Re: Sigh. Another powerline adapter fail

a fair point ... I just don't want to add to the drawer of un-needed tools...

I use a standard crimp tool with pass-through connectors and trim the wires with side cutters. However, that is because I started with a standard tool. Now, I would get the combined crimp and cut tool.

John

As the rollout of VoIP replacing pots gains pace, it is also a nice way of dealing with a bunch of IP phones without needing a handy mains socket for a plug in power brick at every phone.

All my CCTV cameras run on POE as well as ethernet extending to the shed at the bottom of the garden. This allows me to watch the cameras for visitors, deliveries etc whilst also being able to look things up without coming back indoors. Yes I could do the same with a mobile phone but they are too small & finicky for me.

My no name, made in Taiwan, tool does but I have to trim the ends manually

I did exactly this for someone not that long ago. They were moving to FTTP, and the logical place for the ONT was near the front door but there was no power there. He also wanted the main router upstairs in his WFH office. Lastly he wanted to ditch POTS, but still retain use of all the existing wired phones.

So we ran a CAT5 from the office to the likely ONT location - following the path of the existing POTS phone cable, down to the location of the main BT master socket.

We installed a special PoE injector that was designed to power non PoE devices (at the far end it has a widget that supplies DC derived from the PoE at the required voltage via a DC power jack).

Then stuck all the kit in a small comms cabinet upstairs. The PoE feeds power down the ethernet that is connected to the ONT. That powers the ONT and the ethernet provides connectivity back to the router. We disconnected the A+B wires from the BT master socket, installed a Granstream VoIP ATA in the comms cabinet upstairs and used that to back feed the to the BT master via the existing house phone wiring, then all the other phone extension sockets.

There are a range of POE injectors that come with two bits - the injector end (small box with mains in, and ethernet in and out), and a remote box that has ethernet in and out, plus DC out. Ideal for power small boxes that don't directly support PoE and would normally come with a DC power brick / wall wart to feed them.

(you can possibly get just the second bit on its own if you already have a PoE switch to inject the power in the first place)

Never disagreed with that... Just calling cloudflare 'the Internet'

Because my fingertips are not fully sensitive, the problem I always have with making up RJ-45 plugs is in getting the wires in the correct order and keeping them there for crimping. Once I have that sorted, and they are inserted into the plug, then crimping is ok. But it is getting the wires all in order and lined up that is the problem. Would a Passthrough Crimping system make this easier?

Yes, it find it easier (not easy - but easier)

Avpx

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Thanks. I will remember that when I next do this job.

Thanks John - this is very close to my possible future arrangement.

J^n

Worth being aware that there are 'passive' PoE injectors which just dump 12V or 24V on the cable with the ethernet, without doing the proper PoE protocol. That's fine if you have the equivalent splitter to strip it off the other end, but if you mix them up with 'real' 48V PoE then you could potentially have problems.

If you're planning to run to multiple devices it's better to get a PoE switch which will do 'proper' PoE from the get-go.

OTOH I can see a place for passive PoE for an ONT, where you don't actually want the ethernet going into your switch, but to the WAN port on your router. Passive point-to-point PoE might avoid having to do more complicated switch config to interpose the switch on the ethernet between the ONT and router.

Theo

I presume you meant to write this Theo?

No, I meant ethernet. If you have this:

ONT ----ethernet---- WAN port on router

it can cause problems if you interpose a switch:

ONT --eth-- switch --eth-- WAN port on router

especially if the switch doesn't do VLANs, which would mean you couldn't use the rest of the switch for LAN connections. If the switch *does* do VLANs it's still annoying to set up, and some ISPs are fussy about what's connecting to their equipment which might cause hassles[*].

Theo

We're still on VDSL and can't get any reliable information on when FTTP will arrive here, but... Reading what you wrote above, if Openreach (or whoever) decide on a location to install the ONT (e.g. by the front door), wouldn't it be their responsibility to ensure it can be powered? They haven't completed their work if they leave someone with a piece of kit that doesn't work - or am I being naive?

If you are in the habit of carrying a mobile around, you can port your old landline number to VOIP and add a SIPphone client to your mobile. That way there are no hardware costs and no power bricks.

P.S. I assume the Telephone Preference Service still operates, once your landline has become a VOIP number? (Checks: Yes, our landline number is still registered after porting to VOIP.)

Yes. They will expect ypu to provide power. John

Is the location not (at least somewhat) 'by agreement'?

Hmm - I don't think I am likely to want to do this. I am thinking just of (as John Rumm discusses)

ONT --(PoE Splitter) --- eth ----- (PoE Injector) --- WAN port on router

I assume these 'passive PoE' units you mention, like this: