okay guys- just bought my first house- its brand new, and is completely wired Cat5e to a panel in a closet-- all wall jacks are ethernet. i do not plan on having a land line, so that answers your first question. I want to push internet to all the ports in the house- how can I do this?

 

Easily. A router... if the router doesn't have enough ports on it, just connect a switch to it.

For a better throughput, I recommend a switch... but if you are on a budget, a simple hub will work too.

I've got cat5e in all of our buildings and rooms in our house. Along with 3 wireless Cisco 1200 access points pushing Cushcraft Diversity + 5.2 dB omni directionals.

 

so just take the main feed into the box, plug to router/hub/switch, and then take the other lines off the panel and put them to the hub as well? I'd have to configure it off my computer first and then move it to the closet correct?

 

What kind of Internet, and what exact hardware do you have for this? (Modem, router, whatever - need brand and model). Basic concept is an Ethernet switch with enough ports. You simply connect the switch to the patch panel with patch cords. Now, what you connect between the Internet and the switch is where I need that info to properly advise you. You should be able to connect everything up and configure it in place with a computer connected to any live jack.

EDIT: How many ports does your patch panel have? How many jacks does the house have?

 

hey thanks guys- as for equipment right now im just in my apt. with a surfboard motorola cable modem and my dell XPS 710 desktop... the house is wired with 1 inbound cat5e, 1 inbound cable (uprgraded over typical install- not sure of the specs) goes into GE panel w/security & 7 outs to dining, living, kitchen, bed1, bed2, bed3, garage... i'm trying to determine what i need to buy and how to set up the new home... guidance appreciated.

J

 

Wrong.

Pre-wired houses/apartments/etc are made for fiber optic pushes. This is due to fiber optics not needing a modem. However, some cable companies who have contracts with apartment complexes and home builders actually have panel systems that use cable or dsl modems in the panels. Some are specific to the rack and mount system, others are third party that sit in the rack panel. You need to contact your provider to see if A)They offer fiber optics or B)If they have a setup to use the pre-wired Ethernet. If you get this sute up working you will find that it is fantastic. Secure, fast, reliable, and no router.

However, if you want to rig up the panel, you need to use a modem first. Your coax should come into the panel, then split off. The split off takes the coax into ever room wired for cable tv. Also your Ethernet should come into the panel. This is assuming you are using cable broadband. You would have to take the incoming cable to the modem, from modem to router, then take a Ethernet cable with a jack on one end and the wires into the panel in the other

So, the modem and router would intercept the signal from the incoming wiring to the box, and then push it back through the box to all the other outlets.

Your company may offer fiber optic connections. Most company's are going this way now a days. Not only does it have increased speed value, but it is also easy to take care off. Fiber optics also have less line loss, line noise, and all the other b/s Ethernet has. Plus, no modems!

For those who don't believe me about fiber and no modem... I personally have had fiber optic connections...The carrier can still throttle them however...

http://www.alliancecom.net/fiber_faq.php









However, please call your carrier and ask them what you can do to take advantage of your pre-wired home. You can make a basic user based modem and router work, but I dont see it being very efficient. Either get fiber optics, or go wireless with AP's here and there.

 

OrdnanceCorps - You are a little bit misunderstood as to how fiber optics to the home work. I install fiber optic service to homes for a living (FiOS), and I can tell you that the Alliance service you linked us to absoluutely uses a cat5e LAN just like anything else(see PC requirements on FAQ page). You do not require a modem, because they are going to be installing a fiber optic terminal on or in the house, and that will serve as a modem (modem = device that converts one medium to another, such as fiber to cat5e). They also say specifically that you should purchase a firewall(redundant if you have a good router). That's because you could take an ethernet handoff directly from their terminal, but that would be unsecure, just like taking ethernet directly from a cable modem or DSL modem. The company I work for Verizon provides a router, because we prefer to use coax WAN from our fiber terminal to the router, since most homes are already wired for it. Unlike most storebought routers, the router we provide can use ethernet WAN or coax WAN. However, we can use the customer's router using ethernet WAN if they prefer it.


BalogUK - You have a simple cat5e network in your home if each jack was wired directly from the panel. Therefore, all you need for ANY broadband service to work in your home is a router, and an ethernet switch with enough ports to cover each jack in the house. How many are there? After you connect the WAN from your provider to the router, then you will connect a LAN patch cable to the switch, and then connect all of the ports in your panel to the switch. Then, you can plug your computer into any of the ports in the house, and configure the router. No configuiration is likely to be neccecary for it to work initially (assuming dynamic IP), but there are settings you might want to change to customize it and make it more secure.

 

If you have 7 jacks, all you need is a 4 port router and a 5 port switch. Connect 3 of the router's 4 ports to the patch, connect the 4th port to the switch, and the other 4 switch ports to the patch. The only question is exactly what will be connected to the WAN port on the router, this has to be a feed from whatever "modem" you use.

Recommended router and switch:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124005

Those 2 units are stackable.

 

I don't totally agree... But, I don't want to argue either.

I know they use Cat cable in your home with a modem in the panel, or outside. However, outside of your home it is fiber optics....

Pre-wired homes are meant to have fiber optic connections. But, you can use any connection like cable or dsl.

I had several fiber optic connections. I've seen them with panels and without. One fiber con was it came from outside, into my house, then into a modem, then to cat5e jacks around the home.

My point was, fitting a modem/router like a non commercial motorola or linksys in your panel would look silly.

 

Maybe we should find out exactly what services are available at his new home before getting more specific? Yes, FIOS would be BEST, but it's not available everywhere. He may have to use a cable modem, and he already has one in his apartment he could probably take with him. Then all he would have to do is have the cable company install an outlet in his closet somewhere - unless that is also part of the prewire. If so, add a modem, router, and switch and he's all set.

 

thanks guys- they are working on finishing off the interior this week- on wednesday i do my walk thru and will get some pics of the net. cabinet and the outside feed for further info- i know there is a cat5e and 2 or 3 coax coming thru the exterior of the house to the cabinet panel, then the 7 cat5e leads & 4 or 5 coax split w/ leads

 

okay here's whats currently in place:

 

That is a 1 x 10 land line telephone punch down panel. It is not ethernet. Cat5e cable can be used for both. You could remove the green wires from that board and put RJ45 connectors on each end. This would allow you to plug them into a router or switch. This would require an alternate phone setup though. As it stands now the green wire outside the house brings your phone line inside to this board and splits it to up to 10 phone locations. It looks like only 5 are wired though. The security interface connector is usually where an alarm system connects to dial out to the monitoring service.

 

correct- l i'm not planning on having a phone line as originally said last week-so that takes care of that & the alarm... that's why i have a cell phone... I would pull the lines from that circuit panel and crimp heads on them. i'm not sure why there are two RG6 coax in's though?

also--am i going to need to pull the heads at all the jacks and reconfigure the wires for network use rather than phone? if my memory serves me correctly cat5e run for phone only uses 5 of the 8 wires-- or something along those lines.

 

What are your plans for an internet provider? What about TV?
If you are going cable you can put everything in the box. Put your cable modem and router in there and your pcs can be anywhere in the house.
If you are doing satelite that splitter may not work for you but you can put sat stuff in the box as well.