end of your cables to the patch panel and then make your connections between your switch and the patch panel using store bought jumper cables. The other ends of your cables would be terminated on female keystone jacks that would clip into your wall plates.

Start with one cable and see if it solves your problem. If it doesn't then Plan B, which in your case is call in a pro.

 

[Samir]

We wired my parents house with 400Mhz rated wire in 1995 as cat5 didn't even exist then as a standard. As long as the terminations were done correctly (we have about half a dozen that weren't), we get gigabit throughput on those runs--and there were 40+ runs.

I would try this--find the run that you know is the shortest and check the wiring at the plate/jack. Make sure it is very much in spec. If not, redo it.

Then use iperf on each end and do some throughput testing. If you got 900Mbs+, congrats! Then you know what you need to do.

Otherwise, anyone doing lan wiring should be able to easily check and redo any terminations and get you up to full speed.

 

[ulaganath]

You should see 1gb link but even cat 6e can not do more than 100 meter. You can try cat 7 but for 1000 meter its different setup

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

 

[Jeff Walther]

In 1998 I wired my house with Cat. 5 (no e) cable, adding 37 cable runs from closet to wallplates and six from closet to service box. They all operate at gigabit speeds.

So, like others, I do not believe your problem is the type of cable that you used, although it is conceivable that you just bought the worst brand of cable in the universe through bad luck. But I've never seen any postings from people saying, "Don't by brand X cable. It says Cat. 5, but it doesn't support gigabit."

Soooo, termination, or network hardware, or both. You might put up a photo of both ends of one or more of your runs taken in such a way that the wire colors can be seen. It's possible that you wired the outer pairs wrong. The inner pairs are working; you get 100 Mbps. If you got something wrong in the outer two pairs, gigabit wouldn't work. Of course, your cable tester shouldn't report good, either, but htose things are pretty simple minded.

Did you watch carefully to make the sure that the tester lights blink in consecutive order at both ends? If you make all good connections, but get some wires backwards, all the lights will blink, but not in the same order at both ends.

What kind of crimping tool did you use to put those plugs on the cables? I found, with my (cheap) Belkin crimper that just putting the plug in the tool and squeezing doesn't make a good crimp. I end up needing to slide the plug a tiny distance in and out of the holder and squeezing again, to do a good job of pushing the pins into the wires and squeezing the housing. You might have a similar issue.

As others mentioned, you're better off terminating your installed household cables in modular jacks (at the wall) and at patch panels (in the closet). Patch panels really aren't very expensive any more. However, a good punch down tool could set you back a bit. I know one poster said you don't need a punch down tool. I'm not sure. I use one and I get good results. Doesn't mean you can't get good results without one....

12 port, $20 patch panel with wall bracket at Amazon.
http://a.co/cjS6jnw

Keystone Jacks at ~$1 each but in largish quantity:
http://a.co/cp5WfyV

I used the equipment above to wire a friend's house this Spring without any issues.

BTW, my patch panels were surplus category 3 (?) panels, and I still get good gigabit speeds.

Finally, what kind of hub/switch are you using? I was having some connection issues a few years ago, and I started to drive myself crazy chasing cabling issues, but it turned out that my Netgear 8 port gigabit switch (or possibly the power supply) had gone flaky on me. It's definitely worth trying different network hardware just to eliminate that as a possible source of problems.

 

[Samir]

In 1998 I wired my house with Cat. 5 (no e) cable, adding 37 cable runs from closet to wallplates and six from closet to service box. They all operate at gigabit speeds.

So, like others, I do not believe your problem is the type of cable that you used, although it is conceivable that you just bought the worst brand of cable in the universe through bad luck. But I've never seen any postings from people saying, "Don't by brand X cable. It says Cat. 5, but it doesn't support gigabit."

Soooo, termination, or network hardware, or both. You might put up a photo of both ends of one or more of your runs taken in such a way that the wire colors can be seen. It's possible that you wired the outer pairs wrong. The inner pairs are working; you get 100 Mbps. If you got something wrong in the outer two pairs, gigabit wouldn't work. Of course, your cable tester shouldn't report good, either, but htose things are pretty simple minded.

Did you watch carefully to make the sure that the tester lights blink in consecutive order at both ends? If you make all good connections, but get some wires backwards, all the lights will blink, but not in the same order at both ends.

What kind of crimping tool did you use to put those plugs on the cables? I found, with my (cheap) Belkin crimper that just putting the plug in the tool and squeezing doesn't make a good crimp. I end up needing to slide the plug a tiny distance in and out of the holder and squeezing again, to do a good job of pushing the pins into the wires and squeezing the housing. You might have a similar issue.

As others mentioned, you're better off terminating your installed household cables in modular jacks (at the wall) and at patch panels (in the closet). Patch panels really aren't very expensive any more. However, a good punch down tool could set you back a bit. I know one poster said you don't need a punch down tool. I'm not sure. I use one and I get good results. Doesn't mean you can't get good results without one....

12 port, $20 patch panel with wall bracket at Amazon.
http://a.co/cjS6jnw

Keystone Jacks at ~$1 each but in largish quantity:
http://a.co/cp5WfyV

I used the equipment above to wire a friend's house this Spring without any issues.

BTW, my patch panels were surplus category 3 (?) panels, and I still get good gigabit speeds.

Finally, what kind of hub/switch are you using? I was having some connection issues a few years ago, and I started to drive myself crazy chasing cabling issues, but it turned out that my Netgear 8 port gigabit switch (or possibly the power supply) had gone flaky on me. It's definitely worth trying different network hardware just to eliminate that as a possible source of problems.

Really great advice!