New House Cabling Query

Gboyd

Hey guys.

Just moved into a new house, was told it was all set up internally with Cat5e cabling.

I’ve found the hub of cabling in the hall and I’ve taken a picture.

Just a couple of questions I’m hoping for help on:-

1. What is the blue cable? Different from the grey Cat5e other than colour?
2. Does anyone know the name of the tool and parts I’d need to clip the ends of the cables for plugging into the Router/Hubs.

Many thanks.

Cuddlesworth

Clean the cables off, you should see the cable type printed on them. Newer standard cables end up being thicker, so its important to know.

For termination you have 3 options

To put plugs on the ends, you need a crimper, a cable stripper if you want(not required, just handy to have) and RJ45 plugs(dependant) on the cable type.

Or you can set up on patch panel with a punch tool. Panel type can vary depending on cable type and size.

Or buy keystone jacks and use a punch tool. Again it can vary depending on cable type.

Gboyd

Thanks for the reply, very helpful.

I did clean a couple to check and the 8 grey cables all state Cat5e twin cable.

However the blue cables have no writing on them whatsoever.

Johnboy1951

Gboyd wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, very helpful.

I did clean a couple to check and the 8 grey cables all state Cat5e twin cable.

However the blue cables have no writing on them whatsoever.

Have they the same wire 'pairs' as the grey cable?

What about the other end?
Are the blue cables going somewhere specific?

It might just be that the installer had two different cables and used what he had.

Gboyd

To the untrained eye I thought the ends of the wires looked the same between the grey and the blue, I’m just assuming they are different but I’ll try and get a decent photo tonight.

I haven’t looked much at the cables in the other rooms, I just took the blank faceplate off the one in the living room and saw the grey cable there and that was it.

I don’t plan to do anything too complicated, I reckon the 4 ports of a standard router will be enough for me to hard wire the important stuff but in the age of WiFi I would like to have something like a mesh WiFi network around the house to give a good signal throughout.

If you were calling in the professionals for advice on the best setup and hardware required is there a term for specialists in home networking to help me pinpoint someone local?

Gboyd

Could the blue cables possibly be to do with internal alarm set ups? I’ve checked all of down stairs now and the only blue cable I could find was coming out another hole with a whole bunch of alarm cables 🀔

Cuddlesworth

It would be weird to use a ethernet cable for alarm cables.

smuggler.ie

Gboyd wrote: »

Could the blue cables possibly be to do with internal alarm set ups? I’ve checked all of down stairs now and the only blue cable I could find was coming out another hole with a whole bunch of alarm cables ��

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

It would be weird to use a ethernet cable for alarm cables.

Unless might be for IP cameras?? Check outside for Ethernet cables on the corners @ soffit level.