CAT 5 link to modem

hbab2009

Hi,

I currently have 10 CAT5 cables(which go to CAT5 sockets in various rooms in my house) in a room beside my modem. What do I need to put between the cables and modem in order to get the CAT5 in the rooms to work?

I have attached a basic picture of my setup.

Thank you for any help.

pizzahead77

How are the CAT 5 cables terminated in the room?

You'll need a switch with enough ports to connect the cables to and to the modem

LenWoods

hbab2009 wrote: »

Hi,

I currently have 10 CAT5 cables(which go to CAT5 sockets in various rooms in my house) in a room beside my modem. What do I need to put between the cables and modem in order to get the CAT5 in the rooms to work?

I have attached a basic picture of my setup.

Thank you for any help.

Hi,
As the previous person has said; you will need a switch and an electrical socket to plug it in to,
Personally I prefer Netgear GS305 or Netgear GS308 as there metal casing.
They take in an RJ45 from the router and provide 4, or 7, outlet sockets then for your cables,







Here's a Netgear GS308 LAN router on my living room



And here's two Netgear GS305 and one Netgear GS308 LAN router in my attic for distribution to three separate rooms, you can have all rooms on one unit, but I have a number of connections in each room for computer, television etc.
Personal choice to have one router (edit: I mean LAN Switch) for each room, I have a cat7 feeding independent to each router from the main internet router in the living room.

hbab2009

Wow that's some setup, I will look at getting a switch so.

jumbone

If you don't need all of the 10 ports you can plug the ethernet cables straight into any of the LAN ports on the modem itself (or via cable if you have faceplate rather than a bundle of leads at the termination point).

Might save a few bob if it let's you get a smaller switch. The that said they are quite cheap - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWHGQSS/

LenWoods

jumbone wrote: »

If you don't need all of the 10 ports you can plug the ethernet cables straight into any of the LAN ports on the modem itself (or via cable if you have faceplate rather than a bundle of leads at the termination point).

Might save a few bob if it let's you get a smaller switch. The that said they are quite cheap - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07PWHGQSS/

+1 they are cheap,
But try purchase within Ireland because anything over 20 euro is now subject to import taxes when purchasing from the UK,
And AddressPal may seem appealing but there valuing every single delivery and email with a bill on behalf of the revenue,
I got an item valued at 23.55 euro had to pay a fee of 8.91 euro on top of AddressPal 6.50 as saw I screenshot below:

hbab2009

So a CAT5 cable goes from any of the LAN ports in the router to any of the ports in the switch and then I get 7 cables working? Sorry new to all of this.

Also if I got 2 switches do I need two cables going from the router to each switch or can I have one cable going from router to first switch and use one of the ports in the first switch to link into the 2nd switch? or is my thinking wrong?

LenWoods

hbab2009 wrote: »

So a CAT5 cable goes from any of the LAN ports in the router to any of the ports in the switch and then I get 7 cables working? Sorry new to all of this.

Also if I got 2 switches do I need two cables going from the router to each switch or can I have one cable going from router to first switch and use one of the ports in the first switch to link into the 2nd switch? or is my thinking wrong?

That's correct; as all ports operate in exactly the same fashion,
You can also daisy chain from one to the other as required, personally ive fed each LAN box directly independent from the main router which gives the ability to unplug from the rear of the main router to isolate a room, but that's the only difference compared to daisy chain.

hbab2009

Ok yes now it makes sense to me.

Final question, one of the Cat5 runs to the garage, I would like to have wifi in the garage. What do I need to the Cat5 cable to attach to in order to have wifi out there.

degsie

hbab2009 wrote: »

Ok yes now it makes sense to me.

Final question, one of the Cat5 runs to the garage, I would like to have wifi in the garage. What do I need to the Cat5 cable to attach to in order to have wifi out there.

A WiFi Access Point (AP).

jumbone

hbab2009 wrote: »

Ok yes now it makes sense to me.

Final question, one of the Cat5 runs to the garage, I would like to have wifi in the garage. What do I need to the Cat5 cable to attach to in order to have wifi out there.

Connect the run to the garage to the switch the same as any other room and then in the garage, plug a wireless access point into the other end.

You just need an access point, and not a modem or router. Sometimes one device can serve all those functions - if that's the case set it up as an access point in the config page.

Does your house WiFi reach the garage at all currently (even badly)? If so you should look into a mesh network (will mean your devices automatically switch to the strongest signal) otherwise any old AP will do. If you do go the dumb AP route then you can use the same SSID (network name) & password and won't have to set it up on all your devices

hbab2009

Thanks to all the posters for all the advice, I definitely have enough info to get me started. Never heard of a mesh setup, must look at that too, but I don't think the wifi reaches the garage even badly at the moment.

jumbone

hbab2009 wrote: »

Thanks to all the posters for all the advice, I definitely have enough info to get me started. Never heard of a mesh setup, must look at that too, but I don't think the wifi reaches the garage even badly at the moment.

In that case there's no need for mesh - it would be necessary if the WiFi just about reached as you could be in the garage while still connected to the house network with terrible speeds and your phone wouldn't move to the stronger garage network without you manually disconnecting/reconnecting.

Bog standard AP and copy the name/password from the house is the way to go

hbab2009

Is it possible to get an AP which gives a wireless signal but also has ethernet ports in order to hardwire to a tv? And if so can both the wireless function and Cat5 wired to tv be used at the same time?

jumbone

hbab2009 wrote: »

Is it possible to get an AP which gives a wireless signal but also has ethernet ports in order to hardwire to a tv? And if so can both the wireless function and Cat5 wired to tv be used at the same time?

You have 2 options:
1) a switch in the garage taking the Cat5 from the router in supplying the TV and an access point

2) get a wireless router (not an access point) but disabling the routing functions (plug input into a LAN port (leaving WAN port unused), give it a static ip on your modem/main router and disable the wireless router's dhcp server)

I have a tp link MR3420 set up like this at present - not a recommendation though as 8ts about 7 years old and the wifi drops sometimes, but there are probably better options out there

Look up routers with 'AP mode' and read a few reviews

brav

hbab2009 wrote: »

Is it possible to get an AP which gives a wireless signal but also has ethernet ports in order to hardwire to a tv? And if so can both the wireless function and Cat5 wired to tv be used at the same time?

Yes a few have this option, not sure if you have decided to go with a particular brand of Access points around the house, Ubuiqiti are common, their UniFi HD Access Point and their UniFi In-Wall HD Access Point has additional Ethernet ports(the latter has 4 extra, so like a built in switch)
Mikrtik's cAP AC also has an extra port for this.

Yan can also just use a switch, and any generic AP, however no need to go out and buy shares in Netgear like LenWoods did , 1 router and 1 switch usually enough for a house. (I'm sure he meant 1 switch per room and not 1 router per room :eek:)

hbab2009

Hi,

I saw this on the harvey norman website.

https://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/networking-and-connectivity/modems-routers/tp-link-300mbps-wireless-n-router.html

If I plugged my cat 5 from router into this would it work as a wireless AP and also could I run a CAT5 cable from it to a tv?

degsie

hbab2009 wrote: »

Hi,

I saw this on the harvey norman website.

https://www.harveynorman.ie/computing/networking-and-connectivity/modems-routers/tp-link-300mbps-wireless-n-router.html

If I plugged my cat 5 from router into this would it work as a wireless AP and also could I run a CAT5 cable from it to a tv?

If you can configure it to act as an access point, then sure.

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/417/

andublin

hbab2009 wrote: »

Thanks to all the posters for all the advice, I definitely have enough info to get me started. Never heard of a mesh setup, must look at that too, but I don't think the wifi reaches the garage even badly at the moment.

Always use the 1Gb wired connection if you can! Long WiFi , even mesh, is usually much slower, more prone to interference, and much harder to troubleshoot.