I will be moving into my new place soon, and all the wiring has been done already.
At the place where all the Cat5 cable ends are, I'd like to get a punchdown block and use it to make the wiring really clean.
I will have less than 10 cables and would like to know what I need to get. That's where I will be putting the switch/router.
What "spec" do I need to look for in a punchdown block? Does it need to have x amount of pairs, etc.
Thanks in advance. MP
Do a patch pannel for it and the connect the patch pannel to the switch that is the way the pros do it...
Get 'em on Ebay.
A 12 port Cat5E punchdown block ought to do it for you. I just wired my house too and I used this one:
"MP" pondered the following:
Why even bother with punch blocks or patch panels? More money, more places for things to go wrong. Why not just terminate your Cat5e cables with the RJ-45 (if they aren't already) and plug them directly into the router/switch. You can get nice cable tags to put on each cable to ID it. Most patch bays and punch blocks I've seen put in (some even by 'pros') remove to much of the twist violating the standard for cat5e cabling. With less then 10 cables it doesn't seem unmanageable.
BTW - how come you are not cabling to cat6? FTTH (Fiber to the home) is on it's way!!!!
Don't do this, its ugly and less reliable.
Thats the ticket! I have used those many times for residential and small business. Notice it says 569A/B. 568B is more common now. Make sure you pick A or B and stick with it throughout and on your wall jacks.
Thanks for all your replies. The condo I bought has been prewired with Cat5; when I bought it the drywall was all in, i had not choice in type of wiring; I'm happy that they wired it the way they did.
Looks like this is what I will use (if I have enough vertical rooom to put this in); if not, maybe 2 x 6 port ones?
"No" blathered:
Why? Why is adding more places for signal attenuation MORE reliable? Still, just curious?
Yep, I wired all mine to the "B" spec.
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