CAT 5 network advice

B

bruiser1964

Member
Hi guys it's been a while but I'm tangled up in my new house build looking for advice from any network experts out there... Think my guy is bulls@@@ting me. :(

I asked for CAT 5 network to be installed throughout and imagined this means, 1 cable per socket taken back to a central point with corresponding sockets.
What I appear to have is the sockets wired in " series" 1 cable running from socket to socket presumably ( it's not terminated yet) terminated in 1 socket.
Help! I'm calling my site manager tomorrow to sort this out and they are almost finished with sheeting out so if anyone can either confirm my suspicions that the electrician is wrong or save me an embarrassing conversation being proved an idiot :)
Thanks in advance
Bruce

And yes I am working on a new music room will have news on that soon and pics :)
 
This would have raised alarm bells with me too.
I've only ever dealt with very basic home networks, but there has always been one source socket, eg wireless router.
It feeds a multiport network hub/switch.

Each point on the hub/switch goes to a computer or device or patch point.

network.jpg

Like this except the 4 or 7 cables between switch and patch panel are going to different rooms in your case.
 
In series won't work. We built our house about 5 yrs ago. Every network line runs back to one central point.

Also, why Cat5?? Isn't Cat6 the better option these days?? For not a lot more money? Cat5 and Cat5e is questionable for gigabit network speeds. You can use it and get near 1000mbps, but only at short distances.

Good luck.
 
I remember networking PCs in series using T junctions, but this was using coaxial cable, no router and it was the 90s. I don't think RJ45 cable can work in series that way and there's no way you'd get gigabit ethernet on Cat5 cabled that way. As mentioned above, why aren't you getting Cat6 cable?
 
Thanks guys, I don't know enough to stand my corner on this one but I suspected it wasn't right :(
Thanks, Chili I didnt explain properly, I have specified 5e do you think 6 is worth it?
Tim, funny you should mention that we spec'd telephone outlets at the TV outs and he has wired this in the same way I think series works for phone sockets but that seems to be what he is basing his network on...
Thanks for the the pic Steenamaroo ill print it for the site agent.
I guess this is one of the pitfalls in a main contractor / turnkey solution, the Site agent hires all the sub-contractors and we don't have face to face with them, but I'm gonna have a meeting with this guy :)
 
Hey Bruiser,
Yes, series wiring works for standard telephone sockets, but of course that one telephone number is shared by all of the phones.
If you're on the phone and someone else picks up another one, there they are in your call.

That's the equivalent of trying to get all computers to share one IP address, which they wont do.

I think cat5 is sometimes used for multiline telephone networks, so perhaps your contractor has assumed that's what you wanted?


If you had two phone lines into your property you'd have independent wiring back to each master, which I guess compares to two ports on a network switch.
 
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Hey Bruiser.

I have Cat5e and run with a gigabit router and network adaptors and it works. I can only regurgitate what was explained to me from the sales guy at the store.... Cat5e will work for short distances. He said up to about 25 ft. With the way wiring can run through the walls, ceilings, attics and floors of a house, it's possible to exceed 25 ft on one run. He was probably padding his estimates and I am probably not pushing 25 ft on the runs with a gigabit connection.

When my house was built, I didn't have the option for Cat6. I'd say get it if you can, especially if you plan to be in the house for many years. Future-proof it. If the contractor is ripping the wiring out, then you can request Cat6.

Also, don't believe you're out of luck just because drywall is put up. If the contractor makes a mistake he has to correct it at his expense. I got my studio for almost free because the builder didn't insulate the garage per the sales agreement. Don't let him tell you it's too late.
 
Cat6 cable has a plastic insulator that separates the twisted wire pairs. This reduces cross talk (electrical interference between wire pairs) so you are much more likely to be able to run at maximum gigabit speeds.
 
Everybody else has already said it but your installer doesn't know what he's doing. Ethernet cabling is a single cable per socket, generally back to a a patch panel since the same cable can be used both for telephone and data.

+1 to using CAT6 these days.
 
As everyone has stated, one line to a Hub, then you can branch out from there. more hubs connected to another hub, then to router. A switch and a hub are the same thing expect a switch is better in that it routes with more intelligence, usually a hub is passive. Hence, the name switch. Now, there used to be a system called Token Ring (I've not seen it is years) that would route one end of the cable, go through the card then another cable to the next connection. Either end connect to complete the ring or a terminator at the end of each run.

I can't imagine anyone running token ring. So, yes. Something is not right. He either runs a hub/switch per section and then that section runs to another hub until you hit your router. Think of a reporting hierarchy, that way you wouldn't have to run all of your cables back to the main board. (Example, Second floor has 5 cables, it runs to a hub, that hub then runs one cable to a hub on the first floor with 5 connections, then that hub runs to a basement hub with more connections, then that hub goes to your router. Doesn't have to be this complex, but it shortens the runs and boosts the output signal as Ethernet has a length limit. Not sure what it is, but the method described keeps you from having to fish multiple wires through walls and shorten your runs.
 
another Cat5e recent install at work, and each device outlet is separate running to a router which then runs to the main hub/server.

each line is independent of the other, if one goes down the other devices are unaffected.
 
Hi guys, sorry for the late reply I've been away. At last I managed to get the contractor to admit the electrician was in the wrong he has since gone back and rewired the lot with cat5e ( I didn't want to confuse the issue and ask for Cat6) so fingers crossed :) I've got a pal with a LAN tester so as soon as I can I'm gonna check it over to make sure I works!
I've leaned an important lessen in always being very specific in what you ask for right down to product codes / schematics, seems cynical but it.needs to be done, where I had supplied sockets / cables and maps he seems to have followed my instructions so....
Hopefully as things progress and I get the room up and running ill post pics ( and be asking lots of avice about getting the room to sound right) :)
Thanks again for all your usual sage advice.
Bruce
 
that made me laugh, we had our contractors re-do all of the wiring too.
actually it was a critical safety system, so it had to be done right....but of course...they had to come in on Friday night at 5pm due to schedules and it was 100% their fault.

just being overly nice we went and bought a cable tester for them, never used it since. Home Depot has them even and will check the wiring and plugs.

another note, we had some that would have poor contact over time and they came back and put on a couple plugs/ re crimped them. we had maybe 120 ish, probably 3 over the next year had plug problems and no problems over the next 6 yrs.

good luck...
 
bruiser1964 said:
Hi guys, sorry for the late reply I've been away. At last I managed to get the contractor to admit the electrician was in the wrong he has since gone back and rewired the lot with cat5e ( I didn't want to confuse the issue and ask for Cat6) so fingers crossed :) I've got a pal with a LAN tester so as soon as I can I'm gonna check it over to make sure I works!
Click to expand...

How frustrating! Ethernet is so common you shouldn't *have* to be so prescriptive. Should be able to say where you want the data points, where you want the patchbay and you're done. Hope you've got someone a bit sharper managing rest of your network build!

Paul
 
in our case we found out the contractor who does large jobs for us, had never really done much Cat cable work.

so the reason it was a struggling effort was only due to this inexperience, they specialized in welding and plumbing and running ac, and Hi Voltage....

the mistake was made when they crimped the wires in the little clear plastic plugs.
And as you know there's some details to that.

our problems that followed later, were due to loose connections and if , for example, the wall vibrated the communication would be broken and errors occurred. Some E connectors fit tighter than others? I don't know but they replaced those few connectors and no problems were seen...fyi not to over look bad connections as a future problem.
 
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