Question Home network

[Janz3n]

Recently purchased my house that's wired for Ethernet in each room. I'm looking to get it working and have done my research. I have 8 Ethernet ports throughout the house. All the wires run into one closet on the main floor.

I have purchased the following.

8 port unmanaged switch
12 port wall mount patch panel
10 1' Ethernet cables
Punch down tool

My plan is to mount everything neatly to a board and screen it into the wall. As I was about to start I forgot that all 8 wires run into the basement utility room and now I'm lost. All 8 wires in the basement room go to nothing and I don't understand why. Do I need another patch panel and switch in the basement? I guess I'm confused as to what I do in the basement. I'm guessing if I book up the wires to a patch panel to switch to router in the upstairs closet nothing will work since all the wires in the basement aren't connected. Any help would be great.

I was in contact with the person that wired the house and offered to connect it all last year but he has been ignoring me and I gave up.

 

[digitalgriffin]

I'll need a 2 zone that can play two seperate audio at the same time. One for the living room tv speakers and then 4 out door speakers in the covered porch. From what I've been looking at it's going to be around $1000 canadian or more for a Yamaha network receiver. Iv read the Yamaha app is the best and I planned on using a tablet to control it all. If you have any suggestions I wouldn't mind hearing.

AVS can clue you in more.

To be honest you can use a receiver like the Yamaha. But that's like dropping a Ferrari engine into a Camaro. Sonos is another good option for whole house audio.

Whole house amps usually hold up to the unique conditions of whole house wiring. All that extra wiring leads to additional inductance and capacitance issues which can make them harder to drive. Also cheaper house speakers tend to be 4Ohms. This makes driving them properly even harder. Most receivers don't do as well with 4Ohms. A lot of high end whole house systems use a point to point ethernet with amplifiers directly in each room to avoid these issues. (www.russound.com)

If you want the functionality of the Yamaha and want it for home theater duties as well, and like the Yamaha interface, you could get the Yamaha Advantage Pre (CX5200) + a whole house amplifier + Advantage theater amplifier.

http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/electronics/powering-whole-home-audio/237

Parts Express Dayton Audio makes an okay whole house amp.
https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-ma1240a-multi-zone-12-channel-amplifier--300-815

 

[Janz3n]

AVS can clue you in more.

To be honest you can use a receiver like the Yamaha. But that's like dropping a Ferrari engine into a Camaro. Sonos is another good option for whole house audio.

Whole house amps usually hold up to the unique conditions of whole house wiring. All that extra wiring leads to additional inductance and capacitance issues which can make them harder to drive. Also cheaper house speakers tend to be 4Ohms. This makes driving them properly even harder. Most receivers don't do as well with 4Ohms. A lot of high end whole house systems use a point to point ethernet with amplifiers directly in each room to avoid these issues. (www.russound.com)

If you want the functionality of the Yamaha and want it for home theater duties as well, and like the Yamaha interface, you could get the Yamaha Advantage Pre (CX5200) + a whole house amplifier + Advantage theater amplifier.

http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/electronics/powering-whole-home-audio/237

Parts Express Dayton Audio makes an okay whole house amp.
https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-ma1240a-multi-zone-12-channel-amplifier--300-815

That's a lot to take in. You really think I would need a seperate amp for just 2 zones? I can always test the speakers with an ohm meter to see what they are.

 

[jsmithepa]

Sorry. I'm talking cables not wires. 8 cables in the basement that if connected together would make 4 cables.

Here you are making an inference that doesn't make sense, why would you connect (un-splice) these 8 separate cables and make them into 4, for what purpose? Have you found the other ends of these 8 cables? because that's kind of important, to even know what to do with these basement cables.

Bottom line, and this thread is getting way long already, by this time, you should be able to draw yourself a diagram: This is cable 1, end A to end B. Cable 2, blah-blah. Without it, you are shooting in the dark.

 

[Janz3n]

I think by me calling them wires I've confused a lot of you and made the thread too long. In the end I'll be contacting the person that installed this to help me.

8 cables in basement. 8 cables in upstairs closet. I've already terminated 4 cables in the closet which allows internet to 4 wall plugs upstairs. which leaves 4 more in closet.

I'm assuming these 4 cables go to the basement and end and then 4 more go off into each room with an ethernet wall plug which makes 8 cables in the basement. I can see the general direction each cable goes. Ultimately I think I need a tone tester to find out where each wires goes and then connect all 8 cables together to connect the 4 left over cables in the closet to the basement wall plugs. Confused yet?

 

[bill001g]

I am going to guess here based on your description. You have 4 wall jacks going to upstairs. 4 wall jacks going to basement. 4 cables going between the 2 rooms.

So the simplest way is to put a switch both upstairs and basement. Connect the 4 wall jacks in each location to switch. You now have 2 networks. You should be able to use 1 cable between the 2 location to connect the switches together. You can ignore the other 3 cables.

Now it may not be connected this way but in some way it would make sense to do it this way.

 

[Janz3n]

Contacted the installer. This is how it works.
8 cables in the upstairs closet. 6 cables go to wall jacks through the upstairs. The 6th is for the extra in the master bedroom I just found last night. So the 2 remaining go to the basement.

So I use one of those two that go to the basement and go from the upstairs router or switch to a downstairs switch. Then connect the remaining 3 wall jacks in the basement to the switch. That leave 3 wires that I'm told are run in the attic. So situation resolved.

 

[bill001g]

Clearly mark all the cables and make a diagram to put near the panels. This way if you forget or sell the house it will be easier the next time.

 

[Janz3n]

I have been doing that as I figure out which wire go where. I'm still waiting to hear where these attic run cables end up.

 

[bill001g]

It might be like the ones I ran when I was putting in security cameras. I pulled as many as I could get through the conduit to the attic. I just left the extra ones coiled up so I could just run them the final part if I found I needed another one.

 

[Janz3n]

They end in the attic at the access to it. Didn't ask what it was intended for.

 

[AllanGH]

Get a cheap tone generator and inductive amplifier and trace those cable out.

 

[Janz3n]

I actually just twisted a pair of wires in a cable together and used an ohm meter. It's cheaper because it's free.

 

[AllanGH]

Apologies...I posted at thread entry #25, and didn't notice that there was a second page to this thread. I didn't realize that you had already resolved the cable tracing issue.

 

[Janz3n]

No worries. I was happy to figure out a way to trace them without buying a tester.

 

[AllanGH]

Just to clarify my internal dialogue....because that's what I do....LOL

Using a tone generator and inductive amplifier makes it possible--in a lot of situations, anyway--to trace cables through drywall or plaster walls; and this is helpful in situations where you don't have a good idea where the "other end" of the cable is, or how it's routed through the structure.

Anyway, I thought that the basement cables were the current mystery when I replied.

 

[Janz3n]

Basement wires were the mystery but mostly just how to get internet to the basement cables.

 

[AllanGH]

Yeah....and it's a pity that the installing contractor didn't follow the convention of marking the cables prior to pulling them.

 

[digitalgriffin]

What a mess that was. I'm glad it's resolved though. A good electrician should have labeled each of those wires like they label the inside of a breaker box.

 

[Janz3n]

I think the biggest reason for no labels was this house was originally built for the builder. He then decided to sell part way through. Thankfully he built another house beside me so I was able to contact the guy that did all this. He offered to install everything for me for free but stopped contacting me last year about it so I figured I'd do it myself.

Probably still should have labeled it all.

 

[scout_03]

see under this panel how the cat 5 cable are connect to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NUXCHE...&pd_rd_r=9884ce6c-6127-11e9-953e-dd131782f63a also there are only 5 cable connected to it the 3 others are not and they could be your basement one .

 

[AllanGH]

Probably still should have labeled it all.

Yeah, but you actually see that a lot from electricians, where the attitude is that their time is valuable, so they just pull the run, and leave it for the "low voltage guys" to figure out.

It is improving, though...well, at least it has since the '70s, anyway.

 

[Janz3n]

see under this panel how the cat 5 cable are connect to, also there are only 5 cable connected to it the 3 others are not and they could be your basement one .

Yup. I'm assuming you haven't seen the latest replies. One of the wires is for a jack I didn't see till after I finished and then two go to the basement.

 

[scout_03]

yes your answer was post after i did mine .