Ethernet switch won't see signal but its there.

[hankhill23]

I just has a house extension built and had cat-6 cable put behind the wall to the lounge TV, run is around 6-8 Metres to the Asus N66U wireless hub upstairs. I have an Amazon Fire box and if I plug the Ethernet cable directly into that it works fine, but if I try to use a small TP-Link 5-port unmanaged switch (which I used before the extension was built) to connect other things like the TV, then the switch won’t see the incoming connection (no LED) and the Amazon box has no signal. I’ve tried another switch from elsewhere in the house and it’s the same so I don’t think the switch has suddenly become faulty. I’ve tried using ither ports on the router and also directly connecting to the Virgin Superhub (used in modem mode with the ASUS router) but it’s the same problem.

Are there any compatibility issues between Cat-6 and cheap Ethernet switches? Is the cable run too long for the switch to see the signal? I didn’t think 8M was too long. In summary, the signal is there as the Amazon box works fine with them cable plugged directly in, but the Ethernet switch acts as though the cable is dead.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

I've seen this happen before with poorly terminated cables. Can you post a pic of each end of any ethernet termination that wasn't done in the factory?

 

[hankhill23]

I've seen this happen before with poorly terminated cables. Can you post a pic of each end of any ethernet termination that wasn't done in the factory?

Thanks for the quick reply. I suspected that might be the cause, although the terminations were done by a proper electrician and he used some kind of box to check continuity. The TV end is a wall box which probably doesn't help. I couldn't work out how to add pics to the forum, so I have posted a couple of quick pics here - https://ethernet.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Hmm. That looks decent.

If you move the switch next to the router and use a short cable, does it work?

 

[hankhill23]

Hmm. That looks decent.

If you move the switch next to the router and use a short cable, does it work?

Fixed - (I hope) - Where the cable connects to the wall socket I gave each strand a prod with a small screwdriver to make sure they were well connected, and lost signal completely! After poking around for a while it came back, and now also works with the switch. I think your diagnosis was correct, nothing more than dodgy connections, maybe the signal was just strong enough for a direct connection but too weak to go through a switch. Thanks again for the help.

 

[jsmithepa]

CAT cables should be plugged in with a solid CLICK. Don't be shy.