Networking Home

[BeeBoop]

So I found a tutorial on how to change my phone lines into a network. They said that most new homes use cat5e cables for telephone wire and so the keystone on the cate5e cable can be changed from a telephone keystone to RJ45 keystones, for a home network. I unscrewed the telephone plates in two of my rooms to check the cable and it was labeled as cate5e. So next thing I did was walk around my home to find a telephone box. I did not have one. However, I did see the same cat5e wiring rolled up hanging out of my home.

So what I'd like to know is if all I have to do is change the keystones in my room to RJ45 keystones for a home network. Do I have to unplug any connection that might be connected to the phone company?

 

[azazel1024]

You'll have to disconnect it from the phone. Keep looking. If you can't find anything inside in a utility room or something, look outside. It's always possible they joined them outside in the phone companies box. It'll all be on a bus bar. You'll need to disconnect them from that and reconnect them to a switch, or pull them back in to the house to a location where you can connect them up to a switch or patch panel.

I'd suggest setting up another waterproof enclosure with a patch panel there and run back in to a switch inside the house if they all terminate in an outdoor box (if you can't pull them back inside for some reason).

 

[BeeBoop]

Hey! Thanks for the fast response Azazel1024. I'm going to look around my home and take some more and maybe bring back some pictures so I don't screw anything up. Hope I find it.

 

[BeeBoop]

Is it possible the box is in my attic? I really don't want to go up there lol. The picture below is what I found outside. On the left is the cate5e. I have no idea what's on the right but I'm assuming that's not it.

 

[JackMDS]

The cables to the right seems to be Coax for Video.

If they are going through the House to spot that Computer Network is going to be.

Look in to this - http://www.amazon.com/Actiontec-ECB2.../dp/B0088MB1TQ

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As for the Tel Cat5e. If indeed it is Cat 5e you can change the end to RJ-45 from whatever is there.

The telephone system (if any) must be totally disconnected from the cables that are going to be used for Networking..

 

[BeeBoop]

Is there any device I can use to tell if my telephone line is completely disconnected from the telephone company? I'm having trouble finding the box. I believe they call it a Network Interface Device but I don't seem to have one. I haven't thoroughly checked the Attic yet but I'm assuming it's not up there.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Just plug a phone in, see if you get a dial tone.

I would want to make sure you know where all of the ends of your line are though, so you can actually make a connection with your rj45 keystones.

 

[BeeBoop]

I tried plugging in a phone earlier and had no dial tone. So I wasn't sure if it was confirmation that it was okay to just start connecting new keystones. Would anything disastrous happen if i just started connecting new rj45 keystones?

 

[JackMDS]

Nothing would happen from connecting RJ-45 jack.

That said I would not plug any computer related device to jacks before making sure that there is No unwanted voltage somewhere.

You can try this inexpensive gizmo if there is some thing on the line it probably will show it.

http://www.amazon.com/RJ45-RJ11-Netw.../dp/B0058Q0S7Q

 

[BeeBoop]

Thanks! I'll probably try it tomorrow. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

[ccbadd]

have you looked in the attach? When I moved last I found all the Cat-5e runs wire nutted together in the attach. From there I punched them down on a punch down block and extended all of them to a closet near by where put my switch. I even pulled a new RG-6 for the cable modem into the same closet allowing all my gear to be located there. Keep in mind that you cannot just replace the keystone jacks, you need to find the other end of each of the cables as they will probably have one or two pairs all jumped together. From that point you need to separate them and extend to where ever your switch will be.

 

[BeeBoop]

Attach? You mean the attic? Not yet.

 

[ccbadd]

Attach? You mean the attic? Not yet.

Yup, attic.

 

[azazel1024]

One way or another you'll have to find the end points, otherwise you can't connect it up to a switch.

Just putting an RJ-45 on the end and sticking it in to a port on a computer does not a network make. You've gotta connect the other end in to an ethernet switch, which means you MUST locate the end points of the phone/networking cables.

 

[QuietDad]

You found the endpoints. The grey box is installed by the cable company. The cat5 coils to the left eventually connect to every phone jack in the house and are there for the phone company to install it's own box and connect the wires to. That like two cat5 wires which means if you have more than two jacks in the house, they are daisy chained or there is another junction box somewhere.

 

[BeeBoop]

You found the endpoints. The grey box is installed by the cable company. The cat5 coils to the left eventually connect to every phone jack in the house and are there for the phone company to install it's own box and connect the wires to. That like two cat5 wires which means if you have more than two jacks in the house, they are daisy chained or there is another junction box somewhere.

Interesting. I do have more than two jacks in the house, one for each room in the house. So are you saying that I should find the junction box? I'm guessing it's in the attic. Don't have time to check until this weekend.

 

[VirtualLarry]

which means if you have more than two jacks in the house, they are daisy chained or there is another junction box somewhere.

If they are daisy-chained, that would present a problem, no?

 

[KingFatty]

My house has a box in the basement, and also has the ethernet wires sticking outside the house like your picture there.

Anyway, my point is that the wires from outside the house come in to the box and just sit there. Similarly, the wires from all the other jacks inside the house come down into the box.

If I wanted to network the house, I would put a router or switch in that box, and connect the wires to it. Maybe your box is hiding somewhere silly, like behind a door in a random room, or inside/next to a fuse box, etc.

 

[azazel1024]

My house has a box in the basement, and also has the ethernet wires sticking outside the house like your picture there.

Anyway, my point is that the wires from outside the house come in to the box and just sit there. Similarly, the wires from all the other jacks inside the house come down into the box.

If I wanted to network the house, I would put a router or switch in that box, and connect the wires to it. Maybe your box is hiding somewhere silly, like behind a door in a random room, or inside/next to a fuse box, etc.

Likely.

I highly doubt it is daisy chained, that would likely be more work and also certainly a no no for quality. You'd really want it going to a bus bar in a box somewhere. Might look similar to that coax box you have a picture of. Typically it sits outside your home, but I've seen plenty of cases where it is inside the home instead, with the POTS line running inside of the house to the hook-up.

Probably more work than taking an hour to look over every inch of your house, but one thing you could always do, IF you can find the hook-up to the phone system (no dial tone doesn't mean it isn't hooked up still) and yank it, is...since you'd want to covert the RJ11 phone jacks to RJ45 for ethernet, is hook up a switch with diagnostics or a machine with a NIC that has line diagnostics on it.

Then run the diagnostics to see what it tells you for line length. Do it on all ports and you could do the math to figure out roughly where it should be within the house (granting that it won't be direct distance, but it could be instructive, especially if you found any jack's where it is telling you line length is only 3-5m or something like that). Though being connected together might throw off the diagnostics (but I think on my semi-managed switch it'll actually tell you per-twisted pair length, and for phone, only 3 of the 4 should be hooked up, which means 3 of the 4 should give you reliable lengths).

 

[nickbits]

To me, it looks like the telco didn't install their NID, meaning the wires are dead. I also am betting your jacks are daisy chained together. See if the jacks have more than 1 wire on each screw, if so they are daisy chained. However, if you house is newish, that seems less likely. Perhaps those are for an alarm or something.

 

[QuietDad]

If they are daisy-chained, that would present a problem, no?

All depends how. If the lines feed a punch down that then feeds each jack, you know where your new hub is going to be. It a line goes to the kitchen, then the family room, then the bedroom then you have a problem. You shouldn't have that much of an issue if your only a pair of jacks on the circuit, but getting all of them to work aint gonna happen.

 

[azazel1024]

All depends how. If the lines feed a punch down that then feeds each jack, you know where your new hub is going to be. It a line goes to the kitchen, then the family room, then the bedroom then you have a problem. You shouldn't have that much of an issue if your only a pair of jacks on the circuit, but getting all of them to work aint gonna happen.

Correct. At that point, you are pretty much just better off running new wire. Though...if you really needed to do it, and re-wiring wasn't an option...sigh, I can't believe I am going to say this, you COULD get a bunch of cheap 5-port gigabit switches.

At every location, pop the face plate, since you'll have two wires in each place because of daisy chaining, wire them to two seperate RJ45 keystone jacks, install new face plate, connect both jacks up to the 5-port switch, and you've now networked every jack in the house and each location also has 3 spare ports.

For any locations you don't care to have a network connection, instead of wiring them to two keystones and plugged in to a switch, you can put RJ45 crimp connectors on them and use a female to female adapter to "extend" the cable.

Its...kludgey as hell, but it'll certainly work, and it'll avoid running new wires.