What is the point for a patch panel for home network?

[Andy]

Is there any advantage to use a patch panel for home network? Why not just connect directly into a switch?

 

[Ois]

The cables in my house (Cat7a AWG22 1500MHz) are really thick, >8mm - I'd never get an RJ45 plug on that that.

It's a lot easier to patch cables to a panel than it is to connect RJ45 plugs.....patch panels make it easier to keep track of what goes where and it looks nicer.

I also use my network cables to carry other signals (cable TV, 1-Wire sensor data, KNX/EIB, RCA Sound, 24V actuator supply, DMX signal etc..) with a patch panel it's a LOT more flexible.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Is there any advantage to use a patch panel for home network? Why not just connect directly into a switch?

That is the way I have my ten Ethernet runs hooked up. I use an eight port switch which means I can have seven jacks hooked up at any one time.

As for identifying which cable goes where all the cables are numbered, I have a list showing which port on the switch has which cable connected and which location it is serving. I rarely change the jacks that are active so I don't need to touch the cables very often.

Advantages to not using a patch panel:

1. One less piece of equipment to buy.

2. In my setup I had room to install my switch directly in a small shallow wiring distribution cabinet. With ten Ethernet cables, ten coaxial cables and an alarm system that has a battery there wouldn't have been room to squeeze both a patch panel and a switch into the very limited space available in the cabinet.

Disadvantages:

1. It, as mentioned above much easier to terminate to female Ethernet jacks or a patch panel than correctly installing male connectors.

2. If you need/want to move connections around frequently doing so with standard solid connector Ethernet cable (what is run in your walls and ceiling ) will over time lead to metal fatigue and failure when a connector breaks. Patch cables that you would use to connect from your patch panel to switch would be stranded and therefore less subject to breakage.

3. In my case I only had ten drops to worry about. If you had dozens of Ethernet drops then keeping track of them would be simpler with a patch panel.

You will just have to decide what works for you. A patch panel certainly adds a WOW factor your networking setup.

 

[Andy]

The cables in my house (Cat7a AWG22 1500MHz) are really thick, >8mm - I'd never get an RJ45 plug on that that.

It's a lot easier to patch cables to a panel than it is to connect RJ45 plugs.....patch panels make it easier to keep track of what goes where and it looks nicer.

You still would need to get an RJ45 plug on the cable to connect from the patch panel to switch?

 

[TonyH]

Is there any advantage to use a patch panel for home network? Why not just connect directly into a switch?

I'd say convenience and neatness. (with good documentation and cable tags) Likewise we have electrical panel at home rather than electrical cable running here and there criss crossing.

 

[CaptainSTX]

You still would need to get an RJ45 plug on the cable to connect from the patch panel to switch?

You only make short jumper cables for your own network if you are a glutton for punishment. Instead you buy high quality jumpers in the length that you need. Terminating male jacks on cables with solid conductors is difficult enough. Stranded conductors takes it to a whole other level that will test your patience.

Some things aren't worth doing just to save a few dollars.

 

[alphamatter]

Besides the possibility of losing/slow connectivity because of intermittent connectivity of the RJ45 heads to the strands or wire.

Depending on HOW many Cat5e/6 cable drops, you can have a mess of wires there where you'll have a pain to troubleshoot and try to figure out when there's a problem..

I actually have done this with 3 or 4 cable drops, generated (2) double inserts and mounted on the wall because I can easily test and make sure they are working solidly.

Alphamatter

 

[Samir]

We had over 40 home runs of megalan 400Mhz wire in my parents home built in the late 1990s. At that scale, you're going to be using business techniques like a patch panel.

For smaller number of runs, you can go without, but one reason I wouldn't is because of how easy it is to break the plastic clipping pin on an rj45 connector. If you break that, you have to put another end on the cable, and it can still catch on something and break again.