Existing cat5e home install. Where do the cables go? Are they meant for a network?

slinky2000

Hi guys,

I moved into a new build and it's pre-wired with satellite and cat5e cables to most of the rooms.

All the satellite cables lead to a box outside which I'm hooking up a freesat dish to, that's all fine and all rooms and cables are accounted for.

The cat5e cables are a bit confusing. Some rooms have 1 cat5e cable terminating, some have 2 terminating and some have 1 cable that goes in a loop. See below.







Now the problem, I've no idea where these cables go. I cannot find them in the attic, under the stairs, at the back of a cupboard or wardrobe etc. I know the ground floor cables go up the walls and the 1st floor cables go down so they meet in the middle of the house somewhere.

The only clue I have, is outside the house, in a box is 1 cat5e cable along side some sort of black cable which isn't a satellite cable, I presume this is for the phone line. This might make sense as the second picture above where there are 2 cables is in the main hallway, possibly where you would put an actual phone.



Has anybody got any ideas on this setup. I don't want to start ripping up floors and putting holes in walls if I can help it.

Maybe these are not networking cables and are not meant to be hooked up to a main switch?

Alun

In the bottom picture, the black cable is the incoming eircom connection.

Regarding the cat5e cables, it's apparently not unusual for the electricians who install these in new builds to not have the foggiest notion about how they are, or should, be used, so often just wire them looped through from socket to socket rather than to a central point, making them suitable for phone use, but next to useless for networking purposes.

Maybe try and contact the electrician the builder used, and ask them?

ED E

If it was for networking you'd have to have switch or patch panel somewhere. Most commonly that'd be in a comms "room" under the stairs or in the attic. It should be obvious enough so if you've looked thoroughly then I'd wager theyve wired it for phone services.

That heavy black cable is likely an eircom drop wire. That'd be connected to loops as phones can share the same pair, but for broadband there'd need to be filtering point somewhere inside the house for the master socket.

EIRCOM---drop wire----NTU---MODEM
..................................|

---

Phone runs

If you want ethernet around the place you'll be pulling a fair few more cables.

mass_debater

Looks like a clueless electrician, the cat5e from the ETU (external box) goes to the master socket (usually in the hallway or could be directly inside the ETU) then cat5e loops from room to room so is only good for phone, useless for Ethernet beyond the first hop.

slinky2000

As I suspected it just looped somehow around the entire house. I've searched high and low and there is nowhere the cables run for a switch, not under the stairs, at the back of any wardrobes, the hotpress, attic etc

Thanks.

I didn't want to give the electrician or builder a call because as I thought, I think they're clueless about the entire thing.