OTish fibre broadband,home networking etc

[Johnny B Good]

+1

Saves me having to make that point. :-)

Cat5 cable will support 100 and 1000 Mbps speed at line lengths ranging from 1/2 metre to 100 metre. Extending the wiring for the master socket will add to the line length between the cabinet and the router which can impact maximum line speed to a greater or lesser degree[1].

Unless there's a significant saving in upheaval gained by relocating the master socket, the better option will be to install extra cat5 cable rather than move the BT master socket.

[1] Unless the extra line length being introduced is no more than about 10 metres or so, the additional line loss may shave a few percent off the line speed. However, routing the line wiring those extra few metres within the premises is likely to increase its exposure to sources of QRM within the home which could have an even greater impact than the effect of additional line loss.

[News]

In message , Mike Tomlinson writes

And responses from uk.d-i-y are an Even Better Thing :-)

Right. You all say extend the CAT5 not the BT line, so that is the way forward. Just to clarify, the main BT socket is in a bedroom. It was in a porch with a leaking roof, and was a mess. The line terminated in one of those brown GPO junction boxes with two rows of six terminals, from there to the main socket, which was unused (who has a phone in a porch?) and from there to a slave socket. When we bought cordless phones, I disconnected the cable from the junction box, and found it was just long enough to enter a bedroom without any splicing, so fed it in there and reattached the junction box and master socket, ignoring the slave sockets.

First step will be to run CAT5 from the router (modem/router/network switch/access point) which will be in the bedroom, beside the main BT socket, outside and down to room containing son's desktop. Once that works, I'll think about a second access point, but having read a little, that involves scary stuff like IP addresses and netmasks and other incomprehensibles.

Of course, this also involves putting plugs on CAT5, which is even more scary. I do have the kit, and even a tester, but last time, it took me about three tries at each end :-)

[Tim Streater]

Do *not* do (4). You need the least amount of phone cable possible to reduce noise on the broadband (you should also ensure that the bell wire is disconnected at the BT socket).

How can you do (3) without plugging a phone wire into the BT socket - same objection as above.

You should do (1) or (2).

[Dave Liquorice]

Shouldn't do. Just buy a small network switch put it somewhere that makes getting cables to it from the end points required as easy as possible. The end points being the modem router, sons PC, your and wifeys laptops and possibly an access point.

Just run a cable from each endpoint back to the switch and plug into a free port, same for the cable from the modem/router. These days switches and devices automatically sort themselves out, no need for uplink ports or crossover cables.

You need more practice. Strip 1 1/2 to 2" of outer jacket off, untwist each pair starting with orange, green, blue, brown and flatten/position each wire into the correct order forming a dense, flat and parallel set of wires fairly close to where they merge from the jacket. Trim straight across just over 1/2" from the jacket maintaining the formation. Slip into plug making sure that each wire slides fully down the right hole, crimp.

Note that there are two types of plug or rather the IPC part. One is designed for stranded (patch) cable the other for solid (installation) cable.

Not that I've had any problems with the stranded type on solid cable. But these are all connections that once pluged in stay that way for months if not years.

[Bob Eager]

I shouldn't. Use solid core CAT5, and terminate in sockets (which is easy).

Then use pre-made patch cables.

[charles]

Don't put plugs on . Terminate the cable in a wall socket. Then run a short pre-made lead to the socket. Much easier and more flexible for then future.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Dave Liquorice escribió:

[good advice]

some more tips:

You do _not_ wire the plugs simply by colour pairs. It is:

orange/white orange green/white blue blue/white green brown/white brown

A thumbnail helps here to keep them in order

Use a pair of cable cutters. Scissors tend to make a mess of it, you don't get a clean straight cut

If you look at the end of the plug, you'll see where wire(s) have not been fully pushed home - the cut copper end won't be visible.

[Bob Eager]

But, as I said, if you do that...use solid core CAT5. Sockets expect that and the connection will otherwise be unreliable.

[Dave Liquorice]

I didn't say that. That is the best order for the untwisting and laying out.

Note "correct order" I don't state what that order is.

[Stephen]

Plus 1.

installing solid cat5e/6 to wall sockets and a patch panel with a krone punch down tool is by far easier to do than make your own patch cables running from router to computers.

No matter how hard I tried, I every patch cable I made had some issue with it so I now use pre-made patch cables, mostly from CPC. An added bonus is that they come in different colours so if you want to run more than one network then the colours help if all the patch [anels are in the same place.

FOr instance I use blue for wireless network Green for internal intranet yellow for the DMZ (demilitarised zone) red for WAN (wide area network which for me is the internet from Virginmedia into my firewall.

Another bonus is that I can repurpose a wall socket to become a telephone socket by putting adapters at the patch panel and wall socket (provided you have run a phone line to the loft)

I actrually have a patch panel for phopne lines directly above the patch panel for the wall sockets so use a white pre-made patch cable to link fron one patch panel to the other, so I only need one adapter at the wall socket.

[Tim Watts]

The secret is to buy the plugs with the wire bridge:

(Ignore the shileding, you can get the plugs in plain old Cat5e UTP grade).

It makes it very easy to get it right.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Dave Liquorice escribió:

Your post could be construed by the unwary or inexperienced as saying that that is the order in which the wires are inserted in the plug. You even give the correct sequence - orange, green, blue, brown.

A cable made up like this will not work.

quite. My post was intended to be additional to yours, not a correction, hence the 'some more tips' at the top.

[News]

In message , charles writes

Temporary holdup (don't have a drill long enough to clear the window frame), but that gives me time to get organised. Very many thanks for ALL the useful posts. Extending the CAT5 is obviously the way forward, and I rather like the idea of wall sockets and fly leads, but am not quite sure what to buy - I'll need the two sockets and a punch down tool to suit.

Browsing eBay, as ever.

150678372992 is a complete wall box with socket/module 221696253983 is a Pressac faceplate with single socket/module 261823468579 is a Pressac punch down tool 160458087505 is another punch down tool 160466551870 is a 50m cat5 patch cable, but probably stranded not solid 261578717000 20m of solid cat5 cable 221695875272 is two patch cable connectors, just in case ...

The question is, is either punch down tool compatible with either wall box? (I have crimping pliers for plugs, but not a tool for sockets)

[Andy Burns]

[News]

Thank you :-)

[News]

In message , charles writes

Agreed. Just trying to get together the necessary parts. Having found faceplates online, I went to the shed to find back boxes, and found three - all different sizes. Are RJ45 modules with faceplates likely to fit a standard 13 amp socket type back box, or a phone extension back box or something else? The description, helpfully, does not mention the size back box required. I could wait for the faceplates to arrive, but that just causes another delay.

[News]

In message , News writes

Ignore! Just found a description elsewhere, which quotes faceplate size as 8.5cm square.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yes, the face plates are standard single/double gang size. I thought you where asking about depth though. A 16 mm deep box will be pushing it, 25 mm OK, 35 mm roomy. You don't want to kink/fold the CAT5 but neatly coil the excess 6" to 9" into the back of the box when fitting the connected module and faceplate.

Also as a single faceplate can take two modules and the hardwork is running cables run two cables even if you only connect one to a module at this stage. This is where a 35 mm box comes in handy to take the excess cable.

[News]

In message , Dave Liquorice writes

Right, progress. Holes drilled, wiring in place, cables connected and everything works.

Just one point. At Son's end, he wants to connect PC and Playstation so, not having a network switch, I used an old 3Com hub, which works, but at a cost. Taking the connection from the wall to the hub and from there to PC and PS, speed is about 5Mbps. However, if I bypass the hub and wire directly from wall box to PC, speed is 67Mbps. Should using a hub really make that much difference? The PS was not even turned on.

The answer, I suppose, is buy a network switch.

[The Natural Philosopher]

well the answer is not a 10Mbps hub, anyway.