Help with setup; "pre-wired" On-Q ethernet

[keith701a]

I purchased a house pre-wired for internet. In the media cabinet is a TM1041. Everything is wired into this, including a coax splitter with/four prewires. After doing some research, I've realized the TM1041 is for telephone only. The wires are cat5e and the jacks in the rooms are ethernet, not telephone.

The setup is this: I have a "feed" cable going into the TM1041, and then three drops going out from the TM1041 to rooms (loft/master bedroom, and the living room). I have one drop, my gameroom/office, just hanging in the cabinet (blue cable). Can I add a coax from the split going to my modem, and then plug the modem into a drop (office) and have that go into a wifi router? Could the other drops (loft/master/LR) be then plugged into a switch connected to my router?

My issues lies with my routers; I recently bought a three pack of Google Wi-Fi. My house is 3400 square feet and I wanted blanket coverage. Because of their shape, a google wifi puck does not fit in the media cabinet. As a result, I'm confused as to how to handle the other wired drops because I'll need a switch, right? Should I consider running another line where a google wifi router will be to route to a switch?

I'm also confused as to what the feed ethernet cable is for. Should I ignore it while setting up my network?
http://imgur.com/a/AxxCa

 

[thiggins]

I can't find a Legrand / On-Q TM1041. But the TM1045 looks like a passive patch panel.

I can't see the "feed" Ethernet cable in the picture you linked to. Unless you can tell where it comes from, you should ignore it.

First, confirm that the cabling is at least CAT 5e (should be printed on it) and that all 8 wires are
connected on both the plug and jack ends.

Yes, you can put your cable modem where you have one of the Ethernet runs. Plug the Ethernet cable into it, then plug its other end in the distribution cabinet into the WAN port of your router. The router LAN port would then go into a switch, then the other cables would plug into the switch.

If the router has enough LAN ports, you don't need a switch.

If you get a Google WiFi DO NOT put it in the cabinet. Put it out in the open. It has no wall mount slots, so you need a shelf. You want it sitting on its base for best antenna orientation.

 

[keith701a]

I can't find a Legrand / On-Q TM1041. But the TM1045 looks like a passive patch panel.

I can't see the "feed" Ethernet cable in the picture you linked to. Unless you can tell where it comes from, you should ignore it.

First, confirm that the cabling is at least CAT 5e (should be printed on it) and that all 8 wires are
connected on both the plug and jack ends.

Yes, you can put your cable modem where you have one of the Ethernet runs. Plug the Ethernet cable into it, then plug its other end in the distribution cabinet into the WAN port of your router. The router LAN port would then go into a switch, then the other cables would plug into the switch.

If the router has enough LAN ports, you don't need a switch.

If you get a Google WiFi DO NOT put it in the cabinet. Put it out in the open. It has no wall mount slots, so you need a shelf. You want it sitting on its base for best antenna orientation.

They are all cat5e, I confirmed. I already have the google wifi three pack, and I had no plans to put it in the cabinet, and there is my problem. I don't have a line going from the google wifi to the switch in the cabinet. I think I've realized I either do another drop or put a google wifi in the cabinet (I have a "three pack").

I've never used switches before. In order to save costs can I add additional switches outside the cabinet (such as my office) if they eventually run to the router?

 

[thiggins]

Switches can be cascaded, i.e., plugged into each other. But use only ONE cable to connect one switch to another. If you make multiple connections between switches, you'll create a loop, which will take down your network.

Google Wi-Fi's also act as Wi-Fi bridges. So you can place a Wi-Fi *near* the cabinet switch to connect everything else. But that makes that wireless connection a choke point and will limit bandwidth to all the rest of the devices. But you may not even notice this, depending on your internet connection speed and the things you do on those devices.

The best thing, is to run Ethernet from where your cable modem is to the distribution cabinet where the switch is.